U.S. and British officials have tried to dampen speculation that financial or technical constraints could derail the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Although JSF has been mentioned as a potential candidate for termination or deep cuts due to U.S. budget constraints, an official from the United Kingdom, a key partner in the aircraft's development, downplayed such concerns.
The federal government is moving closer to buying another high-flying jet to be used for storm tracking. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) on Nov. 4 called for the government to buy a backup to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Gulfstream-4 that measures steering currents. Days earlier, the Bush administration submitted a budget request for an additional NOAA aircraft to improve observations of hurricanes as part of a $37.4 million allocation (DAILY, Nov. 3).
High-level Defense Department officials will meet for the U.S. Navy's planned DD(X) land attack destroyer milestone B review on Nov. 9, a DOD spokeswoman confirmed Nov. 7. The Milestone B will serve as a decision point between technology development and going ahead to system development and demonstration. The DD(X) has come under fire for burgeoning costs now reaching $3.3 billion for the first ship. It remains the target of a $1.7 billion, House-passed cap per ship that Navy officials have hinted could be fatal.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies will lead first-phase development of a system aimed at aiding the navigation of deep-space vehicles, the company said Nov. 3. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency selected the company for first-phase work on the X-ray Source-based Navigation for Autonomous Position Determination (X-NAV) program, which is also designed to provide a Global Positioning System backup for low-earth orbiting spacecraft.
SpaceDev announced a new modular microsatellite, the SpaceDev Modular Microsat Bus (MMB-100), which it said is a "highly capable," modular satellite bus based on "plug and play" technology. The 100-kilogram (220-pound) bus uses ethernet and universal serial bus interfaces and a Linux operating system, and should cost less than $10 million including the payload and payload integration, the company said Nov. 7.
DRS DIVIDEND: DRS Technologies said Nov. 7 that its board of directors has declared a quarterly stock dividend of three cents per share, payable Dec. 30 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15.
South Korea's navy will receive the first of three Murena-e air-cushion landing craft from Russia on Nov. 11, the Korea Overseas Information Service said Nov. 7. The vessel departed from Khabarovsk, Russia, on Oct. 14 and is bound for Incheon, South Korea. After arrival it will be inspected, tested, and loaded with equipment before being formally delivered to South Korea's navy in late November. Russia will send South Korea two more of the vessels by 2006.
Defense spending rose on an adjusted basis by 7.7 percent in fiscal 2005 after averaging 14 percent growth in the previous three years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Raytheon's Non Line of Sight-Launch System Precision Attack Missile has successfully completed its preliminary design review, Raytheon announced Nov. 7. The NLOS-LS PAM will be part of the first "spin out" of technologies from the Army's Future Combat Systems program, scheduled for 2008. NLOS-LS is in its system development and demonstration phase.
Aircraft equipment maker K&F Industries said Nov. 7 that its third-quarter sales for fiscal 2005 were up 10 percent to $100 million, partly driven by a 15 percent increase in military sales. Its earnings increased $2 million, to $40 million, compared with the same period last year. The White Plains, N.Y.-based company makes wheel and brake systems, fuel tanks and de-icing systems for military and commercial aircraft.
Former space shuttle astronaut Michael Coats has been named director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA announced Nov. 7. Following service as a naval aviator, Coats joined NASA in 1978 as a member of the first astronaut class selected to fly the shuttle. He flew three missions, including as pilot for the first flight of Discovery in 1984.
CENSURE: Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has criticized Eric Edelman - whose recess appointment to be undersecretary of defense for policy Warner advocated - for not fully disclosing his involvement in special prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald's inquiry into the CIA-Plame leak case. "In my judgment, he would have been well advised to have disclosed to the committee his involvement with the Fitzgerald investigation," Warner said in a statement e-mailed to the press.
The U.S. Army tentatively plans to conduct the next test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile system on Nov. 11 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Two PAC-3 missiles will be fired at a ballistic missile target. The intercept attempt, which will be similar to a successful test conducted in September (DAILY, Sept. 9), is designed to try out software upgrades to the missile and ground system. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are the PAC-3 program's main contractors.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Caltex Alkhalij, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is being awarded a maximum $17,946,754 firm fixed price contract for facilities and services to receive, store, protect, and ship F76 and JP5. The other location of performance is Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Using services are Army, Navy, and Air Force. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The performance completion date is Oct. 31, 2010. The contracting activity is the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. (SP0600-06-C-5602).
The Acquisition Advisory Panel is in the home stretch of finalizing its report to Congress and wants to hear from contractors on commercial best practices, performance-based contracting and interagency contract vehicles. "The report will be a vehicle for significant positive changes in the acquisition process," says the Contract Services Association of America.
The Air Force has not delayed the latest round of launch awards in its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle in response to ongoing antitrust deliberations on the United Launch Alliance venture or a pending lawsuit seeking to stop the merger, according to the Space and Missile Systems Center. The so-called "Buy 3" EELV awards are expected to divide 23 launches through the end of the decade evenly between Boeing's Delta IV and Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rockets.
Nov. 7 - 10 -- Fatigue Concepts' Short Course, "Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance," San Diego Seapoint Hotel. Call 1-916-933-5000 or go to www.fatcon.com/hsv. Nov. 8 - 10 - Aerospace Testing Expo 2005 North America, Long Beach Convention Center, Calif. Call +44-130-674-5744 or go to www.aerospacetesting.com. Nov. 8 - 10 -- Aviation Week's MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, Suntec Convention Center, Singapore. For more information go to http://www.aviationnow.com/conferences.
Boeing will provide 50 Harpoon All-Up-Round (AUR) Missiles to Pakistan under a $62.5 million Naval Air Systems Command contract announced late Nov. 3. The missiles include 40 Tactical Block II Airlaunch AUR missiles and 10 Tactical Block II Grade B AUR missiles. The contract also calls for containers for Pakistan, Australia and Japan. The company is expected to finish the contract in June 2006.
Aviation Technology Group said Nov. 3 that it has lined up several suppliers for its Javelin executive jet, which is also expected to be developed into a military trainer in conjunction with Israel Aircraft Industries.
ACQUISITION POLICY: The Acquisition Advisory Panel is in the home stretch of finalizing its report to Congress and wants to hear from contractors on commercial best practices, performance-based contracting and interagency contract vehicles. "The report will be a vehicle for significant positive changes in the acquisition process," says the Contract Services Association of America.
Northrop Grumman's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 26 cents per share on common stock, the company said Nov. 2. The dividend is payable Dec. 10 to shareholders of record as of the close of business Nov. 28. The board also declared a dividend of $1.75 per share on the company's Series B convertible preferred stock. That is payable Jan. 17 to shareholders as of the close of business Jan. 3.
A leading trade association advocate for U.S. naval shipbuilding is confident that Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the new chief of naval operations, is trying to shield current shipbuilding programs even as the DD(X) destroyer and the CVN-21 aircraft carrier remain under fire as defense officials and lawmakers mull budget cuts. "Everybody is worried, and everybody should be worried," American Shipbuilding Association President Cynthia Brown told The DAILY.
