PARIS — The U.S.’s first integrated nationwide high-speed satellite-terrestrial mobile satellite service (MSS) is ready to take form following a multibillion-dollar deal between Harbinger-Skyterra and Nokia Siemens.
Amphibious assault remains at the top of the priorities the U.S. Marine Corps is setting for its post-Afghanistan force, according to a leading official at the Navy Department. Robert “Bob” Work, undersecretary of the Navy, told a Center for Strategic and International Studies audience in Washington Aug. 3 that his top six priorities for the Marines will be reflected in the Force Structure Review Group findings, expected in November. Budget effects then would be felt in the Fiscal 2013 process.
TRIDENT OVERHAUL: For the 10-year life of the proposed New Treaty with Russia, the United States expects to have up to two Trident nuclear-armed submarines in long-term refueling overhaul at any given time, according to a fact sheet Aug. 2 from the State Department. When a U.S. ballistic missile nuclear submarine goes into overhaul, the intercontinental missiles are removed from its launch tubes — an issue that goes toward counting strategic weapons under the deal with Moscow.
HOUSTON — The July 31 failure of a coolant pump module assembly on the International Space Station has NASA managers and engineers re-evaluating their strategy for keeping the orbiting space laboratory flush with critical spare parts as the space shuttle retires. The bulky 780-lb. pump module is scheduled for replacement during a pair of spacewalks using one of four external spare pump module assemblies delivered to the station aboard shuttle missions in November 2009 and July 2006. The first spacewalk is scheduled for early Aug. 6.
Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the first U.S. Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), says that the service must adapt its procurement system to respond more rapidly to the needs of commanders fighting today’s battles. A quicker acquisition system could be used to field a next-generation unmanned aerial system (UAS) suitable for operations in contested airspace, he says.
DEFENSE PARTNERS: The Brazilian and Uruguayan governments have inked a defense cooperation pact that also calls for greater cooperation in research and development and procurement. Article one of the agreement, signed on June 30 in the border town of Santana do Livramento between the presidents of the two countries, also calls for sharing information on science and technology matters.
ARMY Harris Corp., Rochester, N.Y., was awarded on July 22 a $78,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Foreign Military Sales radio base stations, vehicle mounts, and man packs for the government of the Philippines. The work is to be performed in Rochester, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 1, 2010. One bid was solicited with one bid received. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (DAAB07-01-D-M001).
JERUSALEM — Top planners are using the intellectual anarchy of teenagers to supercharge decision-making for Jerusalem’s military, industry and government.
ISRAELI APPROPRIATIONS: The U.S. House defense appropriations subcommittee is recommending $217.7 million for U.S.-Israel missile defense programs, an increase of $95.7 million over the original request, according to member Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.). “Given the concern and attention that we are focusing now on every dollar ... it is a mark of the importance of these projects that they were all funded so robustly and fully by our subcommittee,” he said.
LONDON — Despite concerns about defense cutbacks in the U.K. and flattening U.S. defense spending, Ultra Electronics sees sufficient opportunities globally to continue its business strategy.
China’s satellite navigation constellation gained another spacecraft over the weekend with the launch of a Beidou (Compass) spacecraft on a Long March 3A lifting off from the Xichang space center in Southwest China. The use of the Long March 3A suggests that the satellite is one of the 30 that will operate in low Earth orbit. A Long March 3C launched the third of the five geostationary satellites planned for the system Jan. 17, and the fourth June 2 (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 20, June 4). All told there are now five active Beidou spacecraft in orbit.
No one government agency claims the Landsat remote sensing system as its own, and that void has knocked the program’s development off track, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says. “The lack of a permanent agency home for Landsat was a major factor in the impending data gap in the Landsat series, and planning for a follow-on instrument after the five-year-life of Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM-1 spacecraft) is still in limbo,” CRS says in its report. Joint ops
NEW DELHI — India’s Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO) is increasingly looking at technology partners for various projects to give its homeland security-related development work some thrust, and is talking with Saab and EADS for assistance.
LOS ANGELES — The third Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, T3, is being prepared for transfer to U.S. Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., following the completion of its first flight in Seattle on July 29.
ARMY Longbow LLC, Orlando, Fla., was awarded on July 22 a $39,509,964 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the award of engineering services for the Hellfire and Longbow missile requirements. The work is to be performed in Orlando (50%); Baltimore (25%); United Arab Emirates (10%); and Taiwan (15%), with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, AMSAM-AC-TM-H, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-10-C-0256). NAVY
NASA has selected Raytheon Technical Services Co. for a potential $119.9 million, five-year contract to operate, maintain and provide sustaining engineering for the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The third and final attempt to flight test the Boeing HyFly hypersonic missile demonstrator has failed. The booster did not ignite and the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean after release from an F-15E on July 29. HyFly is a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) program to demonstrate technology for a tactical missile with a cruise speed exceeding Mach 6 and a range of 400 nm. from an air launch and 600 nm. from a surface launch.
HOUSTON — Around-the-clock preparations were underway in NASA’s Mission Control on Aug. 2 for the first of two spacewalks over the next week to replace the International Space Station’s external cooling loop pump module that shut down over the weekend, triggering a power-down of two control moment gyroscopes and other space station subsystems. Station flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson are scheduled to float from the U.S. airlock on Thursday, Aug. 5, just before 7 a.m. EDT, to begin the repairs.
To smooth the way for the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) to field F-16 fighters, the U.S. and Iraqi government have signed an agreement to provide training for the first batch of IqAF F-16 pilots. A deal for the purchase of 18 Block 52 F-16s has not yet been finalized, but the two sides nevertheless have decided to assure the IqAF will have personnel trained and ready to operate the fighter. Under the terms of the agreement, 10 pilots will undergo 12-17 months of training, depending on their skill level.
AIR FORCE CAE USA Inc., Tampa, Fla., was awarded a $10,643,648.00 contract to purchase seven C-5 avionics modernization program training devices and five reliability enhancement re-engining program training devices for the C-5 aircrew training system for the following users: Air Material Command, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command. At this time, $10,643,648.00 has been obligated. GHMKA, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F8223-10-R-3000/2). NAVY
NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force is looking to modernize 27 base repair depots and equipment depots located all over India, and has invited industry to express interest in bidding.
