Norway's air force has named Lockheed Martin's Precision Attack Navigation and Targeting (PANTERA) pod the winner of its laser target designator pod competition, the company announced July 8. The $27 million contract marks the first international sale of PANTERA, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control said. PANTERA is the export version of the company's Sniper extended-range pod, which is used as the advanced targeting pod for U.S. Air Force F-16s, F-15s and other aircraft.
LONDON - Poland issued final requests for proposals (RFPs) for up to 48 new multirole combat aircraft, including 12 two-seat trainer versions, on July 8. Poland's planned $3.5 billion next-generation fighter procurement is being conducted on a government-to-government basis, and the RFPs have been circulated at this level in France, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The selection of Poland's new fighter is expected by December 28.
The dramatic increase in satellite insurance rates over the last five years can't be attributed solely to an increase in on-orbit technical malfunctions, according to a report released by Futron Corp. The report, released July 9, cites several factors contributing to the rise in satellite insurance rates over the past five years. They include: an increase in the number of satellites launched; an increase in the technical complexity of satellites; a shortened manufacturing schedule; and changes in the satellite insurance industry itself.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee dedicated India's newest communications satellite, INSAT-3C, to the nation at a ceremony here July 3. INSAT-3C was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and was launched Jan. 24 from Kourou, French Guiana (DAILY, Jan. 25). The satellite was successfully placed in its 74 degrees East orbit, where it will stay for the rest of its service life, expected to be 12 years.
The Navy has completed evaluation of one prototype arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) and plans to begin evaluating a second next month. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the FAA and the Office of Naval Research are developing technology for the devices, designed to protect military and civilian aircraft from wiring-related mishaps, jointly. AFCB technology might have prevented tragedies such as the TWA Flight 800 and SwissAir Flight 111 disasters, which have been linked to faulty wiring.
The U.S. Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have picked two teams to continue work on the second phase of the Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV) program. The teams, one led by Carnegie Mellon University's National Center for Robotics Excellence and the Boeing Co., the other led by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Dallas and Sandia National Laboratories, each was awarded a $1.7 million increment of a contract to build two UGCV technology demonstrator prototypes by December 2003. The entire contract is valued at $5.5 million.
A final accident investigation report on the crash of an RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle during Operation Enduring Freedom concluded that a nut and bolt that had mistakenly been installed backwards ultimately led to the destruction of the aircraft.
LATEST HUEY: The UH-1Y "Yankee One," the latest version of the Marine Corps' UH-1 utility helicopter, successfully completed its first test flight at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on July 3, program officials said. The 30-minute test flight was conducted to check the aircraft's rotor track, balance and instrumentation.
PRAGUE - The BAE Systems/Saab consortium is appealing a fine imposed by Czech officials for advertising its Gripen fighter planes in breach of regulations banning the advertising of weapons. BAE Systems was fined in March by a Prague-based business licensing authority for publishing a full-page advertisement featuring the Gripen in Czech daily Pravo in May 2001. The size of the fine has not been disclosed.
July 7 - 11 -- ATCA International Technical Conference & Exhibits. Hotel Inter-Continental, Berlin. Call (703) 522-5717, fax (703) 527-7251 or email [email protected]. July 9 - 11 -- Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International presents Unmanned Systems 2002. Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. For more information call (703) 920-2720 or email [email protected].
With another contract just signed for a quick-turnaround launch in August, European launch provider Arianespace is looking forward to a full schedule until an expected slowdown late next year. On July 5, the company announced it had signed a contract with Alenia Spazio to launch Atlantic Bird 1 on the company's heavy-lift Ariane 5 vehicle. The satellite will be used and operated by Eutelsat as part of its fleet.
FORT WORTH, Texas--Although Lockheed Martin Corp. is unlikely to give the Boeing Co. a major role in developing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, opportunities exist for Boeing to take part in the program, according to a Lockheed Martin official. "It's not a closed book," JSF program vice president John Fuller told The DAILY in a recent interview.
Air Force Space Command's Space and Missiles System Center is planning to hold an industry day for its Counter Surveillance and Reconnaissance System (CSRS), according to a July 5 notice published in Federal Business Opportunities. The industry day will be used to discuss the contracts to be awarded as part of the program, the development timeline of the system, and to review current technologies. No date has been set yet for the industry day, but it will likely be held sometime in July, according to the notice.
MOSCOW - The collapse of the roof of a vast building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was due mainly to overloading, but the building can be restored to use and a plan for partial reconstruction has been drafted, according to a government commission's report on the causes of the accident. The May 12 collapse of the roof of the large assembly and test building (MIK) on Pad 112 killed eight people. The report found that excessive loading of the roof probably was the main factor.
ATLAS V RESCHEDULED: The inaugural launch of Lockheed Martin's Atlas V, carrying the Hot Bird 6 satellite, has been rescheduled for Aug. 12. The original July 29 launch date was postponed to allow the engineering team to repeat a full checkout of the umbilical retraction system, which pulls various lines away from the rocket just before liftoff. The Atlas V is part of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, along with Boeing's Delta IV.
SUPPORT CONTRACT: Veridian Corp. has won a $154.4 million contract to support U.S. Navy activities at the China Lake and Point Mugu facilities in California. Veridian, of Arlington, Va., said it expects revenues in the first year of the five-year contract to be about $15 million to $20 million. The contract, announced July 1, calls for Veridian to supply scientific and technical services involving information technology and network infrastructure. Viridian's subcontractors are SYS; Netzer Russell Consulting LLC (NRC); Vector Planning and Services Inc.
EADS CONTRACT: The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will deliver power amplifiers to California-based ViaSat for U.S. military Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) terminals, EADS announced July 2. The contract is worth $13 million, EADs said, and has a $30 million option for the delivery of additional units.
Raytheon Co.'s Loiter Attack Missile (LAM), one of two missiles it is developing for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's NetFires program, completed its first flight June 17, the company reported. LAM and its sister weapon, the Precision Attack Missile (PAM), are intended to be fired vertically from a canister. The turbojet-powered LAM would fly a search pattern looking for targets, while the rocket-powered PAM would fly directly to a target.
SUPER HERCS: The government of Italy has accepted the first two of 10 stretched C-130J Hercules aircraft ordered for the Italian air force, Lockheed Martin said July 2. The C-130J "Super Herc" fuselages are 15 feet longer than the standard model. The aircraft are designated as CC-130Js by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft will be ferried to Pisa, Italy, where they will be operated by the Italian air force's 46th Air Brigade. The Italian CC-130J configuration is among the most sophisticated yet developed for the aircraft, according to Lockheed Martin.
COMPANY OF IMMIGRANTS: One reason Northrop Grumman will be able to easily integrate TRW into its operations is because today's Northrop Grumman is the product of 15 mergers and acquisitions, company Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa says. "I many times say that the new Northrop Grumman is a company of immigrants," he says. "If you think about the company over the last decade from where we started, only about 10 percent of the people are originally from the core companies. We're all from the various companies and we sort of think like immigrants.
NO NUKE ROCKETS: NASA will not be exploring nuclear fission rocket technology as part of its $1 billion, five-year Nuclear Systems Initiative (NSI), according to NSI Program Executive Ray Taylor. NASA abandoned development of nuclear fission rockets in the 1960s. "We recognize now that in the ... perhaps not-too-distant future, the time will come to re-look [at] that area, but right now it's a fairly big bite to take to begin in earnest with nuclear-electric propulsion," Taylor says.
SAR STUDY: NASA's DC-8 is one of five aircraft participating in the 2002 Soil Moisture Field Experiment (SMEX02), a NASA-funded activity done in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. The aircraft is carrying the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR) built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. AirSAR will measure soil moisture and distinguish the type of vegetation being studied.
ARROW AGREEMENT: The State Department has approved Boeing's license for co-production of Israel's Arrow missile, according to a Boeing spokeswoman. The Boeing Co. applied for a license in January to cooperate with Israel Aircraft Industries, the prime contractor for the missile defense system (DAILY, Jan. 25). "The technical assistance agreement has been signed," says Marta Newhart, a spokeswoman for Boeing's international program. The Israelis wanted a U.S.-based manufacturer to increase production of the missile and promote possible foreign sales.
