International Launch Services used a Russian Proton rocket to orbit a big direct-broadcast satellite for the Riyadh-based Arab Satellite Communications Organization. It was the first ILS-organized launch since Lockheed Martin sold its interest in the U.S.-Russian joint venture (DAILY, Sept. 8).
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), in line to head the House Armed Services Committee, has said he will make oversight of the Pentagon and the Bush administration's military policies a top priority. His Senate Armed Services Committee counterpart, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), will announce his agenda Nov. 13, but Levin has said repeatedly for the past few weeks that Iraq operations would be his top priority as well. "A comprehensive examination of our current policy in Iraq and identifying options for the future is a must," Skelton said Nov. 8.
The Air Force on Nov. 9 awarded Boeing Co. a $10 billion-$13 billion contract for slightly more than 141 combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopters. The Boeing HH-47 CSAR-X is a modified version of the popular tandem-rotor Chinook helicopter used heavily by the U.S. Army and Special Forces. "The increased capabilities the CSAR-X will provide our joint force commanders and future civil disaster needs is tremendous," said Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff.
In its biggest deal since it bought TRW four years ago, Northrop Grumman announced it will purchase signals intelligence company Essex Corp. for $580 million ($24 a share). Essex supplies signals and imagery processing systems to the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence and defense agencies. The company, based near the NSA in Columbia, Md., has grown from fewer than 50 employees in 2000 to nearly 1,000. Three classified programs account for about 60 percent of its revenues, which are forecast to be $330-350 million next year.
LONG SERVING: As of Nov. 8, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had served 2,546 days at that job - and 2,119 days for the Bush administration, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. If Rumsfeld remains in the job until Dec. 29 - which will depend on the approval process for his successor - he will have served 2,597 days. That would make him the longest-serving defense secretary, Whitman said, behind Robert McNamara. If Rumsfeld remains at the post until March 9, Whitman said, the Pentagon chief will then be the longest consecutively serving defense secretary.
DEFENSE SPENDING: The Defense Department spent $499 billion on military activities in 2006, 6.1 percent more than last year, according to the latest Congressional Budget Office monthly update. Military activities accounted for about 3.8 percent of gross domestic product for the past three years, up from 2.9 percent in 2001, the CBO reported Nov. 6. The Army posted the greatest growth in 2006, up 8 percent, compared with 6 percent and 4 percent for the Navy and Air Force, respectively.
Employee attrition is up slightly among Boeing's space shuttle work force following the late August loss of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) prime contract, although the company has not yet had any employees move directly over to Lockheed Martin's winning CEV team, according to Boeing Space Shuttle Program Manager Steve Oswald.
VOLVO AERO EXPANDS: Volvo Aero will expand its Aero-Craft affiliate in Newington, Conn., by 50 percent, to 67,000 square feet (6,200 square meters), and double its staff to meet increased demand for fan cases. The expansion will serve the GE90 and perhaps the Trent 900, as well as the Trent 1000 and GEnx.
Boeing Space Shuttle Program Manager Steve Oswald says he's not concerned about the "Y2K-ish" problem with the orbiter's computer clocks that might occur during any mission that extended over New Year's Day. Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on the 11-day STS-116 mission some time between Dec. 6 and Dec. 17, which means it should be returning before Jan. 1. However, if the mission launches toward the end of its window and then experiences a delay in orbit, it could be in space for New Year's.
The European Space Agency is among 6,000 representatives attending a United Nations summit in Nairobi aimed at preparing a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. This summit, set for Nov. 6-17, will combine the second meeting of the parties to the protocol and the twelfth session of the conference of the parties to the U.N. framework convention on climate change.
JSF COMPOSITES: EDO Corp. has received a $1.8 million contract from Lockheed Martin Corp. for composites for 14 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft by December 2008. The composite structures serve the aircraft's proposed stealth properties. "This is a significant contract for EDO because it allows us to demonstrate our composite-materials technology and engineering capabilities to Lockheed Martin and the Department of Defense," said James Smith, EDO chief executive.
BACK ON TRACK: SES Global says improvements and additions to its service business will raise profitability and reduce its drag on the company's higher-margin satellite lease operations and stock price. In third quarter results, CFO Mark Rigolle said SES has reached its goal of raising earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization on revenues to 10 percent of revenues by the end of 2006 vs. 4 percent in 2005.
One of the major space conferences of the year has been delayed because its planned guest list and attendees will be too busy launching things into space. The Space Foundation's Florida Space 2006 was to have been held at a swanky Orlando conference center near Disneyworld Dec. 5-7. But that's when NASA hopes to launch the STS-116 shuttle mission to the International Space Station. It is also too close to the planned launch of a U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin Atlas V carrying the Defense Department's STP-1 payload, a mission now moving to mid January.
Democrats appear to be inching toward official control of both the House and Senate in the next Congress, which could further raise the profile of Army and Marine Corps readiness and reset spending, shipbuilding and increased scrutiny of Air Force fighter and missile defense programs among other expected Capitol Hill outcomes.
NEW HELOS: The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command has awarded the Boeing Co. a $163.3 million contract modification for new-build CH-47F helicopters. The Nov. 1 modification, based on a December 2003 award, runs through 2009.
It's feasible to design, build and deploy a satellite capable of conducting electronic warfare (EW) - jamming radar detection signals - from space, Air Force Maj. Tim Sands said. Such a system would have to be placed in low-Earth orbit (LEO), have a limited dwell time and be fairly large, Sands said Nov. 8 during a briefing at the 43rd Annual AOC (Association of Old Crows) International Symposium and Convention in Washington. Sands, a former B-52 EW officer, said his research and findings are the result of studies done outside the Air Force.
Lockheed Martin is ramping up to begin work on a 20-year contract for pilot training with the Royal Singapore Air Force (RSAF) that will see the company delivering simulators, courseware, flight instructors and PC-21 turboprop trainer aircraft. Lockheed Martin would not disclose the total value of the contract win, which was announced Nov. 3. The company will spend the next eight months conducting a training needs analysis with the RSAF to fully flesh out its requirements.
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is keying on developing technology and programs to better manage electromagnetic spectrum for communications and other capabilities. DARPA is working to ensure that U.S. forces will have secure, assured, high-rate, multisubscriber, multipurpose networks for future forces, agency Director Anthony J. Tether said Nov. 6 during his keynote presentation at the 43rd Annual AOC (Association of Old Crows) International Symposium and Convention in Washington.
Britain is looking at the possibility of closer industrial cooperation with the U.S. for future nuclear submarine needs as it ponders a successor to its Trident nuclear deterrent. Murray Easton, managing director of submarines at BAE Systems, told the British Parliament's Defense Committee on Nov. 7 that "there has been some dialogue at the industrial level."
