PRAGUE - European Union defense ministers have agreed to a series of steps designed to tackle the fragmentation of defense equipment markets and boost the effectiveness of defense spending across Europe.
NEW DELHI - After ironing out some differences, India and Russia are close to concluding an intellectual property rights agreement to cover the co-production of weapon systems and missiles. Moscow has insisted that New Delhi sign the agreement because the two countries' defense cooperation has shifted from a buyer-seller relationship to joint development of high-tech weapons like the BrahMos cruise missile.
PRAGUE - Plans by European Union leaders to introduce the bloc's own rapid-reaction forces were boosted May 23 when EU defense ministers agreed to an accelerated decision-making and planning process for operations involving the proposed "battle groups."
The U.S. Defense Department's Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program has recruited a fourth team to demonstrate electrically driven laser technology later this year, a program official said May 24.
Boeing successfully tested the 500-pound Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) against a moving target for the first time, Boeing said May 24. In the test, conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., a Laser JDAM was released from an Air Force F-16. The fighter was flying at 20,000 feet and was about four miles from the target, a slow-moving unmanned truck, when the JDAM was released. The inert JDAM tracked the laser to the target and scored a direct hit, Boeing said.
The Cosmos-1 solar sail spacecraft is being shipped from its test facility near Moscow to Severomorsk, Russia, where it will be integrated with a Volna converted ICBM so it can be launched from a submerged Russian submarine June 21. A joint effort by the Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios, Cosmos-1 will attempt the first controlled flight of a solar sail. Solar sails use the pressure of solar photons bouncing off the reflective sail material to provide propulsion.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said the fire control radar it is providing for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has passed a key system integration test by detecting airborne targets in the company's integration laboratory. The AN/APG-81, which incorporates an active electronically scanned array, is to support air-to-air, air-to-surface and electronic warfare missions. The company delivered the first AN/APG-81 to JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin earlier this year (DAILY, March 4).
Lawmakers are "raiding" defense operations and maintenance (O&M) accounts to pay for pet defense spending projects, a questionable move in light of ongoing military operations, a panel of defense spending analysts said May 23 on Capitol Hill.
Spain's cabinet has approved a 2.5 billion euro ($3.1 billion) military moderization that includes the purchase of ships, helicopters and missiles, the Spanish Council of Ministers said May 20. Spain will buy one F-100 frigate, four naval operations vessels, 45 NH-90 medium helicopters, and short-range missiles for its ground forces and marines, the council said. The purchases are funded under the country's 2005 budget and have been given immediate authorization.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Clearfield, Utah, is being awarded a $23,961,022 cost-plus award-fee contract modification to provide for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Security Modernization Program Fast Rising B-Plug Low Rate Initial Production. Fifteen B-Plug Kits, and six B-Plug Kit Installation. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by September 2007. Negotiations were completed May 2005. The Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-98-C-0001).
LONDON - British defense research company QinetiQ reported last week that it had achieved the world's first automatic landing of a short takeoff, vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft on a ship.
Australia has requested three MK 7 Aegis weapon systems and related equipment totaling as much as $350 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress. The sale would improve the Australian navy's ability to participate in coalition operations, make its air warfare destroyer platform more lethal and provide common logistical support with the U.S. Navy, DSCA said May 23.
Raytheon is gearing up to begin work on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program that will further develop nonmechanical laser beam control technology originally created for the agency's Steered Agile Beam (STAB) effort. DARPA released a request for information for the program, dubbed APPLE (Adaptive Photonic Phase Locked Elements), in December and decided to award a sole-source contract to STAB prime contractor Raytheon. APPLE will focus on space-to-ground laser control.
As both chambers of Congress prepare to debate their respective $441.6 billion fiscal 2006 defense authorization bills this week, perhaps no greater divide exists between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee versions than in naval shipbuilding. Both committees have complained about the Pentagon's acquisition practices, although for different reasons, and both have targeted space programs for cuts. Both have kept alive the Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft program, and both make supporting military forces engaged in combat operations a priority.
AFFORDABLE WEAPON SYSTEM: International Systems LLC of San Diego, a subsidiary of Titan Corp., has been awarded a $32.3 million contract modification for the fiscal year 2005 demonstration, test and evaluation phase of the Affordable Weapon System, the company said May 20. The work on the lower cost, Global Positioning System-guided cruise missile will be done in San Diego and is expected to be finished by September 2006. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington. D.C., awarded the contract.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Pittsburgh Pa., is being awarded a $104,217,527 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2102) for naval nuclear propulsion components. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa. (70 percent) and Schenectady, N.Y. (30 percent). Work completion date or additional information is not provided on naval nuclear propulsion contracts. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
INCOME, REVENUE UP: High-tech company Mikros Systems Corp. of Princeton, N.J., posted gains in revenue and net income in the first quarter of 2005, the company said May 23. The firm's revenue rose to $355,413, compared with $218,440 for the same period a year ago. Net income increased to $30,814, compared with $28,604 in the first quarter of 2004, the company said. The revenue was generated from $1 million and $2.4 million contracts from the U.S.
MOSCOW - RSC Energia is proposing to build a new unmanned space tug as part of a next-generation space transportation system, company deputy general designer Nikolai Bryukhanov said last week. Parom, or "ferry boat," would complement the company's proposed Clipper space vehicle, intended to replace the aging Soyuz. It would be a reusable orbital transfer vehicle that would dock with cargo delivered by various boosters, and then carry the cargo to the International Space Station or other locations.
General Dynamics Corp. said it received a $5.9 million contract modification to upgrade its Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle and that the Marine Corps workhorse ground vehicle's system capabilities would be demonstrated early next year.
Data Link Solutions will provide its Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) Class 2 Terminals for the U.S. Navy's E-2C Hawkeye aircraft under a $13 million contract from the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, the company said May 23. The terminals provide a real-time, jam-resistant transfer of combat information and navigation data "between widely dispersed battle elements," the company said.
PRAGUE - European officials are seeking approval from state ministers to begin negotiations on a cooperation agreement with South Korea to develop its Galileo Civil Global Navigation Satellite System, the European Commission said May 23. The EC said it intends to start talks immediately after gaining approval for its recommendation from the European Council of Ministers. Jacques Barrot, vice president of the commission in charge of transport, said in a statement that the Galileo has attracted interest from countries all over the world.
