NEW DELHI - The head of India's air force, Air Chief Marshal Sriniwaspuram Krishnaswamy, left Oct. 15 on a five-day trip to Russia to procure source codes for MiG-29B and Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft so the service can mount Western air-to-air missiles on the Russian aircraft. The air force wants to mount Israeli Derby missiles and South African R-Darter missiles on its fighters, but needs aircraft system source codes to make them work, a defense official said. India's MiG-29B and Su-30 MKI fleet currently carries only Russian Vympel R-77 missiles.
LIBRARY VISITS: The future "smart pull" vision of network-centric warfare envisioned by the U.S. Department of Defense will be akin to giving the warfighter library privileges, according to John Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration. "I refer to where we are today, as you can subscribe to any magazine you'd like, but you're not allowed to go to the library," Stenbit says.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) has introduced legislation aimed at curbing the use of "offset" agreements that require U.S. firms to export technology or production work to ensure the sale of major defense systems.
NEW DELHI - India has launched a new Earth observing satellite mainly intended for agricultural monitoring, disaster response and land and water resource management. India launched Resourcesat-1, its most sophisticated and heaviest remote sensing satellite, on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), on Oct. 15 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southern India.
The U.S. Air Force has begun conducting a formal assessment to determine whether the aging C-5A Galaxy fleet should be retired. The review by the Air Force Fleet Viability Board (AFFVB) began Oct. 1 and is slated to last about four months.
PRAGUE - Three Europe-based companies have been shortlisted to supply up to 300 armored vehicles to the Czech army in a deal worth more than $1 billion over the life of the vehicles. The Czech ministry of defense said it would choose between products offered by Steyr Spezialfahrzeug of Austria and Switzerland's Mowag - both subsidiaries of U.S.-based General Dynamics - and Patria of Finland.
Continued outsourcing of high-tech jobs overseas could jeopardize U.S. leadership in critical technologies, witnesses told members of the House Small Business Committee Oct. 16. Such outsourcing also could hurt the U.S. defense industrial base, one witness said. "I would suggest that we're not imperiled today," said Thomas Hartwick, chairman of the Advisory Group on Electron Devices, but he said trends show that U.S. high-tech manufacturing jobs are moving offshore.
A panel of witnesses testifying on the future of human space flight before the House Science Committee Oct. 16 was evenly divided on the value of a potential lunar base, either for its scientific value or as a stepping stone for a future human mission to Mars. Bart Gordon (D-Texas), ranking minority member of the House Science subcommittee on space and aeronautics, raised the issue of a lunar base in his opening statement and asked the witnesses to offer opinions on its value.
PRAGUE - Egypt and the Czech Republic will form a joint commission soon to examine areas for military cooperation, according to senior Czech defense officials. The news follows a visit to Egypt last month by Czech prime minister Vladimir Spidla, who discussed possible areas of cooperation with Egypt's minister of defense and military production, Mohamed Tantawi (DAILY, Sept. 11).
PRAGUE - European Commission officials outlined steps to help ensure the competitiveness of Europe's aerospace industry in a communication released Oct. 15 that calls for boosting spending on aerospace research.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Army activated a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) brigade in an Oct. 16 ceremony at Peterson Air Force Base here. The unit, a command and control center for the country's projected missile defense system, will tell other units when to launch interceptors at attacking ballistic missiles. Thursday's activation, and the planned activation in December of a missile-launching unit in Alaska, are steps toward President Bush's goal of an operational missile defense system by late next year.
By using teaming arrangements, private industry is developing a culture of interoperability faster than the U.S. Defense Department, according to a Marine Corps general. Lt. Gen. James Cartwright, director of force structure, resources and assessments for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Oct. 16 that today's security environment requires a force capable of fighting anywhere in the world.
Senate proponents of equipping commercial airliners with anti-missile devices have backed away from proposing to tap the Pentagon's ballistic missile defense budget to pay for their plan. Instead, the legislation by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) would use money currently slated for Iraq reconstruction.
LOCAAS TEST: Lockheed Martin's Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) successfully deployed its wings and started its engine in flight in a test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the company said Oct. 16. It also used its Laser Acquisition Detection and Ranging seeker to find and the correct target and guide a simulated warhead to it.
Former Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) member John Logsdon is "cautiously optimistic" that NASA is capable of implementing the recommendations outlined by the board in its final report. "We were skeptical at the start [of the investigation] and at least partially skeptical at the end that [NASA] really is capable of doing what we thought needed to be done," Logsdon said in a speech at a luncheon sponsored by the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Washington Oct. 16.
REORGANIZATION: Lockheed Martin has reorganized its Information Systems business into two "mission areas," Flight Solutions and Ground, Maritime & Civil Solutions, the company said Oct. 16. The company will create several new focus areas, including Advanced Programs and United Kingdom Operations, it said. "By creating focus teams such as Biometrics and Homeland Security under our Advanced Programs, we can shape emerging opportunities while building new lines of business and applying our technical creativity to respond to critical national requirements," Daniel J.
After an assessment trip to Russia, a NASA Advisory Council task force on International Space Station (ISS) readiness has concluded that the Expedition 8 crew is ready to the fly to the ISS this weekend and that the station will be able to support them.
Launch of China's first manned spacecraft on Oct. 15 is expected to be followed in about six months by another manned mission, this one with a crew of at least two, one analyst said. Charles P. Vick of GlobalSecurity.org said China's manned space program has been funded at $2.2-2.3 billion since about 1993, and that the money will pay for the first docking of two manned Shenzou spacecraft, probably in late 2005.
Becoming interoperable with coalition allies will require more than fielding new communications technology, a U.S. Army official said Oct. 15. "I see us doing things from a technical side which are trying to solve problems that are policy related," said Maj. Gen. Emile Bataille, director of Combat Support for the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM).
LAUREL, Md. - The Universal Armament Interface (UAI) initiative is developing common technical standards and engineering approaches that will allow precision weapons to be integrated onto aircraft more quickly and at lower cost, according to Steve Butler, director of the Acquisition Support Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
