Honeywell Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David Anderson told financial analysts Dec. 13 that the company's defense business will include a greater amount of logistics and equipment reset than in the past. Honeywell expects its aerospace sales to grow 5-7 percent in 2008 and profits to grow 9-13 percent compared to 2007 -- an outlook that anticipates a modest 4 percent increase in U.S. military spending.
Fiscal 2008 appropriations legislation will press on the U.S. Coast Guard to prove it is rejuvenating its acquisition skills or else lose a significant amount of funding, while boosting U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) air and marine fleets.
The Air Force says BCS Spiral 1 "was intended to be the initial capability system that could be fielded for the $30 million available during the source selection." That funding was meant to cover, among other things, 100 days of software development. But as Aerospace Daily has reported, the initial $30 million more than tripled. ESC said part of that growth was due to added capabilities while another portion was due to the planned-for spiral development.
The U.S. Army expects to receive a topline budget increase for fiscal 2009-2013, and possibly into FY '15, to help pay for accelerated growth, base restructuring, reset from combat operations and - it hopes - new technology development efforts, according to the service's vice chief of staff.
LONDON - Cobham is increasing its footprint in the U.S. with a decision to buy parts of BAE Systems' electronic warfare operation. BAE Systems is set to receive $240 million in cash for its "Surveillance and Attack" business. The Landsdale, Penn.-based operation of 400 employees is involved in electronic warfare, primarily in projects supporting stand-off jamming of radars and communication systems, but it also works on self-protection equipment.
WATCH THE SKIES: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA have tapped Lockheed Martin to develop a new instrument for the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) spacecraft series that will detect patterns in lightning flashes to give forecasters early indications of severe storms and tornadoes. Called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, the instrument will monitor all lightning flashes occurring anytime and anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S.
The fiscal 2008 omnibus spending bill Congress plans to send to the White House for final approval by President Bush contains a modest cut to NASA's request for exploration funds, but a slight boost to overall science programs. Exploration - which includes development of the new Orion and Ares vehicles that will replace the space shuttle and eventually send astronauts back to the moon - would receive $3.8 billion under the bill, which is $270 million more than was enacted in 2007 but roughly $124 million below the request.
The U.S. Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial system (UAS) could get a bit more complicated after contract award is announced early next year. Dyke Weatherington, deputy of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Planning Task Force, says that the Navy has planned well to ensure the new system will operate on common standards with existing Defense Dept. systems. BAMS now includes more than 600 different standards for interoperability, he says.
NASA's International Space Station (ISS) program probably will move quickly to repair the smaller of two rotating solar array joints and leave the larger for late next year, based on data gathered during a detailed inspection of the two mechanisms Dec. 18.
The Australian Defense Materiel Organization accepted the first two Australian multi role helicopters (MRH 90s) into service Dec. 18. Under the $4.2 billion Australian ($3.6 billion U.S.) Project AIR 9000, 46 MRH 90s are being bought from Eurocopter through its subsidiary Australian Aerospace. The milestone is viewed as an important one in Australia.
Troubleshooting with the space shuttle Atlantis fully fueled has narrowed the source of the problem that kept it stuck on the pad this month to a connector that passes through the walls of the big external fuel tank, raising hopes that International Space Station (ISS) assembly can resume as early as January.
Reader's Note: This is the first in an exclusive series of articles running this week that will piece together the history and costs of recent U.S. Air Force efforts to safeguard the skies. For more than a decade, the U.S. Air Force has been trying to fund and field a modern mobile air defense system to secure battle zone skies. Such a command and control (C2) system is considered to vital to safe and successful tactical air operations at home and abroad.
BALTIC RADARS: Lockheed Martin has received $44 million from Latvia for two long-range AN/TPS-77 transportable air surveillance radar systems and long-term technical support. Included in the contract were priced options for up to four additional TPS-77 radars for Estonia and Lithuania, the company said Dec. 18. The radars have helped the former Soviet satellites meet requirements to enter NATO.
The Latin American defense market's spending as a whole is expected to top off at $37.9 billion by 2010 and then ease slightly, according to consultancy Forecast International (FI). Only about 20 percent ($7.6 billion) of total defense spending goes toward procurements, but FI said there could be more in the end.
An article in the Dec. 18 issue misstated the number of C-17s desired by U.S. Transportation Command chief Gen. Norton Schwartz. The desired number of aircraft is 205.
With Japanese naval forces conducting a successful ballistic missile defense (BMD) intercept test of Aegis BMD with U.S. forces Dec. 17, BMD and Pacific alliance advocates are heralding a new era of international engagement. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) declared the successful Japanese-launched intercept of a North Korean-styled medium-range target missile to be "a major milestone in the growing cooperation between Japan and the U.S." Previous Japanese participation was limited to tracking and communications exercises.
NEW DELHI - Eurocopter says it had not yet received an official statement from the government of India on cancellation of the 197 AS550 C3 Fennec helicopters for the Indian army, for which final price negotiations had started. A statement issued by the Indian ministry of defense Dec. 6 said that the government had decided to cancel the RFP (request for proposals) for helicopters and a fresh RFP would be issued soon (DAILY, Dec. 7).
HONORING LANDSAT: On Dec. 18, Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), chairman of the House Science subcommittee on space and aeronautics, introduced a bipartisan House resolution to celebrate 35 years of Landsat observations. The Landsat program began with the launch of the first civilian Earth observation satellite on July 23, 1972 by NASA. Originally known as the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, the satellite was later renamed Landsat 1.
MORE MRAPs: On Dec. 18 DOD announced delivery orders covering an additional 3,126 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to be completed by end of July 2008. Four manufacturers received orders totaling nearly $2.66 billion. Stewart and Stevenson Tactical Vehicle will build 668 Category II vehicles with Category I seat configuration; BAE Systems Land and Armaments will build 600 more Category II vehicles; Force Protection Industries, Inc.
Congress and the Bush administration are on their way to fund the federal government - outside of the regular Pentagon budget - for fiscal 2008 after a fragile deal apparently won blessings from the White House and enough lawmakers from both parties Dec. 18. President Bush would sign the "omnibus" spending bill if it contains $71 billion in supplemental spending for the combat operations in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan and elsewhere with "no strings attached," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.
