Lockheed Martin has sent five of six new Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) MK III SH-60B helicopters to the U.S. Navy, for delivery to the Spanish fleet. The sixth will be sold Oct. 31, the company said. The helicopters were bought as part of a $55.4 million program to provide Spain with new maritime helicopters for deployment on F-81 "Santa Maria" class guided missile frigates and F-100 Aegis frigates.
T-38 DELIVERED: The Boeing Co. has delivered the 100th T-38 Talon jet trainer modified under the T-38 Avionics Upgrade Program, the company said Oct. 22. Boeing presented the aircraft to the U.S. Air Force at Williams Gateway Airport, Ariz. Deliveries of upgraded T-38s began in November 2000. Boeing is slated to upgrade more than 500 of the supersonic trainers, extending their life to 2040.
BAE Systems North America has agreed to buy Condor Pacific Industries, Inc., (CPI), to boost its work in guidance systems, the company said Oct. 22. BAE Systems will pay $58.5 million for the Westlake Village, Calif., company, funding the acquisition from existing cash. CPI builds inertial products for navigation, guidance and control, work that complements BAE Systems' business in missile systems guidance and control, the company said.
ENGINE WORK: Pratt & Whitney will develop advanced turbine ceramic components for possible use in a new engine for U.S. Army unmanned aerial vehicles, the company said Oct. 21. The work is being done under a 39-month contract awarded by the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), Pratt & Whitney said. The Army is developing the engine to support future UAV and Objective Force systems, and expects a demonstration in 2004, Pratt & Whitney said.
The Army has chosen AAI Corporation of Hunt Valley, Md., as the systems integrator in its effort to develop a new long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to replace the Hunter UAV, according to the company. The Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) UAV will be capable of carrying multiple payloads for 10-14 hours, out to a range of 200-300 kilometers. The UAV is scheduled to be fielded in fiscal year 2006 and formally replace the Hunter the following year.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a 13-inch wingspan that is being developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) flew continuously for nearly two hours during a flight test this summer, DARPA announced Oct. 18. During the Aug. 19 test flight in Simi Valley, Calif., the radio-controlled UAV, nicknamed "Wasp," flew for one hour and 47 minutes. AeroVironment Inc. designed, built, and flew the aircraft.
The U.S. Army has reached an agreement with United Defense and General Dynamics to transfer the technology from the defunct Crusader self-propelled howitzer program to the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, a senior Army official said Oct. 21.
A quarter-scale, unmanned model of Japan's proposed H-II Orbiting Plane-Experimental (HOPE-X) space shuttle had a successful first flight demonstration Oct. 18, according to the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. NASDA and the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), which are collaborating on HOPE-X, held the demonstration on Christmas Island in the Republic of Kiribati. The vehicle, powered by a jet engine, made a preprogrammed flight and an automated approach and landing.
The Army is re-evaluating its plans for the AH-64 Apache helicopter in light of the recently approved restructuring of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program, a service official said Oct. 21.
The Air Force said it has begun operational testing of an upgrade to the B-1B bomber that allows it to drop three types of weapons on a single pass instead of only one weapon type. The upgrade, called Block E, is intended to allow the plane to strike different kinds of targets at the same time. Developmental tests completed this summer at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., showed the B-1B can release a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) and an unguided ballistic weapon during one pass.
NASA has postponed the system requirements review (SRR) of the Space Launch Initiative, which was slated to begin in November, the aerospace agency said Oct. 21. "NASA will reschedule the review when the agency completes its assessment of its Integrated Space Transportation Plan, ascertains the role of the Department of Defense in SLI, determines the future requirements of the International Space Station and firms up the agency's future space transportation needs," the agency said in a short statement issued late Oct. 21.
A team led by Science Applications International (SAIC) has been picked by the National Security Agency to provide the technology demonstration platform for the NSA's Trailblazer program, which is intended to modernize the NSA's signals intelligence capability. The technology demonstration platform (TDP) phase of the Trailblazer program will be performed over 26 months, and is worth an estimated $280 million, SAIC said Oct. 21.
The credit ratings for EchoStar Communications Corp., Hughes Electronics Corp. and PanAmSat Corp. will remain on CreditWatch until the companies clarify the details of future financial transactions between the companies, Standard & Poor's said Oct. 18. The announcement follows an Oct. 10 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to block the proposed acquisition of Hughes Electronics by EchoStar Communications (DAILY, Oct. 11). The case was sent to a federal judge for administrative review.
TOW SALES: Raytheon Co. will provide Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) anti-tank and assault missiles to Israel, Jordan, Luxembourg, Japan and Spain, under a foreign military sales contract from the U.S. Army. The order, for 1,689 TOW 2A, 2B and practice missiles, is worth $52 million, the company said Oct. 21.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is moving forward with an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) to develop a prototype of a high-altitude airship to serve as a long-term surveillance and communications platform, a Lockheed Martin official said Oct. 21.
The V-22 program is starting flight tests on the first V-22 aircraft to roll off the low-rate initial production [LRIP] line, a program spokeswoman told The DAILY Oct. 18. Aircraft No. 21, the first non-developmental MV-22 Osprey to enter the flight testing regimen, arrived at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. on Oct. 12, V-22 spokeswoman Gidge Dady said. The aircraft departed from Amarillo, Texas.
Lockheed Martin and a Boeing-Sikorsky team recently completed the first test flight of the Night Vision Pilotage System (NVPS), a major subsystem of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter's Electo-Optical Sensor System (EOSS). The EOSS, developed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, is composed of a solid-state television, a two-color laser designator/rangefinder, and two forward-looking infrared sensors to give the Comanche "state of the art" targeting and navigation capabilities, the company said.
NEW DELHI - The U.S. Air Force and the Indian air force are conducting weeklong air exercises at Agra, 200 miles north of here. While Indian and U.S. naval and ground forces have conducted joint exercises, this is the first time there is an interaction between their air forces. The exercises began Oct. 20.
The Army's first Objective Force unit will start being fielded in 2008 as planned, but the concept could fail without a sweeping reform of the personnel system, Army Secretary Thomas White said Oct. 21. In remarks at the Association of the United States Army's 2002 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., White stuck to the Army's original rollout plans for the first Objective Force unit, but did not directly respond to reports that a top Pentagon official wants to delay the program for two years.
SOLID OUTLOOK: The outlook for General Dynamics remains solid given the funding allocations in the $355 billion fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill, according to a report from Deutsche Bank. "GD looks to benefit as all of its core projects are fully funded, and a few received plus-ups over the administration's request," senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray says. The budget fully funded the third of the Army's six Stryker brigades, the interim fighting force equipped with the company's eight-wheeled armored combat vehicle.
BAT SUPPLY: The likely cancellation of Northrop Grumman's Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) submunition (DAILY, Oct. 10) won't pose a problem for TRW, which recently demonstrated deploying armed BATs from its Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle, the company says. "If we get to the point where they [the military] say, hey, we want to put these on Hunter and deploy them, I would think there would be an adequate supply in inventory now," says Ron Kline, TRW's program manager for the Hunter.
Spending for homeland security and defense won't compete with defense spending even if another terrorist incident occurs on U.S. soil, according to security and defense information analyst Tim Quillin. "It's an interesting idea, but I don't see it as an either/or proposition," said Quillin, of the investment-banking firm Stephens Inc., based in Little Rock, Ark.
PRAGUE - Czech and U.S combat aircraft staged a joint exercise in the Czech Republic Oct. 17 to prepare for the possibility of a terrorist attack during next month's NATO enlargement summit. The exercise, which involved L-159 light combat fighters, Czech MiG-21s, Mi-24 helicopters, an Airborne Warning and Control System radar plane, and several U.S. F-16s based in Germany and Italy, was approved Oct. 16 by a special meeting of the Czech cabinet.
