SPARTANS: Italy signed an agreement with Alenia Aero-nautica for the first five of 12 C-27J Spartan airlifters, which were developed jointly by the company and Lockheed Mar-tin Aeronautics. The contract will be worth more than $200 million to Lockheed Martin, the company said June 27. Delivery of the first aircraft is slated for mid-2005.
THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) has received the first image from NOAA-17, the nation's newest environmental satellite, which was launched earlier this month (DAILY, June 25). The satellite is undergoing a routine functions check before becoming fully operational, according to NOAA. NOAA-17, which was named NOAA-M until reaching orbit, will collect meteorological data to enhance weather forecasting.
The Air Force has expressed interest in hypersonic missile technology being developed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to Mike White, program area manager for advanced vehicle technologies at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab (APL).
As the expected deadline nears for Austria to announce the winner of its fighter competition, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency complained June 27 about "misleading remarks" in the Austrian press about the suitability of its entry, Lockheed Martin's F-16.
TEAM SELECTION: NASA has selected its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to lead the development of the NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) system, which will use xenon gas and electrical power to drive future spacecraft. The first phase of the program will be a one-year effort to design, build and test initial versions of ion thrusters, propellant feed systems and power processing units. NASA also selected a team led by Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices to pursue development, fabrication and testing of ion optics, which are critical components of ion thrusters.
In an effort to understand better how life can adapt to environments beyond Earth, scientists with NASA's Generations initiative are hoping to send biological cells beyond the protective envelope inside the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts. The Van Allen belts are doughnut-shaped regions encircling the Earth that contain high-energy electrons and ions trapped in the planet's magnetic field. The magnetic field protects life on Earth from harmful solar radiation and cosmic rays.
The possibility that General Dynamics Corp. or Raytheon submitted bids for TRW's Systems and Space Electronics unit does not change their credit ratings or ratings outlook, aerospace and defense analysts with Standard & Poor's said earlier this week.
Cuts to the president's fiscal year 2003 budget request for missile defense would severely crimp the Department of Defense's ability to field a emergency defense capability by 2004, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
The U.S. Air Force has begun flight testing a new Northrop Grumman-built radar for the F-16C/D aircraft, Lockheed Martin said June 26. The Northrop Grumman APG-68(V)9 radar, intended to improve the aircraft's air-to-air and air-to-ground operations, is being flight tested at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Lockheed Martin said the system is meeting or exceeding its performance specifications.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said they plan to buy a variety of fixed-wing, rotary and unmanned aircraft as part of the plan to modernize the agency's aging fleet of air and sea platforms. Exactly which models will be purchased will be decided as the Coast Guard works with contractors to determine its operational requirements, said Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, the Coast Guard's program officer for the Integrated Deepwater System Program.
The House Appropriations Committee added $64 million to the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 request for the Arrow missile defense system to help establish U.S. co-production of the Israeli missile used in the system, according to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
GUIDED TEST: A Raytheon-led team successfully tested the Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., on June 25, the company said June 26. ERGM was launched, acquired Global Positioning System data, and was guided to a target area, the company said.
COMTECH PST CORP., Melville, N.Y. Larry Konopelko has been named president. EMS TECHNOLOGIES Inc., Atlanta Ron H. Miyakawa has been appointed vice president, business development. PRATT AND WHITNEY, East Hartford, Conn. Dennis Enos has been named vice president of the PW6000 engine program, succeeding Tom Davenport, who retires this month. ROCKWELL COLLINS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
In its third and final interim report, the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry calls for the president to create an interagency task force to grapple with the problem of how to invigorate America's aerospace workforce.
Aerospace and defense analysts with Standard & Poor's have raised the credit ratings for L-3 Communications and removed the company from CreditWatch after reviewing company plans to reduce debt through the sale of new securities. Senior L-3 officials told analysts they plan to use the estimated $880 million in net proceeds from the sale of 14 million shares of common stock, and $750 million from the private placement of subordinated notes, to pay down debt related to the acquisition of Raytheon's Aircraft Integrated Services division.
Boeing Co.'s win of the Army's competition for the Joint Tactical Radio System program - potentially worth $7 billion - follows its strategy of investing in system-of-systems concepts, according to Allen Ashby, vice president and general manager of the company's Battle Management/Command, Control and Communications and Strategic Systems business unit. A Boeing team was chosen June 24 over a team led by Raytheon Co. to develop JTRS, a communications system that is intended to be the foundation for all future Department of Defense tactical radios.
Cubic Corp. of San Diego and a United Kingdom partner have completed work on the second phase of a contract to incorporate broadcast datalink technology into the U.K.'s Airborne Standoff Radar (ASTOR) system, Cubic announced June 26. Cubic and Ultra Electronics Ltd., its U.K. partner, completed the work two months ahead of schedule, according to Cubic. The companies are part of a consortium headed by Raytheon Systems Ltd. (U.K.), which in 1999 won a $1.3 billion program to develop the radar for ASTOR.
The Senate reached a compromise on fiscal 2003 missile defense funding June 26, reversing an $814 million cut in the Bush Administra-tion's request but including language that could steer some of the money to anti-terror programs.
A software patch designed to fix a glitch on the International Space Station's (ISS) Mobile Base System (MBS) that is preventing it from feeding power to the station's robotic arm soon will be uploaded to the ISS, according to NASA.
NEW DELHI - An inquiry has been ordered into the June 25 crash of a MiG-23, which occurred in the northern Indian state of Punjab, near the border with Pakistan. Squadron Leader Rajesh Dhingra, a spokesman for the Indian air force, said the aircraft's pilot, Lt. Bharat Kumar, escaped with minor injuries but the aircraft was destroyed.
Although the U.S. State Department has approved a number of arms export licenses to India since sanctions against the country were lifted last year, currently more than 81 licenses that have worked their way through the interagency export process still are awaiting final approval, according to an industry source.
The decision to classify the type and number of decoys used during missile defense flight tests is necessary to prevent possible adversaries from using information to defeat the system, according to the head of the Missile Defense Agency.
