Boeing and BAE Systems are teaming as part of the Pentagon’s effort to add nonkinetic weapons, particularly in the areas of electronic attack and cyberwar, to its combat aircraft. It is part of the Defense Department’s attempt to better rationalize its investments, reuse technology it has already paid for and ensure programs are not duplicated by the military services and other agencies.
The British Defense Ministry is being given a general thumbs up by financial watchdog the National Audit Office over central aspects of how the ministry manages Private Finance Initiative programs.
NEW BLOOD: Lockheed Martin’s top lobbyist in Washington, Brian Dailey, will retire from the company in April. In his position he has overseen the top Pentagon contractor’s Washington Operations office. He will be succeeded by Gregory Dahlberg, who currently heads up Lockheed’s legislative affairs office. Dahlberg joined the company in 2003 and was previously the Democratic staff director of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 4 - 7 – Aircraft Survivability Symposium 2008, “Low Altitude Today, Preparing for Tomorrow,” Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/9940
RIVER ROBOT: The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Alliant Techsystems $494,000 to study a robotic submersible to be deployed from aircraft, ships or submarines and navigate rivers, inlets, harbors and coastlines to conduct clandestine surveillance of things on and under the water. The Unmanned Underwater Riverine Craft would be capable of crawling along the bottom, burrowing under the mud to evade detection, and hibernating until recovered.
FRENCH FORCE: With several international competitions looming, MBDA has completed a key element in its strategy to field a surface-launched Mica air defense missile system. The VL-Mica, adapted for ship launch, was tested Oct. 23 at the French CELM test range at Biscarosse. The shot intercepted the Banshee target drone. The missile was fired in a radar-seeker configuration, with the intercept occurring at a range of 15 kilometer. The test validates the production version of the launcher – the CLA (Conteneur Lanceur Autonome or autonomous launch container).
MURTHA MORASS: Boeing advocate Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) stands to take over as chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee if current chair John Murtha (D-Pa.) loses his now-closely contested re-election bid. Murtha’s Republican opponent, retired army Lt. Col. William Russell, has been climbing in the polls since Murtha described his western Pennsylvania district as “racist” and “really redneck” in press interviews. Murtha, himself a retired Marine Corps colonel, has held the seat since 1974.
The U.S. Navy is satisfied with the results of a recent critical design review for Raytheon’s Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1, though the program manager notes that adding a datalink to an existing weapon is likely to meet challenges.
MORE IS LESS: The Pentagon expects to save $5 billion in the fiscal 2010 budget, much of which will be gained through implementing an economic order quantity buy strategy in several programs, Pentagon acquisition chief John Young says. About 12 programs were examined and found to have potential savings opportunities through buying more aircraft in a stable fashion, thus reducing the total cost. Young did not say which programs.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – NASA is poised to disassemble the Orion crew module test unit at its Dryden Flight Research Center here in preparation for transfer to the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range for the delayed launch abort system tests. The boilerplate test module, built by NASA Langley, is nearing completion of a series of five mass-property tests to verify modeling predictions, and will later be transferred to the nearby space shuttle facility at Edwards.
MORE ARMY HAWKS: As the Pentagon turns its attention to Afghanistan, the Army is speeding ahead to buy roughly 20 more Constant Hawk intelligence collection aircraft to support operations there. Constant Hawk consists of several electro-optical cameras on a single platform that give a 360-degree view of the space around it. High-resolution streaming video is collected and stored, and the system is used for forensics after an event, such as an improvised explosive device detonation. Col.
AFRICOM HQ IN GEORGIA?: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) is pressing his efforts to have the Pentagon locate Africa Command’s headquarters in Georgia. In an Oct. 30 letter to Defense Secretary Roberts Gates, Chambliss and most of the Georgia congressional delegation extolled the benefits of locating AFRICOM HQ at either Fort McPherson or Fort Gillem outside Atlanta, or Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta. They note all of the bases are “in close proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which has frequent and direct access to Africa. Chambliss, Sen.
Dassault is showing new details of its concept to use the Rafale strike fighter as a small satellite launcher. The launcher would be configured to use several of the aircraft’s weapons store stations. The main element of the launcher would be carried centerline, with two solid boosters slung under the wing. The solids would be connected to the main launcher through so-called “fixed arms.” The configuration would still leave clearance for the landing gear, so the Rafale could return to base with the launcher if that were required.
TYPHOON TANKING: EADS has begun air-to-air refueling clearance work on the Eurofighter Typhoon from the Airbus A310 multirole tanker transport. The aim is to have the aircraft certification on the A310 MRTT by the end of the year. Nine flights are planned to gain the approval. Two Eurofighter aircraft, instrumented production aircraft IPA 3 and IPA 7, have been used so far for the flight trials. These are being carried out from the EADS Military Air Systems site in Manching in southern Germany.
NASA Ames Research Center will put its small spacecraft technical expertise in collaboration with Odyssey Moon Ventures to develop lunar landing technology. Odyssey Moon was the first sign-up for the $30 million Google Lunar X-Prize competition to land a robotic rover on the moon by Dec. 31, 2012. The Ames collaboration may be used toward that effort but is being extended for Odyssey Moon’s more general interest in commercializing lunar exploration.
The new Pentagon peer review required for military acquisitions of more than $1 billion seems tailored to prevent the kind of questions and concerns that have plagued the Air Force’s two biggest recent procurement headaches: the service’s $15 billion combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter buy and its $35 billion tanker replacement award. Competitors in both procurements questioned how the Air Force formed and changed requirements during the process. Both programs are also currently in limbo, with initially awarded contracts halted.
BAD LANGUAGE: Opaque government language of “streamlining” is causing concern in Britain’s Defense Intelligence Staff (DIS). The DIS provides all-source intelligence analysis for the Defense Ministry and government, ranging from political to technical assessments. British national press reports last week suggest that around 120 jobs will be cut, with a further 70 or so positions to be relocated from Central London. Part of the DIS is currently in the Old War Office Building in Whitehall.
France’s naval land-attack cruise missile development, the MBDA SCALP Naval, is due to begin test firings next year, following a series of program milestones in 2008. Aerodynamic configuration trials have been recently completed using French research agency Onera’s wind-tunnel facility in Modane. Component tests have also been carried out during the course of 2008, including on the main parts of the vertical-launch container – for surface-launch applications – and on elements of the submarine-launch capsule. Warhead trials have also been carried out.
NO PROTECTIONISM: Pentagon acquisition czar John Young says the Pentagon’s decision this fall to terminate the $1.5 billon development contract with Northrop Grumman/EADS North America for an A330-200-based refueling tanker was not aimed at protecting Boeing, the only U.S. widebody maker. In actuality, the decision was based on the discovery of acquisition missteps on the part of the Air Force during the source selection. “There is nothing in this decision that involves protectionism,” Young says, adding that Europe could be more open to U.S. contractors.
NASA’s decision to defer servicing the Hubble Space Telescope until May 2009 will have a domino effect on efforts to replace the space shuttle with the shuttle-derived Ares I/Orion, possibly delaying a key test when time is money for the follow-on project.
SECOND LIFE: The first two of six ex-U.S. Navy Sikorsky UH-3H Sea Kings going to the Argentine navy are flying after being shipped from the United States and reassembled. The helicopters are replacing three Sea Kings lost in April last year when Argentina’s icebreaker Almirante Irizar caught fire in the South Atlantic. They will participate in the summer Antarctic campaigns, resupplying Argentine bases. The first two helos had just retired from U.S. Navy service and were refurbished by U.S.-based Clayton International.
ALLY BUILDING: It seems like there’s a newfound enthusiasm among Western countries to build new militaries. With the United States and partners involved already in rebuilding the Iraqi military and the Afghanistan National Army, Kosovo is the latest country to be preparing for an influx of assistance and equipment. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung has just completed talks with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and offered assistance in building the Kosovo Security Force (KSF).
