A Titan II rocket launched a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellite June 24 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., the Air Force reported. It was the last scheduled launch of a NOAA satellite by a Titan II. Launch of the satellite, NOAA-M, took place at 11:23 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex-4 west. NOAA-M, the Air Force said, is the third in the current series of five polar-orbiting satellites. They feature improved imaging and sounding capabilities and will operate over the next 10 years.
NEW DELHI - India plans fast-track serial production of the indigenous anti-tank Nag missile, following two successful tests on June 21. The tests were the 43rd and 44th flight tests of the missile, which the Indian ministry of defense said is a third-generation system with "fire and forget" and top-attack capabilities. The missile will be mounted on the Advanced Light Helicopter, which went into serial production earlier this year.
Since arms export sanctions were lifted against India and Pakistan last year, the U.S. State Department has approved a number of export licenses to India. So far, none has been approved for Pakistan. According to recently released notifications to Congress, the licenses approved for India span a wide array of military equipment, including remote operating sensor vehicles, aircraft engines, and military aircraft equipment.
In a ceremony held at the Pentagon June 24, Italy officially joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, pledging about $1 billion to the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the program.
RADAR CONTRACT: Raytheon Co. will continue building ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver systems for U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F aircraft under a $33 million contract, the company announced June 24. The Lot 4 production award is the second option to the full-rate Lot 2 contract, which began in July 2000. This award, from the Naval Air Systems Command Patuxent River, Md., calls for the delivery of 28 warning receivers. Deliveries are slated to begin in June 2004 and are expected to be complete by January 2005.
BAE Systems North America is content to remain a major subsystems supplier in the growing areas of space and missile defense systems, but would consider making an acquisition to improve its position in those sectors, company president and CEO Mark Ronald said June 24. "In missile defense, we think we have some things we can add, but we can't be a major player at the moment, and that's equally true in space," Ronald said in an interview with The DAILY.
AVIATION POST: Former FAA attorney Holly Woodruff Lyons has joined the House Transportation aviation subcommittee as counsel, the committee announced June 21. The subcommittee oversees all aspects of civil aviation. In addition, congressional aide Charles Ziegler has been named deputy chief counsel and parliamentarian of the full Transportation Committee, whose jurisdiction includes the Coast Guard. Attorney Raga Elim has been appointed special counsel to committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska).
FIRE CONTAINED: A fire at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been contained, the base said. At one point, the firefight had involved more than 900 firefighters. There were four minor injuries to firefighters and no fatalities, according to the base.
June 24 - 27 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents the 2002 Simulation Based Acquistion & Advanced Systems Engineering Environment Conference, Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, Va. For more information contact Derek Jenks at [email protected]. June 24 - 27 -- The Air Force Research Laboratory and other agencies present the National Space & Missile Materials Symposium, Colorado Springs, Colo. For more information visit www.usasymposium.com.
NEW DELHI - India and the United States will share information on air operations against terrorism during Indian air force Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy's visit to Washington, which begins June 24. A senior Indian ministry of defense source said the U.S. Air Force will brief Krishnaswamy and Indian delegates on Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the delegates will reveal information on Indian defense actions in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
ITALY JOINS: Italy will sign onto the Joint Strike Fighter program at a Pentagon ceremony on June 24, the Department of Defense said. Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, Italy's secretary general of defense and national armaments director, will sign a memorandum of understanding with DOD acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge.
Bell Helicopter filed a lawsuit June 17 against two companies specializing in aircraft maintenance and repair as part of its ongoing effort to stop what it calls the "counterfeiting" of its registered trademark parts. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Seattle, charges the companies with supplying parts that have been "substantially reconstructed" but which retain the Bell trademark.
The U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala., has ordered $35 million worth of Stinger missiles from Raytheon Co. and $33.4 million worth of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles from Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon will provide more than 370 Stinger Block I and Re-programmable Microprocessor (RMP) missiles under the contract, announced June 21. The award supports the Army's plan to provide Stinger missiles to maneuver forces until 2017, the company said.
Canadian Sea King helicopters are being equipped with missile defense systems, the result of an initiative that originated just after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The aging helicopters, which have been in service since the 1960s, will get radar warning receivers and jammers, said Capt. Rick Eng, a spokesman for Canadian Forces Base Shearwater near Halifax, Nova Scotia.
GOING DIGITAL: The Boeing Co., which normally looks for approval in the E ring of the Pentagon or at NASA, is basking in the praise of movie critic Roger Ebert. During a recent digital screening of the newest "Star Wars" movie, "Attack of the Clones," the film critic was very impressed with the company's new digital movie system, according to Boeing officials. Based out of the company's Space and Communication division in El Segundo, Calif., Boeing Digital Cinema is only a little over a year old.
The Air Force intends to conduct a test in September to try out its plans to turn existing aerial refuelers into "smart tankers," according to Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff. The test will take place at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and involve a KC-135 aerial refueler containing a pallet of equipment, Jumper said during and after a Capitol Hill speech to the Defense Forum Foundation June 21. "This is the technical test of whether the thing's going to work the way we want it to or not," he told The DAILY.
RED FLAG: Eleven companies have been added to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security list of "unverified end-users," or foreign companies where the U.S. Government was unable to perform post-shipment checks on sensitive U.S. exports. "End-use visits are a normal part of U.S. high-technology trade and are conducted regularly with our trading partners. The inability to conduct such a visit with respect to a licensed U.S. export naturally raises concerns regarding the ultimate end user of that export," says Kenneth I.
OBSERVATORY FUNDING: U.S. lawmakers from New Mexico are seeking $30 million in the fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill to finish work on the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in central New Mexico. The observatory, which will be located on the main ridge of the Magdalena Mountains, is designed to improve the tracking of daytime missile tests at White Sands Missile Range by providing coverage from an additional direction. It also will serve as an astronomical observatory at night, providing sharper images than existing observatories.
HILL ACTION: Congress hopes to make progress on several defense-related bills the week of June 24-28. In the Senate, consideration of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill will resume June 24. Debate could last much of the week, with a fight expected over Republican attempts to reverse an $814 million cut in the Bush Administration's missile defense request. In the House, the Appropriations Committee plans to take up the FY '03 defense appropriations bill late June 24. The full House is slated to consider the appropriations bill June 27.
RADAR IMMERSION: The Missile Defense Agency is nearing a decision on the proposed X-band radar system, agency head Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish says. "We're nearing some decisions about X-band and the entire program as well as what role ... sensors will play," Kadish says, adding that senior MDA officials are reviewing the requirements for radars and sensors in "radar immersion" sessions. "As a result of that process, I think we're going to be in a position to know within the next few months ... at least the initial way we're going to go with the test bed," he says.
777 WORK: Mechanics at Boeing's Everett, Wash., facility have begun assembling the first of two new longer-range Boeing 777s, the company said June 20. Workers began the major assembly process for the 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft by loading a 97-foot wing spar into a tool that drills, measures and installs more than 5,000 fasteners. The first 777-300ER is scheduled to roll out of the factory in November.
OVERWEIGHT: UBS Warburg says U.S. defense stocks are not overvalued and that investors should buy additional stocks, given their tendency to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 in times of increased defense spending. "We recommend that investors overweight shares of the U.S. defense sector, as we expect the group to outperform the general market in the current environment of higher defense budgets, economic uncertainty and war," lead aerospace and defense analyst David Strauss says in the report.
