NEW DELHI - The Indian defense ministry has awarded a contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to upgrade its entire fleet of Jaguar aircraft. The upgrade will improve navigation and weapon-aiming capabilities of about 140 Jaguars, an Indian defense ministry spokesman said. The upgrades are aimed at improving the aircraft's ability to deliver nuclear weapons (DAILY, Feb. 10).
Fueled largely by increased defense spending, the aerospace industry should stabilize and experience modest growth over the next three years, according to the latest annual forecast by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).
SEARCH FOR LIFE: NASA is adapting tiny laboratories in compact discs to conduct tests on the International Space Station and eventually look for life on other planets, the agency announced. "These tiny labs on CDs allow you to do thousands of tests of biological samples quickly and in the field," said Michael Flynn, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Dyes in the CD combine with a sample and glow when exposed to specific proteins or other chemicals, including parts of DNA.
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.
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.
THINK TANK: The new European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna will promote Europe's space policy and raise public awareness of the importance of space-based infrastructure and services, founders of the new group announced recently. The European Space Agency (ESA), the Austrian Space Agency and Austria's Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology created the institute "to initiate, support and promote political and societal debate," ESA said.
TESTING: The Makeyev State Rocket Center in Miass, Russia, is partnering with Empire Magnetics Inc. (EMI) of Rohnert Park, Calif., to offer test facilities and services for satellite and missile systems, the company announced. The center's facilities include hydrodynamic tunnels for acoustic, vibration, shock and fall tests, among others. The state rocket center has a number of land- and sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be used for commercial and peaceful business development, EMI said.
EL PASO, Texas - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Dec. 10 that the United States needs to do more to defend the homeland and deployed troops against cruise missiles. While most of the Defense Department's missile defense programs are focused on defeating ballistic missiles, cruise missiles are increasingly attractive to U.S. enemies because they are widely available, "not terribly expensive," and can be launched from ships, said Rumsfeld, who addressed an Army space and missile defense conference here by satellite feed.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems won the Missile Defense Agency's Targets and Countermeasures Program contract, the Defense Department announced Dec. 9. The company was awarded $210 million, which covers target system engineering, design and management from December 2003 to December 2007, the announcement said. The contract could last up to a decade and be worth $4.6 billion if all options are exercised, DOD said. Lockheed Martin competed with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Co. for the work (DAILY, Dec. 9).
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif. is working to boost military leaders' interest in microsatellites, which company founder and CEO Jim Benson said could be the answer for low-cost protection of America's crucial space assets.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Boeing may pull out of aircraft producer Aero Vodochody after failing to reach agreement with the Czech government over measures to rescue the ailing company, according to Czech finance ministry officials. Senior Boeing officials met here with Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and finance ministry representatives last week to discuss options for the future of Aero, which is staying afloat with the help of $300 million in state guarantees.
As the United Kingdom prepares to select either Airbus or Boeing to supply new tanker aircraft, the first of six Airbus tankers being produced for Germany and Canada was rolled out Dec. 9 in Dresden. Germany will receive four and Canada will get two of the A310-300 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft converted from the airliner configuration. The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.'s (EADS) Elbe Flugzeugwerke unit in Dresden and its Lufthansa Technik division in Hamburg are performing the conversions.
General Dynamics Robotics Systems (GDRS) and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) signed a $185 million contract to develop the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) for ground vehicles, General Dynamics announced Dec. 9. The contract is part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, said a spokesman for General Dynamics' robotics unit at General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich. SAIC and Boeing make up the FCS Lead Systems Integrator team. SAIC and GDRS will administer the contract, which runs through September 2009.
PACT SIGNED: China and Thailand signed a frequency-coordination agreement last month that will eliminate satellite communications interference, the two nations' service providers announced. The agreement settles complaints filed by both sides with the International Telecommunication Union. On China's side of the negotiating table were Liu Lihua, director general of the Radio Regulatory Department of China and AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson. Negotiating for Thailand were Post and Telegraph Department Director General Rianchai Reowilaisuk and Shin Satellite CEO Dumrong Kasemset.
The test program for Lockheed Martin's new Block 60 F-16 will involve three instrumented aircraft that will be tested over the next three years, according to the company. Initial flights of the most advanced version of the F-16 Fighting Falcon will seek to verify the airworthiness of critical systems, including landing gear, flight controls, environmental controls, and crew station controls and displays, Lockheed Martin said Dec. 9 in an e-mail responding to questions from The Daily.
UFO LAUNCH: International Launch Services plans to launch the Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) F11 satellite on Dec. 15 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the company said. UFO F11 is the last in a series of U.S. Navy communications and data satellites.
International militaries are showing growing interest in the V-22 Osprey the U.S. Defense Department is developing, but serious talks about exporting the tiltrotor aircraft still are roughly two years away, according to program representatives.
Under a newly awarded contract from the U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector is to begin advanced planning for dry dock maintenance work to be performed on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) starting in 2005. The company's duties under the nine-month, $27.9 million contract will include work scheduling, engineering and design, material procurement, ship checks and personnel training. The USS George Washington is scheduled to arrive at Newport News Shipyard in Newport News, Va., in January 2005.
