ARMY Bosco Construction Inc., Centennial, Colo., was awarded on April 12, 2010, a $13,413,797 firm-fixed-price contract for the Scout/Reconnaissance Qualification Process Range PN 72172, Urban Assault Course PN 72173 and Convoy Live Fire Range PN 72177 located at Fort Carson, Colo. The work is to be performed in Fort Carson, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2011. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with 11 bids received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Neb., is the contracting activity (W9128F-10-C-0016).
China is dominating the world’s supply of important finished rare earth materials and that could spell trouble for the U.S. military, which uses those materials to make vital equipment, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). “Current capabilities to process rare earth metals into finished materials are limited mostly to Chinese sources,” congressional auditors said in their April 14 report, “Rare Earth Materials in the Defense Supply Chain.”
NEW DELHI — Industry hopefuls last week submitted bids to build 75 basic trainer aircraft for the Indian air force, at a cost of roughly $6 million each. Contenders include the Embraer 312 Tocano, PZL 130 Orlik, Grob 120, Hawker Beechcraft, Pilatus PC-7A, Korea’s KT-1 and EADS Socata TB30 — with the last three having the same basic platform and engine. Once a decision is made, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will float a bid for the design of 104 aircraft.
HOUSTON — Discovery’s astronauts will attempt a landing in either Florida or California April 20, after fog and rain at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center twice prevented the shuttle crew from touching down April 19. The forecast in Florida again included a chance for rain. The weather outlook for the shuttle’s backup landing site, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., appeared favorable.
PERSISTENT DETECTION: The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $142 million contract for 17 fully integrated persistent threat detection systems (PTDS), a tethered aerostat surveillance system. The contract covers the PTDS as well as support equipment and initial spares and will provide a dedicated day and night netted sensor capability to help U.S. forces detect, locate, characterize, identify, track and target enemy forces. The work will be completed by April 14, 2011.
TEXAN LONESTAR: Texas A&M University students are starting to finalize mission systems for AggieSat4, the next space vehicle planned under the Lonestar (Low-Earth-Orbiting Navigation Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous) smallsat program. Led by NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Lonestar is an eight-year project involving the design, construction and flight of small satellites by Texas A&M students, together with the University of Texas in Austin.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Northrop Grumman has won a place on NASA’s “catalog” of standard spacecraft for the hardware that formed the background for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) that was deliberately sent into one of the Moon’s deep polar craters in a search for water last October. Based on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA), the “Eagle-S” is one of three new space platforms Northrop is offering that build on past spacecraft, each optimized for specific launch vehicles and missions.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) April 19 - 22 — DSA 2010 - The 12th Defense Services Asia Exhibition and Conference, Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information go to www.defenseworld.net/go/show.jsp?name=DSA%202010&id=102 April 20 - 22 — AVIATION WEEK MRO Americas 2010, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Ariz. For more information go to http://www.aviationweek.com/events
FORT WORTH — U.S. Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff, unveiled the armed service’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap for 2010-2035 here April 15, stressing the importance of manned-unmanned teaming and common control across systems. “The evolution of UAS isn’t done,” Chiarelli said, addressing an audience at the Army Aviation Association of America show, known as Quad-A. “Our UAS must provide not only the ability to see the battlefield, but to shape the battlefield.”
Lockheed Martin announced April 15 it has delivered the first two of seven operational Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) and one companion trailer to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps for Technology Development (TD) phase testing.
FORT WORTH — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is partnering with the U.S. Army to develop and fly an optionally piloted Black Hawk demonstrator by the end of 2010, says Jim Kagdis, program manager for Sikorsky’s advanced programs. Kagdis announced the development of the demonstrator at the Army Aviation Association of America show, known as Quad-A, here April 15. The aircraft is one of the key projects of Sikorsky Innovations, the helicopter manufacturer’s new technology development organization.
DEPLOYING HUMMINGBIRD: Although the U.S. Army has not issued any formal requirements for a vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV), the service’s UAV program office is signing a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) for an A160 Hummingbird to send to Afghanistan. The Socom aircraft, on which the Army will install a Vehicle Dismount Exploitation Radar (Vader), will be fielded as a quick-reaction capability.
CYBER-SAFARI: U.S. Air Force officials are eyeing the formation of a Cyber-Safari office designed to manage the procurement of cyberwarfare technologies. The office would be modeled after the Big Safari group at Aeronautical Systems Center, which is well known for procuring the Predator/Reaper family of UAVs. The cyber-office would be designed to field technologies quickly in order to keep up with the rapid pace of growing threats in the cyber-domain, says Brig. Gen. James Haywood, requirements director for Air Force Space Command.
HOUSTON — The Discovery astronauts scanned the shuttle’s heat shielding for orbital debris damage while docked to the International Space Station April 16, uncovering no obvious concerns as they beamed the imagery to NASA’s Mission Control, where experts were to complete an assessment in time for the winged spacecraft to depart April 17. The seven astronauts were scheduled to undock at 8:52 a.m. EDT.
COLORADO SPRINGS — U.S. Air Force officials say the first Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite is set to launch July 8 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Minotaur IV rocket, and another SBSS spacecraft is likely to be purchased to add capacity in orbit.
INCREASINGLEY COMPLEX: The Lockheed Martin-led National Team B providing the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) program has received an expected two-year, $424 million contract modification to continue integration work. C2BMC integrates the various sensors and weapon systems in the U.S. missile defense architecture.
MOSCOW — Further consolidation of the Russian aero-engine manufacturing sector is moving a step closer with a key management appointment. Yuri Eliseev, the CEO of Moscow-based Salut, on April 14 became the deputy head of the United Engine Corp. (UEC). Andrey Reus, the UEC CEO, says the appointment will help clear the way for the merger of the two engine producers into a single company. UEC was created two years ago and now controls all Russian aero engine-making facilities, except Salut.
COLORADO SPRINGS — The Space Foundation’s Space Report 2010, released at the National Space Symposium here, paints a picture of positive global growth in the space business, but simultaneously reveals continuing shrinkage of the U.S. launch industry.
ERUPTING CONCERN: While the ash cloud from the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano has wreaked havoc with air traffic, the potential for volcanic ash to disrupt military operations remains a mild concern of the U.S. military elsewhere. In the Northern Mariana Islands near Guam in the Pacific Ocean, a two-year, $250,000 project of the U.S. Geological Survey and Southern Methodist University is using infrasound—in addition to more conventional seismic monitoring—to “listen” for signs a volcano is about to blow.
A dual-band synthetic-aperture radar developed by Lockheed Martin to detect concealed and buried objects has been cleared for installation on an unmanned aircraft as the U.S. Army considers deploying the system to Afghanistan to help defeat roadside bombers. The VHF/UHF-band Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (Tracer) will begin up to three months of flight testing on a NASA-operated Predator B unmanned aircraft in late August or early September.
NEW SATPHONE: Inmarsat has unveiled the specifications for a handheld phone that is expected to allow it to go head-to-head with Iridium and other global satphone operators. To be rolled out in June, the “IsatPhone Pro” will work in temperatures from -20 to 55C and will have an 8-hr. talk time, with up to 100 hr. of standby battery life. It will be introduced at $699—or as little as $500-600 through special promotions—and will retail at rates of around $1 a minute.
