The TRW board of directors voted to reject the most recent stock exchange offer proposed by Northrop Grumman Corp. In an April 17 statement, TRW officials called the new offer "financially inadequate" and said the board would recommend that TRW shareholders not tender their shares.
The Missile Defense Agency plans to give its Space Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS-Low) an infusion of fiscal 2002 funds to support a newly devised restructuring of the program, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, the director of MDA, said April 17. Kadish, who testified at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, did not say how much money will be reprogrammed to SBIRS-Low, but an MDA spokesperson told The DAILY the amount, which requires congressional approval, will be $13 million.
Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) blasted NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe during his first appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee April 17, calling O'Keefe's human spaceflight plans "timid and anemic," and criticizing his handling of the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) program.
NEW DELHI - India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program, already six years behind schedule, will be delayed further by complications with the LCA's second technology demonstrator, TD2. A senior defense scientist working on the LCA project told The DAILY that there are problems with the TD2's flight software, which is not complete.
The TRW board of directors voted to reject the most recent stock exchange offer proposed by Northrop Grumman Corp. In an April 17 statement, TRW officials called the new offer "financially inadequate" and said the board would recommend that TRW shareholders not tender their shares.
FALCON CONTRACT: Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide engineering services and technical support for the F-16's fire control radar under a $487 million Air Force contract. The work will cover the U.S. Air Force and 16 other air forces through Foreign Military Sales, according to the company.
Beginning as early as June of 2003, the Defense Department will boost the signal of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites by 10 decibels, according to John Stenbit, the assistant secretary of defense for command, control and communications. The signal boost, which would be for satellites not yet launched, will help counter attempts to jam the GPS signals, a source of increasing concern for the U.S. military as forces have become more dependent on GPS.
India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program, already six years behind schedule, will be delayed further by complications with the LCA's second technology demonstrator, TD2. A senior defense scientist working on the LCA project told The DAILY that there are problems with the TD2's flight software, which is not complete.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) predicted April 16 that Senate Democrats will try to slash the Bush Administration's $7.8 billion fiscal 2003 budget request for missile defense and impose constraints on anti-missile testing. Kyl, a leading congressional advocate of missile defense, said the proposed cuts could total at least $1 billion. He expects the testing limits will be aimed at trying to adhere as much as possible to the missile defense restrictions of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, despite the treaty's demise.
Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. (GAMECO) of China signed a general term agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) to cooperate in retrofitting winglet systems on Boeing aircraft. According to the agreement, APB will provide the retrofit kits and GAMECO will perform the modification and installation of blended winglets on Boeing aircraft for their customer airlines. GAMECO is the first MRO designated by Boeing in China to perform the task.
COBB CONFIRMED: The Senate recently confirmed Robert Cobb as NASA's inspector general. Cobb has been associate counsel to President Bush, who nominated Cobb for the NASA post in February. Cobb will replace Roberta Gross, who was IG from 1995 until March 2002.
DOD releases summary table for Selected Acquisition Reports The Department of Defense recently released its quarterly Selected Acquisition Reports, which showed that major DOD programs showed a net increase of about $133 billion, or 18 percent (DAILY, April 15). The following table is abstracted from a table released by the Department of Defense which summarizes SAR changes. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SELECTED ACQUISITION REPORTS (SARS) DECEMBER 31, 2001 REPORTING PERIOD
U.S. efforts to enlist the Netherlands in the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program have been complicated by the collapse of the Dutch government. The Dutch parliament had been expected to vote April 16 to approve a cabinet recommendation to join the program. Before the parliament could act that day, the cabinet resigned over allegations that Dutch peacekeeping troops failed to prevent a 1995 massacre in the Bosnian war.
INVESTMENT: China plans to invest 3 billion yuan ($361 million) a year over the next five years to further implement the country's high technology plan, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced April 11. China is welcoming foreign scientists, including those from the European Union, to participate in joint research in information technology, biology, the environment and other fields. The plan, called the "863 Program," was initiated in March 1986 to reinforce China's economic and defense competitiveness. It now has been opened to foreign scientists.
Shuttle Atlantis astronauts installed a 14-foot beam and five handrails, to help future spacewalkers move about outside the station, during the last spacewalk of the STS-110 mission on April 16. Astronauts Jerry Ross and Lee Morin also were to install halogen work lights on the Unity module and the U.S. laboratory Destiny. Astronauts earlier had trouble with the station's new Mobile Transporter (MT), which NASA describes as "the first railroad in space." It eventually will help move the station's robotic arm along its new truss.
Despite modest gains from sales of military avionics and communications equipment, avionics maker Rockwell Collins posted a six percent drop in income for the second quarter of fiscal year 2002, company officials said April 16. Second-quarter income for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company fell from $62 million in the second quarter of last year to $58 million, while overall sales fell from $690 million a year ago to $608 million this quarter.
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems Sector is poised for solid growth due to the diversity of its product line and a projected worldwide spending increase on advanced electronic systems, according to analysts. "The group can control its future if it can continue to produce superior products and systems with a focus on providing complete customer support and satisfaction," says a Deutsche Bank Securities report on the sector, written by senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray.
NASA's renewed Teacher in Space program will feature "educator mission specialists" to interest students in space and help replenish NASA's workforce, Administrator Sean O'Keefe said April 16 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In his first major public address on the future of the agency April 12, O'Keefe announced that Astronaut Barbara Morgan would fly as the first educator mission specialist on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) sometime after the station's core elements are complete in 2004 (DAILY, April 15).
Despite modest gains from sales of military avionics and communications equipment, avionics maker Rockwell Collins posted a six percent drop in income for the second quarter of fiscal year 2002, company officials said April 16. Second-quarter income for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company fell from $62 million in the second quarter of last year to $58 million, while overall sales fell from $690 million a year ago to $608 million this quarter.
Shuttle Atlantis astronauts installed a 14-foot beam and five handrails, to help future spacewalkers move about outside the station, during the last spacewalk of the STS-110 mission on April 16. Astronauts Jerry Ross and Lee Morin also were to install halogen work lights on the Unity module and the U.S. laboratory Destiny. Astronauts earlier had trouble with the station's new Mobile Transporter (MT), which NASA describes as "the first railroad in space." It eventually will help move the station's robotic arm along its new truss.
