SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO of New York said it is accelerating its rollout plan for satellite radio service. Its Feb. 14 service launch began in Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Jackson, Miss., and the company plans to offer service to 39 states in the next 60 days. Nationwide service is planned for July 1. The company had earlier planned to introduce service on a city-by-city basis, with national service planned by Aug. 1.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said April 11 that his agency and the Department of Defense plan to collaborate on nuclear propulsion. He also said he has met with Air Force officials to discuss cooperation on reusable launch vehicles, and that resumes are being sifted for a new program executive officer for the International Space Station. O'Keefe said at a conference here that he has been talking with Ronald Sega, the director of defense research and engineering, about nuclear propulsion.
SPECTRUM ASTRO of Gilbert, Ariz., said tests have shown that its spacecraft subsystems are performing well on a recently launched satellite. The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) was launched in February and has been transmitting solar observation data to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Spectrum Astro built the spacecraft bus and seven major subsystems, including RHESSI's solar arrays, thermal control, attitude control and telecommunications.
RAYTHEON, Lexington, Mass. Daniel P. Burnham, chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon, was elected chairman of the board of directors of the National Minority Supplier Development Council.
The market for undersea warfare equipment will generate about $13.7 billion from 2002 to 2011, according to an April 9 report by Forecast International/DMS Inc. Customers will increase spending on UW products from $1.4 billion this year to $1.6 billion in 2003, according to the report, "The Undersea Warfare Market." However, sales will start to decline after 2003, according to senior naval analyst Stewart Slade, the report's author.
The Defense Department will probably have to offer European militaries some kind of offset arrangement if they agree to purchase a mix of C-17 and C-130J transports aircraft instead of developing the A400M, according to a U.S. aerospace industry expert. Joel Johnson, vice president of international affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association, said it would make "make good economic sense" for individual European militaries to purchase a mix of C-17 Globemasters and C-130J Hercules transports instead of developing the A400M.
NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson believes the U.S. military must put greater emphasis on developing interoperable systems if it expects to successfully fight as part of future military coalitions. "I hope the guys spending at the Pentagon will have a big poster on the wall that says, 'Interoperability,'" Robertson said at a press briefing for defense writers in Washington April 10. Without interoperable systems, "you could have coalitions of the willing, but the incapable," he said.
Three top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) have asked the General Accounting Office to scrutinize Air Force plans for a possible lease of Boeing 767 aerial refuelers. Among the matters they asked the GAO to examine is how a lease compares to other options in terms of cost.
LONDON - Malaysian defense minister Dato Sri'Mohd Najib Tun Razak has announced a 220 million pound ($312 million) order for MBDA Jernas surface-to-air missiles, which will allow the Malaysian army to form a new air defense regiment. The order was announced in Kuala Lumpur on April 10. Also known as Rapier FSC (Field Standard C), Jernas is an export version of earlier BAE Dynamics short-range mobile Rapier SAMs, previously operated by the Malaysian armed forces.
Three top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) have asked the General Accounting Office to scrutinize Air Force plans for a possible lease of Boeing 767 aerial refuelers. Among the matters they asked the GAO to examine is how a lease compares to other options in terms of cost.
The Defense Department will probably have to offer European militaries some kind of offset arrangement if they agree to purchase a mix of C-17 and C-130J transports aircraft instead of developing the A400M, according to a U.S. aerospace industry expert. Joel Johnson, vice president of international affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association, said it would make "make good economic sense" for individual European militaries to purchase a mix of C-17 Globemasters and C-130J Hercules transports instead of developing the A400M.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is facing "huge" challenges as it transforms itself to respond to homeland defense needs, according to the agency's director. Speaking at a symposium in Falls Church, Va. April 9, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jim Clapper (retired) said many of these challenges revolve around reorienting NIMA to a domestic focus.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Even as the Air Force builds its case to save the over-budget Space Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High), Peter Teets, the undersecretary of the Air Force for Space and head of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), is considering an alternative program.
NEW DELHI - India's sole military aircraft manufacturer, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), says it will produce 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters a year between 2004-2017, and the licensed production will cut the aircraft's cost. HAL Chairman Nalini Ranjan Mohanty told The DAILY April 11 that Su-30s built under the $4.6 billion program will cost about $22.5 million each, versus the current import price of about $37.5 million each.
The Boeing Co. has named its Australian subsidiary Hawker de Havilland as the latest member of its Sonic Cruiser development team, the company announced April 10. Hawker de Havilland will contribute its expertise in advanced materials, including composites, to the Sonic Cruiser, Boeing's proposed advanced airliner capable of flying at speeds up to Mach .98.
SHUTTLE DOCKED: Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 12:05 p.m. EDT April 10, making it the 13th shuttle mission to the station, according to NASA. Astronauts on the STS-110 mission will conduct four spacewalks to install a station truss segment and perform other tasks.
The U.S. Marine Corps has decided to join the Air Force in a multiyear procurement of Lockheed Martin C-130J-based aircraft. The Marine Corps plans to buy 24 KC-130J tankers, or four a year from FY '03 to FY '08, according to an April 4 memorandum to the Air Force from Paul Schneider, the Navy Department's principal deputy assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. The Marine Corps is buying KC-130Js to replace its aging KC-130s.
India's sole military aircraft manufacturer, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), says it will produce 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters a year between 2004-2017, and the licensed production will cut the aircraft's cost. HAL Chairman Nalini Ranjan Mohanty told The DAILY April 11 that Su-30s built under the $4.6 billion program will cost about $22.5 million each, versus the current import price of about $37.5 million each.
The Boeing Co. has named its Australian subsidiary Hawker de Havilland as the latest member of its Sonic Cruiser development team, the company announced April 10. Hawker de Havilland will contribute its expertise in advanced materials, including composites, to the Sonic Cruiser, Boeing's proposed advanced airliner capable of flying at speeds up to Mach .98.
Even as the Air Force builds its case to save the over-budget Space Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High), Peter Teets, the undersecretary of the Air Force for Space and head of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), is considering an alternative program.
SHUTTLE DOCKED: Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 12:05 p.m. EDT April 10, making it the 13th shuttle mission to the station, according to NASA. Astronauts on the STS-110 mission will conduct four spacewalks to install a station truss segment and perform other tasks.
