A specially modified NASA NF-15B aircraft is preparing for calibration flights at Dryden Flight Research Center later this summer before it begins a second round of test flights in the agency's Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) program. Originally scheduled to begin last fall, the calibration flights have been postponed to July at the earliest due to problems with the aging aircraft, according to Dryden spokesman Alan Brown. The NF-15B was only the sixth F-15 ever built, and the first two-seater.
The final pre-production F-22 aircraft was delivered to the Air Force May 31, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. Aircraft 4008 was delivered to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. and will undergo a series of operational tests.
The House June 5 is expected to consider a bill that would increase spending at the National Science Foundation by 15 percent a year for the next three years, boosting the agency's budget from $4.8 billion in fiscal 2002 to $7.3 billion in FY '05. The House Science Committee approved the NSF authorization bill May 22, providing increases for nanoscale science and engineering and other areas (DAILY, May 31). Senate committees have not yet begun considering their version of the NSF authorization bill.
Northrop Grumman Corp. could gain a 50 percent share of the worldwide diesel submarine market if it buys a controlling stake in the German submarine builder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW), according to one naval analyst. Reports by the British news agency Reuters June 4 said the German engineering firm Babcock Borsig is planning to sell 20 percent of its shares in HDW to Northrop Grumman Corp. Company spokesman Randy Belote declined to comment on the reports.
MOSCOW - Potential space tourist Lance Bass has not signed a contract with the Russian government to fly to the International Space Station, and likely is too late to make this fall's Soyuz "taxi" flight, according to a Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) official. Sergey Gorbunov, the head of Rosaviakosmos' press service, said neither pop star Bass nor former NASA associate administrator Lori Garver, who also is seeking a flight, have forwarded a formal application for the October Soyuz mission.
NEW DELHI - India has signed a contract with Rafael of Israel to buy an unspecified number of aerostat surveillance systems. In addition to buying the balloon systems from Israel, a senior Indian defense ministry official told The DAILY June 4 that India is considering buying aerostat radars from Lockheed Martin, under the Foreign Military Sales program. India wants the U.S. to supply the radars on a fast-track procurement, the official said.
An independent task force that reviewed NASA's biological and physical research program, including use of the International Space Station, is due to present its findings to the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) on June 11. The advisory council will review the findings and present its recommendations about them to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
The U.S. Army and Northrop Grumman Corp. conducted a successful flight test of the Pre-Planned Product Improved (P3I) Brilliant Anti-armor submunition (BAT) recently at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Northrop Grumman announced June 4. The May 14 test was the second in a series of 12 drop tests planned this year as part of the P3I BAT's development phase. In the test, a recoverable version of the BAT was launched from a Cessna aircraft and flew over a formation of 16 remotely controlled, moving armored vehicles equipped with countermeasures.
Turkey has signed a $1 billion contract with the Boeing Co. for its Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) system, which the company also is developing for Australia, Boeing announced June 4. The contract, signed by Turkey's undersecretariat for Defense Industries, calls for four 737 AEW&C aircraft plus a ground support segment for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance support.
SUPPLEMENTAL VETO? The Senate version of the fiscal 2002 supplemental appropriations bill, which includes $14 billion for defense, drew a veto threat from the White House June 4 because it adds billions of dollars for homeland security and other programs the Bush Administration did not request. The Administration prefers the House-passed bill, which has fewer add-ons.
One of the chief goals of NASA's recently announced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications center will be to break the industry out of its research and development (R&D) orientation and bring down costs, according to Clark University Professor Stanley Herwitz. A professor of earth science, Herwitz is a key player in the new center, which will be dedicated to exploring commercial applications for UAVs equipped with high-resolution digital imaging sensors (DAILY, May 31).
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is likely to undergo a restructuring to better integrate its intelligence functions, according to the agency's director. Speaking June 4 with reporters in Washington, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, the head of NIMA, said he is looking to restructure operations and merge some Washington-based facilities. The proposed name for the restructured agency would be the "National Geospatial Intelligence Agency," he said, adding, "the exact nomenclature is still in discussion."
Lawmakers are stepping up efforts to boost federal funding for aeronautics research and development, pushing colleagues to provide $100 million above the Bush Administration's request for fiscal 2003 and trying to build support for legislation to double aeronautics R&D spending over five years.
ALCATEL SPACE has delivered the first Meteosat Second-Generation weather satellite (MSG1) to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite is slated to be launched in August for the European Space Agency. MSG1 is the first in a series of three higher-performance satellites developed by an Alcatel Space-led European industry team. The satellite is optimized for image acquisition from geostationary orbit, according to the Paris-based company. MSG1 has 12 imaging channels and will provide an image every 15 minutes in the visible, infrared and water vapor bands.
OFFER EXTENSION: Northrop Grumman Corp. has extended its exchange offer for TRW Inc. common stock to June 14, the company announced May 31. Northrop Grumman is seeking to acquire the company, although TRW's board of directors has urged TRW shareholders to reject Northrop Grumman's offer (DAILY, May 1). However, TRW has agreed to let Northrop Grumman officials examine the company's books.
The business of converting passenger aircraft to cargo freighters could generate nearly $11.7 billion over the next decade, according to a report released last week by Forecast International/DMS. Although the growth of the air cargo market slowed dramatically in 2001, that growth should speed up as many older, inefficient freighters are replaced by reconfigured passenger jets, according to Bill Dane, senior aviation analyst and author of "The Commercial and Military Transport Retrofit & Modernization Market - 2002-2011."
Arianespace could be well positioned to take advantage of a rebound in the commercial satellite market if it succeeds in reducing costs, according to several U.S. space analysts. The French commercial launch provider's announcement last week that it had signed a launch agreement with Mexican satellite operator Satelites Mexicanos SA (Satmex) follows news that it lost nearly $177 million in fiscal year 2001.
The Army's Omnibus VI program, under which ITT and Northrop Grumman will produce image-intensification devices for ground forces and aviators, may be a bridge to future programs for production of scopes that would merge the technologies of intensification and thermal imaging, government and industry officials say.
Northrop Grumman Corporation formally announced its participation in the Innovative Space-Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT) project June 3. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin, Harris Corp., and Northrop Grumman's Systems Development and Technology Division each received $2.5 million ISAT contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The companies are investigating concepts for lightweight, very large antennas that eventually could be incorporated into a Space-Based Radar platform to provide moving target indication from space.
NEW DELHI - A Nishant unmanned aerial vehicle produced by India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) crashed May 31 near the border with Pakistan while on a surveillance mission. The Indian army and air force have asked the ministry of defense for at least 100 UAVs to use in the high-altitude region.
A multi-agency exercise being conducted June 4 over the United States and Canada could lead to a simulated shoot-down of a hijacked aircraft, according to a NORAD spokesperson.
As the International Space Station's (ISS) Expedition Four crew awaits the end of its record six-month stay in orbit, NASA again has pushed back the flight that will bring their replacement crew.
