Search

The article reports that the production of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s stealth fighter lines may be interrupted by unfriendly congressional funding and poor export prospects of F-22. The chances of securing congressional approval of a three-year contract for a batch of 60 U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors continues to be bleak. U.S. Senate heavyweights remain ranged against the F-22 multiyear purchase , as also Japan accepting the price structure of the F 22 aircrafts.

The article reports that Boeing Co. is polishing the design of an EP-3-replacement signals intelligence aircraft for use by the U.S. Navy and possibly for the export market. Moreover, the airframe builder believes the new airplane could appeal across service lines, perhaps to the U.S. Air Force, which some Pentagon critics contend is not focusing on keeping its lead in state-of-the-art intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Raytheon Co. has designed and built Britain's Astor ground surveillance aircraft from Bombardier's Global Express. The 737-derivative sigint aircraft is being presented in response to the death of the Army/Navy ACS contract, a product of Lockheed Martin Corp.

The article informs that the plans of the U.S. Air Force to replace the engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are likely to suffer due to economic constraints. The General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine for the Lockheed Martin Corp.'s JSF was axed from the Pentagon's 2007 budget request, despite political and industrial efforts to keep the program on track. The decision leaves Pratt & Whitney Corp.'s F135 as the sole engine. British government and industry have allied with General Electric Co. in a lobbying effort to get the program back into the budget.

The article reports that Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Skunk Works division is secretly developing a stealthy, long-endurance unmanned aircraft for penetrating deep inside hostile airspace to collect intelligence. The division is perceived as lagging rivals Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp. in the unmanned aerial vehicle field. By early next year at the latest, the company is expected to announce that, with the U.S. Air Force's backing, it is building one or more demonstrators of what the Pentagon has newly designated as an unmanned aircraft system.

This article reports that Raytheon Co. is suing its partner, Lockheed Martin, on a lucrative U.S. Air Force ground-station contract after the latter announced its departure from the team to join forces with rival Northrop Grumman for the next increment of work. A U.S. district court judge in Alexandria, Virginia, already denied Raytheon's request for an injunction barring Lockheed Martin from working with Northrop Grumman on the Air Force's Distributed Common Ground Station. Raytheon accuses Lockheed Martin of breaching its 2003 teaming agreement and misappropriating trade secrets. But Raytheon argues in its complaint that its teaming arrangement with Lockheed Martin is exclusive.

The article presents information related to aeronautics in the U.S. Lockheed Martin Corp. designers are taking the wraps off four concepts they are offering to the U.S. Air Force to meet its requirements for an interim long-range strike platform to fit in between the B-2 and whatever will replace the 21 stealth bombers in the 2035 period. Pratt & Whitney Corp. officials say they arc testing derivative F119 engines both for new long-range strike and long-range reconnaissance aircraft concepts.

The article presents information on recent developments, from across the world, related to aviation. U.S. Air Force leaders plan to buy short takeoff F-35B Joint Strike Fighters to give better close air support to the Army and Marine Corps. The U.S. Air Force's top leaders say the service will buy several wings of the short takeoff/vertical landing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, following the news from Lockheed Martin Corp.'s engineers that the aircraft is shedding more than a ton of weight and gaining thrust.

With long-term military budget cuts looming once again, the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin Corp., are finally talking about some of the F/A-22 Raptor's closely held secrets that they hope will keep the U.S. Congress paying for the $132-million stealth aircraft. While these conversations, many of them informal, didn't touch on "even one-third of its classified capabilities," according to one pilot, they included the ability to hunt down and destroy cruise missiles well behind enemy lines, the introduction of a new missile that allows the head-on attack and destruction of stealthy enemy missiles, a tailless bomber derivative design, a planned electronic attack capability so powerful that it actually damages enemy electronics, and modifications that would allow the aircraft's electronic package to invade enemy computer networks.

Not a lot has been written about new products from the company Lockheed Martin Skunk Works during the last couple of years, but aerospace officials say the advanced projects company has produced prototypes of a classified, unmanned aerial vehicle, built strictly as an intelligence-gathering aircraft, that "has been used" operationally over Iraq. The aircraft is described by a U.S. Air Force official as a derivative of the "DarkStar" (Tier 3-minus) program that was canceled after the demonstration aircraft was test flown and then declared operationally unsuitable. The new Lockheed Martin Skunk Works unmanned aerial vehicle is "highly reliable," in part because of a much improved flight control system.

Reports the plans of the U.S. Air Force of purchasing missiles for the unmanned aircrafts. Plans of buying low-cost autonomous attack system from Lockheed Martin; Accuracy of the missile; Lethality of air defense weapons.

Focuses on the improvements in the Joint Strike Fighter stealth made by Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force. Demand for an increase radar reflection in all directions; Decrease the aircrafts signature and simplifying the maintenance; Elimination of low observability maintenance issues.

Reports on Lockheed Martin's becoming of a permanent fixture in the United States Air Force's Big Safari program with the establishment of Detachment 4 in the company's aircraft service division. Assignment of the Compass Call project in 1980 which determines a foe's electronic order of battle.

The article discusses the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle, examining equipment on the RQ-170 which crashed in Iran which was developed for the F-22 fighter plane. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have used RQ-170s for reconnaissance and intelligence operations in Afghanistan and South Korea. The aircraft in Iran carried radar-reflective, infrared-transparent material, a grid-shielded inlet, and a full-motion video (FMV) sensor.

The article reports that non-U.S. users are not allowed to modify or replace the classified software that runs the electronic warfare (EW) detection, identification, self-defense and attack systems of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to U.S. Air Force Major Geneneral Charles Davis, program executive officer for the JSF. Elbit and Elta, Israeli companies, are railing against being left out of the F-35 program and the ban on competing for a specialized EW system, according to the author.

Anew, even larger unmanned combat aircraft and a version of the B-1 that goes twice the speed of sound are among the industry responses to the U.S. Air Force's request for information about a nearterm, long-range strike capability. Boeing led its offerings with a B-1R proposal that would reengine the bomber with the F/A-22's F-119 engines giving it enough thrust to reach Mach 2.0, but leaving it fuel-efficient enough for a 3,000-mi. mission radius. In addition, Lockheed Martin Corp. is expected to offer a variant of a large manned aircraft design, probably one of its advanced heavy-lift, flying wing concepts, that would carry large numbers of extended-range cruise missiles that could be launched from far outside any possible air defense system.

Reports that aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin has teamed up with Raytheon, SAIC, L-3 and other companies to design and develop a battle management and communications package for the U.S. Air Force's next generation surveillance and intelligence aircraft. Requirements specified for the aircraft; Platform to be used for the development; Contributions of the companies involved.