More powerful satellites, coupled with overcapacity, will create a wave of consolidations in the satellite industry over the next 10 years, a satellite industry analyst predicted March 5 at the Satellite 2002 Conference. Ed Cornet, vice president of Booz Allen and Hamilton, a management consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Va., said much of the sluggish growth in the satellite industry over the last few years can be attributed to advances in satellite technology and better use of the spectrum.
February 27, 2002 Lockheed Martin Corp., Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems, Manassas, Va., is being awarded a $15,118,152 modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to exercise an option for the procurement of 16 USQ-78(V) upgrade retrofit kits for the P-3C aircraft upgrade III. Work will be performed in Manassas and is to be completed by August 2004. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-00-C-0235).
The Defense Department's efforts to develop a missile shield for the U.S. deserve greater scrutiny in light of new reports by the General Accounting Office that show an early test was not as successful as the Pentagon claimed, according to lawmakers who requested the GAO studies.
Japanese aircraft operators imported aircraft, parts and equipment worth $1.79 billion in 2001, 26 percent less than the year before, according to the Ministry of Finance. That equipment made up .6 percent of the nation's total imports, according to the ministry. U.S.-built aircraft, parts and equipment made up 83.3 percent of the total, or $1.49 billion. That was 24.7 percent less than in 2000.
TESTING RESUMES: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has resumed flight testing its MH 2000 helicopter, although an investigation into the crash of a production prototype in November 2000 is continuing. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aircraft and Railway Accident Investigation Committee appears to be nearing the conclusion that insufficiently stiff tail rotor blades caused the crash. Mitsubishi has developed improved blades and is flying them on another prototype vehicle. The ministry is expected to certify the new blades soon.
Cleveland-based TRW Inc. advised its shareholders early March 4 not to act on the stock exchange proposed by Northrop Grumman Corp. until the company's board of directors could examine the offer in more detail. "Shareholders are urged to take no action at this time and await the recommendations of TRW's directors," senior officials said in a written statement. They said the board would make its recommendation by close of business March 15.
The Air Force's Sensorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle could be one of the first aircraft to incorporate active aeroelastic wing (AAW) technology, according to Ed Pendleton, AAW program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Sensorcraft is a projected UAV platform that would host a variety of active and passive sensors, targeted for the 2015-2020 timeframe (DAILY, Jan. 15).
The same day that that a special operations MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told reporters that the harsh environment in the area is proving difficult for helicopters. "This is like being out in the Rockies in the middle of winter," Myers told reporters at a March 4 briefing at the Pentagon. "Some of the helicopters are right up against their operational capabilities."
Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan replaced a solar array on the Hubble Space Telescope on March 4, completing the task during a seven-hour spacewalk. They replaced Hubble's starboard solar array with a smaller one that will provide more power and reduce the rate at which the telescope's orbit decays. The spacewalk was the first of five planned for the STS-109 shuttle mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Grunsfeld and Linnehan also installed the new array's electrical support components and did setup work for upcoming spacewalks.
Lockheed Martin is working under a new contract to develop a system that would protect ships from heat-seeking and optically guided missiles. The Shipboard Integrated Electro-optic Defense System, or SHIELDS, would use a laser to jam an anti-ship missile and cause it to veer off course, said John Wojnar, advanced programs business development director for Lockheed Martin's Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems unit in Akron, Ohio.
Industry reports at the Asian Aerospace air show here indicate aerospace company officials are not expecting an early decision on South Korea's long-standing $3.3 billion F-X next-generation multirole combat aircraft competition. Some estimates are that final F-X selection may now prove to be as late as 2004. For flight safety reasons, the South Korean air force has limited its evaluations to twin-turbofan fighters. The Boeing F-15K, Dassault Rafale Mk 2, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Sukhoi Su-30/35 were shortlisted for the competition (DAILY, Oct. 3, 2001).
A story in the March 4 DAILY on the Cobra Judy radar system incorrectly listed the companies awarded contracts as part of the analysis of alternatives for a replacement system. The companies awarded contracts were Raytheon, Boeing and Aeromet.
The telecommunications industry must grow before the current lull in satellite launches will abate, according to Clayton Mowry, president of Arianespace, Inc. and former executive director of the Satellite Industry Association. "We need to see some growth in the telecom market, and that's driven by content," Mowry told The DAILY. "If you get growth in the content - Internet, video, and high-definition TV, [etc.] - that'll drive demand for satellites, and in turn drive demand for bigger, more powerful spacecraft and larger launch vehicles."
February 25, 2002 Astronautics Corp. of America, Milwaukee is awarded a five-year requirements contract for $14,105,335. Funds will be determined on individual delivery orders. The contract is for a command instrument processor (CIP) CP-2036A for the UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter. A sole-source request for proposal was issued on August 29, 2001. Work will be accomplished in Milwaukee and will be completed by Feb. 14, 2007. The Communications and Electronics Command Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (DAAB07-02-D-B615).
The Senate Feb. 27 confirmed Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Lord to be the head of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Lord, who has been serving as assistant vice chief of staff for the Air Force in Washington, also received a promotion to general.
BOMB USED: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has confirmed the first use of the developmental thermobaric weapon, a deep-penetrating bomb. The new weapon, used over the weekend against suspected al Qaeda forces in eastern Afghanistan, was aimed at a "cave complex that we thought was tactically significant," Rumsfeld said March 4. The new penetrating warhead is designated the BLU-118B.
A report released by the General Accounting Office says a lack of data makes it impossible to determine whether the Defense Department is saving money by contracting with private companies for logistics support services. The report, entitled "Defense Logistics: Opportunities to Improve the Army's and the Navy's Decision-making Process for Weapons Systems Support," found that the Army and Navy retained documents justifying their choice of logistics contractor for only 11 of the 75 weapons systems reviewed.
Within the first few days of the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft's science mapping mission, project scientists have detected the likely presence of significant quantities of water ice in the red planet's southern hemisphere. The presence of the ice is indicated by high quantities of hydrogen detected by Odyssey's GRS (Gamma Ray Spectrometer) instrument, which was designed to search for 20 different chemical elements on the Martian surface.
WASTED BANDWIDTH: As concerns escalate over growing bandwidth consumption, military leaders are hoping industry will produce innovative solutions to improve bandwidth allocation. When the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle flies, it may eventually need around 278 MHz of bandwidth, says Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Wald, the deputy chief of staff for air and space operations."When [the Global Hawk] isn't flying, the bandwidth being reserved is going to waste," he says.
EXPORT CONTROLS: The Bush Administration "strongly opposes" a House bill that would update export controls on hot-section technology for aircraft engines and other "dual-use" items that have both civilian and military uses, according to recent congressional testimony by Administration officials.
