The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's newly completed fiscal 2006 budget request does not contain money to buy a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, but the idea of acquiring the Northrop Grumman-built UAV to monitor missile defense tests remains under study, according to Defense Department officials. "Global Hawk will continue to be an option to be considered to satisfy data collection needs," a DOD official said Feb. 10.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the FAA has enough regulatory authority for now under the new commercial space launch law and is just as committed to safety concerns despite the law's mandate against FAA regulation of passengers and crew. "At this point, in this stage of the industry's development, I think we're all right," Blakey told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation subcommittee on Feb. 9.
SAN DIEGO - Army-sponsored research of radar that would give units advancing at high speeds a way to detect anti-tank and other mines is showing significant promise, John Bramer, director of SRI International's Washington operations, told The DAILY. The research, being done separately by a number of companies, couples Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) programs that can sort and classify data with computers in a mobile unit. The Army wants to find mines far enough ahead of its tanks and vehicles so that they can be avoided.
David Smith has been named chief executive officer, effective Feb. 14. Ian Gillespie, acting CEO, will remain as a senior member of the management team. J. Dennis Heipt has resigned as an independent director. Mike O'Dwyer, the company's founder, is retiring as a director and employee. He will continue with the company as an unpaid consultant.
Engineered Support Systems Inc. of St. Louis has completed its $151.5 million purchase of Dulles, Va.-based Spacelink International LLC, the company said Feb. 8. ESSI paid $138.5 million in cash and issued 228,292 shares of restricted common stock worth about $13 million, the company said. ESSI financed the transaction with borrowings under its new $200 million unsecured credit facility, which was finalized last week. The Spacelink purchase will contribute about $70 million to ESSI's fiscal 2005 revenues, ESSI said.
Lockheed Martin said it has delivered the first modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., where it is to be launched in May. The satellite, GPS IIR-M1, will provide significantly improved navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users, the company said Feb. 9. Dave Podlesney, Lockheed Martin's GPS program director, said the satellite is the first of eight GPS IIR satellites being modernized by the company.
APPROVED: The board of directors of Netanya, Israel-based RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. has approved buying Vectop Ltd., an Israeli company specializing in electro-optical equipment and debriefing systems. RADA, which builds avionics and ground debriefing stations, will assume $800,000 of Vectop's debt and will pay the company $250,000 and "a future consideration based on performance."
ACQUIRED: Information technology company SI International Inc. said Feb. 9 that it has completed the purchase of Shenandoah Electronic Intelligence Inc., which provides support services to the Department of Homeland Security. SI acquired SEI for $75 million in cash.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Feb. 8 that he will question Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark closely "on the rationale for retiring the USS John F. Kennedy, and its impact on national security" at a Feb. 10 SASC hearing.
The Bush Administration plans to spend $26 million over the next two years to finish a study on the feasibility of modifying an existing nuclear warhead to destroy hardened and deeply buried targets, government officials said Feb. 8.
Alexis C. Livanos has been elected corporate vice president and president of the company's Space Technology sector. Wesley G. Bush, whom Livanos is succeeding, has been elected chief financial officer. Art Stephenson has been named vice president of the new Directed Energy Systems business area. Stephenson is a former director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
Deborah Lee James has been named senior vice president and general manager of the Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Information Technology business unit.
The U.S. Air Force is getting closer to conducting "Space Flag" exercises to allow space warriors to hone their skills. The exercises would do for the military space community what "Red Flag" exercises do for combat aircrews, according to Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Darnell, commander of the Air Force's Space Warfare Center. "I've spoken with the 14th Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Mike Hamel, who is a big, big supporter of it, and he thinks it's a great idea," Darnell said in a Feb. 5 telephone interview.
Carlos C. Campbell has been named to the board of directors. Campbell operates a consulting business in Reston, Va., and serves on the board of directors for Resource America Inc., NetWolves Corp., and Pico Holdings Inc.
The U.S. Air Force is considering forming a "center of excellence" to find ways to improve coordination among different types of unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a top general. Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force vice chief of staff, said Feb. 9 that "incredible synergies" might be achieved by getting UAVs that operate at different altitudes to work together. Details of the possible center are under evaluation.
James A. Schaefer has been named to the board of directors. Schaefer is a certified public accountant and retired in 2004 as an audit partner for the accounting firm Baird, Kurtz & Dobson LLP.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory is working on several initiatives to upgrade the Dragon Eye unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), including improving its sensors, endurance and communications.
The elected 2005 leaders for the AIA councils are as follows: Gerald L. Mack, Civil Aviation Council. Mack is vice president, Government and Industry technical liaison, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Co. Rosanne O'Brien, Communications Council. O'Brien is corporate vice president of Communications, Northrop Grumman Corp. Richard Kirkland, International Council. Kirkland is vice president of Corporate International Business Development, Lockheed Martin Corp.
The Defense Department's total spending on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in fiscal year 2006 is likely to stay at roughly the same level as FY '05, according to Dyke Weatherington, head of the Pentagon's UAV Task Force. President Bush's FY '06 budget request for DOD includes between $1.7 billion and $2 billion for UAVs, according to Weatherington. Precisely calculating the total UAV request takes time after the budget is released because the services tend to "bury" some of their UAV funding, Weatherington said.
NASA plans to develop an unmanned aircraft capable of staying airborne for 14 days as part of its High-Altitude Long-Endurance Remotely Operated Aircraft (HALE ROA) technology program, according to fiscal year 2006 budget documents.
