Lockheed Martin's bid to acquire Titan Corp. has cleared a required waiting period, the company said Dec. 8. The acquisition cleared the antitrust waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvments Act of 1976 and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2004, pending approval by Titan's stockholders, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. The companies announced the acquisition in September. Lockheed Martin plans to buy Titan in a cash and stock deal worth nearly $2.4 billion, including $580 million of Titan's debt.
NASA FUNDING: The House Dec. 8 approved the fiscal 2004 omnibus appropriations conference report, which contains several appropriations measures, including the one that funds NASA. The conference report fully funds the Bush Administration's $3.97 billion request for the space shuttle but cuts the request for the International Space Station by $200 million. The Senate has not announced when it will take up the legislation.
Raytheon Technical Services Co. has won a $46.6 million contract from the Jordan Armed Forces to upgrade their M60 main battle tank with the company's Integrated Fire Control System (IFCS). The Raytheon subsidiary will upgrade 50 IFCS systems already installed in Jordanian M60 tanks, install IFCS kits in 50 additional M60s and provide spares for the systems. Raytheon will assemble and test the kits in Indianapolis, Ind., and will provide technical assistance to Jordanian military personnel during the installation.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Lockheed Martin and Raytheon this week will host U.S. Air Force officials in a review of the team's approach to the projected E-10A aircraft's battle management command and control (BMC2) subsystem, according to executives of both companies. The architecture review will be followed by a system requirements review in January, said Michael B. Schoultz, vice president of multi-sensor command and control for Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y.
A Block 60 F-16 Fighting Falcon had a successful first flight on Dec. 6, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The aircraft is the first of the Block 60 line, which has been designated the F-16E/F, the company said. It is the first of 80 F-16E/Fs being produced for the United Arab Emirates under an order placed in 2000 (DAILY, July 11, 2000).
NEW DELHI - Megha Tropiques, a joint Indo-French satellite project, has run into a delay and may not make its planned 2005 launch date, according to an Indian space official. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working with the French space agency CNES on the satellite, which is to monitor tropical weather conditions, including monsoons and cyclones (DAILY, Oct. 23).
The X-50A Dragonfly team expects to resume flight tests in January, following a thorough analysis of potentially troublesome friction within the hybrid helicopter's rotor hub.
Team Apache Systems will begin production of Arrowhead target acquisition and night vision sensors under a $260 million contract. Team Apache, a Boeing/Lockheed Martin company, will build the first 55 Arrowhead systems for U.S. Army and Foreign Military Sales program customers. Deliveries will begin in March 2005, Lockheed Martin said Dec. 8. The U.S. Army plans to buy 704 Arrowhead systems for its AH-64 Apache helicopter fleet by 2009. The first Army unit equipped with the systems is to be fielded by June 2005.
The V-22 Osprey has successfully completed most of the sea trials aimed at verifying that the tiltrotor aircraft's "roll-on-deck" problem has been solved. The roll-on-deck problem surfaced in 2000 during shipboard testing when the Osprey, on deck with its rotors turning, was disturbed by helicopters landing nearby. Software fixes have been made since then and appear to be working as intended.
Dec. 9 - 10 -- Soldier Tech 2003, "Utilizing Emerging Technologies to Maintain Superior Warfighting Capabilities," Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, Va. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or (973) 812-5165, fax (973) 256-0205, email [email protected] or go to www.idga.org. Dec. 15 -- International Air Service Seminar, The Westin Grand, Washington, D.C. Contact Howard Mann at (202) 293-8500 x 3037, email [email protected] or go to www.aci-na.aero.
UNMANNED COUNCIL: Raytheon Co. has established a corporate-wide Unmanned Systems Leadership Council to provide netted ground systems for command and control and other purposes as well as "integrated sensors to meet the growing customer requirements for unmanned systems," the company said.
COOPERATION: Hungary and the Czech Republic will be able to participate in "nearly all" European Space Agency (ESA) programs after signing European Cooperating States agreements with the space agency. Over five years both countries will contribute five million euros (about $6 million), most of which will be returned in the form of contracts to industries and research institutes, ESA says. The agreement caps a process that began in 1999 to define how the two countries and Poland and Romania could increase their participation in the European space program.
SPECIAL DELIVERY: In addition to delivering weapons, the Electromagnetic Rail Gun being developed jointly by the U.S. Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) could be "dialed down" and used to launch supplies, according to Rear Adm. Jay Cohen, chief of Naval research. Powered by 64 megajoules of electricity, the gun will be capable of sending a 49- to 97-pound weapon 300 miles at Mach 7 to strike time-critical targets, according to Cohen. "Or, we can dial down the energy" on the gun, he says.
The U.S. Army is poised to proceed with awarding a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to develop the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) now that no one has challenged the service's plan to forgo a formal competition.
Finnish aerospace and defense group Patria will modernize target acquisition radar platforms for the Finnish defense forces under a $12.1 million contract. Patria's vehicles division will handle the work, the company said Dec. 4, with deliveries scheduled 2005 to 2008. The Target Acquisition Radar 87 is an independent mobile radar station mounted on a Patria XA-180 armored transport vehicle. The radar is capable of simultaneously monitoring 29 targets and 10 countermeasure actions, the company said.
The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct the next flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) system near the end of the week of Dec. 7-13, according to Defense Department officials. Although MDA has not yet announced details about Flight Mission-6 (FM-6), the test is expected to occur in the Pacific. The last test, FM-5, ended in failure in June when the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor's kinetic warhead failed to intercept a target missile (DAILY, June 20).
NOT READY: The U.S. Air Force is "not prepared" to make a decision on beginning the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program this month, the General Accounting Office says. TSAT is expected to play a pivotal role in connecting communications networks on land or sea or in the air or space. However, "Air Force officials are not ready to initiate the TSAT program in December 2003 because they do not have the knowledge to reliably establish cost, schedule, and performance goals," GAO says in a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
NEW DELHI - The first of three Indian navy Ilyushin Il-38 maritime reconnaissance aircraft sent to Russia for upgrading has been completed and returned, navy officials said. The aircraft has a new airframe and Sea Dragon mission system, which was developed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau in Moscow. A navy official said the targeting system can track more than 30 targets at a time at a range of up to 320 kilometers (199 miles). He said the BrahMos cruise missile being developed by India and Russia will be mounted on the aircraft next year.
NO NEWS: Despite widespread speculation that President Bush will soon call for a return to the moon, White House spokesman Scott McClellan says patience is required until an interagency review of space exploration is complete. "There are no plans for any policy announcements in the immediate future, and that would include any upcoming speeches," McClellan says. "...
