Spacehab Inc. said Nov. 8 that its net loss for the first quarter of 2003 narrowed from one year ago, as revenues for the quarter rose. Net loss for the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, totaled $94,000, compared with $2.8 million a year ago at this time. Revenue for the quarter rose from $22.2 million a year ago to $26.8 million this year. Company officials also said nearly $2.6 million in debt was repaid during the quarter. The company's total debt as of Sept. 30 stood at $22.8 million.
CHANGES: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones wants to spread the benefits of the U.S. military's transformation to forces in Europe when he assumes his new job next year. Jones, soon-to-be chief of U.S. European Command, thinks he can help close the U.S.-European gap in defense capabilities by involving NATO's other militaries in the process, he says. "I've already been talking with [U.S. Joint Forces Command chief Adm. E.P.] Giambastiani ... to make sure that our own transformation is not a closed book with regard to our most important alliance.
An F/A-22 Raptor fighter successfully intercepted an aerial target with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) while both the aircraft and the target were flying faster than the speed of sound, F/A-22 builder Lockheed Martin Corp. said Nov. 8. The test met one of the Defense Department's milestones for the program before it can receive a Lot 3 production contract, the company said.
The Navy plans to launch a development program for the Boeing EA-18G Growler in fiscal 2004 after receiving a tentative go-ahead last week from Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the Navy's top-ranking acquisition official told The DAILY. Aldridge, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, gave the Navy tentative approval to release $10 million for Boeing to conduct early studies and tests of the EA-18G in FY '03, said John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.
LAME DUCK: When Congress returns Nov. 12 for its post-election lame duck session, lawmakers will try to complete several bills with aerospace implications, including the fiscal 2003 defense authorization and intelligence authorization bills, both of which are before House-Senate conference committees. Lawmakers still have to decide whether they will finish the FY '03 NASA appropriations bill in the lame duck session or wait until the new 108th Congress takes office in early calendar 2003.
MILESTONE: The V-22 Integrated Test Team recently passed the 100-flight hour mark, the Navy said. Osprey No. 10 reached the milestone during a three-hour flight
International Launch Services (ILS) has signed a contract with the Hellas-Sat consortium to launch the first domestic communications satellite for Greece and Cyprus on an Atlas V rocket early next year. Based in Nicosia, Cyprus, Hellas-Sat Consortium Ltd. plans to offer voice, Internet, video and broadcast services to European and Balkan markets. After launch in the first quarter of 2003, the Hellas-Sat satellite should be in service for the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004, according to ILS.
HORNET STRIKE: The F/A-18E Super Hornet participated in its first combat action Nov. 6, when aircraft from the USS Abraham Lincoln fired on Iraqi targets, the Navy said Nov. 7.
NEW DELHI - India will train Laotian defense personnel and pilots and upgrade its MiG-21 aircraft under a new agreement, reached during Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to Laos last week. Douangchar Phichit, the Laotian defense minister, requested pilot training when he met with Vajpayee, according to an Indian defense ministry official.
Nov. 11 - 14 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents its 2nd Annual CMMI Technology Conference and User Group. Hyatt Regency Tech Center, Denver, Colo. For more information contact Derek Jenks at (703) 247 2582. Nov. 17 - 22 -- 2002 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and R&D Expo. The Ernest Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, La. For more information call (800) THE SAME (843-2763) or email [email protected].
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who expects to regain the reins of the Senate Armed Services Committee with the Republican takeover of the Senate (DAILY, Nov. 7), says he plans to give renewed attention to the development and fielding of unmanned vehicles.
Aerospace and defense industry investors are likely to be disappointed if they believe Congress will continue to increase defense spending for procurement and research and development (R&D) over the long term, according to a report from Standard & Poor's. The bi-annual report, prepared by S&P aerospace and defense analyst Robert Friedman, says the Defense Department's 5.9 percent projected growth for procurement may be too optimistic.
JSF WORK: Astronics Corp. has signed a memorandum of agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop and supply the exterior lighting system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the company said Nov. 7.
Loral Space & Communications said Nov. 11 revenues for the third quarter dropped 19 percent due to slower sales from the company's fixed satellite and data services sectors. Revenue for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, fell from $261 million a year ago to $211 million. Loral's net loss for the quarter improved from $64.3 million a year ago to $52.3 million this year.
The Tactical Tomahawk program is preparing to conduct its first launch from an underwater rig in the U.S. Navy's Pacific test range later this month, a Navy spokeswoman said. "We are on track and there should be launch soon," said Sandy Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Naval Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Schroeder declined to specify a date for the test, but said the Navy's original plans for an early November test still are "hopeful."
The U.S. Marine Corps is studying increasing the size of the flight decks on its amphibious ships to accommodate the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones said Nov. 7. That option is being considered as the Marine Corps plans to incorporate F-35B STOVLs, F-35C carrier-based aircraft or a mixture of the aircraft into its fleet sometime after 2012.
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) said Nov. 7 that he expects to become chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's science, technology and space subcommittee with the Republican takeover of the Senate, potentially boosting his efforts to increase funding for aeronautics research and development. Allen has been ranking Republican on the subcommittee. "It always helps to be on the majority side to get anything through," an Allen spokeswoman said.
NEW DELHI - China handed over the first front fuselage of a K-8 Karakorum trainer and light attack fighter to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) at a ceremony in Kamra on Nov. 5. PAC will continue development of the fuselage. Pakistan and China are developing the K-8, which had its first flight in 1991. The two countries signed a technology transfer agreement in 1999 to build the aircraft.
LONDON - United Kingdom Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon opened a new headquarters for General Dynamics (U.K.) Ltd., following its win last year of a 1.9 billion pound ($3 billion) Ministry of Defence contract for the British army's Bowman digital battlefield communications system. After touring the Oakdale site, Hoon said Bowman is the army's top equipment priority, and also is important to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
In their bid to build the Army's Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR), competing contractor teams are being required to put together a unique "day in the life" presentation showing how their system will behave when deployed in the field. This pivotal briefing "could be really imaginative," Steve Glusman, director of engineering for Army unmanned systems at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, said. "It has to go through and actually illustrate how a UCAR would go through its cycle of deployment."
COMBAT READY: The U.S. Army's seventh AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter battalion has been certified combat ready after extensive training at Fort Hood, Texas, Apache builder Boeing said Nov. 6. Soldiers in the battalion completed three live-fire exercises and about 3,200 flight hours during training at Fort Hood, where the battalion will be based.
NASA's Galileo spacecraft put itself in "safe mode" after a close flyby of Jupiter's moon Amalthea, most likely as a result of the radiation that bombarded the spacecraft as it delved deeper into Jupiter's magnetic field than ever before.
