The Pentagon's decision on the Joint Strike Fighter, to be announced Oct. 26, could mean $2 billion of annual business for the major subcontractors on the winning team. But don't expect companies on the losing team to be permanently crippled by the decision, analysts say. Paul Nisbet, senior aerospace analyst with JSA Research in Providence, R.I., said companies on the winning team would likely receive funding for large amounts of research and development work over the next six to seven years.
USDR Aerospace Ltd. of Mansfield, Texas, will produce rugged, anti-ballistic cockpit doors that meet FAA certification standards under an agreement with Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems, the company announced Oct. 24. The Guardian Ballistic Panel Cockpit Security door has an installed weight of less than 50 pounds, but will prevent forced entry into cockpits and will protect against small arms fire, according to the company. Production is slated to begin in a few weeks.
The RAH-66 Comanche helicopter's lethality is not due solely to its weapons systems, but to its advanced network-centric capabilities that enable it to be interoperable with other systems, according to Steven Sanders, a tactical pilot in the special projects division of the Comanche Program Office. Currently in the engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) stage, the Comanche is the Army's next generation, armed reconnaissance helicopter. Low rate production is scheduled to begin in 2005.
The proposed Sonic Cruiser is likely to be of an all-composite structure, Michael Garrett, vice president marketing management airplane programs at the Boeing's Commercial Airplane Group said during a visit to Munich.
United Kingdom defense secretary Geoff Hoon said some U.K. forces that were conducting military exercises in Oman will join those deployed for operations against Afghanistan. The number of troops that would join operations in Afghanistan is believed to be about 1,000. They are in the region as part of Exercise "Saif Sareea" (Swift Sword) II, intended to provide realistic training for British and Omani forces in a desert environment (DAILY, Sept. 19).
RESPONSE FUNDS: President Bush released $1.7 billion from the emergency response fund on Oct. 24, more than $1 billion of which will go to the Department of Defense, for increased situational awareness, improved command and control, stationing National Guard personnel at airports and other uses. Most of the money will be available to the DOD after 15 days.
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.
The Justice Department filed an anti-trust lawsuit Oct. 23 to block General Dynamics Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Newport News Shipbuilding, shortly after the Department of Defense announced it backs Northrop Grumman's rival bid for the company. "This merger would give General Dynamics a permanent monopoly in nuclear submarines and would substantially lessen competition in surface combatants," Charles A. James, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's antitrust division, said in a statement.
Significant work needs to be done on the Global Hawk to provide more tactical data to combat forces, according to Philip Anselmo, a director at Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems. Global Hawk is the Department of Defense's high-altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program designed to provide extended reconnaissance capabilities. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the program, which is still in the developmental stage.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control shipped its Night Vision Pilotage System (NVPS) for the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, the company announced Oct. 24. The company shipped the NVPS and its support structure to Boeing's System Integration Laboratory in Philadelphia, the Comanche's mission equipment package integrator.
Although the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) isn't scheduled to be operational until the 2011-2012 timeframe, that date could - and should - be moved up three to five years, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board is scheduled to review the Joint Strike Fighter on Oct. 24 to determine whether the program has fulfilled the criteria to move forward. The DAB, which is made up of senior defense officials, serves as an advisory board to the senior defense acquisition official - E.C. "Pete" Aldridge.
BAE Systems will build the countermeasure dispenser system for the Air National Guard's F-15 fleet, and will modify the LAU-128 missile launchers that house them, under an $18 million contract the company announced Oct. 23.
Former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) said Oct. 23 that he hopes to explore a host of possible innovations as chairman of a new commission on the aerospace industry, including combining satellite programs among different agencies and encouraging the development of a private space station and a solar-powered "space utility" satellite.
TRW INC. will begin the full-rate production phase of the ICBM propulsion replacement program (PRP) under a $215 million contract, the company announced Oct. 23. The PRP is designed to replace aging solid rocket motors in the Minuteman III force with remanufactured motors, to maintain alert status through 2020. The contract is the first of six full-rate production options to be exercised by the Air Force ICBM Systems Project Office at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The total value of the PRP production program is $1.6 billion over eight years.
The United Kingdom and Spain have agreed to identify common defense equipment requirements and encourage their industries to work together to meet them. Britain and Spain already collaborate on several military projects, including Eurofighter, the proposed Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, and the Airbus A400M heavy-lift transport.
President Bush intends to nominate Peter B. Teets to be undersecretary of the Air Force, the White House announced Oct. 22. Teets, who is currently retired, was president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. from 1997 to 1999. Before that, he served as president and CEO of the company's Information and Services Sector.
Analysts with Fitch Inc., the international ratings agency, changed the ratings outlook for the Goodrich Corp. from stable to negative on Oct. 22, to reflect the impact of lower aircraft deliveries by The Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie. However, the analysts affirmed the company's "A-" senior unsecured debt rating as well as the company's "BBB+" rating for quarterly income preferred securities and convertible securities.
TAXI ARRIVES: Two Russian cosmonauts and French astronaut Claudie Haignere arrived at the International Space Station Oct. 23, bringing a new Soyuz return vehicle for the station's Expedition Three crew. The Soyuz crew will stay on the station until Oct. 30, and will return on the Soyuz that arrived at the station in April.
Aircraft equipment maker B/E Aerospace will close five facilities, cut its workforce by 1,000 employees and reduce senior management compensation by 35 to 50 percent this year in the wake of post-Sept. 11 airline cutbacks, the company reported Oct. 23.
Raytheon Co.'s plan to issue 29 million shares of common stock to raise about $1 billion cash will not change its credit ratings, according to Standard&Poor's. In making their determination, S&P analysts said in a report released Oct. 22 that proceeds from the sale - along with $500 million received from a recent purchase price adjustment related to its 1997 acquisition of Hughes Defense - will improve the company's financial flexibility.
The Army approved a new software blocking policy in August that will provide guidance for software upgrades to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, and will prevent individual programs from performing software upgrades that could degrade interoperability. "The policy applies to all new and upgraded systems that exchange information," said Stanley Levine, the deputy director of the Directorate of Integration, Chief of Staff of Army Programs, speaking at a conference in Washington Oct. 22.
Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee's ranking Republican, said Oct. 23 that he has urged the Pentagon to delay the planned Oct. 26 selection of a company to design and build the Joint Strike Fighter, saying the program needs further study.
SRI International will supply combat training instrumentation systems to the Department of Defense under an $8.8 million contract, the company announced Oct. 23. The training systems, know as Deployable Force-on-Force Instrumented Range Systems (DFIRST), use Global Positioning System data, high-speed wireless communications and data visualization tools for simulation training.
Boeing Co. is in line to receive an Air Force contract for the third low rate production lot of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), a targeting device that allows a pilot to aim sensors and weapons wherever he or she is looking. Under the contract from the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Boeing will support the Air Force/Navy program in the third quarter of fiscal year 2002. Up to 270 units will be produced.
