DRS Technologies plans to enter the market for unmanned aerial vehicles with its purchase of a UAV business from Meggitt Defense Systems-Texas, Inc. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but DRS chairman, president and CEO Mark Newman said in a statement that "the acquisition of this small UAV business positions DRS in the growing UAV market supporting special military operations and civil applications."
RIDLEY PARK, Pa. - When the V-22 Osprey takes to the air again next month, the event will be treated as if it were the first flight of a new aircraft, according to Chief Test Pilot Tom MacDonald. "That makes us go through a much more detailed planning process and approval process," MacDonald said. "By doing it that way ... we're being incredibly safe and conservative. It'll be a simple flight."
JDAM TEST: Boeing's 500-pound MK-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition has been successfully flight tested at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Boeing announced April 26. The Air Force launched the MK-82 from an F-16 six miles from its target and at 20,000 feet. The JDAM flew to the target and made a direct hit, according to Boeing. The engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the 500-pound JDAM began in September 2000.
AIRCRAFT SHORTAGE: U.S. Pacific Command needs more refueling and transport aircraft and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to meet operational demands, according to Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet and President Bush's nominee to head Pacific Command. Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, the current head of Pacific Command, made similar comments in March (DAILY, March 6).
JSF DELAY: The Dutch cabinet April 26 postponed a decision on whether to reaffirm its recommendation to parliament to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The delaying action follows two tie votes in the parliament on whether to reject the cabinet's recommendation.
TECHNOLOGY BOOST: France soon will launch a satellite carrying technology the country hopes will boost its competitiveness in space telecommunications. The 2.4 ton Telecommunications Satellite for New Technology Experiments in Orbit (STENTOR) is slated to launch in July from the Kourou launch center in French Guiana. The satellite carries a host of new technologies, according to the French Technology Press office, including an active antenna and advanced thermal control and plasma thrusters. The government decided to build the satellite in 1994.
STUMP RETIRES: House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Bob Stump (R-Ariz.) says he will not seek re-election to the House in November due to unspecified "serious health problems." Stump, 75, has led the HASC since January 2001. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the panel's No. 2 Republican in seniority, hopes to become the new chairman when Stump steps down at year's end. Hunter is "going to work hard to get it," a spokesman says. Another senior member of the committee, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who unsuccessfully ran for the chairmanship last year (DAILY, Jan.
PRAGUE - The Czech government remains confident it can push through a bill opening the door for the purchase of 24 Jas-39 Gripen fighters, despite suffering a serious setback in parliament, officials told The DAILY. Opponents of the 60 billion Czech crown ($1.8 billion) deal narrowly succeeded April 24 in sending the bill back to parliament's defense and security committee.
JDAM TEST: Boeing's 500-pound MK-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition has been successfully flight tested at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Boeing announced April 26. The Air Force launched the MK-82 from an F-16 six miles from its target and at 20,000 feet. The JDAM flew to the target and made a direct hit, according to Boeing. The engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the 500-pound JDAM began in September 2000.
SPECTRUM ASTRO of Gilbert, Ariz., has completed the pre-environmental review of the military's Coriolis spacecraft and is continuing environmental testing, according to the company. Space vehicle environmental testing includes electromagnetic compatibility, thermal balance and functional testing. So far, the vehicle has completed acoustic testing, random vibration testing and separation and deployment testing, according to Spectrum Astro.
COM DEV SPACE, a division of COM DEV International, announced it has booked more than $57 million worth of orders for its satellite communications products and subsystems since November 2001, including Surface Acoustic Wave devices, which process communications signals. The equipment, sold to major satellite manufacturers such as the Boeing Co., will be manufactured at the company's Canadian plant in Cambridge, Ontario, and at its European facility in Aylesbury, United Kingdom.
MOSCOW - Sukhoi Design Bureau won the tender for Russia's fifth-generation fighter April 26 after its bid was approved by the government's commission on military industry. The decision came in a closed meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov, and the result was announced by Iliya Klebanov, the minister of industry, science and technology. Sukhoi's team on the program will include MiG and the Yakovlev Design Bureau. MiG had presented its own design for the fighter.
LACK OF INTEGRATION: The on-orbit technical problems that developed last fall in several Boeing satellites were the result of systems integration failures, according to a senior Boeing executive. The company didn't pay enough attention to integrating new technology into the 601 series and 702 series satellites, originally built by Hughes Space and Communications, he says. "The [cause of] those anomalies was driven by one thing, it was lack of good systems engineering. It was great technology ...
F-22 NEEDED: The F-22 shouldn't be cast aside based on the future promise of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to Air Force Secretary Jim Roche. "Personally, I distinguish between something that's flying and passing all its key tests compared to a viewgraph that looks really cute," Roche says. "The systems work is just now beginning on the F-35. It's at this stage of the plane that the baby looks cute as can be, [but the] terrible twos are coming." Although the JSF will be a "very good plane," he says, "the F-22 is here now. It's time to produce it.
DRS Technologies plans to enter the market for unmanned aerial vehicles with its purchase of a UAV business from Meggitt Defense Systems-Texas, Inc. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but DRS chairman, president and CEO Mark Newman said in a statement that "the acquisition of this small UAV business positions DRS in the growing UAV market supporting special military operations and civil applications."
TECHSYS INC. of Florham Park, N.J., plans to commercialize portable fuel cell technology from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., for use in civil and defense applications. TechSys has an exclusive license on the development of micro-direct methanol fuel-cell technology, which it said could lead to portable fuel cells that could power electronic devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, camcorders for hours or even days.
TRUE TECH TRANSFER: The true mechanism through which American aerospace technology is being transferred overseas is our system of higher education, according to Joseph Rothenberg, former head of NASA's Office of Human Spaceflight. "I contend that [technology is] leaving the country through the education system," Rothenberg says. "There's a diminishing number of people graduating from universities ... in science and engineering who are staying in the country. There are a lot of international students ... and many of them now are returning to their home countries.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile successfully intercepted and destroyed an incoming tactical ballistic missile (TBM) target during an April 25 test, although a second PAC-3 failed to launch. The test was intended to be a simultaneous engagement using the first PAC-3 missile against a Patriot-as-a-Target (PAAT) TBM, and the second PAC-3 against a Storm II ballistic missile target. An investigation is underway to determine why the second missile didn't launch.
MISSILE THREAT: North Korea's development of ballistic missiles remains a "significant" threat to U.S. forces and allies on the peninsula, according to Army Lt. Gen. Leon LaPorte, President Bush's nominee to head the United Nations Command in South Korea. North Korea has more than 500 Scuds that can threaten the entire peninsula, and it continues to produce and deploy No Dong missiles capable of hitting Japan and U.S. bases there, LaPorte says.
JSF DELAY: The Dutch cabinet April 26 postponed a decision on whether to reaffirm its recommendation to parliament to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The delaying action follows two tie votes in the parliament on whether to reject the cabinet's recommendation.
STUMP RETIRES: House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Bob Stump (R-Ariz.) says he will not seek re-election to the House in November due to unspecified "serious health problems." Stump, 75, has led the HASC since January 2001. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the panel's No. 2 Republican in seniority, hopes to become the new chairman when Stump steps down at year's end. Hunter is "going to work hard to get it," a spokesman says. Another senior member of the committee, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who unsuccessfully ran for the chairmanship last year (DAILY, Jan.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile successfully intercepted and destroyed an incoming tactical ballistic missile (TBM) target during an April 25 test, although a second PAC-3 failed to launch. The test was intended to be a simultaneous engagement using the first PAC-3 missile against a Patriot-as-a-Target (PAAT) TBM, and the second PAC-3 against a Storm II ballistic missile target. An investigation is underway to determine why the second missile didn't launch.
Sukhoi Design Bureau won the tender for Russia's fifth-generation fighter April 26 after its bid was approved by the government's commission on military industry. The decision came in a closed meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov, and the result was announced by Iliya Klebanov, the minister of industry, science and technology. Sukhoi's team on the program will include MiG and the Yakovlev Design Bureau. MiG had presented its own design for the fighter.
FIRST LOOK: NASA plans to release the first images from the Hubble Space Telescope's newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys on April 30, according to the aerospace agency. The camera was installed by shuttle astronauts during mission STS-109 in March.
TECHNOLOGY BOOST: France soon will launch a satellite carrying technology the country hopes will boost its competitiveness in space telecommunications. The 2.4 ton Telecommunications Satellite for New Technology Experiments in Orbit (STENTOR) is slated to launch in July from the Kourou launch center in French Guiana. The satellite carries a host of new technologies, according to the French Technology Press office, including an active antenna and advanced thermal control and plasma thrusters. The government decided to build the satellite in 1994.
