NEW DELHI - Within a week of test-firing a short-range, nuclear-capable Ghaznavi missile, Pakistan test-fired another nuclear-capable missile, the Shaheen-1. The Oct. 8 launch was part of a series of tests of Pakistan's missile systems, said a diplomat with Pakistan's embassy here. Pakistan tested the Ghaznavi missile on Oct. 3 (DAILY, Oct. 6). The diplomat said more tests would follow. The Shaheen is a liquid-fueled missile that can be fired on 15 minutes notice, the diplomat said.
Northrop Grumman is consolidating its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expertise by merging its Advanced Tactical C4I (ATC4I) organization into its Unmanned Systems unit in San Diego, the company announced Oct. 8. Currently part of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector, ATC4I produces the Army's RQ-5 Hunter UAV. Northrop Grumman acquired ATC4I from TRW in 2002. Unmanned Systems, formerly Ryan Aeronautical, is part of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector.
FUNDRAISING: Australia's Metal Storm Ltd. has completed a share purchase plan that raised about $5 million, which it plans to use for research and development programs, the electronic ballistics company said Oct. 9. The company has made "several significant product-related developments recently" and the money will help it "drive these along the path to commercialization," CEO Charles Vehlow said.
PRAGUE - Struggling Czech weapons manufacturer ZVI is to be put up for sale in a tender, the Czech government has announced. Cabinet ministers agreed on the step Oct. 8 after deciding against nationalizing the Vsetin-based company, which produces a range of medium-caliber weaponry and ammunition. The company was placed in the hands of the state-run Czech Consolidation Agency (CKA) last year after its owners, the Trustfin Group, ran into serious financial difficulties.
The House Appropriations Committee approved legislation Oct. 9 that critics portrayed as a back-door way to approve the Air Force's proposal to lease 100 Boeing KC-767A tanker aircraft.
THE BOEING CO. will continue work on a digital topographic model of the Earth from radar data collected by the space shuttle Endeavour under follow-on orders from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) worth $9.2 million, the company said. The award, under NIMA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) program, brings the total contract award to more than $19 million, Boeing said. The SRTM mission flew on Endeavour in February 2000. The goal of the program is to produce digital topographic data for 80 percent of the Earth's land surface.
RADAR ENCLOSURES: Ducommun Technologies will build electromechanical enclosures for the F/A-18's APG73 radar under two contracts from Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems worth $6.5 million, the company said Oct. 9. The work is to be completed in 2005, and will be performed at the company's Phoenix and Fort Defiance, Ariz., facilities, Ducommun said.
ROCKET ORDER: General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products will produce Hydra-70 70mm rockets, motors and warheads for the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force until March 2006 under a $98.6 million order, the company said Oct. 9. The order extends deliveries on a contract awarded to the company in 1999. The rockets can be fired from Apache and Cobra helicopters, F-16s and other platforms, the company said.
In a possible first step toward eliminating the need for certain aircraft to carry fuel, NASA engineers have conducted the first flight of a laser-powered model airplane, the aerospace agency announced Oct. 9.
JOINING UP: Canadian companies will participate in Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) said Oct. 8. The CSA contributed $11 million to the development and validation phase of Galileo, allowing Canadian companies to respond to requests for proposals from the program. Galileo, a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA, is scheduled to be fully deployed in 2008 with a constellation of up to 30 satellites.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS, Minneapolis Dan Murphy has taken the CEO role under a previously announced leadership succession plan. Paul David Miller retains his post as chairman of the board and continues as corporate officer. Thomas R. Wilson succeeds Murphy as group vice president, Precision Systems. CONNEXION BY BOEING, Seattle Elissaveta Ivanova has been appointed communications manager for Europe. ENGINEERED SUPPORT SYSTEMS, St. Louis
Three companies have received additional contracts to continue work on pre-prototype payloads for the Air Force's projected Space Based Radar (SBR). Harris Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. each got about $37.5 million for the effort on Oct. 7. Earlier this year, each received about $8.6 million (DAILY, Feb. 26). The new contracts will run until September of 2004, according to the Department of Defense. Another year of work would follow that, for a total effort of three years, an industry official said.
UAV SUPPORT: AAI Corp. will continue to maintain U.S. Army Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems under a $15 million contract modification, the company said Oct. 8. The company's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems unit is maintaining TUAV systems that are supporting U.S. warfighters in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Defense contractors may have to change their views about competition to develop a common operating picture for the U.S. military, according to a senior Boeing official. Most companies remain focused on working alone to generate sales, growth and recognition, Carl O'Berry, vice president of strategic architecture for Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems division, said Oct. 8.
The U.S. Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor has made further strides in resolving its avionics problems, a Pentagon panel has concluded. The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB), which met Sept. 23, "found that the test program continues to make progress to improve avionics stability," according to an "information paper" released by the Defense Department Oct. 8. A July review yielded similar comments (DAILY, July 21).
Allied Aerospace Industries of Tullahoma, Tenn., will provide three flight-ready experimental vehicles to demonstrate short-duration scramjet flight, NASA said Oct. 8. The contract for the X-43C project is valued at nearly $150 million over 66 months, NASA said. The X-43C is to demonstrate scramjet acceleration from Mach 5 to Mach 7 using an engine provided by the U.S. Air Force. It also is to demonstrate operation of a hydrocarbon fuel-cooled scramjet.
PRAGUE - Up to 1,000 people may lose their jobs at debt-laden Aero Vodochody under one of several options being considered by the Czech aircraft maker's management. Aero confirmed Oct. 7 that it is looking at several "variants" regarding the number of jobs to be cut in coming months. The move comes as a government-appointed commission continues to examine options for the future of the company, which the Czech government recently agreed to support by extending $300 million in state guarantees until 2008.
Boeing has established the 7E7 Council, made up of senior executives from companies that could work on the mid-sized aircraft's airframe, the company said Oct. 8. "We all have a strong interest in sharing our challenges and solutions," Walt Gillette, Boeing's vice president of engineering, manufacturing and partner alignment for the program, said in a statement. "We must succeed on each part of the airplane to be successful on the entire airplane."
A "digital divide" still prevents the individual soldier from participating in and benefiting from network-centric operations, according to Lt. Gen. William Wallace, who commanded the U.S. Army's Fifth Corps during the war in Iraq. "The world ... that the U.S. Army soldier lives in is on the ground, in the dirt," Wallace said in a presentation at Aviation Week's NetCentric Conference in Washington Oct. 8. "The network does not extend to him, and it needs to."
The U.S. Defense Department's Networks and Information Integration (NII) office is working to synchronize and tie together its senior leadership communications, from the president through the secretary of defense and the leaders of the major military commands.
