Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.'s win of an Air Force contract for up to 20 Gulfstream V and V-SP business jets and 10 years of logistics support, potentially worth $1.6 billion, bolsters the company's belief that the planes are seen by the U.S. government as being suitable for a variety of duties.
OVER-PROGRAMMED: The proliferation of weapons programs over the last decade has resulted in an "over-programmed" defense budget, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Christopher Mecray.
Senior Army officials told lawmakers March 14 that the latest round of RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program restructuring should eliminate most of the problems that plagued it in the past. "I think there are going to be major changes associated with this restructuring," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who appeared before the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee along with Army Secretary Thomas White.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, tactical aviation and a third DDG-51 guided-missile destroyer could get more funding if a bipartisan group of House members succeeds in divvying up a $10 billion fund that the Bush Administration wants to set aside as a war reserve in the fiscal 2003 defense budget, members of the group said at a press conference March 14.
The AE 2100D2 engines that Rolls-Royce will supply for the Greek government's C-27J Spartan aircraft are derivatives of those installed in Lockheed Martin's C-130J.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden's nomination to be NASA's deputy administrator was withdrawn after the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee raised questions about having an active duty officer, up for a third star, in that spot.
The Boeing Co. picked Smiths Aerospace to supply the hose-and-drogue refueling system for its 767 Global Tanker Transport aircraft. Smiths, which already provides the mission control system for the tanker/transport, will use capabilities for several of its operations, according to the company.
The Dec. 3 "friendly fire" incident that resulted in the death of three American Special Forces soldiers and five Afghan fighters probably was the result of the forward air controller accidentally sending his own coordinates to the U.S. aircraft, according to a Department of Defense official. That incident probably could have been avoided had the forward air controller's rangefinding system been hooked to a computer, Col. Barry Ford, the chief of staff at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, told reporters March 14.
Britain's ground-based air defenses will receive an upgrade under a new program announced March 14 by the Ministry of Defence. Six companies are being invited to tender for an off-the-shelf Air Defense Command and Control System (ADCCS), to match what the MOD describes as "the emerging air threat expected to develop over the next 10-20 years."
The March 13 decision by the TRW board of directors to reject the stock exchange offer by Northrop Grumman Corp. significantly reduces the likelihood of a future deal between the two companies, according to Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown analyst Christopher Mecray.
The Defense Department's Missile Defense Support Group (MDSG) and MDSG Working Group held a joint meeting March 8 to kick off their role as new overseers of DOD missile defense programs, according to Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics E.C. "Pete" Aldridge.
In an effort to sell the west on their requests for NATO membership, the Baltic countries are increasing defense spending and buying modern military equipment, according to the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
ROCKET CONTRACT: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will continue to produce propellant used in MK90 motors for the Hydra-70 rocket system under a $30 million contract from General Dynamics Ordnance Systems. The Hydra-70 is the most widely used helicopter weapon system, according to ATK. The rockets are fired from U.S. Army Apache and U.S. Marine Corps Cobra helicopters, as well as U.S. Air Force F-16s and the combat aircraft of 15 other nations.
The following charts are from a presentation to the House Science Committee's subcommittee on space and aeronautics by Richard Golaszewski, the executive vice president of GRA Inc. Golaszewski was a member of a March 7 panel and testified that declining research and development investments jeopardize the U.S. position in the world commercial aviation market (DAILY, March 8).
DERCO BUY: Sikorsky Aircraft plans to buy Derco Holding Ltd., including its aerospace and repair services units, Sikorsky parent company United Technologies Corp. announced March 14. The transaction is expected to close in April, pending regulatory approval.
A new Department of Defense (DOD) initiative under the leadership of Ronald Sega, director of defense research and engineering (DDR&E), is working to coordinate military efforts in hypersonics, access to space, and advanced space technology. Dubbed the "National Aerospace Initiative," it will include participation from NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), other government agencies, the intelligence community, and industry.
After a successful round of troubleshooting, flight controllers for NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey mission have re-established contact with the spacecraft's radiation measurement instrument and begun gathering data with it. Contact with MARIE (Mars Radiation Environment Experiment) was lost last August while the spacecraft was en route to the red planet, and early attempts to troubleshoot the problem were unsuccessful.
PANAMSAT Corp. of Wilton, Conn., has reached a 10-year, multi-transponder sales agreement with Television&Radio Broadcasting Services (TARBS), an Australian broadcaster, to launch a new direct-to-home television platform in the United States. Under the agreement, TARBS will use PanAmSat satellites for direct-to-home and other services in the Asia Pacific region, and will broadcast more than 50 channels of multicultural television programming in the U.S. over the Galaxy XR North American satellite.
VIASAT SATELLITE GROUND SYSTEMS of Norcross, Ga., will provide four mobile S-band tracking and telemetry/UHF-band command destruct integrated antenna systems under a contract from Honeywell Space Systems of Clearwater, Fla., worth more than $3 million. The antennas are for the Range Safety System for the Alaska Aerospace Development Corp.'s Kodiak Launch Complex, which launches commercial and military vehicles.
On the day he was to have appeared before a Senate committee for his confirmation hearing to be NASA's deputy administrator, NASA announced that Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden's name was withdrawn by the White House. "We are disappointed that Gen. Bolden isn't able to join NASA at this time. His impeccable credentials as an astronaut and military aviator made him an excellent selection," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said in a statement.
LORAL CYBERSTAR of Rockville, Md., has signed an agreement with Net4India to provide Internet services. Net4India has become a value-added reseller of Cyberstar's WorldCast Fast Internet service, which provides high-speed Internet connections and other web-based services to local area networks throughout India. WorldCast Fast Internet allows a range of connection speeds and satellite links.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) could develop a satellite to aid with telemedicine, depending on how a new telemedicine project progresses, according to ISRO Chairman K. Kasturirangan. Kasturirangan made his remarks at the inauguration of the Apollo-Sriharikota telemedicine project, which connects India's Apollo hospitals and the ISRO Hospital at Sriharikota using an INSAT satellite.
The Defense Department is considering several alternatives to the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey in case the tiltrotor transport aircraft program has to be canceled, but it has no intention of restarting production of the B-2 bomber, the Pentagon's acquisition chief said March 13.
