A test explosion of the Defense Department's thermobaric weapon demonstrated that the deep-penetrating fuel air explosive was "extremely successful," according to the Air Force. Undersecretary of Defense E.C. "Pete" Aldridge announced Dec. 22 that the thermobaric weapon, which had been accelerated following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York, was being sent to the theater of operations for possible use against targets in Afghanistan (DAILY, Jan. 2).
Although unmanned aerial vehicles have demonstrated significant advances during the U.S. war on terrorism, they still have difficulty communicating with each other, which is why Congress has approved the creation of a joint UAV test bed aimed at improving interoperability, according to a congressional source.
A joint venture between ATK Thiokol Propulsion Co. and Pratt&Whitney Space and Missile Propulsion will refurbish and remanufacture solid propulsion stages for the Minuteman ICBM system under a $191 million contract from TRW Inc. The work is for the U.S. Air Force Minuteman ICBM System Propulsion Replacement Program, according to ATK. ATK will get about 60 percent of the total contract value for its role as the joint venture lead contractor, the company announced Jan. 8.
Aerospace and defense analysts with Fitch Inc., the international ratings company, raised the senior secured credit rating of United Defense Industries Inc. in a report released Jan. 7. Analysts raised the company's senior unsecured rating from "BB-" to "BB" following UDI's repayment of nearly $163 million of senior unsecured debt. The company repaid the debt after raising more than $400 million through its initial public offering in December. The ratings outlook is positive, according to Fitch.
A test explosion of the Defense Department's thermobaric weapon demonstrated that the deep-penetrating fuel air explosive was "extremely successful," according to the Air Force. Undersecretary of Defense E.C. "Pete" Aldridge announced Dec. 22 that the thermobaric weapon, which had been accelerated following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York, was being sent to the theater of operations for possible use against targets in Afghanistan (DAILY, Jan. 2).
Aerospace and defense analysts with Fitch Inc., the international ratings company, raised the senior secured credit rating of United Defense Industries Inc. in a report released Jan. 7. Analysts raised the company's senior unsecured rating from "BB-" to "BB" following UDI's repayment of nearly $163 million of senior unsecured debt. The company repaid the debt after raising more than $400 million through its initial public offering in December. The ratings outlook is positive, according to Fitch.
Presi-dent Bush signed the recess appointment of John Magaw to be undersecretary of transportation for security. Magaw is the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Secret Service.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered "ghostly" relics of an ancient eruption that tore through a cluster of galaxies millions of years ago, the aerospace agency announced Jan. 8. Chandra's images have revealed vast regions in the cluster Abell 2597 that contain virtually no X-ray or radio emission. Such areas, called "ghost cavities," appear to be the remnants of ancient explosions caused by material falling toward a black hole millions of times more massive than the Sun.
Congress cut the budget for the Army's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) program by $27 million, according to the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill, which Congress approved last month. Built by AAI Corp., the Shadow 200 TUAV is aimed at enabling Army tactical commanders to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and battle damage assessment to an objective range of 200 kilometers.
Congress cut the budget for the Army's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) program by $27 million, according to the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill, which Congress approved last month. Built by AAI Corp., the Shadow 200 TUAV is aimed at enabling Army tactical commanders to conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and battle damage assessment to an objective range of 200 kilometers.
L-3 Communications of New York announced Jan. 7 it has acquired SY Technology, Inc. in a $48 million deal the company said would broaden its capabilities in the missile defense market. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Calif., SY Technology specializes in building air warfare simulation, C4I architectures and missile defense and space systems technology for government, military and commercial customers.
Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center plans to undertake joint aerospace ventures with Venezuela, according to center Director General Alexander Medvedev. Venezuela's minister for science and technology, Carlos Genatios, visited Khrunichev's facilities and Medvedev visited Venezuela and met President Hugo Chavez, he told The DAILY in an interview about Khrunichev's plans for 2002.
The Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) have joined forces in the competition for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, a linkage of platforms and weapons that will be fielded as part of the service's Objective Force beginning in 2010. The two companies led separate teams that were competing with teams of Lockheed Martin-TRW and General Dynamics-Raytheon in Phase One of the FCS effort. The decision to merge the Boeing and SAIC teams was made last month, a Boeing spokeswoman said Jan. 8.
MAGAW APPOINTED: Presi-dent Bush signed the recess appointment of John Magaw to be undersecretary of transportation for security. Magaw is the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Secret Service.
MOSCOW - Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center plans to undertake joint aerospace ventures with Venezuela, according to center Director General Alexander Medvedev. Venezuela's minister for science and technology, Carlos Genatios, visited Khrunichev's facilities and Medvedev visited Venezuela and met President Hugo Chavez, he told The DAILY in an interview about Khrunichev's plans for 2002.
The Department of Defense has created a new office to guide DOD's frequency spectrum policy, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced recently. The new office will be at the deputy assistant secretary level, reporting to John Stenbit, the assistant secretary of defense for command, control and communications. This is the first time spectrum issues have been raised to the deputy assistant secretary level, according to the Pentagon.
The Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is awaiting several important events and decisions in the coming weeks on international participation in the System Design and Development (SDD) phase. So far, the United Kingdom is the only country that has signed an agreement to participate. As a Level 1 partner, it will contribute about 8 percent, or $2 billion, of SDD costs and can place up to 10 people in the JSF program office.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered "ghostly" relics of an ancient eruption that tore through a cluster of galaxies millions of years ago, the aerospace agency announced Jan. 8. Chandra's images have revealed vast regions in the cluster Abell 2597 that contain virtually no X-ray or radio emission. Such areas, called "ghost cavities," appear to be the remnants of ancient explosions caused by material falling toward a black hole millions of times more massive than the Sun.
Deep views of the cosmos provided by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope may indicate that many stars in the universe formed just a few hundred million years after the big bang, much sooner than some previous theories speculated. Kenneth M. Lanzetta, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, studied deep views of the universe from the Hubble and concluded the stars were born in a "torrential firestorm," according to NASA.
A slight boost in funding appears likely for the Defense Department's Joint Robotics Pro-gram, according to report a released Jan. 7 by the research and consulting firm Forecast International Inc. The program, which is currently funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was created in 1990 to oversee the military's development of robotic surveillance equipment for use in hazardous environments.
The Dec. 30 crash of an Air Force Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during routine operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom shouldn't have any adverse effect on the program, according to some military analysts. John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said he believes the crash, while embarrassing, will "probably not" result in any programmatic changes. "I think that Global Hawk is basically early enough in the program that you would expect the problems that they have been having," Pike told The DAILY.
Private companies seeking to build arms and ammunition for the Indian military must be controlled by Indians, according to new government guidelines. India has followed up its decision to allow private participation in the defense industry by issuing guidelines aiming to ensure adequate security for arms and ammunition production. Domestic defense work was previously confined to government agencies. The provisions include retaining majority Indian shareholding in companies that have foreign investors, and controlling the sale of equipment.
NASA TOUR: New NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe begins a tour of agency field centers this week, stopping first at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., on Jan. 10. A visit to Houston's Johnson Space Center is slated for Jan. 17. O'Keefe plans to visit the agency's other field centers in coming weeks, according to NASA.
The ISTAR engine that could power NASA's X-43B hypersonic demonstrator by decade's end is actually three engines integrated into one, according to Project Manager Craig McArthur. "We're taking three propulsion systems - a rocket, a ramjet, and a scramjet - and we're coming up with one flowpath which answers the jobs for all three," said McArthur, who manages the ISTAR program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The recent decision by Lockheed Martin Corp. and TRW Inc. to stop funding the satellite service joint venture Astrolink International shows that big aerospace companies are rethinking their strategy of becoming satellite service providers, according to industry analysts.
