President Bush has signed NASA's fiscal 2004 budget into law, the White House announced late Jan. 23. The FY '04 NASA appropriations measure, part of a multi-bill "omnibus" spending package, fully funds the Bush Administration's $3.97 billion request for the space shuttle but cuts $200 million from the $1.7 billion request for the International Space Station.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) plans to acquire California-based Mission Research Corp. (MRC), which the company said Jan. 28 will create an "advanced aerospace and defense technology pipeline" spanning concept development to production. Minnesota-based ATK builds precision weapons, propulsion systems, composite structures and other systems. MRC develops advanced technologies for national security and homeland defense requirements, including for directed energy, electro-optical and infrared sensors, specialized composites and other uses.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Defense and intelligence officials are competing to gain access to the capabilities of the U.S. Air Force's projected Space Based Radar, according to Brig. Gen. Robert P. Lennox, deputy commanding general for operations of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. "There are different interests and competing desires," Lennox said Jan. 28 in response to a question from the audience at a conference here.
The first Lockheed Martin C-130J built for the active-duty U.S. Air Force had its first flight Jan. 28, a company spokesman said. The transport aircraft took off in Marietta, Ga., where it was assembled, and returned after a successful flight of five hours and seven minutes, said Lockheed Martin spokesman Peter Simmons. "Everything checked out A-okay," Simmons told The DAILY.
It will be roughly three months before a new, streamlined Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) will go online, a Department of Defense official told The DAILY Jan. 27. Ronald A. Poussard, deputy director of DFARS, said the new system for contractors will streamline the process of updating regulations and guidelines that currently take months to change in print. "A change in a regulation doesn't just happen," Poussard said.
PARTNERS: FLIR Systems has agreed with Max-Viz to be the exclusive distributor of Max-Viz's Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) for use in military and government helicopters worldwide, the companies said Jan. 27. The systems offer "an effective solution to improve visibility in difficult environments," FLIR Senior Vice President Andrew Teich said.
The new Joint Capabilities Integration Development System (JCIDS) regulation still is a work in progress, but mostly is successful in improving the defense acquisition process, according to Col. Hugo Keyner, chief of the Joint Staff's Capabilities and Acquisition Division. Keyner spoke Jan. 27 at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA) Defense Acquisition 2004 conference in Arlington, Va.
NASA is on track to return the shuttle fleet to space this fall, but it plans to revamp the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), which had aimed to keep the shuttle flying until 2015 or beyond. President Bush has called for a space exploration program that would end the shuttle's service around 2010, so "clearly the president's vision will have an impact on that [SLEP]," said Michael Kostelnik, the agency's deputy associate administrator for the shuttle and International Space Station.
THE X-PRIZE FOUNDATION of St. Louis has selected Florida and New Mexico as finalists in the bid to host the X Prize Cup, a planned two-week-long annual event that would help space companies continue their efforts to build reusable launch vehicles. California and Oklahoma also had competed to host the venue, but "the winners received unanimous endorsements from the selection committee," X Prize Chairman Peter H. Diamandis said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin Corp. reported net sales of $31.8 billion in 2003, a record amount that is 20 percent higher than 2002 results. The company booked more than $38 billion in orders in 2003 and ended the year with a $76.9 billion backlog, the company said Jan. 27. Net earnings for the year were $1.1 billion, compared with $500 million in 2002. Those earnings were reduced by investments in space imaging and telecommunications (DAILY, Jan. 27, 2003).
Northrop Grumman has won a $115 million contract to develop its Fire Scout unmanned aerial system for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), the company said Jan. 27. As had been predicted (DAILY, Nov. 18, 2003), the vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, already under development for the Navy, will be an element of the Army's tactical intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting architecture, according to Northrop Grumman. As such, the company said, it will provide real-time imagery and data collection and dissemination at the brigade level.
United Defense Industries, Inc. reported financial increases last year compared with 2002, citing its involvement in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), and increased ship activities as the reason. For the fourth quarter of 2003, the company reported a net income of $28.8 million. Net income for the full year 2003 was $140.6 million, compared with $134.6 million for 2002, the company said in a Jan. 27 statement.
The Boeing Co. is exploring new versions of its Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), including a variant that would go after laser-designated targets, company representatives said Jan. 27.
SI INTERNATIONAL has completed the purchase of MATCOM INTERNATIONAL CORP. for $65.8 million in cash. SI International is an information technology, network solutions and systems engineering company and MATCOM provides information technology, systems engineering, logistics and training. The acquisition will help SI's plan to expand into new markets and offer more capabilities to the federal government, the company said. MATCOM clients include the U.S. Department of Defense, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program has successfully conducted its first system-level test using a new interceptor booster made by Orbital Sciences Corp., according to MDA.
The choice of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) over Boeing in the United Kingdom's $23 billion, 27-year tanker program may prompt EADS to compete with Boeing for the U.S. Air Force's tanker requirement, one analyst said Jan. 26. The idea of the U.S. Air Force leasing Boeing 767 tankers is "definitely off the table" now and a competition with EADS seems likely, said Robbin Laird of International Communications and Strategic Assessments, Arlington, Va.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Czech defense officials say talks with Sweden over the lease of 14 Gripen JAS-39 aircraft will not be affected by news that the Swedish air force is facing technical problems with the fighter. Swedish public radio reported Jan. 23 that early versions of the JAS-39 have experienced problems with pilot computer screens shutting down during flights. The Swedish air force has placed restrictions on advanced training flights during darkness and bad weather until manufacturer Saab Aerosystems resolves the issue.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) "Opportunity" landed safely on Mars and is functioning normally, while the condition of its twin, "Spirit," has improved as engineers zero in on the problem that has rendered it incapable of normal communications since last week, according to NASA.
The Bush Administration's fiscal 2005 defense budget request will include funding aimed at achieving better integration of intelligence capabilities, according to the Defense Department. Defense officials have said that the Iraq war showed the U.S. military still has significant shortfalls in its ability to share vital information (DAILY, Sept. 12, 2003; Nov. 24, 2003).
DISPLAY: India displayed its short-range Agni-1 missile at the 55th Republic Day parade here Jan. 26, which a defense official said indicates that the nuclear-capable missile has been inducted into the Indian army. The 700-kilometer (435-mile) range missile fills the gap between the 150-kilometer (93-mile) range Prithvi and the 2000-kilometer (1,243-mile) range Agni-2, and can be launched from mobile launchers. The Agni-1 was designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and produced by Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
MOSCOW - Kazakhstan has revealed plans for its own small launch system, Ishim, following the announcement of a joint project with Russia's Khrunichev Center to provide Angara commercial launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (DAILY, Jan. 12). In a government meeting Jan. 23, Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov said his country could compete in the civilian small satellite launch market.
