NEW DELHI - A team of Indian and Russian scientists and Indian navy officials conducted the first test firing of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a moving missile destroyer on Nov. 23. The missile was fired from the INS Rajput while it was cruising at 40 knots in the Bay of Bengal. It hit its target, a decommissioned Indian navy ship, 290 kilometers (181 miles) away, the navy said.
Lockheed Martin Information Technology (LMIT) has won a U.S. Air Force contract worth up to $600 million over 10 years to support its needs in the Washington, D.C., area, the company announced last week. The deal simplifies IT contracting for the Air Force Pentagon Communications Agency (AFPCA) by consolidating more than 50 contracts for voice, video and data transmission that had been with many other vendors.
NASA is pushing back the release of the final request for proposals (RFP) for its Orbital Space Plane (OSP) program, which contractors originally expected to receive on Nov. 26. The findings of an external review of the OSP's requirements may be contributing to the delay, although NASA still plans to release the RFP in the "near term" according to spokeswoman Kim Newton. Slay Enterprises Inc. performed the review.
Orbital Recovery Ltd. has signed an agreement with Dutch Space of Leiden, the Netherlands, to develop a "space tug" that would launch as a payload adapter on an Ariane 5 rocket, the company announced last week. Orbital Recovery Ltd. selected Dutch Space to develop and build the ConeXpress Orbital Recovery System (ORS) vehicle after performing an international survey of space hardware manufacturers, according to the company.
BAE Systems is concentrating its technology and experience on a Department of Homeland Security effort to protect airliners from missile attack, and backing it with top-level commitment, according to a company executive. "BAE Systems has been doing this technology for more than half a century for the military," said Burt Keirstead, manager of BAE Systems North America's response to the DHS initiative.
Dec. 1 - 2 -- Shephard's Heli-Security 2003, "Helicopters in the War on Terrorism," Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.heli-security.com. Dec. 1 - 4 -- I/ITSEC 2004 (Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference), Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. For more information contact Patrick T. Rowe at (703) 247-9471, email [email protected] or go to www.itsec.org.
NEW HEARINGS: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold "thorough and comprehensive" new hearings next year on how defense officials handled the lease of tanker aircraft from Boeing, Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) said in a Nov. 26 letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The Pentagon also is reviewing the issue.
The Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV) that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to have in operation by 2025 could weigh as much as a million pounds, according to Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman is competing with Lockheed Martin and Andrews Space Inc. of Seattle, Wash., in Phase 1 of DARPA's Force Application and Launch from the Continental U.S. (FALCON) program, which is aimed at developing technologies for hypersonic strike weapons systems (DAILY, Nov. 18).
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) has emerged from a program restructuring larger and heavier than before, but with an extra performance margin that managers hope will help the program avoid further setbacks.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded 11 contracts worth a total of $20.5 million to study advanced architectures for the next generation of its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) program. The contracts cover analysis of space and launch; command, control, communications (C3); product generation and distribution; and end-to-end integration. The studies for NOAA's National Environmental Satellites Data and Information Service (NESDIS) seek to reduce design costs, development costs and schedule risks.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Aero Vodochody's dual-seat L-159B is to make its first appearance at the Dubai International Aerospace Exhibition in early December, according to the company. Aero had planned to show the aircraft at Dubai two years ago but withdrew after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - There is no reason to have test, training and range communications and data transmission systems that differ from those used in combat, according to Brig. Gen. Chris T. Anzalone, deputy commander for support at the Air Armament Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. There also should be no incompatibilities between operational systems, he said last week at the National Defense Industrial Association's Targets, UAVs and Range Operations Symposium here.
It's not clear if the high-profile firing of Darleen Druyun, general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, could change the defense acquisition process, industry analysts told The DAILY Nov. 25. Loren Thompson, president and CEO of the Lexington Institute, said the acquisition process could change, depending on the details that emerge about the activities of Druyun and former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Mike Sears, who was also fired.
Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense electronic manufacturer, announced Nov. 25 it is teaming with ADI Ltd. of Australia to compete for the Australian Department of Defence's JP 129 contract to build a tactical unmanned airborne vehicle (TUAV) for Australian ground forces. The announcement follows the decision of AAI Corp. last month to team with BAE Systems to compete for the contract (DAILY, Oct. 21).
The U.S. Army, responding to missile attacks on its helicopters, is fitting them with newer countermeasure dispensers, according to a spokesman for the service. The M-130 dispenser is being replaced with the ALE-47, which puts out "four times as many countermeasures, flares or chaff, depending on what you're trying to defeat," said Maj. Gary Tallman. Flares defend against heat-seeking missiles and chaff deflects radar-guided missiles.
OMNIBUS: House and Senate negotiators have completed work on an omnibus spending bill that funds several federal agencies for fiscal 2004, including NASA, which would get $15.5 billion, $80 million more than in FY '03. The House is expected to vote on the measure on Dec. 8, and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the Senate would follow suit "as soon as possible."
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - City officials and civic planners here like the idea of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) moving to nearby Peterson Air Force Base if Los Angeles Air Force Base closes - but an Air Force spokesman said that's a big if.
