A multinational team bidding for NATO's Airborne Ground Surveillance (AGS) system is betting that a high-altitude platform that is smaller and cheaper to operate can beat a rival's proposal for a modified commercial jet. The 3.2 billion euro ($3.5 billion) AGS program aims to develop a capability similar to the U.S. Air Force's E-8 Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS).
The Boeing Co. has asked major defense and information technology companies to consider adopting common standards for developing military equipment for network-centric warfare. Adopting such standards could improve the operating efficiency of network architectures used to run the military service's communications and information-sharing systems, the company said. Representatives from industry, the military and academia are scheduled to meet within the next 45 days to discuss the issue, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball told The DAILY.
PRAGUE - L-39 fighters have been replaced by Mi-24 combat helicopters as guardians of Czech airspace around the Dukovany nuclear power plant, according to Czech military officials. Martin Hejra, commander at the Namest Nad Oslavou air base, told The DAILY Sept. 23 that two Mi-24 helicopters would be on alert for the next two weeks while minor repairs are carried out on the air base's runway. One helicopter will be on permanent standby while the second will act in a support role if required.
F/A-22 WORK: REMEC Inc. of San Diego said it will supply microwave and radio frequency modular assemblies for the integrated communications, navigation and identification (CNI) systems on the U.S. Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor, the company said Sept. 22. The work is being done for the F/A-22's low rate initial production (LRIP) program under contracts from Northrop Grumman worth $20.3 million. Deliveries began this year and are scheduled to be complete in Sept. 2005, the company said.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is to meet with President Bush on Sept. 24 in New York to discuss cooperation on missile defense. Vajpayee is to tell Bush that the transfer of missile defense technology to India could lead to greater stability in the region, according to senior defense ministry officials here. Since January 2002, India has been asking the U.S. to supply Patriot air defense systems and allow Israel to sell India the Arrow missile defense system.
Loral Space & Communications on Sept. 22 declared the Telstar 4 communications satellite a "total loss" after repeated attempts to regain contact with the spacecraft failed. Telstar 4, a Series 7000 satellite built by Lockheed Martin, was launched on Sept. 23, 1995. Telstar 4 provided video and data services to customers throughout North America, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii through 24 C-band transponders and 16 Ku-band transponders. News networks in particular used the satellite for video relays.
The U.S. government has granted final approval for the sale of four Boeing 737 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Turkey, CFM International said Sept. 22. The company is providing its CFM56-7 engines for the aircraft under a contract worth $40 million. CFM International is a joint venture of General Electric Co. of the U.S. and Snecma Moteurs of France.
Sept. 21 - 24 -- 40th Annual AOC International Symposium and Convention, Dayton, Ohio. Call (888) OLD-CROW or go to www.crows.org. Sept. 22 - 25 -- Fall 2003 Sensors Expo & Conference, Anaheim Convention Center. For more information contact Amy Riemer at 978-475-4441. Email [email protected], or go to http://shows.sensorsexpo.com/fall03/V40/index.cvn.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has been chosen by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop the Strategic Illuminator Laser (SILL), a next-generation illuminator laser that could have applications for air- and space-based systems. Although the SILL's exact role has not been defined, the solid-state laser is expected to be an improvement over existing illuminators and might someday play a supporting role in such systems as MDA's Airborne Laser (ABL). Illuminator lasers emit beams of energy to gather information about areas of activity.
European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) company and the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) should have their contract for the next-generation Skynet 5 military satellite communications system completed by October, according to Francois Auque, head of EADS' Space Systems division.
A House-Senate panel has partially reversed a deep cut in missile procurement that the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill had proposed for the Air Force's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
NATO CHIEF: The North Atlantic Council said Sept. 22 that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, will succeed Lord George Robertson as secretary general of NATO. The date for de Hoop Scheffer to assume the post has not been determined.
NEW DELHI - In a major setback to the Indian air force, the only complete squadron of Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 K aircraft has been grounded due to problems with their engine blades. An air force official told The DAILY that 18 Su-30s have been grounded for the past few weeks.
The Department of Homeland Security this week is expected to release a formal solicitation for a $100 million program to develop systems to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles. In announcing the effort on Sept. 18, DHS said it would issue the solicitation the week of Sept. 22-26. A DHS spokesman, Brian Roerhkasse, said Sept. 22 that he didn't know when the solicitation would be released. But, he said, the overall strategy will be discussed at an Oct. 6 briefing for industry to be held in the Washington, D.C., area.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., has been chosen to supply the major operating components for the hybrid rocket motor that will power Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne manned spacecraft, SpaceDev announced Sept. 19.
MOSCOW - Russia has grounded its Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack fleet after one of the heavy supersonic bombers crashed Sept. 18 near Engels air base in Russia's Saratov region, killing all four crewmembers. The air force blamed the crash on an on-board fire in a new engine. The aircraft, christened "Mikhail Gromov" after a prominent Soviet pilot of the 1930s, recently had taken part in exercises with Russia's Pacific fleet. After the exercises, one of its NK-32 engines was replaced because of operational problems, and this new engine apparently caught fire.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) criticizes the U.S. Defense Department's new space acquisition policy in a new report, saying the policy will increase program risk by having technology development and product development take place simultaneously. DOD's new space acquisition policy is similar to the one used by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), according to the GAO, and differs from DOD's acquisition policy on most other weapons-related acquisitions in several ways:
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has approved an $80 million lunar orbiter mission, named Chandrayan-1, scheduled to launch in 2008. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to spend $20 million of the budget on a deep-space network based in Bangalore to control the spacecraft, with assistance from a ground station in Goldstone, Calif.
CHAIRMAN SUGAR: As expected, Ronald D. Sugar has been named chairman of the board of Northrop Grumman, effective Oct. 1. Company president Sugar was named CEO in February (DAILY, Feb. 20), and officials said he was expected to be named chairman after former Chairman Kent Kresa retires Oct. 1.
NASA will test several shuttle repair contingencies when it returns to flight next year, aerospace agency officials said Sept. 16. Astronauts will test a tile-repair substance, made by GE, in the shuttle's cargo bay when the shuttle returns to flight, said NASA Flight Director Paul Hill.
A Northrop Grumman B-2A has dropped 80 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs on a Utah test range, capping a six-month testing effort to introduce the 500-pound JDAM into the U.S. Air Force inventory. The Sept. 10 precision-strike demonstration, which targeted a simulated airstrip, also marks the first of several upgrades planned for the B-2 program over the next few years, including a 5,000-pound penetrator bomb, radar modernization, and stealth material upgrades, said Jeff Cliver, Northrop Grumman's director for B-2 programs.
