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.
Lockheed Martin's bid to acquire Titan Corp. has cleared a required waiting period, the company said Dec. 8. The acquisition cleared the antitrust waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvments Act of 1976 and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2004, pending approval by Titan's stockholders, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. The companies announced the acquisition in September. Lockheed Martin plans to buy Titan in a cash and stock deal worth nearly $2.4 billion, including $580 million of Titan's debt.
NASA FUNDING: The House Dec. 8 approved the fiscal 2004 omnibus appropriations conference report, which contains several appropriations measures, including the one that funds NASA. The conference report fully funds the Bush Administration's $3.97 billion request for the space shuttle but cuts the request for the International Space Station by $200 million. The Senate has not announced when it will take up the legislation.
Raytheon Technical Services Co. has won a $46.6 million contract from the Jordan Armed Forces to upgrade their M60 main battle tank with the company's Integrated Fire Control System (IFCS). The Raytheon subsidiary will upgrade 50 IFCS systems already installed in Jordanian M60 tanks, install IFCS kits in 50 additional M60s and provide spares for the systems. Raytheon will assemble and test the kits in Indianapolis, Ind., and will provide technical assistance to Jordanian military personnel during the installation.
Team Apache Systems will begin production of Arrowhead target acquisition and night vision sensors under a $260 million contract. Team Apache, a Boeing/Lockheed Martin company, will build the first 55 Arrowhead systems for U.S. Army and Foreign Military Sales program customers. Deliveries will begin in March 2005, Lockheed Martin said Dec. 8. The U.S. Army plans to buy 704 Arrowhead systems for its AH-64 Apache helicopter fleet by 2009. The first Army unit equipped with the systems is to be fielded by June 2005.
The X-50A Dragonfly team expects to resume flight tests in January, following a thorough analysis of potentially troublesome friction within the hybrid helicopter's rotor hub.
Worldwide government spending on space could total more than $50 billion by 2010, up from the current $43 billion, the international research and consulting firm Euroconsult says in the 2004 edition of its "World Prospects for Government Space Markets" report. In the U.S., military space budgets could reach a level similar to those for civil programs by 2010, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the company said in a statement.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Lockheed Martin and Raytheon this week will host U.S. Air Force officials in a review of the team's approach to the projected E-10A aircraft's battle management command and control (BMC2) subsystem, according to executives of both companies. The architecture review will be followed by a system requirements review in January, said Michael B. Schoultz, vice president of multi-sensor command and control for Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y.
The V-22 Osprey has successfully completed most of the sea trials aimed at verifying that the tiltrotor aircraft's "roll-on-deck" problem has been solved. The roll-on-deck problem surfaced in 2000 during shipboard testing when the Osprey, on deck with its rotors turning, was disturbed by helicopters landing nearby. Software fixes have been made since then and appear to be working as intended.
NEW DELHI - Megha Tropiques, a joint Indo-French satellite project, has run into a delay and may not make its planned 2005 launch date, according to an Indian space official. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working with the French space agency CNES on the satellite, which is to monitor tropical weather conditions, including monsoons and cyclones (DAILY, Oct. 23).
A Block 60 F-16 Fighting Falcon had a successful first flight on Dec. 6, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The aircraft is the first of the Block 60 line, which has been designated the F-16E/F, the company said. It is the first of 80 F-16E/Fs being produced for the United Arab Emirates under an order placed in 2000 (DAILY, July 11, 2000).
The Missile Defense Agency plans to reveal the winner of a $1 billion-plus contract for its target and countermeasures program as early as Dec. 9, according to a Defense Department spokesman. "It'll be this week," the DOD spokesman told The DAILY Dec. 8. There previously were indications that the contract award would occur sometime in December.
UNMANNED COUNCIL: Raytheon Co. has established a corporate-wide Unmanned Systems Leadership Council to provide netted ground systems for command and control and other purposes as well as "integrated sensors to meet the growing customer requirements for unmanned systems," the company said.
The U.S. Navy plans to use the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Wasp micro air vehicle (MAV) to conduct littoral surveillance, according to DARPA Director Tony Tether. Wasp is the first in a series of small UAVs intended to demonstrate improved performance through the use of multifunctional materials, according to DARPA. Built by AeroVironment, Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., it features a flying-wing design with the battery integrated in the 13-inch wing.
SPECIAL DELIVERY: In addition to delivering weapons, the Electromagnetic Rail Gun being developed jointly by the U.S. Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) could be "dialed down" and used to launch supplies, according to Rear Adm. Jay Cohen, chief of Naval research. Powered by 64 megajoules of electricity, the gun will be capable of sending a 49- to 97-pound weapon 300 miles at Mach 7 to strike time-critical targets, according to Cohen. "Or, we can dial down the energy" on the gun, he says.
NO NEWS: Despite widespread speculation that President Bush will soon call for a return to the moon, White House spokesman Scott McClellan says patience is required until an interagency review of space exploration is complete. "There are no plans for any policy announcements in the immediate future, and that would include any upcoming speeches," McClellan says. "...
NEW DELHI - BAE Systems has agreed to resume providing spares for Indian navy Sea Harriers. The company had halted spares deliveries after the United States applied sanctions to India following its nuclear tests in 1998, because some major Sea Harrier components, including its engines, radars and avionics, come from the United States.
NOT READY: The U.S. Air Force is "not prepared" to make a decision on beginning the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program this month, the General Accounting Office says. TSAT is expected to play a pivotal role in connecting communications networks on land or sea or in the air or space. However, "Air Force officials are not ready to initiate the TSAT program in December 2003 because they do not have the knowledge to reliably establish cost, schedule, and performance goals," GAO says in a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The U.S. Army is poised to proceed with awarding a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) now that no one has challenged the service's plan to forgo a formal competition.
Dec. 9 - 10 -- Soldier Tech 2003, "Utilizing Emerging Technologies to Maintain Superior Warfighting Capabilities," Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, Va. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or (973) 812-5165, fax (973) 256-0205, email [email protected] or go to www.idga.org. Dec. 15 -- International Air Service Seminar, The Westin Grand, Washington, D.C. Contact Howard Mann at (202) 293-8500 x 3037, email [email protected] or go to www.aci-na.aero.
