The Air Force has partnered with the Navy and FAA to develop a miniaturized version of the arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) to prevent electrical arcing on fighter aircraft. Adapted from a product designed for use in the home, the device is designed to detect and prevent arcs caused by breaks in wire insulation, before that arcing can lead to a fire or other catastrophe (DAILY, April 9, 2001). Such breaks are prone to occur as wiring ages, or when it's improperly installed or maintained.
Kaman Corp. is acquiring Dayron, a maker of bomb fuzes, in a move to will broaden Kaman's opportunities in the field. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, is expected to be completed in the second quarter. Dayron, which will have 2002 revenues of about $16 million, will operate as a separate subsidiary in Kaman's aerospace segment. Dayron, a division of DSE Inc., a privately held company, makes a variety of fuzes, including the new Joint Programmable Fuze, which can be programmed in flight.
Although the Air Force plans eventually to use more advanced weapons on the MQ-9A Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle, the current plan is to start testing with the Hellfire missile, according to a service official.
In submitting a "best and final offer" to sell F-16s to Brazil, Lockheed Martin has knocked off approximately $59 million from its initial offer price of $909 million, according to sources and government documents. The U.S. government, in cooperation with Lockheed Martin, offered Brazil 12 F-16 C/D Block 50/52 aircraft and associated equipment. The total value of the original offer was approximately $909 million, while the new offer, according to a Pentagon official, is for approximately $850 million.
PREDATOR DOWN: An RQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashed at approximately 5:30 p.m. EDT May 17 in southern Pakistan while returning from a surveillance mission. No enemy fire was involved, according to the Pentagon. This is the fourth Predator to crash so far during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Software "instability" problems that have affected the F-22 Raptor since last year are not expected to delay the April 2003 start of operational testing, the phase that is supposed to pave the way for full-rate production of the Lockheed Martin-made fighter aircraft, according to the Air Force. "While not optimal, [software stability] is an expected part of the development process," the Air Force wrote in a statement responding to questions. "This issue is the top priority for our avionics team; we don't anticipate this will be a long-term issue."
The Russian state commission established to investigate the May 12 collapse of Building 112 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan said May 20 that overloading was the main reason for the accident. Shortly before the collision, more than 10 tons of rolled asphalt roof coating was stored on the roof. In late April and early May Baikonur was hit by a minor earthquake and intensive wind and rain exposure, flooding the roof with rainwater.
Spending for defense systems related to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) is expected to rise only modestly over the next 10 years, according to industry and financial reports.
LONDON - Austria will meet its long-standing requirements for medium-range tactical transport aircraft by purchasing from the United Kingdom three surplus Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130K Hercules aircraft. A procurement agreement will be presented for signature in Vienna on Wednesday by Sym Taylor, the chief executive of the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency.
JSF BOOST: The Dutch are more likely to join the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program now that conservatives have won control of the Netherlands' government, according to Christopher Bolkcom, an aerospace analyst at the Congressional Research Service. Dutch conservatives are seen as much more eager to participate in JSF than the liberal-socialists they ousted from power in May 15 parliamentary elections. "I see all the cards stacked in favor of those in the Netherlands who want to participate in JSF," Bolkcom says.
IAV ON C-130: Contrary to media reports, the Army's Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) is transportable on a C-130 aircraft, according to Claude Bolton, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. "The vehicle does fit, very neatly, but tight, on a 130, and it's not overweight," Bolton says. According to some reports, the Stryker was 4,000 pounds over the 38,000-pound requirement. "The weight stuff that has been quoted in the media is the combat weight.
NEW DELHI - A Russian-French team has offered to develop an Indian variant prototype of MiG-AT trainer as per requirements laid down by the Indian air force (IAF). "A detailed presentation on the MIG-AT trainer has been given to the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshall Sriniwaspurman Krishnaswamy, and we have sought specific laid down requirements," said a senior executive of the MiG Russian Aircraft Corp.
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Air Force's command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR) planners want to give future joint commanders "instant pre-play" of battlefield scenarios, according to Maj. Gen. Robert F. Behler, head of C2ISR at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Instant pre-play would involve computer analysis of the battlespace, and prediction of the enemy's most likely course of action in response to a given tactic.
SUPPLEMENTAL HELICOPTERS: The House Appropriations Committee has increased defense spending in the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 supplemental request by $1.8 billion, including $93 million for three Boeing MH-47 Chinooks for U.S. Special Operations Command (DAILY, May 7). There is no guarantee the extra money would be spent, however, because the committee, in a move to appease conservative Republicans, added language giving President Bush the option not to spend the $1.8 billion.
The United States would agree to sell Chile Raytheon-built AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) should the government there request it, according to the head of the Pentagon's foreign military sales agency. "Should Chile ask, yes we would [sell AMRAAM]," Lt Gen. Tome Walters, the head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told The DAILY in a May 16 interview. Chile has not requested AMRAAM, although it recently signed a contract to purchase 10 F-16 C/D aircraft capable of carrying the missiles (DAILY, Feb. 5).
ATTENTION, PLEASE: Positive and negative incentives may be the best way to get the senior executives of prime contractors to ensure performance on development contracts, says Air Force Secretary James Roche. Roche, who appeared at the recent Aerospace and Defense Finance Conference in New York, says he is considering ways to generate innovation and performance from prime contractors. "In this situation where we face duopolies, we somehow have to get the attention of the senior executives of each member of the duopoly," he says.
NO ARMS: The Air Force will not arm the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Boone, who oversees the program. That decision is final for now, he adds. The main reason for keeping the Global Hawk as a pure reconnaissance vehicle is to ensure basing rights. "The U-2 for years has enjoyed a bit of access to friends and quasi-friends because it's not a combat asset," he says. Some countries don't want combat vehicles stationed within their borders but perceive reconnaissance aircraft as less threatening, he says.
NO CAP: The proposed cap to the RAH-66 Comanche program included in the defense authorization bill earlier this month by the House Armed Services Committee probably won't be in the final bill, speculates Chuck Allen, Boeing's program manager for the Army helicopter program. The House version of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill puts a $6 billion cap on the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase for the Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter program.
LAUNCH SET: NASA has confirmed May 30 as the launch date for shuttle mission STS-111 to the International Space Station. The crew of the Shuttle Endeavour will deliver the station's Expedition Five crew, Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev, who will begin their four-month stay aboard. Endeavour crewmembers also will perform station construction work, including attaching a mobile base station to enable the robotic arm to move along a railway on the station's truss, and replacing a faulty joint on the arm.
UP FOR REVIEW: The Army's Crusader artillery system isn't the only big-ticket weapon system being reviewed, says Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense. The Department of Defense announced it wants to cancel the Crusader, but Wolfowitz says other programs also are facing scrutiny, including the V-22 Osprey, the F-22 Raptor and "several" helicopter programs. Wolfowitz says the programs are "good things ... but when you make projections out to FY '08, '09 ... you start to see that we aren't going to be able to afford them all.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army successfully tested the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket at White Sands Missile Range May 16, marking the system's final engineering and development test (EDT). After launch from an MLRS M270 launcher, the GPS-guided rocket flew more than 73 kilometers to its target and successfully dispensed its submunitions, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
The cost of Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle may have gone up, but replacing it with another surveillance aircraft and a corresponding sensor package would be even more expensive, company Chairman and CEO Kent Kresa said. Speaking at the Aerospace and Defense Finance Conference in New York last week, Kresa acknowledged that the cost of manufacturing the sophisticated sensor package for the aircraft is driving up the overall cost.
May 20 - 24 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents 2002 Global Demilitarization Symposium & Exhibition, Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, KY. For more information contact Christina Buck at (703) 247-9478. May 20 - 22 -- The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presents the 1st AIAA Unmanned Aerospace Vehicles, Systems, Technologies and Operations Conference and Workshop - Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center, Portsmouth, VA. For more information visit the Calendar of Events at http://www.aiaa.org.
