Raytheon Corp. has been awarded a low-rate initial production contract by the U.S. Navy to produce the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile. Under the contract, valued at $212.6 million, 255 missile systems will be produced. Engineering services will also be provided. The contract runs through January 2004, the company announced Aug. 30. The missile protects Navy ships by destroying incoming anti-ship missiles, particularly those that can fly at low altitudes and maneuver during their terminal flight stage.
GRIPEN'S MARKET: Saab-BAE Systems is offering extensive offset deals in its aggressive campaign to export the Gripen fighter. To date, the Swedish-British joint venture has secured only one export market, South Africa. However, the company hopes to win a sizable tender in the Czech Republic, where it is the only company to have submitted a bid in response to the request for proposal.
FCS MODS: Because the Army's Future Combat System (FCS - DAILY, Aug. 30) will consist of a myriad of networked platforms, rather than just one platform, future block modifications need not interrupt its operation, according to Jim Walbert, director of science and technology at the office of the project manager for the Army's Objective Force. If a military system or platform consists of one piece, "and it's time for a block mod, you take it back to the factory and you do the modification," says Walbert.
RAYTHEON CO. will develop, test, manufacture and integrate a radar warning receiver subsystem under a $26 million contract from the U.S. Air Force, the company announced Aug. 31. The AN/ALR-69 upgrade will initially be installed on C-130 aircraft, and may be integrated later on F-16 and A-10 aircraft, according to the company. The receiver will provide threat detection, identification and situational awareness to Air Force pilots.
NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi has awarded a $77.9 million, two-year option extension of the Test and Technical Services Contract to Lockheed Martin Space Operations to provide test and technical services at the center. The extension runs through Aug. 31, 2003
SETTING STANDARDS: Export restrictions on dual-use technology will continue to put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage unless they are narrowed in scope or eliminated, says Jay Farrar, a co-director of a recently released study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The study, entitled "Technology and Security in the 21st Century: U.S. Military Export Control Reform," recommends setting standards to determine whether export restrictions should be placed on a product. Under current U.S.
A joint effort between Lockheed Martin and NASA has developed the first sub-scale composite fuel tank that is compatible with liquid hydrogen, a development that aerospace agency officials say could eventually help lower the cost of access to space. "This is, frankly, an attempt at some rather giant leaps," said Michael Phipps, the Pathfinder flight experiments project manager at Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.
When the month-long congressional recess ends after Labor Day, lawmakers plan to tackle a host of aerospace-related legislation, including the annual defense authorization, defense appropriations and NASA appropriations bills and a major measure on export controls. The Senate will begin a burst of activity Sept. 4 by debating a bill to reauthorize the Export Administration Act (EAA), which restricts the export of dual-use goods and technology, or items that can have both civilian and military uses.
French company Snecma said plans to power Kamov Ka-226 and Ka-115 helicopters with its Arriel turboshaft engines - and produce those engines in Russia - will deepen the company's involvement in Russia. "This cooperation on helicopter engines opens a new field," the company said in a statement, "and further increases involvement of the Snecma group in Russia."
CONTRACTING CONCERNS: Aerospace and defense industry groups want the House to drop an amendment to the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill that would require the Defense Department to submit all new service contracts, modifications, extensions and re-competitions to public-private sector competition using the White House Office of Management and Budget's A-76 outsourcing process. The Aerospace Industries Association and the National Defense Industrial Association say the contracting proposal, approved Aug.
Restrictions on the sale to China of two European satellites that have U.S.-made components may be waived soon, according to sources familiar with the matter. The satellites, built by Alcatel and Astrium, are restricted under the Export Administration Act because they contain U.S.-made components. The total value of U.S. components on both satellites is believed to be less than $10 million.
The first guided launch of a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from an F/A-18E Super Hornet scored a direct hit Aug. 29 at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Weapons Division test range at China Lake, Calif. The Super Hornet released the weapon while flying at 550 knots, at an altitude of 7000 feet. According to NAVAIR, the JDAM demonstrated the effectiveness of mating its guidance kit to a BLU-109 warhead - a 2000-pound hard target penetrator.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has for the sixth time announced it will extend its tender offer to purchase all outstanding common stock shares of Newport News Shipbuilding, Inc. The company announced Aug. 30 that its offer will be extended from Aug. 30 to midnight Sept. 13. As of 5 p.m. Aug. 30, nearly 1.8 million shares of Newport News stock had been tendered to Northrop Grumman, including 238,612 shares with notices of guaranteed delivery.
BOEING conducted a successful test launch of its three-stage prototype booster for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System missile defense program on Aug. 31, according to a Pentagon source. The test, the first of two currently planned, was to verify the performance of the system and booster. It did not involve an intercept attempt.
TESTER TOUTED: The new Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester (JSECST) has proven so effective on fighter aircraft that the U.S. Air Force and Navy should consider expanding its use to non-fighters, the General Accounting Office writes in an Aug. 30 report, "Electronic Combat: Services Should Consider Greater Use of New Test Equipment for Their Aircraft" (GAO-01-843).
SPACE COSTS: NASA is unable to provide the General Accounting Office with detailed "transaction-based" support for some of its spending on the International Space Station and space shuttle programs, according to the GAO. In a letter to House and Senate space policy lawmakers, the GAO says it is "unable to verify" some station and shuttle figures NASA has delivered to Congress.
The Raytheon Co. and Washington Group International gave varying interpretations to an Aug. 27 ruling by an examiner appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada. The examiner, KPMG LLP, concluded that WGI's purchase of Raytheon's Engineers and Constructors in July 2000 and financing for the purchase led to WGI filing for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
NASA is planning to spend over $50 million next year on nanotechnology running the gamut of applications, from lightweight materials to intelligent computing. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., is concentrating on airframe materials, carbon nanotubes, and nanotube composites, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, is focusing on propulsion materials and Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is handling nanocomputing and bio/nano sensing.
A merger between General Dynamics Corp. and Newport News Shipbuilding would not only create a monopoly in nuclear shipbuilding, it could also set a precedent for merger-to-monopoly among defense companies, according to arguments Northrop Grumman Corp. representatives recently presented to Justice Department officials. Acquiring Newport News would virtually guarantee General Dynamics control of cutting-edge submarine technology which could be applied to surface combatants, Northrop Grumman representatives said.
Raytheon Co. has been awarded an $11.2 million contract modification for additional developmental work on the Tactical Control System, intended to provide command and control for military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Under the modification, Raytheon will incorporate additional functionality related to Northrop Grumman's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter into the Block 2 TCS.
An Arianespace 4 booster successfully launched Intelsat 902 at 3:46 a.m. local time Aug. 30 from the EL-2A launch complex at Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It was the 19th satellite the company has launched for Intelsat. Arianespace is slated to launch four more Intelsat IX-series satellites. Built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, Calif., the 902 will join the Intelsat fleet of satellites in providing Internet access, broadcasting, telephony and business network services.
Raytheon Co. successfully used fused stand-off radar data to redirect a modified missile in flight to track and target a moving ground vehicle as part of the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement program, the company announced Aug. 29. AMSTE is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and is intended to provide an inexpensive way to destroy ground vehicles from standoff ranges (DAILY, May 24).
Moog Inc. announced Aug. 30 that its board of directors has approved a three-for-two stock split for the company's common stock shares. The split will take the form of a 50 percent stock dividend payable on Sept. 21, 2001 to shareholders of record on Sept. 7, 2001. Moog, headquartered in East Aurora, N.Y., is a worldwide manufacturer of precision control components and systems used in military and commercial aircraft as well as satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles and automated industrial machinery.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE has formally asked lawmakers to repeal cost restrictions on the F-22's engineering and manufacturing development phase, congressional aides said Aug. 29. The Air Force made the request in an Aug. 1 letter, which contends the limits are no longer needed because development work is largely done.
The U.S. Navy's Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) program successfully completed its first Guided Test Vehicle (GTV) missile test Aug. 28, at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Weapons Division at China Lake, Calif. The missile successfully identified, tracked, and guided itself to a simulated air defense radar target, impacting within the lethal radius of its High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) warhead. All test objectives were achieved, according to NAVAIR.
