METAL STORM BUY: Ballistics company Metal Storm Ltd. of Australia said Oct. 6 it plans to buy ProCam Machine, based near Seattle, for $4.3 million, including the assumption of $3.7 million of the company's debt. ProCam builds precision machined parts for the defense, aerospace and other markets.
In February the U.S. Army will receive 100 new handheld Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2/BFT) systems to complement the vehicle-mounted units already fielded, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
JSF WORK: BEI Technologies' Precision Systems and Space Division will design and build electro-optical components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) under a $3 million contract from Northrop Grumman. The contract covers work through the program's system development and demonstration phase, the company said Oct. 6, and includes options for production work. "This contract represents a strong opportunity to baseline our optics technology into this program," Asad Madni, president and CEO of the company, said in a statement.
NATO defense ministers and defense chiefs convening in Colorado this week for their annual informal meeting are expected to review progress in forming the NATO Response Force (NRF). At the Joint National Integration Center (JNIC) at Schriever Air Force Base, officials will participate in a classified "exercise-type activity," in which they will look at how the NRF "might be applicable" in a hypothetical situation, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters at a briefing late Oct. 3.
United Defense Industries (UDI) has developed an advanced gun system that can provide heavy firepower from a 20-ton chassis, company officials said. UDI officials unveiled the Thunderbolt gun system Oct. 6 at the Association of the U.S. Army's 2003 Annual Meeting in Washington. The vehicle's development shows that near-term transformation technologies can be quickly integrated into current platforms to enhance soldier capabilities, company officials said.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force announced it plans to add nine squadrons of military aircraft in the next seven to 10 years. The additional aircraft will include Ilyushin IL-76 mid-air refuelers; fighters, including the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft and international aircraft; and transport aircraft, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy said here Oct. 6. The air force also has embarked on a budget drive to reduce its operational costs, Krishnaswamy said.
The focus of experiments conducted during joint exercises next year with the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) will be to improve the U.S. Army's command-and-control capabilities, Army officials said Oct. 6. "I'm going to devote everything I have to getting command-and control straight," said Gen. Kevin Byrnes, commander of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
The House Appropriations Committee plans to consider a fiscal 2004 supplemental appropriations bill Oct. 9 that adds $372 million to the Bush Administration's military procurement request of $5.2 billion, the panel announced Oct. 6. The $87 billion bill, which is mainly for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, also cuts $70 million from the $338.9 million request for classified research and development programs. The $40.4 billion request for operation and maintenance is reduced by $490 million.
Contractor proposals to build the Joint Common Missile (JCM) are due to the U.S. Army Nov. 17, with the award of a contract to build 54,000 units expected at the end of the first quarter of next year.
PRAGUE - Czech defense officials have denied claims by an international anti-corruption body that a tender for the supply of 14 used supersonic aircraft to the Czech Republic lacks transparency.
BOEING IT: Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) will provide distributed server support for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems under a six-year, $60 million contract, which company CEO Van B. Honeycutt said solidifies CSC's position as "the leading IT services provider to the global aerospace and defense market.
A team led by Raytheon has won a contract worth up to $500 million to upgrade the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS), the Department of Defense said Oct. 3. Northrop Grumman also was competing for the work, which is to upgrade a series of ground stations that process intelligence from a variety of sources (DAILY, Sept. 24). The contract award says the Navy, Army and Marine Corps also may participate in the program.
A recent study chartered by NASA recommends the agency develop and operate a system to scan the skies for near-Earth objects (NEOs) less than one kilometer (.6 miles) across - objects that would not be world-killers, but which could still result in significant regional damage and spawn destructive tidal waves. Many tons of rocky material rain down on the Earth from space each day, mostly in the form of dust- and sand-sized particles. NEOs are potentially dangerous asteroids or comets whose orbits bring them close to the Earth.
Through its acquisition of Steyr Spezialfahrzeug, General Dynamics has obtained the production rights to a combat vehicle with a strong export potential, according to weapons analyst Dean Lockwood of Forecast International/DMS. Steyr Spezialfahrzeug manufactures the Pandur family of 6x6 combat vehicles (DAILY, Oct. 1), which are used by Austria, Belgium, Kuwait, and Slovenia. In May 1999 the U.S. Army awarded a $51 million contract for Pandur vehicles as part of its Armored Ground Mobility System program.
EO MARKET: Defense agencies worldwide are expected to spend nearly $12.8 billion over the next 10 years to develop and buy electro-optical (EO) technology, according to a new report from Forecast International/DMS. The report estimates that the annual production of electro-optical systems will peak at 63,589 in 2005, with an estimated total of 545,026 individual systems being produced through 2012.
Lockheed Martin will build 140 Block 1A Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) variants with unitary warheads under a $108 million contract awarded last week by the Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. The sole-source contract was initiated Aug. 25. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. The ATACMS Block 1A missile, which is fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, is a long-range, surface-to-surface artillery weapon.
SHADOW WEAPONS: Drop-type munitions would have to be used if the U.S. Army decided to equip the Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle with weapons, according to Frederick Strader, president and CEO of AAI Corp., which makes the Shadow. "Anything that would be more of a gun or missile, unless it's dropped first and then takes off, would be a real problem for the aerodynamics of the vehicle," Strader says. AAI is trying to develop a sensor payload package for the Shadow with a laser rangefinder that could be upgraded to a laser target designator, he says.
Oct. 6 - 8 -- Association of the United States Army 2003 Annual Meeting, "The Army - At War and Transforming," New Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ausa.org. Oct. 8 -- Aviation Week's NetCentric Conference, National Press Club, Washington D.C. For more information contact Ryan Leeds at (800) 240-7645 x7 or go to http://www.Aviationnow.com/conferences.
The Senate agreed late Oct. 2 to amend the fiscal 2004 supplemental appropriations bill to buy 800 more "up-armored" High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs). The amendment, offered by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), provides $191 million for the additional vehicles, which have extra armor to protect against small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The supplemental already contained $177 million for 747 up-armored HMMWVs. Reed said his recent visit to Iraq convinced him that the vehicles should be procured at a faster pace.
