At a gathering April 27 discussing the U.S./Saudi strategic relationship and the geopolitics of the Middle East, a variety of speakers all drove home the same point: that politics, economics, and security are intimately connected. The the realm of international politics currently finds itself at a particularly critical moment, the speakers said.
SWINE FLU: While the Department of Health and Human Services leads the U.S. response to the swine flu outbreak, the Defense Department is focusing on force protection. The military is posturing itself to respond if required, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said April 27. “We obviously have plans and take measures to ensure that we can preserve the fighting strength of the military in the event that there should be a greater crisis with respect to a health situation like this,” Whitman said.
MOSCOW — The third prototype of Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter intended for flight trials — side number 904 — was lost during taxi tests prior to first flight April 26. Test pilot Evgeny Frolov ejected safely. The aircraft was lost in a fire, industry sources said. The accident occurred at the airfield of the Sukhoi’s Komsomolsk-on-Amur manufacturing facility. The reason for the accident was not yet clear. An official statement of the investigation body was expected to follow.
President Obama told the nation’s scientists April 27 that the Cold War space race offers a model for meeting his goals of developing sustainable energy sources while minimizing the effect on global climate.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to Pratt & Whitney Military Aftermarket Services of San Antonio, Texas for $22,915,389. This action will provide Overhaul of Core Module applicable to the F100 and F220 engines of F-15 and F-16 aircraft. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 448 SCMB/PKBB, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. (FA8104-04-D-0004-0136) NAVY
COBRA COMMANDER: DOD and the program executive office for littoral and mine warfare (PEO LMW) have bestowed Milestone C approval on Northrop Grumman’s Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system, which was designed to support the U.S. Marine Corps amphibious assault breaching operations aboard the Littoral Combat Ship. Following Milestone C, PEO LMW will move the COBRA system toward Low-Rate Initial Production.
Though the U.S. Navy has canceled development of the Harpoon Block III designed to target surface ships in cluttered littoral environments, the service is proceeding with funding to support its Block IC missile stockpile.
DRACO QUALIFICATION: Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed qualification of its Draco spacecraft thruster and propulsion tank at the company’s test site in McGregor, Texas. SpaceX says tests included 42 firings with more than 4,600 pulses of varying lengths and were performed in a vacuum test chamber to simulate the space environment. “The series resulted in a total firing time of over 50 minutes on a single thruster,” the company adds.
ARMY L-3 Communications Corp EOS Division, Garland, Texas was awarded on Apr. 20, 2009 a $6,657,200 firm-fixed-price contract for 2200 each 22MM Gen II Image Intensifier Tube AN/PVS-4 NVS 700, P/N 510-3882-300 Foreign Military Sales, sole source directed by Egypt for L-3 Communications, EOS Division, Garland, Texas. Work is to be performed in Garland, Texas with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2011. One sole source bid solicited and one bid received. CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-09-P-D018).
Departing Pentagon acquisitions czar John Young expressed numerous frustrations with the Defense Department and the defense acquisition process April 27 in a farewell roundtable with reporters. “I leave here as an unemployed individual,” Young said, describing his existence during his tenure as that of a monk. “You get all kinds of restrictions on you” for trying to help your country. “I don’t get to participate in the economy like a normal citizen,” he added, referring to conflict-of-interest rules that prohibit him from buying stocks, for example.
PARIS — Australia will fly a military payload on a new Intelsat spacecraft in a move that could help spark demand for hosted payloads while providing a showcase for a new Boeing telecom satellite bus.
The U.S. Navy is considering extending the Seattle-based flight test phase of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft by several months to make more use of Boeing’s flight test expertise before delivering the aircraft to its Patuxent River flight test center in Maryland.
CARTER CONFIRMED: Former Harvard professor and Clinton administration official Ashton Carter is the Pentagon’s new acquisition chief. The Senate confirmed Carter’s nomination by voice vote April 23 after Alabama Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, both Republicans, withdrew their “hold” on Carter’s nomination after meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Shelby and Sessions were concerned about the next competition for the Air Force replacement refueling tanker.
The likelihood that the military will ever field non-lethal weapons may have grown even slimmer with the revelation that the Pentagon does not have a cohesive plan for their use.
Recent program decisions by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that indicate a pullback on helicopter acquisitions would mean a reversal of Pentagon spending on those aircraft and components. Gates targeted two expensive and priority helicopter programs for cancellation — the U.S. Air Force combat, search and rescue helicopter replacement program — CSAR-X — and the presidential helicopter acquisition. The elimination of those two programs will certainly take a bite out of helicopter funding needs and overall rotary wing budgeting.
NASA will wait until this fall to award study contracts for its planned Saturn V-class moon rocket and Altair lunar lander, amid uncertainty over what is in store for the agency’s human-exploration programs as the Obama administration figures out its space policy.
Thuraya is partnering with Advanced Communications Solutions Ltd, a unit of an undisclosed international shipping group, to distribute the UAE-based mobile satellite communications company’s voice and data services to the Greek maritime fleet. In January 2008, Thuraya launched a new spacecraft that allows it to cover large expanses of ocean from Europe to southeast Asia. The agreement includes ThurayaIP, a broadband service offering video streaming up to 384 kbps and data transmission up to 444 kbps.
POWER MARGIN: With hover-pit testing showing the powered-lift propulsion system in the first F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is beating its thrust requirement by a small margin, Lockheed Martin says it is on track to begin short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) flight-testing, aiming for the crucial first vertical landing “in the summer.” Vertical thrust measured on the pit is 41,100 poundsverus the 40,550 pounds guaranteed by engine maker Pratt & Whitney.
DRACO QUALIFICATION: Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed qualification of its Draco spacecraft thruster and propulsion tank at the company’s test site in McGregor, Texas. SpaceX says tests included 42 firings with more than 4,600 pulses of varying lengths and were performed in a vacuum test chamber to simulate the space environment. “The series resulted in a total firing time of over 50 minutes on a single thruster,” it adds.
INTEGRATING ICBMs: The head of nuclear systems and weapons for the U.S. Air Force says the new Global Strike Command will integrate the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force first before acquiring control of the bomber force. Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston told a Capitol Hill gathering April 24 that the missile force will join the newest command — created to better manage the U.S. nuclear arsenal after several embarrassing slips — “close to the end of the year,” with the B-52 and B-2 bombers following at an unspecified date.
CUTTER STIMULUS: In the first indication of stimulus money going toward national defense-related projects, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it will receive $10 million to upgrade its cutter fleet. The funding is part of $240 million designated for critical improvements to the Coast Guard, which falls under a $3 billion umbrella for the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
