JSF MATING: The center and forward fuselage for the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flight-test jet were mated May 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin supplied the forward fuselage and Northrop Grumman built the midsection. The Lockheed Martin wing and BAE Systems aft fuselage are to be added to the aircraft in the coming weeks. Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin.
EADS BOOM: A new aerial refueling boom system developed by EADS is undergoing ground testing in Madrid, Spain, and is expected to begin flight-testing this fall, a company spokesman says. Although the boom initially will be flown on the Airbus A310, the aircraft's rear resembles that of the A330, which EADS plans to offer if the U.S. Air Force holds a competition for a new tanker. The Air Force prefers pole-like booms over the hose-based refueling systems that Airbus tankers have traditionally used.
May 9 - 11 -- The 3rd Annual Conference on Integrated Defense Architectures, "Needs, Initiatives, Opportunities, Challenges, Tools & Techniques," Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge. For more information call (310) 563-1223 or go to www.technologytraining.com. May 9 - 12 -- 13th Global Demilitarization Symposium & Exhibition, John Ascuaga's Nugget, Sparks, Nev. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
DIVIDEND: United Industrial Corp. said May 6 that its board of directors has declared a dividend of 10 cents a share, payable May 30 to stockholders of record as of close of business on May 19.
DEFENSE SPENDING: The federal government's defense-related outlays through April were about 8% higher than in the same period last year, $273 billion versus $254 billion. That's a rate of growth well below the double-digit increases recorded in the past three fiscal years, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest monthly federal budget review. Including spending from the $82 billion supplemental appropriations measure expected to get Senate approval this week, CBO estimates that fiscal 2005 outlays will total $2.5 trillion.
A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) warns that the U.S. defense and intelligence community must keep better tabs on evolving technologies to avoid "technological surprise" during future conflicts.
TRANSFORMATION: Congress has instructed the Defense Department to provide a report by September detailing the DOD's long-range plan for executing and funding the Army's modular force initiative. The report should identify personnel and equipment requirements, unit restructuring timelines and associated costs. "The conferees are concerned that the budgeting methods employed to support this initiative may result in inefficient program management and acquisition practices," lawmakers said in a report on the supplemental.
SBIR DATA: The director of the U.S. Navy's Small Business Innovation Research program says he would like more reporting from prime contractors when they tap SBIR companies. John Williams says the large defense contractors should report some SBIR data like they do for some subcontracting work. The information would give officials better insight into how well SBIR firms are penetrating the market, along with how well defense prime contractors use the small research outfits.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) said it had "outstanding performance" in its fiscal year 2005, which ended March 31. The weapon and space systems company said sales rose 18% to $2.8 billion, boosted by revenue growth in existing programs such as missile warning systems and military flares and by the acquisition of ATK GASL, ATK Mission Research and PSI Group. ATK's Thiokol division posted sales of $845 million, up from $799 million last year, mostly from the Minuteman III missile program and the sale of flares and decoys.
The new improvised explosive device (IED) jamming technology being speeded to Iraq still will not be a panacea and U.S. military officials already are seeing new IED tactics by insurgents. "From the beginning we have sought the technological solution, regardless of the cost, to try to find the device that would both detect and destroy the IEDs before our troops came within range," Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, Joint Staff director of operations, said at a Pentagon press conference May 5. "We still haven't found the defeat mechanism.
As part of its effort to accelerate the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), NASA has advanced the selection of the CEV prime contractor by more than two years, from late 2008 to early 2006.
F/A-22 CRASH: The U.S. Air Force is not ready yet to announce why an F/A-22 Raptor crashed on takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., in December, according to Air Combat Command (ACC). Although software problems have been eyed as a potential cause of the nonfatal accident (DAILY, April 7), investigators have not completed their work, ACC says. The Dec. 20 crash came at a sensitive time for the Air Force, which is trying to undo a Pentagon proposal to cut the service's Raptor procurement by almost 100 planes.
DELAYING INEVITABILITY: Lockheed Martin and Boeing's proposed Atlas/Delta merger may delay the government's downselect to a single expendable military launcher, but probably won't save enough money to delay it indefinitely, according to Troy Thrash, division director of space and telecommunications for Futron Corp. "If nothing else, I think it's going to make it less important that the downselect happens very quickly," Thrash says.
ManTech International Corp. of Fairfax, Va., reported revenue of $217.5 million for the first quarter of 2005, up $27.9 million, or 15%, from the same period in 2004. The boost was due to increased spending on defense and homeland security, the information technology and services company said. The company plans to continue this trend with a "steadfast and sharpened focus on the high-end intelligence and defense markets," George J. Pederson, ManTech's chairman of the board and CEO, said in a statement.
Alliant Techsystems and NASA successfully tested the functional deployment and attitude control of a lightweight solar sail propulsion system, ATK said May 6. This was the first of a series of ground tests for the sail technology, which will be tested through July, ATK said. The 20-meter-by-20-meter (65-foot) sail system was deployed in the 100-foot diameter vacuum chamber at the Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook facility in Sandusky, Ohio.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said May 6 that South Korea has chosen its S-92 helicopter for its presidential mission and the Stratford, Conn., company will deliver three of its VIP variant helos beginning in 2007. The S-92 was selected over the AgustaWestland EH101 in a competition conducted by the Korean Ministry of National Defense. The competition served as a rematch of a U.S. bid that Sikorsky lost to Lockheed Martin Corp.
PAKISTAN REQUESTS: Pakistan has requested 300 AIM-9M-1/2 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, 40 AGM-84L air-launched Harpoon Block II missiles and 20 RGM-84L surface-launched Harpoon missiles, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on May 6. The Sidewinder buy could be worth up to $46 million and the Harpoon buy up to $180 million, DSCA said. Raytheon Systems Corp. is the prime contractor for the proposed Sidewinder sale and the Boeing Co. and Delex Systems Inc. are the prime contractors for the proposed Harpoon sales.
Integrated Coast Guard Systems LLC, the joint venture leading work on the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization effort, is pushing ahead with work despite a growing dispute between the White House and Capitol Hill over funding the program. ICGS, a combination of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., has issued a broad industry announcement (BIA) seeking suppliers with technologies and products that could support Deepwater. The BIA was issued May 4.
MARKING UP: House Armed Services Committee panels will mark up the HASC's version of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1815) May 11 and 12. The terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities; projection forces; and military personnel subcommittees meet May 11. The readiness; strategic forces; and tactical air and land forces panels meet May 12. All HASC hearings are open, although the strategic forces group may later close its meeting. Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittees begin their work on May 10.
The federal government's defense-related outlays through April were about 8% higher than in the same period last year, $273 billion versus $254 billion. That's a rate of growth well below the double-digit increases recorded in the past three fiscal years, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest monthly federal budget review. Including spending from the $82 billion supplemental appropriations measure expected to get Senate approval this week, CBO estimates that fiscal 2005 outlays will total $2.5 trillion.
Kaman Corp. of Bloomfield, Conn., posted a 291% jump in net earnings and a 7.3% hike in net sales in the first quarter of 2005, the company said May 6. First quarter '05 net earnings were $4.7 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $1.2 million, or 5 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2004. Net sales for the first quarter of 2005 were $263.3 million, compared with $245.2 million in the first quarter of 2004.
Fairfax, Va.-based Argon ST Inc.'s Reconnaissance Systems Group has been awarded a $73.5 million contract to design, develop and integrate a sensor subsystem for the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) platform, the company said May 5. The contract was awarded by Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions. ACS will replace the current Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, including the Army's Guardrail Common Sensor, the Airborne Reconnaissance Low aircraft and the Navy's fleet of EP-3 aircraft.
