Northrop Grumman will enhance the capabilities of its Joint
Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), installed
on the fleet of E-8C Joint STARS aircraft. The enhancements
will introduce improved mobile target precision tracking and
engagement capability with the radar's Land/Maritime Mode (ELMM).
The technology to be used for the upgrade is an outgrowth of
the successful DARPA Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement
(AMSTE) program, demonstrated in recent exercises and includes
an Advanced Radar Mode (ARM) upgrade to the Joint STARS sensor.
During these demonstrations, target coordinates were exported
from Joint STARS radars directly to GPS guided JDAM munitions.
Cost Increases Bring
LCS-3 to a Halt
The Secretary of the Navy, Donald Winter issued a stop work
order to Lockheed Martin Corp. last week, halting work on the
second Freedom class Littoral
Combat Ship (LCS) for a period of 90 days. The $197.6 million
LCS-3 contract was awarded in June 2006. Significant cost increases
experienced with the construction of LCS-1 and LCS-3, currently
under construction at Bollinger Shipyard, caused the Navy to
review the overall acquisition strategy for the program and
identify the root cause of the costs growth, in an attempt to
bring the program back on track.
The British company Smith Group agreed to sell its Aerospace
division Smith Aerospace to General Electric Company for US$4.8
billion. The Sale is targeted for completion during the second
quarter of 2007. Under a separate move, Smith Detection and
GE will establish a joint venture aiming at the homeland security
market.
700 new Air/Air Missiles
for the Pakistani Air Force
Pakistan continues its shopping spree, acquiring 500 Advanced
Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) missiles and 200 200
AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles for its new F-16s, under a US$284
million procurement. According to Raytheon, the missile's producer,
This acquisition represents the largest single international
AMRAAM purchase to date. Missiles are expected to deliver starting
in 2008 and continue through 2011.
Selex to Supply
Coastal Defense Radars for Yemen
Yemen will deploy a network of coastal radars, to be supplied
under a €200 Million contract awarded to Selex Sistemi
Integrati, a Finmeccanica company. The new integrated surveillance
system, known as VTS (Vessel Traffic System) will be operated
by the Yemenite Coast Guard covering about 450 kilometers of
coasts along the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, in front of the
Eritrean end Somalian coasts. The networked system will include
twelve radar stations and two mobile units, six local control
centers. The national control center will be located in the
capital, Sana'a, and an area control center in the port of Aden.
The region has been suffering from maritime piracy, which could
be subdued when the system's deployment is completed by 2008.
Sofar VTS systems have been deployed in Italy, Greece, Russia,
and Poland.
