Lockheed Martin officials are hoping the acquisition of ORINCON Corp. International will further enhance Lockheed's capabilities in the area of command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR), company officials said May 15. ORINCON, based in San Diego, manufactures data fusion and tracking systems for fixed and mobile surveillance systems, surface combatants, maritime patrol aircraft and submarines.
The U.S. Navy's fleet of aging, heavily used EP-3 signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft soon may face a "crisis" because they are wearing out, according to a congressional panel. The Navy has just 12 EP-3s, which have been flying for an average of 29 years. Demand for the SIGINT aircraft always has been high and has intensified since the war on terrorism began in 2001.
JOINT DECLARATION: After an interruption caused by the U.S.-led war against Iraq, governments on both sides of the Atlantic should return to defining roles for crisis management and defense structures, says a joint declaration signed last week by 18 former U.S. cabinet officials and lawmakers, including four former defense secretaries. The governments also should continue reforming the export control process on arms shipments, the declaration says. It proposes creating a set of allied policies that divide responsibilities between the European Union (EU) and the U.S.
LITTLE BIRD: FLIR Systems of Portland, Ore., will deliver up to 75 lightweight airborne multisensor thermal imaging systems for U.S. Army Special Operations A/MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, the company said May 16. The Special Operations Command contract is worth about $40 million, the company said. The imaging system, which is nine inches in diameter, also will contain a CCD-TV camera and a laser rangefinder.
Launching its most significant transformational effort to date, the National Guard Bureau is proposing a sweeping restructuring of its headquarters system, reducing 162 headquarters units to 54. The proposal, outlined May 16 by NGB chief Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, is not a finished product. Although Blum controls the NGB's annual budget, he acknowledged that he needs the cooperation of 54 adjutants general, who administer Guard forces in each state, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, to execute the proposal.
U.S. Air Force officials are weighing a proposal from an industry source to elevate the status of the E-10A's command and control capability in Air Force criteria for evaluating offers by contractors, according to acquisition documents posted May 16. The Air Force's decision could be announced by the end of the month as part of its final version of a request for proposals on the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) contract, a key subsystem for the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A).
SUCCESSFUL REVIEW: Senior Army and industry officials are expected to announce this week that the Future Combat Systems program will move into the systems development and demonstration phase (SDD), albeit with additional oversight given the complexity of the program. The announcement will coincide with the release of the Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM), which specifies how the program will move forward. One likely stipulation is that the program should undergo a review by the Defense Authorization Board in November 2004 and each year thereafter.
PRAGUE - India should be not put off from buying the Aero Vodochody-built L-159, despite a high number of breakdowns in the aircraft being introduced into the Czech air force, the Czech army's chief of staff told The DAILY. As of last week, only 17 of the 60 L-159s delivered to the Czech air force were capable of flying (DAILY, May 14). The aircraft are experiencing a defect every 3.68 flying hours, well below the contract agreement of one defect per 10 flying hours.
US101 VENTURE: AgustaWestland and Bell Helicopter will form a joint venture company to manufacture the US101 helicopter in America. The joint venture company will act as a subcontractor to prime contractor and systems integrator Lockheed Martin, which has overall responsibility for the program and delivery of the US101 to customers. After the joint venture company manufactures the aircraft, mission customization, systems integration, and final aircraft delivery will take place at Lockheed Martin's facility in Owego, N.Y.
NETFIRES VENTURE: Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. have formed a limited liability company called NetFires to develop different portions of the Non-Line of Sight - Launch System, also called NetFires. The program consists of a Loitering Attack Missile (LAM), a Precision Attack Missile (PAM) and an autonomous Container Launch Unit.
SELLING: Vector Aerospace of Toronto is selling its fixed-wing repair and overhaul business to focus on its helicopter business, the company said May 15. The company has received "a number of expressions of interest," it said.
NEW DELHI - The experimental GSAT-2 satellite launched last week by India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle has successfully been placed in geostationary orbit and is moving toward its intended orbital slot at 48 degrees east. The satellite, launched May 8, opened its solar arrays May 12, said an Indian Space Research Organization official. The arrays will generate 1,400 watts of power for the satellite's four C-band and two Ku-band transponders, one mobile satellite service payload and four scientific payloads.
The U.S. Air Force on May 14 awarded a $215 million contract to an integration team led by Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector to begin initial work on the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A). The deal covers integration of the aircraft's radar, battle management system and airframe during the program's system development and demonstration phase, which ends in September 2004, an Air Force acquisition notice says.
Germany is set to announce a policy change that will transform its military from a defensive force to a capabilities-based force, a senior German defense official said May 15. German defense ministry officials will announce the policy change on May 21 in Berlin. Hans-Heinrich Weise, Germany's director of armaments, said the change is needed to allow German forces to participate in international operations alongside European, NATO, and United Nations forces.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to ask two companies to develop prototype countermeasure systems to shield commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles, lawmakers said May 15. To ensure it does not ignore promising ideas from anyone else in the private sector, DHS also intends to issue a Broad Agency Announcement to solicit proposals from high-tech firms "on the best way to protect our aircraft from this threat," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced at a press conference with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.).
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force is considering a proposal from France's Snecma to upgrade the M53-P2 engines in India's fleet of Mirage 2000-H MK II aircraft. The Indian air force has about 40 Mirage 2000-Hs and has ordered 10 more. An official with the Indian defense ministry said upgrading the engines could increase their thrust by about 6 percent. The first upgrade of India's Mirages was in 1998, when their night attack and electronic warfare capabilities were enhanced with Indian-built equipment.
BUYING: Lockheed Martin will acquire ORINCON Corp. International, a defense and information technology company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, the company said.
Two U.S. Army ground commanders in Operation Iraqi Freedom defended the combat performance of the AH-64 Apache fleet but reserved glowing praise for other systems, such as mobile command centers, blue force tracking systems and new tactical targeting systems. Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, on May 15 described coordinating three battles spread across 230 kilometers (143 miles) while on the move.
NASA, Boeing Rocketdyne and the U.S. Air Force have begun a series of nine hot-fire tests of a new liquid oxygen turbopump at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., Boeing announced May 15.
Lockheed Martin has staged a successful test of a two-way data link designed to double the accuracy of satellite-guided weapons and offer an in-flight targeting capability against moving targets, company officials announced May 15. Lockheed Martin plans to integrate the data link on its proposed design for the Global Positioning System-guided Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), seeking to achieve accuracy rates "in the neighborhood" of laser-guided bombs, said Randy Bigum, vice president for strike weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
After learning the value of commercial remote sensing imagery during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) was able to make "key use" of such imagery during the war in Iraq, according to NIMA Executive Director Roberta Lenczowski.
NEW DELHI - India and the United States have agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on technology issues within the next three months to speed cooperation on dual-use technology and civilian space and nuclear issues. An official with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said a decision to hold the meeting was made during last week's meeting in London of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Indian National Security Adviser Brijesh Mishra. Sources in the external affairs ministry said the meeting could take place at the end of July.
Spanish shipbuilder Izar will join a team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. to help develop a proposal for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), company officials announced May 14. Izar will provide core support in the areas of mission development planning, ship design support and materials studies.
