Sept. 8 -- Long Island Technology Day, Northrop Grumman, Long Island, New York. For more information call Margaret Gilmartin at 516-575-4334. Sept. 8 - 11 -- World Satellite Business Week, Hotel Inter-Continental, Paris. Call +33 1 49 23 75 30 or fax: + 33 1 48 05 54 39. Email [email protected]. Sept. 8 - 12 -- Aerospace Congress & Exhibition, ACE 2003, "Creating the Next Century of Flight," Palais des Congrés, Montréal, Canada. For more information call 724/776-4970 or 1-877-606-7323 or go to www.sae.org/ACE/index.htm.
CAIB SUPPLEMENT: Air Force Brig. Gen. Duane Deal, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), which released its final report Aug. 26, is expected to produce a supplemental document addressing several aspects of the space shuttle that he does not believe the CAIB adequately addressed. They include orbiter corrosion, crew survivability and the solid rocket booster external tank attach ring.
SHELTERS: The bidding process starts this week to replace and modernize the U.S. Air Force's deployable shelters for fighters. The Air Force's Air Armament Center wants industry to propose an 8,000-square foot Large Shelter System that can house the F/A-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, plus existing fighters. Key criteria include a design that reduces airlift sortie requirements by 25 percent compared with the current system - called Air Force Aircraft Hanger - minimal build times and affordability, say acquisition documents posted Sept. 4.
An advanced targeting pod long cited as a shortcoming for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet achieved high marks in a U.S. Navy operational evaluation, program officials announced Sept. 5. The ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting FLIR (ATFLIR, or Forward-Looking Infrared) pod, recorded "one of the best test reports I've ever seen," said a Naval Air System Command F/A-18 official. The third-generation Raytheon targeting system now can be deployed on F/A-18 Super Hornets that flew without them during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
NEW DELHI - India's decision to buy 66 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs) from BAE Systems for $1.7 billion could lead to significant spinoff business for state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which will build most of the aircraft under license. "HAL will benefit from new technologies from BAE Systems U.K." and from improvements to its manufacturing infrastructure, HAL Chairman Nalini Ranjan Mohany told The DAILY Sept. 5.
THE IRAQ FACTOR: What happens in Iraq is the most important issue facing the defense sector, according to senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan of Merrill Lynch. If the insurgency now confined to Sunni-populated regions in Iraq grows to Shiite-populated areas, funds available for out-year modernization programs could be scaled back, he says. An increased insurgency also could result in funds being shifted from long-term programs to short-term programs that address the immediate needs of forces in Iraq.
The $2.5 billion Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) contract awarded to Boeing Aug. 29 paves the way for the development of a unique fuze technology for weapons. SDB introduces a 250-pound precision weapon into the U.S. munitions inventory, which is half the size of the smallest existing weapon, the 500-pound MK-82 bomb. The reduced scale allows the Air Force to attack more targets on a single sortie and limit the risk of collateral damage in populated areas.
The Senate Appropriations Committee Sept. 4 unveiled a fiscal 2004 NASA appropriations bill that fully funds the Bush Administration's $3.97 billion request for the space shuttle but cuts $200 million from the Administration's $1.7 billion request for the International Space Station. The committee, which was meeting into the evening to consider the legislation, reduced the ISS funding because there are other pressing needs and because construction of the station has been suspended due to the grounding of the shuttle fleet, according to a bill summary.
IMCO BUY: General Dynamics has completed its buy of Datron Inc.'s Intercontinental Manufacturing Co. (IMCO), which builds aircraft bomb bodies, the company said Sept. 4. IMCO will become the Tactical Air Munitions unit of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A prime contractor for the Miniature Kill Vehicle (MKV) program likely will be chosen by the end of December, Army officials said at a recent space and missile defense conference here. There is still a remote chance that two contractors will be chosen to build hardware, but funding constraints probably will limit the selection to one company, said Jess Granone, director of the Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center (SMDTC).
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed concern Sept. 4 about the costs of a U.S. Air Force plan to lease 100 767 aerial refueling tankers from the Boeing Co. The Senate Armed Services Committee must approve the plan for the deal to take effect. Three other house and senate committees already have approved the lease.
Boeing will build eight Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar systems under a $49.5 million low-rate initial production contract from the U.S. Navy, the company said Sept. 4. Production of the radars could begin as early as next month and the first LRIP 1 radar is scheduled for delivery in early 2005, Boeing said. The radars will be used on F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and E/A-18G Growlers.
A bold concept to finance a multi-billion dollar re-engining program for the B-52 fleet using future fuel savings still is under review, but early results have revealed problems with the business plan, U.S. Air Force officials said in an interview Sept. 4.
NEW FACILITY: Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology (IT) sector dedicated a new facility Sept. 4 in Lorton, Va., the company said. Northrop Grumman IT designed and configured a new, 22,000-square-foot facility to support the Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA) contract, which the U.S. Army awarded to the company last year. The building will house 100 employees working on the LIWA contract, which calls for collecting and exploiting information for combat.
President Bush has nominated Michael W. Wynne to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (ATL), the White House said Sept. 3. If confirmed by the Senate, Wynne would replace former undersecretary E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., who retired in May. Wynne has served as the principal undersecretary for ATL and has been acting secretary since Aldridge's retirement.
A major overhaul of U.S. military space acquisition policy is expected to be unveiled next week as a new government report details a decade-long meltdown of management practices for buying satellites and launch systems. The latest reforms, outlined Sept. 4 by Peter Teets, the Air Force undersecretary for space, focus on reversing several fundamental themes of mid-1990s acquisition reforms.
PRAGUE - The commander of the Czech air force has resigned over a fresh round of military reforms being imposed as a result of planned budget cuts. The departure of air force chief Jan Vachek was announced by defense minister Miroslav Kostelka Sept. 4 on Czech radio. The announcement comes as the Czech ministry of defense is preparing even deeper cuts than planned under original military reform proposals put forward by former defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik.
NEW DELHI - The first test flight of the Pakistani-Chinese JF-17 Thunder occurred Sept. 3 from China's Sichuan province. The first flight of the aircraft, formerly known as the Super-7, was successful, said a diplomat with China's embassy here. The diplomat said the flight demonstrated the aircraft's interception and ground attack capability. The aircraft is a joint venture of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China's Chengdu Aircraft Co.
