Lockheed Martin has teamed with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to pursue the U.S. Navy's $2 billion Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle program, the company said Aug. 28. General Atomics said earlier this week that it will offer its Predator B-ER (Extended Range) UAV for the BAMS program (DAILY, Aug. 25), the Navy's effort to develop a high-altitude ocean surveillance UAV.
Space module manufacturer Spacehab Inc. posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $20.1 million partly due to the grounding of NASA's space shuttle fleet, company officials said Aug. 28. Excluding a charge of $16.1 million for work that is no longer being funded "due to uncertainties in human space flight programs," Spacehab's net loss for the quarter totaled $4 million.
AEROJET of Sacramento, Calif., recently completed a successful hot-fire test of a full-scale Tri-Fluid Injector, a component of the Advanced Reusable Rocket Engine (ARRE). The company is developing the engine for the U.S. Air Force's in-space reusable propulsion and maneuvering requirements. The injector, the engine's main combustion device, mixes non-toxic hydrogen peroxide and jet fuel with the engine's decomposed peroxide turbine exhaust.
COVERAGE: Connexion by Boeing will lease transponder capacity on the Superbird-C satellite owned by Tokyo-based Space Communications Corp., the company said Aug. 28. The lease will provide the mobile Internet provider with satellite coverage for popular Asia-to-Europe airline routes, Connexion said.
The U.S. Air Force hopes a new reorganization of its non-space acquisition management structure will help produce dramatic reductions in the time it takes to develop new weapon systems, a service official said Aug. 28. Marvin Sambur, the Air Force's acquisition executive for all non-space systems, told The DAILY that his near-term goal is to have his programs meet their cost and schedule objectives within a year. Many of those programs now fail to meet those targets.
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Aug. 28 that it has submitted a proposal for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's targets and countermeasures program, becoming at least the third company to announce plans to compete for a project valued at more than $1 billion during the initial four-year period. Northrop Grumman said its Mission Systems sector has assembled a team that includes almost 20 companies, including Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems, ITT Industries and Orbital Sciences Corp.
ROANOKE, Va. - The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to receive its first Panoramic Night Vision Goggles (PNVGs) for pilots in 2004, according to co-developer ITT Night Vision. Pilots have long sought a wider field of view than the 40 degrees offered by traditional night vision systems, according to ITT. The PNVGs, which feature four 16-millimeter night vision tubes, will offer a seamless 100-degree field of view that should prevent pilots from constantly having to scan horizontally. Insight Technologies is leading the PNVG effort, with ITT providing the tubes.
Some of NASA's earth science functions should be transferred to another part of the federal government to help the aeronautics and space agency focus on its core missions, according to a U.S. lawmaker.
WINDOW WORK: Zygo Corp. of Middlefield, Conn., will supply custom sapphire windows to Northrop Grumman for use in advanced infrared target acquisition systems, the company said Aug. 27. Zygo's windows will be used in the F-16 Block 60's integrated forward-looking infrared system, the company said.
The U.S. Army is fielding the first 25 operational Viper Strike munitions next month after Northrop Grumman reported "surprisingly successful" test results during an accelerated, four-month development program, a senior company executive said Aug. 27.
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to award follow-on study contracts to Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky as part of the VXX Presidential Helicopter replacement program, in anticipation of releasing a request for proposals (RFP) for the next phase of the program this fall. Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, and Bell Helicopter delivered study contracts to NAVAIR earlier this year on how their candidate aircraft - Lockheed Martin's US101, Bell's V-22, and Sikorsky's S-92 - could be tailored for the executive transport mission.
Raytheon and DRS Technologies have agreed to compete separately for contracts to produce infrared sight systems for two combat vehicle programs. The agreement comes after the U.S. Justice Department objected to a proposed plan to jointly produce an infrared sight system for the Marine Corps' Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV), which has been renamed the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV).
"We get it," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe repeatedly said during a press conference in Washington, referring to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) insistence that NASA must make fundamental changes to its culture to prevent more disasters like the Feb. 1 shuttle loss.
The Missile Defense Agency hopes a contract it recently awarded to Lockheed Martin will help shore up the fragile industrial base for optics used in the Airborne Laser (ABL) program, according to a Defense Department official. The 10-year contract, which is worth up to $250 million to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Sunnyvale, Calif., also is designed to make the optics production process consistent and reliable, the official told The DAILY Aug. 27 in an e-mail responding to questions.
AMERICAS AEROSPACE QUALITY GROUP David Eagan, director of production quality for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector, has been elected chairman. AURA SYSTEMS, El Segundo, Calif. James S. Harrington, a senior investment banker, has been elected to the board of directors. FLIR SYSTEMS, Portland, Ore. Tony Trunzo has joined the company as senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. METAL STORM LTD., Arlington, Va.
The launch contracts signed by ICO Global Communications before it entered bankruptcy are likely to be renegotiated, according to Phil McAlister, director of space and telecommunications for the Futron Corp. ICO, which emerged from bankruptcy in May 2000, had scheduled 10 launches aboard three launch vehicles, he said. One was to take place aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS, four were scheduled on Proton rockets, made by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow, and five were scheduled aboard Boeing Delta III rockets.
