X-VEHICLE ADVOCATE: Walker says the U.S. should be doing more work on X-planes. He is particularly disappointed with the recent decision by the Air Force and NASA not to continue the X-33, which was intended to demonstrate a single-state-to-orbit launch capability (DAILY, March 2, Sept. 7). "There is a need for us to do some projects that have a fairly short time frame but are very, very risky, high-tech kinds of programs that may in the end never fly," Walker says.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s win in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition positions the company to dominate the fighter market beginning in 2008, as the Defense Department begins to replace aging A-10s, F-16s, early model Navy F/A-18s, and the Marine Corp's AV-8B. The final JSF production contract could be worth "in excess of $200 billion," said Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, speaking at the Pentagon Oct. 26.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has extended its offer for shares of Newport News Shipbuilding stock to Nov. 8, the company announced Oct. 26. The offer was previously set to expire Oct. 25. On Oct. 23, the Department of Defense announced that Northrop Grumman's bid would match a rival General Dynamics acquisition bid in terms of saving money, but would also "preserve competition (DAILY, Oct. 24)."
Mike Herbert, senior program development specialist, has been relocated to its office in Colorado Springs. David B. Smith has joined the company as its new program development specialist responsibile for the company's business development activities associated with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
HSAD PLAN: Contracts for the Navy's High Speed ARM Demonstration (HSAD) program are slated for award next March. The program, funded by the Office of Naval Research under the Future Naval Capabilities effort (DAILY, Oct. 19), is intended to demonstrate technologies that could meet the Navy's interest in increased range and speed - as well as internal carriage - of the AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, according to Naval Air Systems Command.
NANO-RELIABILITY: Nanotechnology could one day allow hypersonic engines to operate with a reliability comparable to commercial jet engines, according to Jim Taylor, lead program engineer for NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program. Nanotechnological fabrication offers the potential "to develop skins and structural components that are orders of magnitude lighter, with the same strength as what we have today," says Taylor.
Llyod B. Noseworthy has been appointed regional director, international business development for Canada, to lead the Ottawa office. Robert Keltz has been appointed regional sales executive responsible for the far east, based in Singapore.
FIRST HAWK: Northrop Grumman Corp. has delivered the first new production E-2C Hawkeye 2000 airborne early warning and control aircraft to the U.S. Navy, the company announced Oct. 25. It is the first of 21 planes being built for the Navy under a $1.4 billion contract.
The Air Force, winding up the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of a program intended to supply the services with more advanced infrared countermeasure flares, is asking interested companies to say how they might produce the devices.
Scientists will take the first picture of Mars from the new 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter on Oct. 28. The image, which will be taken with the spacecraft's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is expected to be a wide-angle view of Mars' southern hemisphere. The Odyssey orbiter successfully achieved orbit around Mars on Oct. 23 (DAILY, Oct. 25) and is now in an elliptical orbit of 18 hours and 36 minutes.
The Skeeter subsonic aerial target demonstrator crashed shortly after launch during its maiden flight at Tyndall Air Force in Florida earlier this month, as a result of an alignment problem in the aircraft's tail. After a successful launch, the unmanned vehicle quickly lost altitude, and was unable to recover before it hit the ground, according to Jeff Herro, Program Manager at Skeeter manufacturer Composite Engineering Inc (CEI).
Lean manufacturing techniques that have been honed and refined over years of designing and building tactical fighter aircraft will be used in the Joint Strike Fighter program, according to the companies competing to build it. Both Lockheed Martin Corp. and The Boeing Co. used lean manufacturing processes in developing their versions of the JSF.
HP Textron Operations, a division of Textron Systems, will produce rudder and aileron actuators for the Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet under a $30 million contract from The Boeing Co. The company's electro-hydraulic rudder and aileron actuators are key components of the digital fly-by-wire flight control system on the Super Hornet, according to the Santa Clarita, Calif.-based company. The contract calls for deliveries through 2005.
RAYTHEON CO. has won a $40.9 million follow-on contract for consolidated field service of the Air Force's fleet of U-2 aircraft. The award, the second of four possible contract options, calls for the company to provide worldwide equipment and maintenance support of the U-2's sensor payloads and ground stations. Specific services provided under the Contractor Field Service (CFS) program include pre-flight system checks, mission support during flight, post-mission problem analysis, new system installations and upgrades.
The Pentagon has cancelled plans to use the Aegis radar during ballistic missile defense tests, according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "On October 24th, an Aegis radar on a surface ship was scheduled to track a strategic ballistic-missile test target, which it did not do," said Rumsfeld during an Oct. 25 briefing at the Pentagon. "In a separate operation, the Aegis Radar was to have tracked a Titan II space-launch vehicle scheduled for launch November 14th."
The North American Aerospace Defense Command expects to receive funding in the coming months to buy communications equipment that will improve its ability to defend U.S. and Canadian airspace, according to NORAD's commander in chief, U.S. Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart. Testifying Oct. 25 at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on homeland security, Eberhart said NORAD could use more radios for F-15s. He also said NORAD needs to upgrade its command and control systems, which he described as "'70s and '80s technology."
Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) has received assurances from the Defense Department that the company that loses the competition to design and build the Joint Strike Fighter will become a major subcontractor for the winner, aides to the lawmaker told The DAILY Oct. 25.
The Department of Defense announced Oct. 25 that it is soliciting a broad set of proposals from U.S. industry and research institutions on ways to combat terrorism. A Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) issued Oct. 23 requests concepts and ideas that can be used to track and identify terrorists, countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction, technologies to detect difficult targets, and technologies for protracted operations in remote locations.
The Air Force's Space and Missiles Systems Center, anticipating the possibility that the Peacekeeper ICBM will be deactivated, is studying ways to use Peacekeeper motors and other components to launch satellites and suborbital payloads. If the force of 50 Peacekeepers is retired, as the Bush Administration has recommended, its components would become available to the Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP), the Air Force agency responsible for storage and launch of deactivated ICBM assets.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS (ATK) has signed a letter of intent to acquire the ammunition business of Blount International Inc., of Montgomery, Ala., in exchange for ATK stock, the aerospace company announced Oct. 25. ATK intends to issue about $250 million worth of stock to Blount, which manufactures small-caliber ammunition and other products. ATK, based in Edina, Minn., builds solid rocket motors, munitions, composite structures and other products.
Goodrich Corp. plans to eliminate about 2,400 aerospace and corporate jobs and close about 16 facilities, the company announced Oct. 25. The move to eliminate jobs and close facilities is expected to save $125 million when completed, most of which will be done in the first half of 2002. Company officials reported that Goodrich's earnings for the third quarter were up 25 percent, but they expect repercussions in their aviation work due to the market slowdown following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Merrimac Industries Inc. will develop and build radio frequency components and subsystems for the Global Positioning System Block IIF program, the company announced Oct. 25. The work will be done under a contract from Boeing's Navigation Systems Division that could be worth $1.2 million. The West Caldwell, N.J.-based company will provide high-power beam forming networks which will interface directly with the spacecraft antenna system.
The House Appropriations Committee Oct. 24 approved a fiscal 2002 defense spending bill that would restructure the Space Based Infrared System-Low (SBIRS-Low), slash funding for the DD-21 next-generation destroyer, and speed up deployment of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) theater missile defense system. The bill also trimmed the Bush Administration's procurement request for the V-22 Osprey from 12 to 11 tiltrotor aircraft, and added money to begin replacing Air Force KC-135E tankers.
