The European Union's (EU) pricing plan for certain Galileo satellite navigation services is expected to emerge toward the end of the year, according to Michael Shaw, director of navigation and spectrum policy for the U.S. Transportation Department. "The Europeans are faced with how do we fund for this system, and at least they would like to charge for some of these services," Shaw said during a presentation at the Air Traffic Controllers Association (ATCA) symposium in Washington on Nov. 3.
The United States and its international partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program have concluded a two-day meeting to review the jet's progress.
Communications and avionics electronics maker Rockwell Collins reported net income for fiscal 2004 grew by 17 percent over 2003, going from $258 million to $301 million. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company said sales for FY '04 increased $388 million, or 15 percent, to reach a record $2.93 billion.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to fly Northrop Grumman's Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform surveillance over Arizona's border with Mexico, following a successful series of flights using the Israeli-built Hermes UAV that took place over the summer.
AVIATION PROTECTION SYSTEMS INC., Miami Robert A. Heber has been appointed vice president for operations. CPI AEROSTRUCTURES, Edgewood, N.Y. Arthur August, CPI's co-founder, will step down as chairman of the board of directors and become chairman emeritus effective Jan. 1. Eric S. Rosenfeld, director and chairman of CPI's strategic planning committee, will become nonexecutive chairman of the board on Jan. 1. DYNAMICS RESEARCH CORP., Andover, Mass.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to award $1.5 million each to the Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman-led teams competing in the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, DARPA announced Nov. 3. Both teams have been authorized to continue development of their respective UCAR demonstrator systems while DARPA and the Army attempt to resolve funding issues hanging over the program that have delayed contractor downselect and the beginning of Phase III.
POSTPONED: The launch of NASA's much-delayed Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft has been delayed again, due to availability problems with the launch range and "the lingering effects of solar activity," NASA said Nov. 3. A new launch date is being reviewed.
A Pentagon policy shop is questioning the Defense Department's decision to pick only one supplier for the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), saying the United States needs a broader industrial base to keep its technological edge in such precision weapons.
Defense programs that are not transformational could get canceled in coming years, those with performance and development issues will be scrutinized and new starts will get pushed to the right, said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Albaugh spoke on Nov. 3 at the Goldman Sachs Global Capital Goods Conference in New York. "Programs must emphasize mobility, integrated command and control, precision strike, and global situational awareness, or else they're at risk of being canceled," he said.
General Electric and Rolls-Royce, which are developing the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, have been awarded a $122 million contract to establish a "bridge" between the propulsion system's pre-system development and demonstration (pre-SDD) and SDD phases, the Defense Department announced late Nov. 3. The contract will "protect SDD program milestones and mitigate technical, schedule and cost risk," DOD said.
Lockheed Martin has been selected as the Common Submarine Radio Room (CSSR) software design and interim software support agent for the Seawolf-class submarine, the company said Nov. 2.
Hewlett-Packard and Lockheed Martin have formed a strategic global alliance to compete for international defense and homeland security contracts, the companies said Nov. 3. "Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor and HP is the largest government IT [information technology] contractor and has a large footprint outside the United States," Art Johnson, senior vice president of corporate strategic development for Lockheed Martin, told reporters.
Lockheed Martin's Sniper XR/PANTERA advanced targeting pod (ATP) data downlink capability has been successfully flight-tested on a Norwegian F-16 aircraft, the company said Nov. 3. The test, conducted at Bodo Air Force Base in Bodo, Norway, was the first flight for the Sniper XR-based downlink capability.
The Syracuse Research Corp. won a $2.3 million increment on Oct. 29 as part of an $8.7 million research and development contract for the Army's Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR) Enhancement program, the U.S. Department of Defense said Nov. 3. Work will be performed in Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
In a combined training effort, the Swedish navy will provide the U.S. Navy with a Swedish advanced diesel submarine and crew for U.S. Navy fleet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Oct. 29. The two navies will stress integrated and focused ASW training and assessment of the U.S. Navy's fleet ASW operations, as well as tactics, doctrine, and ASW education, the Defense Department said. The partnership will begin in early 2005.
The Department of Defense's addressable operations and maintenance (O&M) budget is forecast to grow from $34 billion in fiscal 2006 to $42 billion in fiscal 2015, the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) says in its 40th annual 10-year forecast of defense spending. The total O&M budget will grow to $159.6 billion in fiscal 2015 from $140.6 billion in fiscal 2005, GEIA said Oct. 29.
Oto Melara's "Super Rapid," the U.S. Navy's first missile-firing gun system, has been delivered to the United States from Italy, the company said Nov. 1. The Super Rapid is a modular, 76mm gun system able to fire regular ammunition and to launch guided missiles, the La Spezia, Italy-based company said, and can shoot down cruise missiles.
RESULTS: Commercial space company Spacehab of Houston will release its fiscal year 2005 first-quarter results on Nov. 9, the company said. Spacehab reported a net loss of $2.3 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 (DAILY, Sept. 9), and recently said that NASA has refused to pay its $87.7 million claim for the loss of the Research Double Module, which was lost when the shuttle Columbia was destroyed. NASA has said it owes Spacehab only $8 million (DAILY, Oct. 8).
General Dynamics Amphibious Systems (GDAMS) won a $135.9 million modification contract to continue the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the U.S. Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), the Department of Defense said Nov. 1. "This contract is in support of the work that assists the Marines during the operational assessment phase, which will run from March through the second quarter of 2006," Peter Keating, vice president of communications and public affairs for General Dynamics Land Systems, told The DAILY.
General Dynamics Network Systems won a $3.8 million delivery order to upgrade and expand the telecommunications voice networks at the Army's Fort Richardson, Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely, Alaska, under the Long Term Life Cycle Support contract, the company said Nov. 2. Under this order, General Dynamics will engineer, furnish, install, and test voice-switching upgrades, including telephone switch expansions, a telephone management system and installation of Enhanced 911 service.
The Boeing Co. has been tapped to design and test the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a large bomb designed to penetrate and destroy hardened and deeply buried targets. The Defense Department announced late Nov. 1 that the Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded a $20 million, multi-year contract to Boeing for the MOP program, which is funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The initial increment of $500,000 is for work that is to be completed by February 2005.
HERCULES DELIVERED: Lockheed Martin has delivered the first KC-130J Super Hercules aircraft ordered under a joint U.S. Air Force/Marine Corps multiyear acquisition program, the company said Nov. 2. The aircraft will be delivered to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 at the Cherry Point, N.C., Marine Corps Air Station.
