Northrop Grumman's MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle successfully completed a series of tests showing it would be controlled by the Army's existing One System ground stations, the company announced Aug. 15. The tests were conducted Aug. 1-3 at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., and involved data and image relay, supply delivery, and an autonomous flight demonstration for senior military and government officials, the company said.
ARMY SUPPORT: Information technology provider SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., has been awarded a five-year, $26.8 million task order to provide logistics support and enhance unit readiness for the U.S. Army, the company said Aug. 15. SRA will provide management, consulting and technical services in support of the Army Forces Command Contract Maintenance Facility for the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., and other locations. Services will include materiel management, systems administration and training.
REVENUE FALLS: VirTra Systems Inc. of Arlington, Texas, which sells situational awareness firearms training systems to the military, reported Aug. 15 that second quarter 2005 total revenue fell 32% and its net loss was 47% lower than the same period a year ago. Total second quarter 2005 revenue was $255,079, compared with $374,118 the year before. Net loss improved from $534,907 a year ago to $285,248 in the second quarter of 2005.
GALAXY 14: PanAmSat's Galaxy 14 satellite was launched successfully on a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Aug. 14. Starsem and Arianespace jointly managed the launch, which marked the 1,699th launch of the Soyuz variant. Built by Orbital Sciences, the 2,000 kilogram (4,409-pound) Galaxy 14 will deliver digital video programming, high-definition television, voice-on-demand and Internet services throughout the continental U.S.
The Pentagon plans to study alternatives to the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) now that the missile-detecting system has experienced a big cost increase. The analysis of alternatives (AOA) will help the Defense Department determine whether to continue the program.
Ballistic Recovery Systems of South St. Paul, Minn., which makes parachute systems for small aircraft, said its sales for the third quarter of 2005 increased 20.3% over the same period last year, although quarterly net income was down. The company reported sales of $2.1 million in the quarter. Quarterly net income was $41,769, down from $56,831 for the same period in 2004.
PUBLIC OFFERING: Optical company Axsys Technologies said Aug. 12 that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of three million shares of its common stock. Bear, Stearns & Co. and Banc of America Securities are managing the offering, Rocky Hill, Conn.-based Axsys said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A new U.S. Army theater space concept will be sharpened this month during an exercise in South Korea, according to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey C. Horne, deputy commanding general for operations of Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Army Forces Strategic Command. Six-person Space Support Teams already are being deployed to Army divisions, with the typical task of optimizing intelligence databases.
FILL 'ER UP: This fiscal year, the Defense Logistics Agency's energy center will buy about 128 million barrels of fuel for $8.5 billion, DLA spokeswoman Lana Hampton says. Jet fuel constitutes nearly 70% of the Defense Department's petroleum product purchases. Hampton said the U.S. military is using between 10 and 11 million barrels of fuel a month to sustain operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Hampton spoke late on Aug.
The U.S. Coast Guard will rely on a variety of patrol aircraft, including C-130s, HU-25s, CN-235-300Ms and unmanned aerial vehicles to try to close a maritime patrol aircraft performance gap under its Deepwater recapitalization program, according to Adm. Thomas Collins.
NEW VICE BOSS: Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs chairman, on Aug. 12 swore in Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as the nation's second-highest uniformed military leader at a Pentagon ceremony. Giambastiani became the seventh vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who himself replaces a retiring Myers as chairman at the end of September.
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - Marines securing the volatile western part of Iraq need more satellite capabilities to spread their messages to citizens of Anbar province, says the top Marine commander in Iraq. "Every chicken coop around here has a satellite dish on it," Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commanding general of 2nd Division Marines, told the DAILY Aug. 12.
Construction of new Australian facilities worth AUD 82 million (USD $63.3 million) to house 17 Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters is ahead of schedule, the Australian defense department said Aug. 12. The facilities, to be manned by the 1st Aviation Regiment at Robertson Barracks in Darwin, will include maintenance, flightline, command, training and accommodation buildings, along with a helicopter apron and taxi-way.
Defense electronics maker Argon ST saw revenues and earnings for the third quarter 2005 increase sharply, the company said Aug. 11. Quarterly revenue for the company went up by $36.5 million to $75.6 million, an increase of 94% over the same quarter last year, the Fairfax, Va.-based company said. Revenue for the first nine months of the company's current fiscal year increased 111%, to $188 million.
ROBOTIC GUARD: The U.S. Army and General Dynamics Corp. expect their Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System (MDARS), a robotic watch-guard vehicle loaded with sensors, to enter the final preproduction phase next year and then full production in fiscal 2007. Brian Frederick, program manager, told reporters Aug. 9 that eight military depots in the United States are to get about 50 of the autonomous unmanned ground vehicle systems, costing about $200,000 each. A dozen will go to Hawthorne Army Depot, Nev.
CHECKING MRO: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team will spend this week checking out the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft and its subsystems following its successful launch from Cape Canaveral Aug. 12. The spacecraft's first science measurement will be when its Mars Color Imager (MARCI) instrument looks back at Earth to measure its ultraviolet radiation as a basis of comparison for later Mars measurements. Fifteen days after launch MRO will perform its first trajectory correction maneuver, firing its six thrusters for eight seconds.
GETTING READY: The European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft has arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is undergoing final tests before its scheduled Oct. 26 launch, ESA says. An Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft carried the spacecraft and associated equipment to Baikonur from Toulouse, France. Venus Express is intended to be the first spacecraft to perform a global observation of Venus' atmosphere.
PROMOTED: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is appointing William Gerstenmaier as the agency's new associate administrator for space operations, replacing William Readdy. Mike Suffredini is taking over Gerstenmaier's previous job as program manager for the International Space Station. As head of the Space Operations Mission Directorate, Gerstenmaier will direct the agency's human exploration of space and oversee the ISS and space shuttle programs, among others. Gerstenmaier first joined NASA in 1977 as an aeronautical engineer at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: When it comes to unmanned aircraft, the U.S. Defense Department seems to know what it wants researchers to do for the foreseeable future. "For the next 25 years, DOD will focus the [government] labs and industry" on such mission areas as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), destruction and suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, anti-surface ship and anti-submarine warfare, communications relay and mine warfare, according to DOD's new roadmap on unmanned aircraft systems.
The U.S. Navy plans to establish an office as early as October that would control and manage how the service handles information technology funding allocation, according to Navy officials.
EMBRAER AGAIN: Lockheed Martin Corp. is expected to propose sticking with an Embraer aircraft, although a bigger one, for the U.S. Army's Aerial Common Sensor, according to a source. Lockheed Martin said in June that the Brazilian aircraft maker's ERJ-145 regional jet turned out to be too small for the program (DAILY, June 30).
