The popular press analyses for the missile defense program look grim. Reuters’ review of the recent failed tests asserts that there seems to be more political will on the part of conservatives to make the system work than their are successful technology developments, forcing the Bush Administration to scale back deployment expectations. Weapons systems development programs seldom get the sort of popular attention that the missile shield program has, and contractors aren’t finding it a pleasant limelight. Reuters: Pentagon Misses Goal for Missile Defense System
U.S. companies are aggressively hiring people with military experience, even creating special recruiting and training programs. Vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, including those with physical disabilities, are finding very receptive potential employers. Companies like Iowa’s Maytag say these employees tend to have great discipline and outsized work ethics. – AP: Businesses recruiting vets
The F/A-22 program seems to be in trouble, with the New York Times reporting that the Air Force’s new Raptor fighter jet will be the target of budget cuts. In a gelling agreement between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and congressional leaders, the originally slated 277 planes may be cut to a total of 160. The jets cost more than a quarter billion dollars each. Primary contractor Lockheed Martin indicated it hadn’t yet been notified of any proposed changes. – Reuters and NYT report: Pentagon Planning Cuts to Fighter Jet Program – NYT
The New York Times reported that the Department of Defense will retire an unnamed aircraft carrier and buy fewer surface ships in an effort to save money. LPD-17 amphibious landing ships for the Marine Corps will be among those cut from expected procurements, setting back Northrup Grumman’s plans to build five of them in as many years. Altogether the Pentagon hopes to save $60 billion over six years. The cuts include an expensive new Army communications system, a new destroyer (again, primarily from Northrup Grumman) for the navy and the previously reported tamping down of purchases of the F/A-22 stealth fighter.
– Reuters: Pentagon to Retire Carrier, Buy Fewer Ships – Report
Raytheon announced it managed to guide a 155 mm shell to within ten feet of a target using a new GPS guidance system developed by L3 Communications’ Interstate Electronics Corporation. The December 15 test used an M777 howitzer, the system it plans to use with the GPS-guided shells when they roll out in 2006. – Space News: Raytheon Successfully Tests GPS-Guided Shell
Boeing is already installing interceptors for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense missile shield at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Six such interceptors already sit at Fort Greely, Alaska. The Missile Defense Agency hopes to have 18 operationa at Vandenberg by the end of 2005. Other companies involved in the project include Orbital Sciences, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. – Space News (story not available online)
France launched an Ariane rocket from French Guiana Saturday to lift into space a third spy satellite payload. The Helios 2A satellite and six microsatellites successfully separated from the rocket an hour after launch. EADS and Astrium cooperated to build the satellite, which employs infra-red monitoring systems to be able to detect the running status of equipment, such as vehicles. The satellite will be functional during night, but not over cloud cover. France spent about 95 percent of the costs associated with the program, estimated to total about $2.6 billion. -Reuters: Ariane Rocket Launches French Spy Satellite.
El Al is now installing an anti-missile system onto one of its Boeing jets. If it works, the system will be rolled out to six other aircraft, and eventually the entire fleet. The Flight Guard system, developed by Israel Military Industries (IMI) and Elta Systems costs about $1 million per plane. The system is designed for very low false alarm rates, and relative ease of installation on various kinds of aircraft.
Israel’s small size, and the range of missiles that could be launched from hostile Palestinian territories, led to a premium on effectiveness during takeoff and landing. Flight Guard includes a Missile Approach Warning System, which rapidly scans for potential threats in the area surrounding the aircraft, and raises an alert only when it detects a direct threat to the aircraft. Upon detection of a direct threat, a jamming system immediately deploys decoy flares to steer any threatening heat-seeking missiles away from the aircraft and toward the decoy flares. The flares for the civilian version were redesigned to be both larger and invisible to human eyes in order to prevent panic in cabins if passengers see the outgoing flares. IMI is trying to get FAA permits to allow the product to be used with American carriers as well.
The technology has been used on Israel military planes for a long time. The addition to civilian aircraft comes after a November 2002 incident in which missiles were fired unsuccessfully at an Arkia plane in Mombasa, Kenya…
India is close to giving final approval to build six Scorpene submarines, according to the head of its Navy. The $2.5 billion project has passed through the military approvals and sits at its final destination, the security cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Approval is expected in February. France’s Naval Construction Directorate (DCN) intends to transfer the technology to build the subs to New Delhi so the Indian government can conduct the construction itself. The subs will be diesel-powered, but designed so as to be able to accept a nuclear propulsion mechanism in the future. The deal comes as part of a larger effort to massively increase India’s naval power, including the acquisition of a Russian aircraft carrier and the building of another, as well as drumming in 19 other vessels currently under construction in India. – AFP: India likely to finalise $2.5b submarine deal with France
