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.
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.
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.
Boeing wants to redefine its business ties to the F/A-22 Raptor program with risk-sharing partner and prime contractor Lockheed Martin, a Boeing executive said Dec. 17. In particular, Boeing seeks to sever a joint financial reporting responsibility with Lockheed Martin to the F/A-22 customer, the U.S. Air Force, said George Muellner, senior vice president of Air Force Systems at Boeing.
The Deepwater modernization program received a major boost on Capitol Hill Sept. 17 as a House-Senate conference committee approved a fiscal 2004 homeland security appropriations bill that adds $168 million to the Bush Administration's $500 million request for the Coast Guard initiative.
The U.S. Defense Department says its Brain Machine Interface program, which seeks to develop ways to control machines with brain signals, is in jeopardy because of a proposed congressional funding cut.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan is seeking to buy an undisclosed number of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft from France and build some of the aircraft under license, according to a diplomat in Pakistan's embassy here. A request for the Mirage 2000-5s was made during a French military delegation's visit to Pakistan this week.
BOEING NASA SYSTEMS, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. John Elbon has been named vice president and program manager for the International Space Station for Boeing, replacing Joe Mills, who will lead the company's Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter program. Jim Chilton, the Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) Contract director of mission management, will replace Elbon. DUCOMMUN, Los Angeles David H. Dittemore has joined the company as president and chief operating officer. EADS AEROFRAME SERVICES, Lake Charles, La.
The U.S. Army has announced it plans to award a contract to Northrop Grumman to build a prototype of the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL). The Army revealed in a Sept. 15 FedBizOpps notice that it does not intend to hold a competition for the joint U.S.-Israeli chemical laser program, partly because of Northrop Grumman's successful efforts in developing THEL, the fixed-site precursor to MTHEL. In addition, picking another company to build the MTHEL prototype would result in a "substantial duplication of costs," the notice says.
Textron Systems' win of the U.S. Air Force's Argus unattended ground senor program contributes to a strategic thrust the company has had for the last several years, according to Bob Buckley, vice president for strategic development. The Wilmington, Mass., company, a unit of Textron Inc., won a competition in July to develop Argus and the U.S. Marine Corps' related Advanced Air Delivered System (AADS). The system development and demonstration work now underway will lead to delivery of first production units in 2006 (DAILY, July 23).
The U.S. Air Force's Space Based Radar (SBR) will be delayed up to 18 months if Congress approves a House proposal to slash the program's fiscal 2004 budget and restrict how the remaining funds are used, according to the Defense Department. The House-passed version of the FY '04 defense appropriations bill cuts $100 million from the Bush Administration's $274 million request for SBR, which is being developed to track moving ground targets. The remaining funds could be used only for technology maturation and risk reduction.
Lockheed Martin lost a bid to capture the $2.5 billion Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) program, but company executives say they believe the program will not remain locked up by Boeing forever. The 250-pound smart bomb contract awarded to Boeing two weeks ago for system development and demonstration (SDD) covers the technologies needed for simple air-dropped weapons deliveries on fixed targets, Kevin Sheehan, Lockheed Martin's business development director for strike weapons, said Sept. 16 at the Air Force Association convention in Washington, D.C.
Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have added Pratt & Whitney to their Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) team, in anticipation of building the first two flight demonstrators scheduled to fly in February 2006. The Northrop Grumman team and competitor Boeing each will produce two full-scale unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrators for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under phase IIB of the naval UCAV technology demonstration program that preceded the J-UCAS effort.
The Department of Homeland Security is launching a two-year, $100 million effort to develop and demonstrate devices to protect airliners from shoulder-fired missiles. A production decision would follow.
Technology developed for the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) program, which is scheduled to end in October, may live on in one of the U.S. Defense Department's Horizontal Fusion network-centric warfare (NCW) initiatives.
TECHNOLOGY TEAM: The Boeing Co. and Italy's Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali (CIRA) will cooperate on technology development projects, Boeing said Sept. 16. Initial projects will be related to Boeing's 7E7 Dreamliner aircraft and CIRA's test facilities, and later work could involve unmanned aerial vehicles systems.
An aerial refueling boom being developed by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) should be ready for testing next year, company officials said Sept. 16. EADS' Military Transport division in Madrid began developing the boom to compete against the Boeing Co. for the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker contract. A competition between the two companies last year ended in a victory for Boeing after the Air Force decided that EADS had not conclusively demonstrated its concept for an aerial refueling boom (April 5, 2002).
PRAGUE - Plans to install one of two specialized radar systems that will form part of NATO's integrated defense system in the Czech Republic are being delayed by a dispute with local residents over transmissions.
