Oct. 6 - 8 -- Association of the United States Army 2003 Annual Meeting, "The Army - At War and Transforming," New Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ausa.org. Oct. 8 -- Aviation Week's NetCentric Conference, National Press Club, Washington D.C. For more information contact Ryan Leeds at (800) 240-7645 x7 or go to http://www.Aviationnow.com/conferences.
IRCM SALE: Four Middle East countries apparently are getting the green light on their requests to buy U.S. infrared countermeasures systems to protect their VIP airliners from attack by shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles. Congress has 30 days to comment on such requests, and the deadline was Oct. 3. Because there apparently was no comment from Capitol Hill as of noon that day, the deals, totaling more than $400 million, apparently are on track. The Pentagon announced Sept.
Lockheed Martin will build 140 Block 1A Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) variants with unitary warheads under a $108 million contract awarded last week by the Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. The sole-source contract was initiated Aug. 25. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. The ATACMS Block 1A missile, which is fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, is a long-range, surface-to-surface artillery weapon.
TANKER LEASE: U.S. lawmakers may want to consider an incrementally funded multiyear procurement (MYP) instead of the lease that the Air Force has proposed using to acquire 100 Boeing KC-767A tankers, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). In a recent letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the only congressional defense panel that has not weighed in yet on the lease proposal, the Defense Department addressed several alternatives but not the incremental funding option.
BOEING IT: Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) will provide distributed server support for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems under a six-year, $60 million contract, which company CEO Van B. Honeycutt said solidifies CSC's position as "the leading IT services provider to the global aerospace and defense market.
PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE: Russia's defense minister Sergey Ivanov reiterates that Russia retains the right to conduct pre-emptive strikes if Russia's interest or "allied obligations" require it. He spoke at the same meeting of top military brass as Putin. The defense ministry meeting outlined the direction of Russia's armed forces development, which has been nicknamed "Ivanov's doctrine" by Moscow analysts.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan test-fired a short-range surface-to-surface Ghaznavi ballistic missile on Oct. 3. A diplomat with Pakistan's embassy here said the missile was successful in all of the test's goals, an improvement over earlier tests of the system held last May. The nuclear-capable, 290-kilometer (180-mile) range missile could strike targets in India within a minute, the diplomat said, and is powered by solid fuel.
CRUISE MISSILES: Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, commander of Northern Command (NORTHCOM), says he is concerned that there is no clear "way ahead" for the U.S. to develop defenses against cruise missile attacks. Cruise missiles are a particularly difficult problem because unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles, they leave no "return address," are much easier to launch, and are relatively inexpensive. Although he says he thinks the wide-area surveillance provided by platforms such as the Missile Defense Agency's High-Altitude Airship (DAILY, Oct.
The U.S. military needs to find ways to speed up its battle damage assessments (BDAs) to ensure the information reaches rapidly moving forces on a more timely basis, according to the head of U.S. Joint Forces Command, who oversaw a study on "joint lessons learned" in the Iraq war.
The U.S. Navy is working with allied navies in the Pacific to create a security arrangement for monitoring shipping traffic in Southeast Asia, according to a senior Navy official. "We what we're trying to do is ... get a framework of willing nations and organizations in the Western Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia, to work on our situational awareness: what do we know about what's going on at sea?" said Adm. Walter Doran, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
RAPTOR EQUIPMENT: REMEC Inc. of Del Mar, Calif., will supply 49 types of filters and modular integrated microwave assemblies for the F/A-22 Raptor's AN/APG-77 Fire Control Radar System, the company said Oct. 2. The work, for the F/A-22 radar low-rate initial production program, is being done under a $4.7 million contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. The company is scheduled to begin shipments in 2004 and complete deliveries in 2005. The work will be performed by REMEC's Defense & Space Group, based in San Diego.
COMPLETED BUY: General Dynamics has completed its buy of Austria's Steyr Spezialfahrzeug and its parent company, SSF-Holding GmBH, the company said Oct. 2. The company builds the Pandur family of wheeled combat vehicles and Ulan tracked infantry fighting vehicles and will generate about $230 million in sales in 2003, General Dynamics said.
Two companies are working on a "robust scramjet" under Air Force contracts. GASL Inc. of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and Pratt & Whitney's West Palm Beach, Fla., unit are involved in the five-year effort, aimed at making scramjet technology more applicable to weapons like missiles. Both companies have received task-order contracts of $49.4 million, with initial funding to each of several hundred thousand dollars.
Number one on the priority list for the U.S. Marine Corps' AV-8 Harrier fleet is the acceleration of a crucial avionics upgrade that will allow the jet to drop GPS-guided weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), according to Program Manager Col. David Heinz. Dubbed the Open Systems Core Architecture Requirement (OSCAR), the upgrade will replace the mission and stores management computers on the aircraft. The ability to drop JDAMs would allow Harriers to attack in all weather.
The U.S. Air Force has exercised its first order for a Minotaur space launch vehicle from Orbital Sciences Corp. under the Orbital/Suborbital Program-2 (OSP-2) contract the company was awarded earlier this year. The OSP-2 contract is worth up to $475 million over 10 years (DAILY, Feb. 3). The order is for the launch of a classified payload scheduled to launch in 2005, Orbital Sciences said Oct. 2.
NASA and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) signed a memorandum of agreement to exchange information and collaborate on "crucial matters affecting safety and mission success," NASA announced Oct. 2. The agencies will exchange information about safety and quality methodology and hold work groups, studies, analyses and supplier audit and assessment activities, NASA said. They also will share data on topics including mission assurance practices and risk in parts and materiel supply chains.
Senate consideration of a $655 million proposal to equip commercial airliners with anti-missile devices could be delayed until at least mid-October because of a protracted debate over funding for Iraq's reconstruction. For the second straight day, the Senate Oct. 2 discussed an $87 billion supplemental appropriations bill to pay for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. But progress was slow, as lawmakers split over whether U.S. taxpayers should foot the bill for rebuilding Iraq.
NEW DELHI - India has decided to relinquish transponders on Thaicom-3 and Intelsat IS 702 satellites after the successful launch of its INSAT-3E satellite on Sept. 27. The INSAT-3E, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was launched by an Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana (DAILY, Sept. 30) and is expected to become operational around Oct. 10. An ISRO official said about 16 leased C-band transponders on Intelsat IS 702 and seven on Thaicom-3 will be returned next month after the INSAT-3E becomes fully operational.
The provisions of the Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act of 2003 pertaining to the aerospace and defense industry survived an Oct. 1 markup by the Senate Finance Committee. The JOBS bill was introduced Sept. 18 by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), in response to threats by the European Union (EU) to levy more than $4 billion of trade sanctions against some U.S. exports (DAILY, Nov. 20, 2000).
