The Pentagon is increasingly looking at first-tier subcontractors and their deals with prime providers of major weapons and systems, and all of them are being judged on what they do to lower costs for the Defense Department, according to Shay Assad, director of defense pricing and acquisition policy.
Once NASA begins delivering its astronauts to the International Space Station with commercial crew vehicles, it may also be possible for industrial or academic researchers to spend time there without being selected as astronauts, according to the top space station manager at agency headquarters.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) mar. 18 - 19 — 2014 Precision Strike Annual Review, "PSAR-14 - Precision Engagement—Staying Relevant in A Dangerous World," Waterford Springfield Cenvention Center, Springfield, Va. For more information go to www.precisionstrike.org/Events/4PPR/4PPR.html
GRoK Technologies LCC, a Houston startup, plans to develop alternatives to the animal-based testing of new human medications, cosmetics and environmental toxins, as well as noninvasive medical therapies, through licensing agreements reached with NASA’s Technology Transfer Program. The accords will be backed by patented technologies in 3-D human tissue growth using rotating wall vessels (RWV), or bioreactors, and time-varying electromagnetic fields.
SHIP CONSTRUCTION: The U.S. Navy has awarded Bath Iron Works, of Bath, Maine, a $642,583,946 contract modification to exercise options for the construction of a DDG 51 class ship, the Pentagon announced March 14. The modification also provides $79,400,000 in advanced procurement funding for fiscal 2016-2017 ships. The work is expected to be completed by July 2023. Contract funds in the amount of $100 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
After its most ambitious Florida test flight to date, NASA’s Morpheus prototype planetary lander will undergo a significant guidance system upgrade at Kennedy Space Center for the installation of Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) sensors, to evaluate the unpiloted vehicle’s ability to steer around boulders or steep crater slopes while in flight to achieve a safe touchdown.
The political situation in the Ukraine may force the U.S. to rethink its airborne supply route into Afghanistan, as well as Russian-built rocket engines used for space launches, Pentagon leaders say.
Russia is taking lessons from NASA’s aeronautics and Europe’s Clean Sky programs in structuring its new civil aviation research effort, to begin in 2016. With $6 billion in government funding over 10 years to 2025, the National Aeronautical R&D Plan will be similar in scale to NASA’s aeronautics program, which runs at around $550 million a year. An overview of the plan was provided by Sergey Chernyshev, executive director of the TsAGI aero-hydrodynamic research institute, at the Greener Aviation 2014 conference in Brussels on Mar. 11.
THE PENTAGON — After a slight dip in the fiscal 2015 spending plan to about $2 billion, proposed U.S. Navy science and technology (S&T) funding holds steady through fiscal 2019, focusing on such programs as the Lockheed Martin F-35, Sikorsky CH-53K and railgun prototype. “In the R&D [research and development] account, science and technology funding declines 2% in FY ‘15 and then remains steady over the balance of the FYDP [Future Years Defense Program],” says Rear Adm. William Lescher, deputy assistant Navy secretary for budget.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who served as principal investigator for the “Spheres” satellite-software testbed on the International Space Station will advise Administrator Charles Bolden as the agency’s next chief technologist, NASA announced March 13. David Miller, an MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics who also directs the institute’s Space Systems Laboratory, will succeed Cornell University professor Mason Peck, who has returned to his teaching post.
NEW DELHI — Russian defense company Almaz-Antey hopes India will buy its Tor-M2KM to meet the country’s requirement for short-range air-defense missile systems. India recently floated a tender to buy 52 short-range air-defense systems to form two missile regiments in the army.
The U.S. Navy’s decision to stop buying MH-60 helicopters after fiscal 2015 – a year before it had planned – would breach a current multiyear contract agreement with Sikorsky.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
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Raytheon is preparing to submit a bid to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to build the first batch of SM-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptors while gearing up for the first flight test next year. The proposal will include the sale of 22 of the missiles, which are now being developed, says Mitch Stevison, SM-3 program director for the company. They would be purchased by MDA with research and development funding.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) and navy are worried that the decision to temporarily halt all dealings with engine maker Rolls-Royce may affect future operations and acquisitions of several aircraft. India on March 3 put all defense contracts with Rolls-Royce on hold following allegations that the British company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
LONDON — The Czech government has approved a renewed lease agreement for its Saab JAS-39C Gripen combat aircraft fleet. The deal will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Prague’s leasing of 14 Gripens — 12 single-seat and two twin-seat aircraft — will be extended to 2027, with a possible option for two extra years until 2029. The deal between the Czech and Swedish governments will begin in late September 2015.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
When it comes to a follow-on design for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, it may be easier to discuss what is not under consideration than what is. The Navy will consider modifications to existing designs, variants of other ship classes, foreign or domestic hulls, or something brand new, says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.
