ITT INDUSTRIES NIGHT VISION has been selected by Public Works and Government Services Canada for the Canadian army's Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Night Observation (STANO) program, the company said. The value of the contract, including options, training and spares, is about $16 million, and is the largest Canadian army contract awarded for night vision devices. ITT will produce and deliver more than 5,000 units of its AN/PVS-14 Monocular Night Vision Device.
The next test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system has been delayed, according to the Missile Defense Agency. The test, the first launch of the Lockheed Martin interceptor booster, already had been postponed from September to October and will now likely take place during the last two weeks of November, MDA spokesman Rick Lehner said Oct. 23.
The "dream" of developing a hypersonic vehicle that can take off from a runway and fly into space is still alive at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to Director Tony Tether. This vision was embodied in the joint DARPA/NASA/Air Force effort known as the National Aerospace Plane (NASP). The X-30 NASP program was aimed at demonstrating a single-stage-to-orbit space vehicle that would take off from a runway.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Joint cooperation, innovation, and new technology were the keys to the success of I Marine Expeditionary Force in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the force's commander. Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, commander of I MEF, said Oct. 21 at the National Defense Industrial Association's Expeditionary Warfare Conference here that old and new problems and areas of concern also emerged from the operation.
Despite concerns over their ability to monitor possible health hazards in the International Space Station (ISS), NASA officials and station astronauts say they remain confident there is no immediate danger.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation aimed at making it easier for the Defense Department to pay for certain weapon system upgrades, such as new, fuel-efficient engines for the B-52 bomber and Abrams tank. The bill, which Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and seven other House members formally unveiled late last week, would authorize up to 10 pilot programs that would use fuel savings to pay for the upgrades. Contractors would finance the projects upfront and be paid back as the government realized reduced energy costs.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch Brazilian microsatellites on Indian vehicles as part of a growing cooperation between the two countries on space programs. Senior ISRO officials told The DAILY that a delegation from the Brazilian Space Agency is in Bangalore to complete the agreement.
ANALYTICAL GRAPHICS, Landover, Md. Jeffrey McCrindle has been named eastern regional sales director. BOEING, Bellevue, Wash. Nancy Cannon has been named chief people officer and vice president of the people function in the Shared Services Group. Rich Smoski has been named vice president, employee services. GENERAL DYNAMICS, Falls Church, Va. Hans Michael Malzacher has been appointed president of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems, based in Vienna, Austria. GOODRICH, Charlotte, N.C.
REVIEW: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct a new review of the U.S. Air Force's proposal to lease tanker aircraft from Boeing. In a letter to OMB Director Josh Bolten, McCain cited recent reports by the General Accounting Office and Congressional Budget Office analyzing the cost of the deal.
The U.S. military not only needs increased bandwidth, it also needs to manage the bandwidth spectrum more efficiently, according to senior military officials. Appearing Oct. 21 before the House Armed Services Committee's Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities subcommittee, Army Lt. Gen. William Wallace said coalition commanders in Iraq quickly learned the value of satellite communications for transmitting information on the battlefield.
CHINESE MISSIONS: China is expected to conduct up to 10 launches a year through 2021, a 50 percent increase from previous years, according to a new report from the Futron Corp. (DAILY, Oct. 20). The following chart indicates launches since 1970 and projected launches through 2021.
Northrop Grumman has protested the U.S. Air Force's choice of a team of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to upgrade the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS). The Air Force chose the team Oct. 2, awarding it a contract of $157 million (DAILY, Oct. 6). The contract is valued at some $360 million over the life of the program, which is known as DCGS 10.2 Multi-INT upgrade.
AAI Corp. of Hunt Valley, Md., has teamed with France's Giat Industries to produce a new mobile, lightweight 155mm artillery gun for the U.S. military, the company said Oct. 22. Under the agreement, AAI will develop, produce and market a U.S.-made, advanced variant of Giat's 155mm gun, which already is fielded with some allied military forces.
United Defense Industries' concept demonstrator for the U.S. Army's Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) successfully fired six rounds a minute in four demonstration missions, the company said Oct. 22. The demonstrator also has conducted other missions at slower intervals, totaling more than 140 rounds, at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., the company said. Mobility testing of the platform is scheduled to begin early next year.
FLIR Systems, Inc., which makes thermal imaging and stabilized camera systems, said Oct. 22 it has reached an agreement to acquire Indigo Systems Corp. for about $190 million. Indigo, founded in 1996 in Santa Barbara, Calif., develops and produces a range of infrared products, including cooled and uncooled infrared (IR) detectors, camera cores and finished cameras. Estimated revenue for Indigo in 2003 is about $55 million. The deal is expected to be accretive to FLIR's earnings during 2004.
Within the next few months, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to send to Iraq a number of new technologies to counter terrorist activity, including electronics detection systems and a laser microphone that could be used to pinpoint snipers. An electronics detection system could be effective in warning troops of possible booby traps or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that rely on electronics to be set off, according to DARPA Director Tony Tether.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Integration on two levels is key to the effectiveness of the United States military in the decade ahead, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper. The technical capabilities of weapons systems and other equipment must be blended to function as one and the services must adopt joint concepts of operations, he said Oct. 21 in the keynote address to the National Defense Industrial Association's Expeditionary Warfare Conference here.
The Los Angeles-class submarine USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) test-launched a Tomahawk cruise missile Oct. 21 while underway in the Atlantic sea range east of Jacksonville, Fla., Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced Oct. 22. The launch, of a Block II Tomahawk, was one of a routine series of eight to 12 operational tests carried out each year to keep the fleet proficient, according to a Navy spokeswoman. The operational evaluation of the Block IV Tactical Tomahawk is scheduled to begin next month (DAILY, July 22).
The Air Force still is trying to find ways to increase its planned purchase of F/A-22 Raptors, a top service official said Oct. 22. Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, told reporters that the service continues to have a requirement for 381 Lockheed Martin-built F/A-22s. Although the Air Force has estimated it can afford only 276 Raptors under current budget constraints, it also has indicated it hopes to find efficiencies so it can get as close to the higher number as possible.
The Boeing Co. will pay Spacehab Inc.'s Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary $17.5 million for canceling a payload operations contract, Spacehab said Oct. 22. Under the contract, Astrotech provided mainly commercial payload processing services to Boeing's Delta program, but Boeing canceled the work Oct. 1.
RISK REDUCTION: Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter team launched the first phase of the JSF's data fusion risk reduction flight-test program with recent successful flights over the Naval Air Warfare Center Patuxent River, Md., the company said Oct. 21. The JSF's fusion capability is to combine and prioritize information gathered on onboard and off-board sources. The tests used a Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems BAC 1-11 flying test bed and targets including a Sabreliner aircraft.
