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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
COOPERATION: Hungary and the Czech Republic will be able to participate in "nearly all" European Space Agency (ESA) programs after signing European Cooperating States agreements with the space agency. Over five years both countries will contribute five million euros (about $6 million), most of which will be returned in the form of contracts to industries and research institutes, ESA says. The agreement caps a process that began in 1999 to define how the two countries and Poland and Romania could increase their participation in the European space program.
The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct the next flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) system near the end of the week of Dec. 7-13, according to Defense Department officials. Although MDA has not yet announced details about Flight Mission-6 (FM-6), the test is expected to occur in the Pacific. The last test, FM-5, ended in failure in June when the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor's kinetic warhead failed to intercept a target missile (DAILY, June 20).
ISIS: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has just begun developing a new surveillance airship that uses the structure of the airship itself as its radar antenna, according to DARPA Director Tony Tether. Traditionally, "you build the airship and you say, 'OK, we've got to put a payload on this,'" Tether says. "And the payload never really is very much. So we said ... let's put the payload into the structure." The development program will be called the "Integrated Sensor is the System" (ISIS).
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. 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.
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. "...
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.
