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.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee questioned U.S. Army officials Jan. 28 about whether the military is taking aggressive enough steps to equip troop vehicles to sustain explosions from detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
AEROASTRO, Ashburn, Va. Patricia Davis has been appointed vice president of programs. Lt. Col. Thomas E. Maultsby (USAF, ret.) has been appointed to the board of directors. AVICA U.S., Simi Valley, Calif. David Schmidt has been named vice president and general manager. BOUNDARY LAYER RESEARCH, Everett, Wash. Mike Carpenter has been named general aviation fixed wing manager. Tim Sestak has been appointed military program manager. EADS NORTH AMERICA, Washington
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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).
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.
The U.S. Department of Defense has selected 29 new projects and 26 continuing projects to receive fiscal 2004 funding under the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program, DOD announced Jan. 23.
Sales of U.S. and European military fighter aircraft and related logistic support most likely will be flat over the next decade, but sales could increase as development programs ramp up in the coming three to five years, according to Byron Callan, an aerospace and defense analyst at Merrill Lynch. U.S. and European fighter aircraft programs may come under more scrutiny as military threats and their affordability are reassessed, Callan wrote in his Jan. 23 "World Combat Aircraft Survey."
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.
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.
A program led by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Propulsion Directorate is developing technologies to one day enable new upper-stage rocket engines that would succeed Pratt & Whitney's RL10. Teams led by Aerojet and Northrop Grumman are competing in the nine-month first phase of the effort, dubbed the Upper Stage Engine Technology (USET) program. In this phase, the companies are developing software and modeling tools for the turbopump and thrust chamber assembly of the engine, which would be in the 40,000-pound thrust class.
