Corporate News
Raytheon Awarded US$162.7 Million Contract
Raytheon Company has been awarded a $162.7 million contract for production of the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) for the U.S. Navy and nine other allied nations.
An international cooperative upgrade of the RIM-7 NATO SeaSparrow Missile, ESSM provides self-defense battlespace and firepower against high-speed, highly maneuverable anti-ship missiles.
The contract calls for production of 251 missiles, associated spares and shipping containers for Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway and the U.S. by October 2007. Forty-five percent of the work will be done by Raytheon and 55 percent by Raytheon's international partners.
ESSM is bringing transformational anti-ship missile defense capabilities to the naval fleets of the United States and its NATO allies. The missile is being produced for the U.S. Navy and nine of the other 11 member nations of the NATO SEASPARROW Consortium. ESSM will be deployed on Aegis Flight IIa Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, Aegis Ticonderoga class cruisers, aircraft carriers and the Navy's next-generation surface combatant ship, DD(X).
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General Dynamics Awarded US$51 Million Contract
General Dynamics Robotic Systems has been awarded a US$50.7 million modification to its $186 million U.S. Army Future Combat Systems Autonomous Navigation System base contract from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). SAIC and Boeing (NYSE: BA) constitute the FCS Lead Systems Integrator team. Total value of the contract is now approx. $237 million.
General Dynamics Robotic Systems is a part of General Dynamics Land Systems (Sterling Heights, Michigan), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
Under the FCS ANS program, General Dynamics Robotic Systems is responsible for the design, development, manufacture, integration and testing of a system that is capable of autonomously controlling any of several vehicles designated by the Army, including the Multi-functional Utility Logistics Equipment platform (MULE), the Armed Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) and Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV).
The initial contract for development of the Autonomous Navigation System (ANS) for ground vehicles was awarded in December 2003. With this modification, the period of performance for the ANS program has been extended from September 2009 to March 2013.
This modification provides for a transition effort that includes risk reduction features for the program while it accelerates the insertion of FCS technologies into existing Army forces. This modification includes additional MULE prototypes that will perform various FCS missions such as equipment transport and automated re-supply; development of the previously optional ARV and FCS Recovery and Maintenance Vehicle (FRMV) prototypes; and increased involvement in FCS "Spin Out 3," which provides an opportunity to insert early technology capabilities into the field faster.
FCS is a networked "system of systems," using advanced communications and technologies to link soldiers with manned and unmanned ground and air platforms and sensors to significantly enhance the Army's effectiveness and maneuverability.
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Advanced Polar Satellite Ready for Launch
The NOAA-N spacecraft, a Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES), is has launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale designed, built and tested the NOAA-N spacecraft.
NOAA-N is the latest in the Advanced TIROS-N (ATN) satellite series. All have been designed and built for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by Lockheed Martin since the first Television and Infrared Observational Satellite (TIROS) weather satellite launch in April 1960. NASA is managing the spacecraft's launch and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will operate the satellite once in space. Over many years of service, the TIROS satellites have earned the reputation as the workhorses of the Civil Space Earth-imaging inventory.
A constellation consists of two POES satellites circling the planet in nearly north-south orbits. As the Earth rotates, the entire globe, one swath at a time rolls into view of the satellites' instruments. The satellites provide measurements of reflected solar and radiated thermal energy from land, sea, clouds and the atmosphere in the visible and infrared spectrum, atmospheric soundings of temperature and humidity, measurements of global sea surface temperature, aerosol distribution data, ozone concentration data, soil moisture data, and measurements of orbital proton and electron flux.
Additionally, POES satellites collect data from remote platforms, relay search and rescue data, and also provide direct broadcast of environmental data worldwide. Data from the spacecraft supports a broad range of environmental monitoring applications including weather analysis and forecasting, climate research and prediction, ocean dynamics research, volcanic eruption monitoring and forest fire detection.
Together these data comprise irreplaceable inputs to the numerical weather forecast model and are vital to medium and long-range forecasting. Separately or in combination, the data are utilized to produce sea-surface temperature maps, ice condition charts, vegetation maps and other forecasting and management tools.
The NOAA-N spacecraft is 13.75 feet long by 6.2 feet in diameter, and weighs 3130 pounds at liftoff. Its solar array has 180.6 square feet of surface area and generates 833 watts at a zero degree sun angle. The instruments onboard NOAA-N were provided by NASA and NOAA, and include the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR/3), the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS/4), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A1, A2), the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS), the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV/2), the Space Environment Monitor (SEM/2) and the Data Collection System (DCS/2). In addition, NOAA-N carries two search and rescue instruments, the Search and Rescue Repeater (SARR) and the Search and Rescue Processor (SARP) that are used internationally for locating ships, aircraft, and people in distress. The use of satellites in search and rescue has been instrumental in saving more than 17,000 lives since the inception of the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system.
Spacecraft launch site processing at VAFB includes end-to-end testing with the Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, MD, final spacecraft electrical testing and spacecraft inspections. The NOAA-N spacecraft will be launched from the Western Range Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, by a two-stage Delta II 7320-10 space launch vehicle. Liftoff is slated to occur at 3:22 a.m. PDT. There will be a 10-minute window in which to launch.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD, is responsible for the procurement, development, launch services, and verification of the spacecraft, instruments, and unique ground equipment. Following spacecraft launch, Goddard is responsible for satellite health and safety during a comprehensive on-orbit verification period that lasts 45 days. Following satellite checkout, NASA turns operational control of the satellite over to NOAA. NOAA will operate the satellite from the Satellite Operations Control Center along with the nation's other environmental satellites.
The NOAA-N satellite will operate in a circular, near-polar orbit of 470 nautical miles above the Earth with an inclination angle of 98.73 degrees to the equator. Its orbital period – the time it takes to complete one orbit of the Earth – will be approximately 102.14 minutes. The NOAA-N orbit is Sun-synchronous, rotating eastward about the Earth's polar axis 0.968 degrees each day, approximately the same rate and direction as the Earth's average daily rotation about the Sun. The rotation keeps the satellite in a constant position with reference to the Sun for constant scene illumination throughout the year.
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Groups Push for Texas Technology Fund
(Article information from Austin Business Journal)
With the governor's backing, several state technology groups are pushing the Texas Legislature to create a $300 million fund that they say will hasten new tech developments.
Members of the State Strategy on Advanced Technology Advisory Group met Thursday in Austin to lobby for the tech fund, which they say will help Texas compete for business nationally and internationally. Those members are the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute, AeA, the Metroplex Technology Business Council and TechNet Texas.
The Texas Emerging Technology Fund would give money to match research funding, attract new scientists to Texas universities, and encourage cooperation between companies and higher education institutions. The measure, designed to smooth the transition between research and commercialization, has been passed by committees in the House and Senate.
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Jones Named Vice President and Deputy General Manager at Raytheon
Raytheon Company has appointed Jon Jones to the position of vice president and deputy general manager at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Company LLC (SAS) in El Segundo, Calif.
Previously, Jones was vice president and deputy general manager of Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. where he was responsible for assisting the business president with oversight of the 40 programs in production and development.
Prior to being deputy general manager at Raytheon Missile Systems, Jones was vice president of Missile System's Strike product line with responsibility for the Tomahawk cruise missile, Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), Paveway Laser Guided Bomb, High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), Maverick, and Advanced Cruise Missile products and services. In all, Jones has more than 28 years experience in manufacturing, engineering and business leadership.
Jones earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from California State University, Northridge and he holds a master's degree in engineering management from the University of California, Los Angeles.
