MOSCOW - Russia's aviation and space agency, Rosaviakosmos, needs funding to complete Khrunichev Center's research module for the International Space Station, an agency official said last week. Cash flow problems have delayed work on the module, a problem made worse by the need to support the station while NASA's shuttle fleet remains grounded, said Alexander Kuznetsov, Rosaviakosmos' deputy general director.
ARMY ROADMAP: The Army's evolving Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is spurring the service to revise its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) roadmap, according to Lt. Gen. John Riggs, director of the Objective Force Task Force at Army headquarters. "The Army put together a UAV roadmap, submitted it to Congress in April '03, and it's currently under revision," Riggs says. "The reason it's under revision is I don't think we took fully into consideration the impact that Future Combat Systems would have on the Army's total unmanned systems programs.
NASA FUNDING: The full House Appropriations Committee remains on track to take up the fiscal 2004 NASA appropriations bill late July 21. The committee's NASA subcommittee approved the legislation July 15 (DAILY, July 16). The Senate Appropriations Committee's NASA panel will take up its version of the bill as early as the week of July 21-25.
SIMULATOR SUPPLY: CAE of Toronto will provide six full-flight simulators to JetBlue Airways for a total of $61.2 million under the terms of a letter of intent (LOI) signed by the companies, CAE said July 17. The company is to provide four Airbus A320 simulators and two Embraer 190 simulators. Under the LOI, CAE would become JetBlue's exclusive provider of full-flight simulators for 10 years.
An experimental upgrade for missiles aimed at reducing targeting mistakes and improving battlefield damage assessment (BDA) operated successfully in a flight test debut, company officials say. The Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Quick Bolt capability is a U.S. Navy AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) equipped with a transmitter that collects refined targeting data and sends a near-real time picture of the target to a battlefield controller to assist with BDA.
Former Sen. Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire will lead an independent review of the Boeing Co.'s policies and procedures in the wake of allegations the company misused a competitor's information for a key Air Force space launch program.
Thailand's Korat air base has received the final three of 16 refurbished F-16 Fighting Falcons, aircraft builder Lockheed Martin said. The country has modernized its air force, and the July 11 delivery completes the Thai air force's third F-16 squadron, the company said. The U.S. Air Force refurbished and delivered the aircraft.
UCAR: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Northrop Grumman as one of the two contractor teams that will proceed into Phase II of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program. Work is to be completed by April 2004. Another Phase II contractor will be chosen from the remaining Phase I competitors - Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Sikorsky.
U.S. Army officials are discussing how much funding they will try to get to purchase additional Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2)/Blue Force Tracking systems for the service's combat vehicles. FBCB2/Blue Force Tracking is a tactical command-and-control system that links satellites, sensors, communications equipment, vehicles, aircraft and weapons in a seamless digital network to provide a continuous, all-weather picture of the battlefield.
A House-Senate conference committee is trying to wrap up negotiations on the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill by the end of next week, but many tough issues still need to be resolved, including the House's controversial Buy American provisions.
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is sponsoring an effort to develop or identify data standards to govern mission planning for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to Dyke Weatherington, head of the UAV Planning Task Force at OSD.
An interagency expert panel is being formed to examine technical and budget lapses plaguing the Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Hard Target Smart Fuze (HTSF) program, a critical component for advanced penetrator weapons, sources told The DAILY. The panel, described as a "red team" of U.S. Air Force, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Sandia National Laboratory experts, may open the door for alternative technologies, such as the abandoned Multi-Event Hard Target Fuze (MEHTF), to replace the troubled FMU-159A/B HTSF capability, sources said.
HUGHES ELECTRONICS will pay Boeing $360 million in cash to settle Boeing's claim that Hughes had overvalued its satellite-building arm, which Boeing bought in 2000 and renamed Boeing Satellite Systems. The payments will not have a large impact on Boeing's 2003 earnings, the company said. "We are pleased to put these matters behind us and look forward to our continued productive partnership with Hughes, including next year's launch of the Hughes Spaceway satellite," Dave Ryan, the vice president and general manager of Boeing Satellite Systems, said in a statement.
BALTIMORE, Md. - As military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems proliferate rapidly, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) is taking a lead role in experimenting with and promoting joint UAV operations, according to a JFCOM official. "The UAV force structure is really on the verge of explosive growth, and DOD funding for UAVs is escalating three- or four-fold per year for the next few years," said Christopher Jackson, deputy director of intelligence for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) integration at JFCOM.
General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins are negotiating to jointly build the Integrated Computer Systems (ICS) for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Negotiations are taking place with the Army's lead systems integrator (LSI) team of the Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC).
Boeing Commercial Airplanes said July 17 that it will reduce employment by an additional 4,000-5,000 people by the end of this year due to a continued weakness in the commercial airline industry. The reductions will be made through layoffs and attrition. The job cuts are in addition to the reduction of 5,000 employees the company had forecast in November 2002, and the company now predicts its year-end employee total will be between 55,000-56,000 people.
The Missile Defense Agency is defending its boost-phase anti-missile programs in response to a report questioning the feasibility of developing such systems to protect U.S. territory. "MDA is confident we are headed in the right direction," the agency said in a statement. "We continue to believe that boost-phase technology has great potential for playing a vital role in a layered missile defense."
MONGOOSE TEST: BAE Systems conducted a third successful flight test of the Mongoose mine-clearing system it is developing for the U.S. Army, the company said July 16. The test of the system, which uses shaped charges to detonate mines, was one of a series of four to demonstrate its design. Success in that phase is expected to lead to Army qualification and operational testing in 2004.
The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) plans to move forward on a proposal to integrate Litening Extended Range (ER) targeting pods on a small number of F/A-18Ds, according to new acquisition documents. Marine Corps' officials began evaluating the Litening ER capability in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom, launching a demonstration program with the Northrop Grumman/Rafael targeting pod, which combines a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, a camera and a laser designator. (DAILY, April 4)
The Defense Department has told Congress it plans to study its options for simulated joint training in light of its recent decision to stop developing the Joint Simulation System (JSIMS).
BALTIMORE, Md. - AAI Corporation, manufacturer of the Army's Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV), is teaming with Bell Helicopter to compete for the Class IV UAV in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Boeing and SAIC, the FCS lead systems integrator (LSI) team, envision four classes of UAVs operating within FCS, ranging from man-portable ducted fan UAVs to brigade-level tactical aircraft and even larger aircraft.
NEW DELHI - A delegation from Lockheed Martin, builder of the P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft, arrived here July 15 to discuss India's request to buy eight P-3s for the navy. A defense ministry official said India is seeking the C version of the aircraft for surveillance of the Indian Ocean. U.S. military export controls prohibit the sale of those aircraft, however, so India may have to buy B versions and upgrade them with advanced avionics. Officials said they expect to buy the aircraft for about $10 million each.
