It’s getting too late in the fiscal year for the Pentagon to ease the disruptive effects of sequestration, even if it is given flexibility in allocating cuts, according to top defense officials. “We need the cloud of sequester and uncertainty dispelled,” acquisition chief Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee Feb. 13. If uncertainty is merely pushed back, “it’s still pretty harmful,” he says.
Government gridlock and myopic Wall Street horizons are hindering development of a new economic sector in low Earth orbit, because both make private financing for commercial space ventures hard to find, according to a panel of space-finance experts speaking in Washington this week.
After dropping out of the top spot at the start of this decade, fixed-wing-aircraft costs retook the lead among all non-construction-related Defense Department expenses for 2011, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis.
A group of 16 U.S. lawmakers led by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) are asking for an update by Feb. 22 from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the FAA’s attempts to open the national airspace to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The legislators are hoping to prod the FAA to act faster in releasing rules for small UAS to fly, as well as in creating six test sites around the country to work out safety and operating guidelines.
HOUSTON — Recent NASA contracts awarded through the agency’s Johnson Space Center worth a potential $2 billion will equip the Orion program with an integration support contractor, while providing wider engineering, scientific and technical support through the Houston field center for the International Space Station (ISS), Orion, commercial crew/cargo initiatives and Mars science projects.
Hawker Beechcraft and BAE Systems have undertaken the first flight of a specially modified BAe 146 transport aircraft for the U.K. Royal Air Force. The U.K. defense ministry purchased two ex-TNT Airlines BAe 146-200QTs in early 2012 as part of an urgent operational requirement to support and boost passenger and cargo transport capability in Afghanistan. The aircraft were delivered and handed over to BAE and Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support under a £15.5 million ($24.3 million) deal.
In an effort to curb the counterfeit curse plaguing the military supply chain’s electronics and other goods, the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is requiring an advanced type of DNA markings on high-reliability microcircuits, and offering to reimburse contractors that use the technology.
AWIN, National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting
Click here to view the pdf 2011 Leading Pentagon Expenses* 2011 Leading Pentagon Expenses* No. Type Of Expense Number Of Contracts Or Contract Modifications Total Amount Of All Transactions
With two weeks to go before $46 billion in cuts to the Pentagon’s fiscal 2013 budget take effect, the military’s top brass appealed to the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Feb. 12 hearing for a delay or replacement for the budget penalty known as sequestration. And while Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that he is running out of adjectives to describe the horror of sequestration, the hearing did unearth a couple of new details about its effects on investment accounts and fleet sizes.
NEW DELHI — India is developing the sixth in its series of Agni ballistic missiles that will be capable of carrying multiple warheads. “While the Agni-V is [a] major strategic defense weapon, the Agni-VI will be a force multiplier as it will have multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle [MIRV] capability,” says Defense and Research Development Organization (DRDO) chief V.K. Saraswat.
U.S. Air Force officials will have to abandon round-the-clock missile warning and space situational awareness operations if the proposed round of deep sequestration cuts take effect next month, according to Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command chief. Shelton says that he would be forced to “reduce some missile warning and space surveillance 24/7 hour operations to 8/7 hour operations” if the cuts take effect.
FORWARDING HAGEL: On Feb. 12, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 14-11 along party lines with Democratic support to forward the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to be the next defense secretary to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. But after a contentious committee discussion, including several requests to delay the vote, expect Republicans to attempt to place procedural hurdles in the way of a final vote.
LONDON — AirTanker, the private consortium that will provide the U.K.’s aerial refueling capability, will be able to charge the Royal Air Force (RAF) if RAF combat aircraft refuel from the tankers of other nations.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Space System Co., Newtown, Pa., (FA8807-13-C-0002) is being awarded a $62,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Global Positioning System III Space Vehicles 5 and 6. The location of the performance is Newtown, Pa. Work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2017. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is SMC/GPK, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. ARMY
If Congress continues to fund the government at fiscal 2012 levels for all of fiscal 2013, the U.S. Air Force’s plan for the block purchase of Space Based Infrared System (Sbirs) satellites is in doubt, according to an Air Force background paper.
