The Air Force's temporary removal of certification for testing of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) isn't expected to significantly boost its cost or delay its schedule, the Air Force said.
NO SALE: A senior Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official says New Delhi has been assured the United States won't sell F-16s to Pakistan. Yashwant Sinha, India's foreign minister, told parliament that India has asked the U.S. to keep its security interests in mind while developing military ties with its neighbor and rival. Pakistan has been negotiating with the U.S. to buy F-16s and spare parts, P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and Harpoon missiles.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force has asked the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) to create a permanent fund to meet its modernization requirements. If implemented, the annual budget granted to the Indian air force would roll over unused funds from one fiscal year to the next. Current budget allocations for the defense forces lapse if not used in one fiscal year.
Congress has delayed passage of the fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations bill until at least January but has approved a temporary spending measure to keep the agency funded in the interim. The House and Senate appropriations committees have approved separate versions of the FY '03 NASA appropriations bill, but budget disputes have prevented lawmakers from completing any of the 13 FY '03 appropriations bills, except for defense and military construction. Congress is leaving town until January, when it plans to resume work on the unfinished bills.
General Dynamics Corp. subsidiaries Bath Iron Works and Electric Boat Corp. won three contracts last week as part of work that could be worth nearly $1 billion if all options are exercised. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) on Nov. 20 awarded Bath Iron Works a $72 million contract for lead yard services on the DDG-51-class Aegis destroyer program. The contract includes a second-year option for engineering services worth $76 million.
NECESSARY UPGRADES: Latin American defense spending is expected to total nearly $24.5 billion in 2003 and increase to $27 billion by 2007, according to a report from Forecast International/DMS. Of that total, an estimated 20 percent will go for procurement, which can cover everything from uniforms to fighter aircraft.
The Missile Defense Agency's Sea-based Midcourse Defense (SMD) system Nov. 21 shot down a target missile in its ascent phase for the first time and hit the target closer to its warhead than in previous tests.
LONDON - Britain's Tanker & Transport Service Company Ltd (TTSC), which is competing for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's 13 billion pound ($20.66 billion) Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program, confirmed it has selected the new Smiths Aerospace air refueling system for its Boeing 767-based submission. Boeing chose Smiths in March to supply the same integrated system for its B767 tanker/transport. The system also has been selected by Italy and Japan, and is the U.S. Air Force's preferred air-to-air refueling (AAR) platform.
Nov. 25 - 26 -- SMI presents the 4th Annual Global MilSatCom 2002, Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow Airport, London. For more information contact Jayesh Patel at +44 (0) 870 9090 711 or email [email protected]. Nov. 27 - 28 -- L'academie Nationale De L'air Et De L'espace presents International Colloquium: Europe and Space Debris. For more information email [email protected] or go to http://assoc.wanadoo.fr/anae.
PRAGUE - Sweden was displeased by the Czech government's decision to cancel the purchase of 24 British-Swedish produced Gripen Jas-39 supersonic fighters and would like to see the tender process reopened, according to Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda. Svoboda made his comments after meeting with Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh during the NATO summit here on Nov. 22.
LONDON - Flight-testing of three two-seat Eurofighter instrumented production aircraft (IPAs) has been suspended pending investigation of the crash of a two-seat DA.6 developmental Eurofighter in Spain on Nov. 21. The crash was the first aircraft loss suffered in more than 2,000 hours of flying time by seven development and three IPAs. The remaining six developmental aircraft apparently have not been grounded, however.
HUNTER: The Army probably will proceed with the fielding of a weaponized version of its Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to John Sundberg, the Army's deputy program manager for UAVs. The Army conducted its first test drops of live Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) submunitions from a Hunter at White Sands, N.M., in October (DAILY, Oct. 16). After a wing modification, the Hunter can carry 200 pounds of payload, according to Sundberg. "We could carry up to the weight of Hellfire [missiles] on there, although we have not done that at this time," he says.
GREEN LIGHT: NASA has received an environmental green light to begin developing land adjacent to its Ames Research Center into NASA Research Park - the agency's proposed 213-acre research and development campus for partners from academia, industry and the non-profit sector. NASA officials signed the Record of Decision for the Environmental Impact Statement for the NASA Ames Development Plan (NADP) on Nov. 22. "This is a big step forward in the development of the NASA Research Park," Ames Director G. Scott Hubbard says.
Rep. William "Mac" Thornberry (R-Texas), a leading congressional advocate of military transformation, said Nov. 21 that he plans to explore whether U.S. Joint Forces Command should be given the authority to buy equipment on its own instead of having to go through the military services.
To support the development of its Orbital Space Plane (OSP) concept, NASA has awarded a $301 million contract to Boeing Phantom Works to continue development of the X-37 demonstrator. The contract includes a progressive series of approach and landing tests scheduled for mid-2004 and an orbital demonstration scheduled for mid-2006.
The fourth ballistic missile defense test involving an Aegis radar system was scheduled to occur late Nov. 21, launching an accelerated series of six flight tests of the sea-based system, according to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The test, Flight Mission 4 (FM-4) of the Aegis missile defense system, calls for the launch of a target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The USS Lake Eerie will track the target with the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar, and will fire a Standard Missile-3 to intercept it.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) expects to find out by the end of the year whether the U.S. Coast Guard will buy a version of its CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft and its Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS) for the Deepwater modernization program, company officials said Nov. 20.
Japan and Europe may never be able to close the gap in military technology with the United States, but their troops could maintain the ability to operate with U.S. forces if target investments are made to develop additional precision-strike and information-sharing capabilities, a panel of military officers and defense analysts said Nov. 21.
Raytheon Co.'s new APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which made its public debut Nov. 20, will give the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet several advantages in combat, a company executive said. With more power than the jet's current radar, AESA will have more than twice the detection range and will allow tracking of significantly more targets, said Tom Kennedy, manager of the program at Raytheon's El Segundo, Calif., facility.
LAUNCH: International Launch Services (ILS) plans to launch the Astra 1K communications satellite for SES Astra on Nov. 25 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the company said Nov. 21.
NASA's new space transportation plan has picked up a key congressional endorsement. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), one of the most outspoken members of Congress on civilian space issues, said in a speech on the Senate floor Nov. 20 that the Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) and the associated fiscal 2003 budget amendment wisely provide more money for the space shuttle, which has been "in dire need of additional financial support."
One of the holy grails of the transformation agenda - the joint concept of operations (joint CONOPS) - should mostly be completed by late fall or early winter next year, a top aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. When drafted and approved, the document will serve as a blueprint for common operations involving multiple services, and will drive the requirements process that determines the military's future weapons, technologies and force structures.
Goodrich Corp. has delivered the first set of 777-300 Extended Range (ER) main landing gear to Boeing, the company said Nov. 21. The main gear stands nearly 17 feet high and weighs more than 12,000 pounds when fully assembled, according to the company. Goodrich also is providing Boeing's 777-300ER with wheels and carbon brakes.
BOOST: The acquisition of TRW Inc. could boost Northrop Grumman sales in 2003 to $25-26 billion and could lead to double-digit growth in 2004-2005, Northrop Grumman said Nov. 21. The acquisition of TRW will strengthen Northrop Grumman's balance sheet and provide "financial flexibility and outstanding growth prospects," company chairman and CEO Kent Kresa said.
