HARM TEST: The International High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) Upgrade Project (IHUP) successfully completed its second Precision Navigation Upgrade (PNU) recently, according to U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. The test was conducted at the NAVAIR western test range. The PNU is designed to improve HARM's ability to detect, locate and destroy enemy air defenses by including Global Positioning System capability and a new inertial measurement unit.
Raytheon's United Kingdom subsidiary, Raytheon Systems Ltd. (RSL), has won a contract to develop a prototype Global Positioning System/Galileo satellite navigation receiver, the company announced Aug. 8.
GENERAL DYNAMICS DECISION SYSTEMS, a business unit of General Dynamics, will lead a team to compete for a contract to provide an integrated warning system for nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) hazards. The Joint Warning and Reporting Network program (JWARN) is intended to give U.S. forces the ability to collect, monitor, analyze and distribute NBC alerts and predictive information in near-real time. General Dynamics will lead a team that includes Lockheed Martin; Science Applications International Corp.; CACI International; BAE Systems; and Technology Service Corp.
Boosted by revenues from recent ammunition company acquisitions and the sale of products for the war in Afghanistan, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) said revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2003 jumped 32 percent. First-quarter revenues rose from $395 million a year ago to about $520 million this year. Income from continuing operations rose from about $18 million a year ago at this time to about $29 million.
An Aug. 6 story on submarine launch of unmanned aircraft should have stated that the Stealthy Affordable Capsule Systems (SACS) will be housed in the sub's Flexible Payload Module.
A Lockheed Martin Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block II missile successfully completed the first test using TACMS 2000 (T2K) hardware, the company said Aug. 8. The T2K hardware includes hardware changes that allowed the company to reduce unit costs on the missile by $75,000-$80,000. "We went to all of our vendors, and we asked them if there was anything they could do to reduce the unit cost, but maintain or exceed current performance," said Ben Collins, Lockheed Martin's manager of business development for fire support.
B-2 WORK: Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems has agreed with the U.S. Air Force to expand its support work on the B-2 Spirit bomber. Called the Total System Support Partnership, the agreement will add supply chain management and support integration to the existing B-2 contract.
President Bush signed into law the $28.9 billion fiscal 2002 supplemental appropriations bill on Aug. 2, providing $15 billion for the Department of Defense, including $377 million to speed up production of Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs). The bill, which Congress finished in late July, became the second supplemental enacted to pay for costs arising from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The first supplemental, which Congress passed last September, provides $40 billion for various needs, with about $17.5 billion expected to be spent on DOD.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, sought Aug. 8 to rebut charges that a proposed Air Force lease of 100 Boeing 767 air tankers would be too expensive, saying inadequate procurement budgets have forced the pursuit of "creative" strategies to replace the service's aging KC-135Es.
Lockheed Martin is in negotiations with ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) prime contractor Boeing about the possibility of developing a follow-on to the company's three-stage missile defense booster slated to begin flight testing next year. The company already is under contract to develop the BV-Plus - a modified version of a three-stage booster that was being developed by Boeing. The boosters carry exoatmospheric kill vehicles (EKVs) in missile defense tests.
Despite recent press reports confirming China's first test of the Russian-made Adder R-77, the U.S. government has not decided whether to allow delivery to Taiwan of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), a U.S. government official familiar with the issue told The DAILY. An interagency review involving the departments of State and Defense, as well as the intelligence community, will have to determine whether the conditions have been met to deliver the Raytheon-produced AMRAAM to Taiwan.
CONFIRMATIONS: The Senate has confirmed Stephen Rademaker as assistant secretary of state for arms control, Paula DeSutter as assistant secretary of state for verification and compliance, and Kathie Olsen and Richard Russell as associate directors of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Rademaker has been an aide for the House International Relations Committee, and DeSutter has been a staffer for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Olsen has been NASA's chief scientist, and Russell has been chief of staff at OSTP.
NEW DELHI - India plans to integrate data from the Geographic Information System (GIS) with the Global Positioning System (GPS), for use by Indian defense forces. Overseas and domestic companies are being shortlisted to supply GIS information and integrate it with GPS and other computer-based technologies, according to a senior official with the Indian ministry of defense. GIS is a system of hardware, software and data for analyzing geographical information.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Boeing $460 million for the next phase in the development of the Air Force's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), which will include the design and manufacture of two X-45B model aircraft. The funding also will support the manufacture of containers for the new aircraft, upgraded mission control stations, risk reduction modeling and simulation, ground and flight testing, and system level demonstration activities necessary to meet the objectives of Spiral 1 of the program.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) announced Aug. 7 it has appointed a former Northrop Grumman Corp. executive to lead its North American operations. Ralph Crosby Jr., 54, the former president of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector, will become chairman and CEO of EADS North America on Sept. 1. Industry analysts agreed the move was one of a series designed by EADS to improve its standing in U.S. defense circles and gain a greater share of the U.S. market.
NAVY CONTRACT: Anteon International Corp. of Fairfax, Va., will provide engineering services to the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command under a five-year, $24.5 million contract, the company announced Aug. 7. The company will use commercial-off-the-shelf technology to help modernize Navy undersea warfare systems, and provide logistics modernization support.
On Aug. 5, NASA's Stardust spacecraft began its second and final round of interstellar dust collection while en route to collect samples from comet Wild 2 in 2004. Produced by stars, free-flowing interstellar dust forms the visible "Milky Way" - the hazy white band across the night sky for which our galaxy was named.
Leaders of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee have agreed to a request by two colleagues to review the panel's decision to slash the Army's fiscal 2003 budget for the Brilliant Anti-Armor (BAT) submunition program.
BOEING, Chicago, Ill. Sergey Kravchenko has been named president of Boeing - Russia/CIS. CAE, Toronto Ellis D. "Don" Parker has been named chairman of the board. Michael E. Ryan, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), and Leighton W. "Snuffy" Smith, Jr., Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.) have been appointed to the board as outside directors. DALLAS AIRMOTIVE, INC. Dallas, Texas Doris E. Hastings has been appointed vice president, Human Resources. GOODRICH, Charlotte, N.C.
The Fast Tactical Imagery (FTI) system now being used by Navy F-14s to aid Army Special Forces troops on the ground in Afghanistan operates through the F-14's infrared sensors, but it also will be able to use more advanced IR sensors and electro-optical sensors, according to officials of Naval Air Systems Command.
Austria's plan to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoons provoked a petition drive led by the Green Party that amassed more than 625,000 signatures in protest of the $1.8 billion deal. The petition campaign constitutionally forces the Austrian parliament to reconsider the issue, but government officials and the parliament's conservative leadership moved quickly to defend the deal Aug. 6. Defense Minister Herbert Scheibner said in published reports that the Typhoon acquisition plan is necessary to establish Austria's air superiority.
Defense electronics maker Elbit Systems Ltd.'s earnings won't be affected if Israel does not become a major partner on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, company President and CEO Joseph Ackerman said Aug. 7. Israel is negotiating joining the JSF program as less than a full partner, but at a level higher than a normal foreign military sales deal (DAILY, Aug. 6).
AGREEMENT: CAE and Airbus have signed a 10-year cooperative agreement to develop a global network of training centers, with the largest fleet of Airbus full-flight simulators in the world, CAE said Aug. 7. CAE will provide equipment, facilities and advanced training technologies, while Airbus will provide courseware and training expertise.
