Earlier MALD aircraft will be updated with radar-jamming capability

Raytheon gets go-ahead for small AF decoy drone

David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 12:00 am

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems will begin low-rate initial production of a radar-jamming decoy drone for the U.S. Air Force.

The Air Force exercised a contract option and awarded Raytheon $5 million to produce the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy-J (MALD-J), converting an earlier production order for the baseline, nonjamming MALD model, Raytheon said.

With a range of about 575 miles, the jet-powered MALD is launched from aircraft and protects air crews and their aircraft by mimicking the combat flight profiles and signatures of U.S. and allied aircraft. The MALD-J version adds radar-jamming capability.

The expendable MALD-J will save lives by allowing commanders to conduct stand-in jamming missions without risking manned aircraft and crews, Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems’ Air Warfare Systems product line, said in prepared remarks.

New center to bring UA ideas, tech to market

Carol Ann Alaimo Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 12:00 am

For the second time in just over a year, the University of Arizona has announced creation of a new center aimed at speeding up the time it takes to move new ideas and technologies from the research lab to the marketplace.

If the concept works, it eventually could help create more higher-paying jobs in Tucson.

The new entity announced Monday, called Tech Launch Arizona, will mark “a dramatic step forward in how the UA contributes to economic growth,” UA President Eugene Sander said in a news release.

A search is expected to begin soon for someone to run the new center, which will assess the commercial viability of new research and technology at UA and help with key details such as licensing inventions and finding investors.

Voters may be asked to OK road relocation and bigger buffer zone

Plan would give Raytheon more room

Becky Pallack Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Saturday, November 19, 2011 12:00 am

Pima County may ask voters to approve a $200 million plan to protect jobs and grow new jobs at the region’s largest employer.

The economic development plan, in the works for one year, would spend bond money on relocating roads that have prevented Raytheon Missile Systems from expanding near Tucson International Airport.

The lack of space to grow was a key factor in Raytheon’s choice to locate 300 new jobs in Alabama last year, company leaders told the county’s Bond Advisory Committee during a special meeting Friday.

The bond issue may come before voters next year.

The problem

Having a buffer zone around testing facilities at Raytheon’s airport site is critically important for safety reasons, said Rich Mendez, facility management director at Raytheon.

University of Arizona

UA News

By Celeste Barajas, NASA Space Grant intern, University Communications, November 18, 2011

Research into aphasia – the inability to speak or write well-formulated sentences and words – is strong at the UA. Researchers have received $2 million toward the study of the condition.

The National Institutes of Health have awarded the University of Arizona’s Aphasia Research Project in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences a $2 million grant to research communication impairments in adults who have suffered brain injury.

Aphasia – the inability to speak or write well-formulated sentences and words – is a common result of a stroke or a traumatic brain injury such as the one suffered by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head earlier this year. The bullet damaged regions of the brain that are critical for language and control of the right side of the body.

News & Notes

Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 12:00 am

Raytheon gets deal worth $241M for development of interceptor

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded a sole-source contract modification worth $241 million to Raytheon Missile Systems for continuing development of the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

The U.S. and Japan are co-developing the SM-3 Block IIA missile. Compared with the current SM-3 Block IA in production, the Block IIA is larger in diameter and has a larger, more sophisticated kill vehicle, a type of nonexplosive warhead.

The contract modification increases the total value of the contract to about $576 million, the Defense Department said. The work will be performed in Tucson for completion by March 31. Fiscal 2012 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund the effort, the Pentagon said.

Tucson tech: Raytheon developing ‘networked weapon’

David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 12:00 am

Budget cuts have derailed some of the Pentagon’s most sophisticated future weapons programs, but Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems is forging ahead with the world’s first “networked weapon.”

Raytheon has completed a “fit check” of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 in the internal carriage bay of a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, the company announced Sunday at the 2011 Dubai Air Show.

During the fit check, Raytheon technicians loaded a JSOW-shaped object in the F-35′s internal carriage bay and conducted a series of tests to prove the bay door could close properly without damaging the aircraft or the weapon, the company said.

Assuring that the JSOW can be carried internally on the Joint Strike Fighter is critical to retain the fighter’s radar-avoiding stealth design, Raytheon spokesman Mike Nachshen said.

Raytheon-Emirates guided rocket ready for production

By David Wichner Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 1:05 pm

Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems and a United Arab Emirates partner completed a key test paving the way to production of a laser-guided rocket, the company announced at the Dubai Air Show.

During a demonstration of the Talon Laser-Guided Rocket in the UAE, three rockets fired from AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters hit stationary and moving targets, Raytheon said.

Raytheon is developing the Talon with Emirates Advanced Investments Group, with plans to produce the rockets in the U.S. and in the UAE.

The Talon is a semi-active laser guidance and control kit that connects directly to the front of 2.75-inch unguided rockets currently in U.S. and international arsenals. The rocket is fully compatible with existing airborne and ground laser designators and requires no aircraft modifications.