F-22 DELIVERY: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has delivered the last F-22 Raptor flight test aircraft to be produced under the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase, the company announced April 15. Over the next nine weeks, Raptor 4009 will be tested and evaluated to see how easy the aircraft is to maintain and repair, according to the company.
The European Union's plan to create a 60,000-man rapid reaction force (RRF) could eventually lead to increased support for ballistic missile defenses in Europe, according to William Schneider, chairman of the Defense Science Board.
AIRSHOW: China will hold the fourth China International Aviation and Aerospace Exposition in Zhuhai, one of the country's special economic zones, from November 4 to 10 this year. Over 40 companies from the United States, Canada and France, including industry giants Boeing and Airbus, have confirmed they will attend the exposition. Two websites dedicated to the airshow will be launched, at www.airshow.com.cn and www.airshowchina.com.
LAST WALK: NASA astronauts will conduct the last spacewalk for the STS-110 shuttle mission to the station on April 16. Astronauts will install floodlights to the station's exterior, attach handrails to the newly installed station truss and perform other tasks. The shuttle is slated to return to Earth April 19.
As speculation increases about whether the U.S would be able to use its high-tech air operations facility at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia to coordinate a major offensive against Iraq, Lockheed Martin officials say the software system at the heart of the center's operations could easily be re-established at another location.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Orbital Express program is gearing up for a critical design review (CDR) this winter, in anticipation of a six- to 12-month on-orbit demonstration to begin in fiscal year 2006. The $100 million program is an Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) aimed at developing architectures and technologies for refueling, upgrading, and reconfiguring spacecraft while they are in orbit.
As speculation increases about whether the U.S would be able to use its high-tech air operations facility at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia to coordinate a major offensive against Iraq, Lockheed Martin officials say the software system at the heart of the center's operations could easily be re-established at another location.
A Deutsch Bank report on the business outlook for Northrop Grumman Corp. says products made by the company's Information Technology and Integrated Systems sectors provide a solid base to capitalize on key emerging defense and federal IT markets. Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Christopher Mecray, author of the report, says the immediate effect of the Sept. 11 attacks on Northrop's IT Sector was to reduce sales as federal agencies reallocated funds toward security.
The U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) at Indian Head, Md., will team with Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop a specialized warhead able to destroy chemical and biological facilities, according to the Navy. The Agent Defeat Warhead was approved as a 2002 advanced concept technology demonstration and is part of a larger effort develop a variety of explosive fills to neutralize chemical and biological agents.
MOSCOW - Russian funding won't guarantee "the full-scale development of the ISS [International Space Station] Russian segment," Russian Aviation and Space Agency head Yuri Koptev said April 12 during the Cosmonautics Day celebration here. The 2002 state budget provides $2.9 billion in funding for Russian participation in the ISS program, which is 1.6 times the amount provided in 2001. However, Koptev said, "the workload for station operations grew significantly, as well."
Northrop Grumman's offer to sweeten its bid for all outstanding shares of TRW Inc. won't create a financial burden for the $18 billion defense giant, according to an industry analyst. Company officials said April 14 they would trade $53 worth of Northrop Grumman stock for each share of TRW common stock, up from the previous offer that was worth $47 per share. The company also announced it is extending its pending exchange offer to midnight May 3.
March 9, 2002 McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boeing Co., St. Louis, is being awarded a $5,386,000 undefinitized contractual action to provide for procurement of the F-15 operation flight program, suite 5, phase I, requirements definition refinement effort. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be completed in July 2002. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-99-C-0013, P00013).
The Bush Administration has concluded that the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) allows the export of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk and General Atomics Predator unmanned aerial vehicles to close allies, according to Defense Department documents. The Administration also has determined that the Boeing X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) and the armed version of the Predator are compliant with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the documents show.
U-2S DELIVERED: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics delivered the first U-2S reconnaissance aircraft equipped with upgraded cockpit displays and controls on April 15, according to the company. The aircraft went to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The entire fleet of 31 U-2S aircraft and four trainers is scheduled to receive the upgrades by 2007.
March 10, 2002 Honeywell, Inc., Albuquerque, N.M., is being awarded an $18,255,600 firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for 495 common color multi-functional display units for the retrofit of all F-16 aircraft. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be completed in April 2002. This effort supports foreign military sales to Singapore and Taiwan. The Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42620-02-C-0036).
Canard Rotor/Wing (CR/W) aircraft such as the Boeing Co.'s Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) could one day complement tiltrotor aircraft such as the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey on certain military missions, according to Dragonfly Program Manager Steve Bass. The concepts take opposite approaches to solving the same problem - combining the flexibility of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) rotorcraft with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.
F-22 DELIVERY: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has delivered the last F-22 Raptor flight test aircraft to be produced under the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase, the company announced April 15. Over the next nine weeks, Raptor 4009 will be tested and evaluated to see how easy the aircraft is to maintain and repair, according to the company.
Lockheed Martin's LinkSensors system is preparing for its first major live demonstration to potential customers this summer at company facilities in Syracuse, N.Y. LinkSensors is a sensor networking system that will not only fuse data, but selectively allow intelligent, automated control of individual sensor nodes, to cooperatively provide better information about targets of interest (DAILY, Oct. 16, 2001).
Analytical Graphics Inc., the maker of software systems for missile defense, 3-D battlespace visualization and situational awareness, announced record earnings for fiscal year 2001 last week. Fourth quarter revenue totaled nearly $6.4 million, a 14 percent increase over the same quarter last year, company officials said. For the year, the company generated about $21.2 million in revenue, a 14 increase over revenue recorded for FY 2000.
The Dutch parliament appears likely to endorse a cabinet recommendation to join the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, removing the last major hurdle to that country's participation, a spokeswoman for the program office said April 12.
