PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The United States has not given up on its attempt to sell used F-16 fighters to the Czech Republic, despite finishing last in a review by a commission analyzing competing entries, according to U.S. sources. A nine-member technical commission voted unanimously Dec. 1 to recommend Sweden's offer of 14 new Jas-39 Gripen aircraft, leased for up to 10 years (DAILY, Dec. 2). The Czech government is to examine the recommendation before Christmas.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Russian aviation and space agency, Rosaviakosmos, have agreed to cooperate on a lunar probe and other space missions, an ISRO official said. "India and Russia will pool efforts for an unmanned space mission to the moon and also set up a space navigation system," the official said. India already has announced plans for an $80 million mission to place a spacecraft, Chandrayan-1, in lunar orbit within five years (DAILY, Sept. 18).
BVR SYSTEMS, Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel Aviv Tzidon has been appointed chairman of the board, replacing Yuval Yanai, who has resigned as the company prepares to accept a buyout offer from Chun Holdings Ltd. Tzidon controls Chun Holdings, along with Aeronautics Defense Systems and iTS Technologies PTE. Ilan Gillies has been named CEO. FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL, La Guardia Airport, N.Y. Bruce N. Whitman has been appointed president. LMS INTERNATIONAL, Leuven, Belgium
The price of launching Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs) may be renegotiated higher, in the view of one analyst. Boeing Co. bid $75 million for each of the 19 EELV launches it got in the initial Air Force contract, said Paul Nisbet of JSA Research. The Air Force took away seven of those launches and gave them to the other EELV competitor, Lockheed Martin, for what the service said was unethical conduct on Boeing's part during the development phase of the program (DAILY, July 25).
Boeing's X-50A Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) completed its first hover flight at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., on Dec. 3, kicking off the hybrid helicopter's long-awaited flight test program. A joint effort by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Boeing, the Dragonfly has an unusually wide rotor that can be slowed down and stopped in flight, allowing the UAV to fly as a fixed-wing jet (DAILY, April 12, 2002). The concept is known as Canard Rotor/Wing (CRW).
NEW DELHI - India and Brazil agreed to strengthen their defense ties during the visit of Brazilian defense minister Jose Viegas Filho here this week. An Indian defense ministry official told The DAILY that India and Brazil have agreed to cooperate in aeronautics, particularly on defense surveillance systems. The countries have set up a joint working group to propose collaborations. The official did not give details, but said Brazil could meet India's air surveillance platform needs.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has won the competition to be the prime contractor for the Missile Defense Agency's ground- and sea-based Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program, the Defense Department announced late Dec. 3. Northrop Grumman, which is teamed with Raytheon Co., has been awarded an eight-year, $4.5 billion contract to develop and test the terrestrial interceptor missile, which is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight.
DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC. has won two contracts worth $521 million to support infrared sighting systems on the U.S. Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter. The $7 million, three-month bridge contract and a $514 million, five-year master contract cover electro-mechanical components, spares, support and depot repair services for the helicopter's Mast Mounted Sight (MMS). The work will be performed at DRS Optics in Melbourne, Fla. The U.S.
WHAT'S IN A NAME: Lockheed Martin U.K., Rolls-Royce and VT Group on Dec. 3 announced the name of their consortium team bidding for the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Military Flying Training System (MFTS) program. The team will be known as Ascent, Lockheed Martin said.
The Defense Department plans to launch its experimental TacSat-1 micro-satellite in March 2004, a DOD official said Dec. 3. The initiative, sponsored by DOD's Office of Force Transformation, aims to develop, build and launch a small satellite for the relatively low cost of about $15 million, said Ret. Navy Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, director of the transformation office. The experiment also seeks to go "from scratch to orbit" in less than a year to be "within the planning timelines of a major contingency for the nation."
NASA is gearing up for the planned January landings of its twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), the agency's first attempts to land on Mars since 1999. Since the launch of "Spirit" in June and "Opportunity" in July, the rovers have been flying tucked inside folded-up landers. Each lander is wrapped in deflated airbags, cocooned within a protective aeroshell and attached to a cruise stage that provides solar panels, antennas and steering.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will produce solid propulsion systems for all three stages of the U.S. Navy's Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile, the company said Dec. 3. The work will be done under contracts from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., totaling $71.5 million, ATK said. ATK Thiokol Propulsion of Promontory, Utah, will perform the work through 2007 at its facilities in Promontory, Clearfield and Magna, Utah.
Members of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) sharply criticized NASA's practice of granting waivers on possible hazards during a meeting in Washington Dec. 3, citing their involvement in all three of the fatal human space flight accidents in the agency's history. NAC member and former astronaut John Glenn said waivers were involved in the 1967 Apollo 1 fire and the losses of shuttles Challenger and Columbia.
By early next year the U.S. Air Force will have a new acquisition strategy for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program in place to help sustain manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin through the current poor launch market, according to Peter Teets, Air Force undersecretary for space.
TOMAHAWK: The U.S. Navy has approved the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile to enter an operational evaluation (OPEVAL) this month. OPEVAL will include a series of end-to-end weapon system simulations as well as missile flight tests conducted from the Navy's western test range in southern California.
McKechnie Aerospace, a multinational firm based in the United Kingdom, has found a niche for itself re-engineering and manufacturing small aviation and aerospace components to make them smaller, lighter, stronger and safer, according to company officials. The bolts that hold together a commercial satellite are an example. McKechnie engineers quizzed their counterparts at EADS Astrium, manufacturer of satellites for satellite operator Astria, to find a way to reduce costs.
NASA must provide Congress several reports outlining the costs of various programs, according to the conference report on the omnibus appropriations bill which is awaiting House and Senate approval. By Dec. 31, NASA is to provide the first quarterly report on program milestones and cost estimates for its Project Prometheus, which is intended to develop nuclear propulsion and power systems.
