Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) would bear the brunt of proposed cuts in U.S. weapons purchases totaling $30 billion over the next six years, according to the summary from a Pentagon budget document made available to Reuters Monday. Nearly $18 billion would be slashed from programs run by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's biggest supplier, according to a trade publication, InsideDefense.com, the first to report details of the plan. The cuts were spelled out in a so-called Program Budget Decision signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul...

After their tiny plane crashed deep in the jungles of southern Colombia, three American civilians on a mission to search for cocaine labs, drug planes and, occasionally, guerrilla units were taken hostage by Marxist rebels. A year later, the men's families say the captives have been all but forgotten. Some say that is the way American officials and the men's employers want it to be. The three Americans — Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes — worked cloaked in secrecy for two subsidiaries of Northrop Grumman, the huge military contractor, in an arrangement used increasingly by the United States...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp. will continue to upgrade the B-2 stealth bomber radar system, courtesy of a $388 million contract awarded by the Air Force for the second phase of the multi-year modernization program. The program, based at Northrop's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, will provide the nation's fleet of B-2 bombers with sophisticated new radar systems. The B-2 work force in Palmdale, which numbers between 60 and 70 employees, is not expected to see an increase with this contract, said Northrop spokesman Jim Hart. The team may grow slightly in future years as flight testing...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

Beginning this weekend, aircraft buffs will be able to stroll up to and touch about half dozen historic aircraft at the city's newest public facility, the Heritage Airpark. The airpark, at 25th Street East and Avenue P, is a memorial to the aircraft designed, built and tested at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 since the facility was established in 1951. The airpark is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays beginning Jan. 17. A formal ceremony marking the opening of the facility will be held in March, noted Mayor Jim Ledford. Meanwhile, volunteers will continue to prepare...

Navy to Christen New Guided-Missile Destroyer Halsey The newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Halsey (DDG 97) will be christened on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Miss. Adm. William J. Fallon, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address in concert with Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi. Heidi Cook Halsey, Anne Halsey Smith, and Alice “Missy” Spruance Talbot will serve as sponsors of the ship named for their grandfather. In the time-honored Navy tradition, they will break the bottle of champagne across the bow to...

The future of supersonic flight is taking shape in the very skies where the sonic boom first signaled the conquest of the sound barrier. This time, however, researchers hope to make a much quieter mark on history. The Shaped Sonic Boom Experiment uses a specially modified F-5E Tiger fighter jet to show that aircraft may be shaped so as to lessen the force of the shock wave created as it goes supersonic, thus producing a quieter sonic boom. "It is the forerunner of the future of supersonic flight," said Northrop Grumman chief test pilot Roy Martin, who piloted the modified...

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Space Systems Co. will team with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector to compete for full-scale development of NASA's orbital space plane. The orbital space plane program is planned as a next-generation crew rescue and transport system for the international space station. The space plane, which may include multiple vehicles, will enable a larger permanent crew to occupy the orbiting research facility, increasing science and research capabilities in space. Details of the agreement between Lockheed and Northrop, announced Monday, will be worked out in the next 90 days, Northrop Grumman spokesman Brooks McKinney said. If any of the...

The field of likely bidders to build the Orbital Space Plane is about to shrink from three to two, according to industry sources. Northrop Grumman is dropping plans to bid for the Orbital Space Plane prime contract and has entered discussions with Lockheed Martin Corp. about a teaming arrangement on the program, industry sources said. Such a move essentially would pit the Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman team against Boeing Co. for the multibillion-dollar contract. What this would mean for Northrop Grumman’s current Orbital Space Plane partner, Orbital Sciences Corp., is not immediately clear. Orbital Sciences spokesman Barron Beneski could not be...

Northrop Grumman has disclosed a new directed-energy laser weapon system that it has conceived to defeat small, supersonic missiles targeted at aircraft landing at and taking off from military airfields and civilian airports. The Hazardous Ordnance Engagement Toolkit (HORNET) is an outgrowth of the company's continued work on the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) system for Israel and the US. Like MTHEL, the HORNET would be based on a megawatt-class deuterium-fluoride chemical laser that can shoot a lethal energy beam at the speed of light at a target, said Pat Caruana, vice president of Missile Defense in Northrop Grumman's...

The U.S. budget deficit doesn't foreshadow a decrease in defense spending, Northrop Grumman Corp. Chief Executive Ron Sugar said in an interview on Fox News on Monday. "It's interesting that only a (small) percent of our gross national product is devoted to defense, but nothing can be more important, in my judgment, than the obligation of a nation to defend its people," Sugar said. "Given the threat is real, I think the resources are going to have to be there." Sugar also told Fox News the threat of a ballistic missile attack on the U.S. is "imminent," and that the...

Faced with over $600 million in debt liabilities and a bleak market outlook for its still-unfinished reusable rocket, Kistler Aerospace Corp. filed to reorganize July 15 under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Based in Kirkland, Wash., the private company is developing the K-1 reusable launch vehicle with intentions to launch commercial and government payloads into low Earth orbit, initially from the Woomera Spaceport in Australia, and later the Nevada Test Site. Papers were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, a move that will "facilitate Kistler’s restructuring, which is designed to...

Ship to Be Built From Trade Center Steel Sat Dec 28, 2002, 8:29 PM ET By JOEL STASHENKO, Associated Press Writer ALBANY, N.Y. - Steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center was headed to a Mississippi shipyard Saturday for use in the USS New York, a warship named in honor of those who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. It was the Navy's idea to incorporate the steel into the vessel, said Capt. Kevin Wensing, a Navy public affairs officer in Washington. He said the steel was removed Friday from the New York landfill that holds...

MORE EXPLORE FEATURES Lost in Space Problems with the space shuttle and the International Space Station have knocked NASA off its moorings By Mark Alpert Image: NASAALBATROSS? The International Space Station. Critics of human spaceflight have a saying: "If God had wanted people to go into space, He would’ve given them more money." This reworked adage has never seemed more appropriate than during the recent battles in Washington, D.C., over the future of the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). Both programs are facing severe cutbacks as NASA’s new administrator, Sean O’Keefe, tries to bring order to...

U.S. Navy Selects Northrop Grumman-Led Gold Team For DD(X) System Design Contract $2.9 Billion, Four-Year Program Will Produce Designs for Next-Generation, Transformational Surface Combatants LOS ANGELES, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC - news) announced today that the U.S. Navy has selected a team led by the company to complete the system design for the Navy's advanced, 21st century surface combatant, DD(X). Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector will lead the system design, engineering prototype development and testing of the DD(X) System under a $265 million contract awarded today by the Navy. The team includes Raytheon Company (NYSE:...