A House panel has scheduled a March 9 hearing to scrutinize the effectiveness of U.S. and international export controls on cruise missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology, according to a congressional source. The hearing by the House Government Reform Committee's national security subcommittee is expected to examine the findings of the General Accounting Office, which has been studying the cruise missile/UAV issue at the request of the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.).
NASA's X-43A hypersonic demonstrator is gearing up for its second Mach 7 flight attempt next month, the outcome of which may determine whether the program will make a third flight attempt at Mach 10.
The fiscal 2005 defense budget proposal could mark a significant year for procurement, analysts at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) said Jan. 29. President Bush will ask Congress for $401.7 billion in defense spending when the budget is released Feb. 2, according to the Department of Defense, an increase of about 7 percent over fiscal year 2004 (DAILY, Jan. 27). That figure does not include war costs, a funding request that may come later in the form of a supplemental appropriations package.
Honeywell announced revenues of $23.1 billion in 2003, an increase of 3.7 percent in 2002, the company said Jan. 29. "Revenue grew nearly 4 percent despite difficult market conditions and we reported earnings of $1.3 billion, in line with our previous guidance," Honeywell Chairman and CEO Dave Cote said in a statement. Aerospace division revenues were up only .1 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2002, with sales in the defense and space units offsetting continued weakness in the commercial aerospace division, the company said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Electronic versions of Aerospace Daily dated Feb. 2 will not be sent out until shortly after 9 a.m. on Feb. 2, so that we can include a special section detailing the U.S. Department of Defense's fiscal year 2005 budget request, which is embargoed until then. Print subscribers will receive the special section as part of the Feb. 3 issue.
SBR TEAM: Lockheed Martin has chosen Northrop Grumman Corporation as a teammate in the competition to develop the Air Force's Space Based Radar (SBR) system. Scheduled for first launch in 2012, SBR will be a constellation of spacecraft providing radar coverage of the entire Earth. The selection of a prime contractor is expected this year.
MOSCOW - Yuri Koptev, director of Rosaviakosmos, the Russian aviation and space agency, said his agency has requested documentation from NASA on President Bush's new plan to go back to the moon and on to Mars. Russia could submit proposals for the program as early as this month, Koptev said, and will promote its extensive space experience. However, Koptev said the president's schedule and initial $12 billion budget for the program (DAILY, Jan. 15) could be unrealistic, although the mission itself is "very attractive."
The two teams competing to develop NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system are offering options for unmanned aerial vehicles that seem to mirror their proposals for manned aircraft. The Transatlantic Industrial Proposed Solution (TIPS) team, led by Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), is suggesting a UAV based on Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk. The Cooperative Transatlantic Alliance AGS (CTAS), led by Raytheon Co., Siemens and AMS, has recommended the General Atomics Predator B.
The first Lockheed Martin C-130J built for the active-duty U.S. Air Force had its first flight Jan. 28, a company spokesman said. The transport aircraft took off in Marietta, Ga., where it was assembled, and returned after a successful flight of five hours and seven minutes, said Lockheed Martin spokesman Peter Simmons. "Everything checked out A-okay," Simmons told The DAILY.
Space Imaging has extended its agreement with Antrix Corp., a division of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), to give Space Imaging exclusive rights to market and sell data from Indian remote sensing satellites outside India through 2010. Antrix Executive Director K.R. Sridhara Murthi and Space Imaging CEO Robert Dalal signed the new agreement Jan. 27 in Bangalore, India.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee questioned U.S. Army officials Jan. 28 about whether the military is taking aggressive enough steps to equip troop vehicles to sustain explosions from detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Senate lawmakers expressed cautious support for the Administration's new space exploration vision during a hearing Jan. 28, tempering their enthusiasm with questions about the plan's fiscal viability.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Defense and intelligence officials are competing to gain access to the capabilities of the U.S. Air Force's projected Space Based Radar, according to Brig. Gen. Robert P. Lennox, deputy commanding general for operations of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. "There are different interests and competing desires," Lennox said Jan. 28 in response to a question from the audience at a conference here.
AEROASTRO, Ashburn, Va. Patricia Davis has been appointed vice president of programs. Lt. Col. Thomas E. Maultsby (USAF, ret.) has been appointed to the board of directors. AVICA U.S., Simi Valley, Calif. David Schmidt has been named vice president and general manager. BOUNDARY LAYER RESEARCH, Everett, Wash. Mike Carpenter has been named general aviation fixed wing manager. Tim Sestak has been appointed military program manager. EADS NORTH AMERICA, Washington
NEW DELHI - The Indian defense ministry has decided to defer a decision on whether to begin licensed production of Mirage 2000-5 aircraft to the next government, slated to be formed by June or July. A ministry official told The DAILY that a production proposal from France's Dassault Aviation has been shelved temporarily in anticipation of general elections, scheduled for April or May. "The decision has been [made at] a high level to leave the Mirage 2000-5 issue to the next government," the official said.
President Bush has signed NASA's fiscal 2004 budget into law, the White House announced late Jan. 23. The FY '04 NASA appropriations measure, part of a multi-bill "omnibus" spending package, fully funds the Bush Administration's $3.97 billion request for the space shuttle but cuts $200 million from the $1.7 billion request for the International Space Station.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) plans to acquire California-based Mission Research Corp. (MRC), which the company said Jan. 28 will create an "advanced aerospace and defense technology pipeline" spanning concept development to production. Minnesota-based ATK builds precision weapons, propulsion systems, composite structures and other systems. MRC develops advanced technologies for national security and homeland defense requirements, including for directed energy, electro-optical and infrared sensors, specialized composites and other uses.
The two teams competing to develop NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system have sent representatives to alliance headquarters in Brussels this week to make the case for the designs they are proposing, according to industry sources.
The U.S. Department of Defense and the military services have improved their business models to transition science and technology (S&T) to the warfighter more efficiently, according to Al Shaffer, director of plans and programs in the Pentagon's office of Defense Research and Engineering.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Few officials here will be sorry if Boeing pulls out of aircraft producer Aero Vodochody, according to a key figure in the negotiations that led to the U.S. company joining Aero in 1998. Former finance minister Ivan Pilip told The DAILY in a Jan. 28 interview that Boeing's Czech wing, Boeing Ceska, had disappointed the Czech state by failing to live up to its promises to market Aero's L-159 light combat fighter and bring new business to the company.
