Research Associates of Syracuse to provide ELINT signal processing work
Air Force researches needed scientific and engineering assistance with a wide variety of signal processing equipment for electronic intelligence-gathering platforms. They turned to Research Associates of Syracuse (RAS) Inc. in East Syracuse, N.Y. Leaders of the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., awarded a $5.2 million contract to RAS for integration, test, and evaluation of electronic intelligence (ELINT) techniques to yield advanced signal processing equipment and procedures to be employed on a range of ELINT platforms. For more information contact RAS by phone at 315-463-2266, by fax at 315-463-8261, by post at 6780 Northern Blvd., Suite 100, East Syracuse, N.Y. 13057, by e-mail at [email protected], or on the World Wide Web at http://www.ras.com/. — J.K.
Navy looks to SAIC and VisiCom to develop satellite communications management tool
U.S. Navy researchers are looking to two defense companies to build a management-planning tool for Navy satellite communications systems. The companies, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in San Diego, and VisiCom Services, a division of Titan Systems Corp. in San Diego, will build the planning system called the Automated Communication Management System (ACMS). SAIC and VisiCom each won indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts from the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in San Diego. SAIC won a $27.5 million contract, and VisiCom won a $24 million contract. For SPAWAR, engineers from SAIC and VisiCom will provide technical and software engineering services in support of satellite communications systems improvements. The job not only calls for developing the ACMS tool, but also to provide satellite communications hardware and software engineering design and development, configuration and data management, and field support for SPAWAR, Navy officials say. — J.K.
Thales to sell instruments subsidiaries
Leaders of French defense giant Thales will sell the company's Instruments subsidiaries they acquired in 2000 as part of Racal Electronics plc. Officials of Thales, formerly Thomson CSF, say they would like to sell their instruments subsidiaries sometime this year. With expected revenues of about $85 million in the year ending 31 March 2000, Thales Instruments provides test systems for radio communications, broadband, commercial and military electronics. Thales Instruments operations are primarily based in the United Kingdom and United States that account, respectively, for 370 and 220 of the total of over 600 employees worldwide, Thales officials say. Since its formation under Racal in the 1950s, the Instruments business has built leading positions in its target markets and strong relationships with many of the world's largest telecommunications and electronics companies, company officials say. — J.K.
French air force taps Boeing for navigational upgrade to AWACS aircraft
Leaders of the French air force are looking to the Boeing Co. in Seattle to install a global positioning inertial navigation system (GINS) capability into the mission system and flight deck of their four E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Boeing won a $25.5 million contract to install the equipment aboard the French AWACS aircraft. Boeing engineers also will upgrade the aircraft's altitude measurement system to meet European Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) system requirements for reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM). GINS improves the aircraft's positioning accuracy and reliability, while RVSM enables the E-3 to operate in areas where the air traffic control vertical separation requirements have been reduced to handle increased air traffic, Boeing officials say. — J.K.
Rockwell infrared sensor to provide the eyes of future comet-exploring spacecraft
Optical scientists at the Rockwell Science Center (RSC) in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will provide infrared image sensors for a NASA discovery mission that will study the interior of a comet. Rockwell is working under terms of a March 26 contract from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. The sensors, which can detect light in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, are commonly used as the "eye" of astronomical telescopes, Rockwell officials say. The Rockwell imager contains more than a million picture elements. A Bal Aerospace flyby spacecraft called Deep Impact will perform the comet mission The spacecraft impactor, a mostly copper spacecraft weighing 770 pounds, will launch from the flyby spacecraft about 24 hours prior to its collision with the comet, Tempel I. — J.K.
Army aviation experts choose Agilent spectrum analyzers
U.S. Army specialists at the Aviation & Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., needed spectrum analyzers for a variety of test and analysis work. The AN/USM-677 spectrum analyzers, 51-1200, from Agilent Technologies Inc. in Englewood, Colo., met their needs. Officials of Army Missile Command awarded Agilent a $919,204 delivery order amount as part of a not-to-exceed $18.7 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract March 20 for the AN/USM-677. For more information contact the Agilent headquarters by phone at 650-752-5000, by post at 395 Page Mill Road, P.O. Box 10395, Palo Alto, Calif. 94306, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.agilent.com/. — J.K.
Marines look to Raytheon for night-vision driving devices
U.S. Marine Corps leaders needed a thermal imaging system to help their combat vehicle drivers operate at night, in smoke, and in bad weather. The AN/VAS-5 Driver's Vision Enhancer (DVE) from the Raytheon Co. Tactical Systems business unit in Dallas met their needs. Raytheon won a $30 million contract March 21 from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J., for the DVE. Army officials awarded the contract on behalf of the Marine Corps. The DVE thermal imaging system helps drivers of combat vehicles see through smoke, bad weather, and darkness. This contract includes DVE systems, plus spares, for the M1A1 Abrams tank, Light Armored Vehicle, Assault Amphibious Vehicle, M88 Recovery Vehicle, and Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge. — J.K.
EUTELSAT choosing Boeing to build Internet-access communications satellite
Leaders of European satellite operator EUTELSAT in Paris are looking to Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo, Calif., to build the e-BIRD satellite for Internet-access networks with satellite return link capabilities. Due for launch in spring 2002, e-BIRD will be in geostationary orbit at 25.5 degrees east and will provide 20 active Ku-band transponders connected to four spot beams over the European region. The satellite's payload is to accommodate the essentially asymmetric nature of Internet access, and should be in orbit for at least 10 years, Boeing officials say. EUTELSAT is securing capacity on seven new satellites, of which the first, EUROBIRD, is due for launch by Arianespace on an Ariane 5 rocket on March 8. Also programmed for launch this year are ATLANTIC BIRDs 1 and 2 that will enable EUTELSAT to provide a satellite infrastructure that connects North and South America with Europe and Africa, EUTELSAT officials say. — J.K.
