PRAGUE, Czech Republic - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the Czech Republic's planned purchase or lease of 14 supersonic aircraft with Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, according to Czech government sources.
LONDON - The United Kingdom's land, sea and air weapon platforms need major cuts to create a military force that could be deployed swiftly, a Ministry of Defence (MOD) White Paper published Dec. 11 says. The U.K. military needs "rebalancing and further investment in a range of enablers and logistics" to meet objectives, the MOD said. A key objective is to be able to conduct three operational campaigns simultaneously, including one long-term "peace support mission."
JOINT PROGRAMS: Federal budget constraints probably will force U.S. military services to cut costs by acquiring more weapon systems jointly, says Navy Rear Adm. Michael Mathis, director of the Joint Theater Air and Missile Defense Organization (JTAMDO). However, joint programs are unlikely to replace service-specific programs entirely because each service still will have unique needs, he says. The Navy, for instance, will continue to buy ships that no other service wants, while the Air Force is unlikely to join the Army in buying tanks.
Converting analog-cockpit T-45A trainer aircraft to the digital-cockpit T-45C configuration is a target for the Chief of Naval Air Training, according to CNTRA spokesman Lt. Robert Lyon.
HARD WORK: Reforming America's export control regime will require a sustained commitment from the next presidential administration, according to Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO John Douglass. "It's going to take some awful hard work, and the administration ... whether it's a second Bush administration or a new Democratic administration, have got to make up their minds that they're going to go down to the Hill and make this an administration priority," he says.
The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) system successfully intercepted a target missile during a Dec. 11 test over the Pacific, according to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
EL PASO, Texas - A U.S. Army general is seeking to organize a "directed energy summit" to coordinate the service's formulation of requirements for directed energy weapons. With directed energy attracting growing interest in many parts of the Army, it would make sense for representatives of those segments to write a requirements document together instead of separately, said Brig. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy commanding general for operations at Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
In an attempt to secure a strategic position in the U.S. defense manufacturing and engineering sector, Australia's Metal Storm Ltd. acquired U.S. ProCam Machine Dec. 11 for $4.3 billion, including the assumption of $2.8 million of ProCam's debt. Metal Storm issued about 5.1 million ordinary shares of its own stock to finance the purchase, the company said.
NEW DELHI - Although India and Russia have reached a tentative agreement on India's acquisition of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, they disagree on which air defense missile system it should carry. The Indian navy is evaluating the Russia's Kashtan, France's Aster and Israel's Barak missile systems, Indian defense ministry officials said.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) is recommending that the Department of Defense (DOD) overhaul its process for purchasing satellite services from commercial vendors, and consider seeking legislative authority for multi-year procurements.
The Republic of Korea air force has begun flight tests of the multimode control radar of the T-50 Golden Eagle's Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) version, Lockheed Martin announced Dec. 10. "The air-to-ground radar modes are performing well," Korean air force Lt. Col. Kwon Hee Man, a test pilot for the LIFT, said in a company statement.
While Congress granted the U.S. Navy's fiscal 2004 request for T-45 training aircraft, some senators and representatives say they are concerned that the service doesn't seem to have a long-term plan for the program. "We hope you will allocate the funding necessary to complete production and upgrade of the T-45TS [Training System] program to ensure that Navy and Marine Corps pilots are trained in the most cost-effective manner," 11 senators and congressmen said in a Nov. 24 letter to Navy Secretary Gordon England.
EL PASO, Texas - The next missile intercept attempt for the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system is scheduled to take place in May 2004, according to a program official. The test, Integrated Flight Test-14 (IFT-14), may be followed by another intercept attempt, IFT-15, in July 2004, said Thomas Devanney, GMD's deputy program director, who spoke at an Army space and missile defense conference here.
NASA is expected to select by March the best of three proposed methods to repair damage to the space shuttle's reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels in orbit, according to members of the Stafford-Covey Task Group.
SAAB ORDER: Finland's navy has ordered Saab's Radar and Optronic Fire Control System, the Ceros 200 FCS, for the navy's Squadron 2000 vessels. The deal is worth 9.3 million Euros ($11.4 million) for SaabTech, which developed and manufactures the system in Jarfalla, Sweden.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A diplomatic dispute has erupted between Sweden and the United States over alleged U.S. lobbying tactics surrounding the Czech state's planned acquisition of supersonic aircraft. The dispute comes as the Czech government prepares to consider an evaluation commission's unanimous recommendation that it accept a Swedish government proposal to lease 14 new Gripen JAS-39 fighters for up to 10 years.
CLASSIFIED LAUNCH: International Launch Services will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in 2006 on a Lockheed Martin Atlas V booster, the company said Dec. 10. The launch is a new mission added to the company's work under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.
AVIALL, Dallas Dan Komnenovich, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Aviall Services, has been promoted to president and chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1. James T. Quinn, the vice president of sales and marketing, has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing for Aviall Services. DRS TECHNOLOGIES, Parsippany, N.J. Donald G. Flodin has joined the company as vice president, general manager, of the DRS Electric Power Technologies unit in Hudson, Mass.
EL PASO, Texas - The Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) that Lockheed Martin Corp. is developing for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile could enable even further improvements to the interceptor. The MSE will, among other things, provide the ability to collect data on PAC-3's interaction with an enemy missile. That information will be transmitted to ground units for analysis and could be used to make the interceptor perform better, Lockheed Martin officials told reporters Dec. 10 at an Army space and missile defense conference here.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Three European NATO members have formed an initiative supporting Sweden's offer to lease Gripen JAS-39 fighters to the Czech Republic, according to German officials. The initiative, which German officials said is led by France and supported by Germany and the United Kingdom, is based on the premise that buying European fighters will help strengthen Europe's role in NATO and bolster attempts to build a defense pillar at European Union level.
