PRATT & WHITNEY MARINE SYSTEMS will supply gas turbine propulsion systems for the Norwegian navy under a four-year, $40 million contract. The systems will be used in six Skjold-class Fast Patrol Boats. The contract marks "a strategic return" to the marine market for Pratt & Whitney, the company said. Each system will include two ST18M m and two ST40M marine gas turbines. The engines are derived from Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW100 and PW150A aviation turboprops. The Skjold ships will be built between 2004 and 2007 by Umoe Mandal.
CMC Electronics, an Illinois-based supplier of avionics components, has new products for military aircraft cockpits designed to decrease costs, save time and make pilots lives easier, according to Robert Atac, vice president of CMC military aviation. These products include an "Integrated Weapon Delivery System" (IWDS) that integrates aircraft weapons functions into one box, "Cockpit 4000," which combines all avionics into one piece of equipment, and "Fiberlamp," which produces laser-strength light for head up displays (HUD).
PRAGUE - Boeing is coming under increasing pressure from Czech officials to come up with a solution for rescuing ailing aircraft producer Aero Vodochody. Boeing, which has held a 35.3 percent share in state-owned Aero since 1998 through its Czech wing Boeing Ceska, is being criticized by various government ministries for allegedly failing to do enough to help Aero sell its L-159 aircraft as the company labors under serious financial difficulties.
The United Kingdom plans to spend 4 million pounds ($7.2 million) on the new Missile Defense Center in the first year of its operation, 1 million pounds ($1.8 million) less than the government had indicated it would spend.
NEW DELHI - India and Russia failed to conclude a long-pending deal for India to lease four Tupolev Tu-22 "Backfire" bombers from Russia during the visit here of Russia's defense minister. An Indian defense ministry official said the lease was discussed during Sergei Ivanov's visit (DAILY, Jan. 21), but no agreement was reached. India and Russia have been discussing the lease for five years. India wants to lease the aircraft for $20 million each for five years, but Russia is seeking $30 million for each aircraft, sources said.
RESULTS: General Dynamics reported 2003 fourth-quarter revenues of $4.8 billion, a 23 percent increase over last year, the company said Jan. 21. Sales for the full year were $16.6 billion, up from $13.8 billion for 2002, a 20 percent increase. "We finished 2003 on an exceptional note," CEO Nicholas D. Chabraja said.
The Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor and the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could have trouble sticking to their testing schedules, according to a new report by the office of the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E). The F/A-22 is slated to begin initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in March, but that may not give the Air Force enough time to fix any problems that arise in the preceding test phase, the report says.
Impressed with preliminary results, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) is likely to provide additional funding to expand a U.S. Defense Department-sponsored case study on the value of network-centric operations among U.S. and U.K. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the consulting company performing the study.
Analysis of data from the first Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landing has revealed that the spacecraft came perilously close to disaster when it descended into Mars' atmosphere on Jan. 3, according to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
The U.S. Air Force's vice chief of staff is downplaying prospects for building a hypersonic space bomber, saying the technology is unlikely to be ready for quite some time.
MOTOR CONTROLS: DRS Technologies Inc. will design and produce motor controls, propulsion systems and power distribution equipment for next-generation U.S. Navy submarines and surface ships and legacy shipboard applications under new contracts. The contracts have a combined value of about $15.2 million and were awarded by Navy shipyards and prime defense contractors, the company said Jan. 20.
CLAIM FILED: Spacehab Inc. has filed an $87.7 million claim against NASA for the value of its Research Double Module and related equipment, which was destroyed in the shuttle Columbia accident last year. The company filed an $87 million claim last year but has increased it, and said Jan. 20 that talks with NASA on a settlement are underway
In its first interim report, the Stafford-Covey Return-to-Flight Task Group says NASA has made "uneven" progress so far in implementing the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB).
BAE Systems Platform Solutions will provide flight controls, mission subsystems and other electronic subsystems for U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft under a four-year, $110 million contract from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, the company said Jan. 20. The contract will support the U.S. Air Force's order for 60 C-17s, BAE Systems said. The company will provide the electronic flight control subsystem, the mission and display processing subsystem, the loadmaster and cargo delivery subsystem and the vehicle management utilities subsystem.
With servicing visits by the space shuttle canceled, NASA projects the Hubble Space Telescope probably will be unable to make useful science observations by 2007-2008. The agency is planning to de-orbit the observatory using an unmanned tug that will guide it to a controlled re-entry.
The U.S. Air Force wants to launch the first Space Based Radar system by 2012, and the whole SBR system to be fully operational by 2020, according to the SBR request for proposals. The RFP, released Jan. 16, initiates the source selection process for SBR. It calls for award of two competitive contracts for concept development. Proposals are due March 1, and contracts will be awarded April 30.
Defense departments are emphasizing jamming technology over countermeasures, which will result in a slight decrease in the funding of key electronic warfare (EW) systems in the next 10 years compared with what was predicted last year, according to an aerospace and defense analyst.
A U.S. Air Force review of the service's bomber modernization plans is slated to produce a set of recommendations "in a matter of weeks," an Air Force official said Jan. 20. The Air Force convened a "long-range strike summit" on Dec. 12 to synthesize findings from various past studies on current and future bomber fleets, said Brig. Gen. Stephen Goldfein, director of operational capability requirements for the Air Force. Air Force staffers are working to put the summit's conclusions in a form that can be presented to the service's leadership within weeks.
Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), winner of Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses, opposes the Bush Administration's plans for deploying a ground-based system to defend against long-range ballistic missiles, according to a recent survey of Democratic presidential candidates.
