LONDON – Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says recommendations that the government set up its procurement organization as an executive agency, independent of the Defense Department, should be “further canvassed and considered.” The proposal is a key element of the Mortimer Review, an independent report commissioned by the government in May and now published. It examined the operation of the Defense Material Organization (DMO) and the extent to which previous reforms put forward in a 2003 review have been implemented.
QATAR C-130Js: Lockheed Martin has its first C-130 contract from Qatar, an order for four stretched versions of the C-130J valued at $393.6 million, with deliveries beginning in 2011. Since Qatar is a new customer, the contract includes training of aircrew and technicians, spares, ground support and test equipment, and equipment associated with cargo operations, such as fork lifts, pallets and loading vehicles. Qatar is Lockheed Martin’s seventh international customer for the C-130J.
AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE: Northrop Grumman has flown its new Airborne Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Minefield Detection System (ASTAMIDS) for the first time aboard an unmanned aerial vehicle. ASTAMIDS, which is in development for the U.S. Army, flew on Northrop Grumman’s company-owned MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Unmanned Air System helicopter, designated “P6.” Two ASTAMIDS-P6 flights occurred on Sept. 12.
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PAM BOOM: Alliant Techsystems claims it successfully demonstrated the propulsion system for the proposed Non Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) Precision Attack Missile (PAM). Three successful tests were conducted at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company announced Oct. 6. NLOS-LS, developed for the Army’s controversial Future Combat Systems, is slated for initial fielding in 2011 (Aerospace DAILY, March 30, 2006). The Army plans to procure more than 25,000 PAM missiles, eyed for use against moving and stationary targets on the ground and at sea.
The United States is prepared to sell one of its premier airborne signals intelligence capabilities to one of its closest allies, the United Kingdom, U.S. defense officials responsible for foreign military sales (FMS) announced recently.
CBRNE RESPONSE: The Defense Department is formally assigning a new terrorist-attack management squad to U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) to help local and federal civil authorities respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) crisises in the U.S. homeland. The first of three CBRNE Consequence Management Response Forces (CCMRF) represents a force of 4,000 to 6,000 personnel.
RADIO READINESS: Boeing has begun its final phase of system integration, testing and certification of the Joint Tactical Radio System, Ground Mobile Radios (JTRS GMR) engineering development model (EDM). The milestone follows the on-time availability of the EDM systems to the JTRS program on Sept. 17. The hardware and software integration includes new and more powerful versions of the operating software, combined with updated versions of both legacy and new networking waveforms. Industry and government testing is scheduled to begin in 2009.
Ten university and government teams have been awarded interdisciplinary grants for studies covering everything from the origin of water in the universe to the chemical evolution of life as new members of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. Institute Director Carl Pilcher said work sponsored under the grants, which average $7 million each, “together with that of the four continuing institute teams, will bridge the basic science of astrobiology to NASA’s current and planned space exploration missions.”
Officials at U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in Los Angeles now believe the “most probable” root cause of an actuator anomaly during an Atlas V launch mission last spring was transient debris.
Set to launch Oct. 19, NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission will use a new orbit-raising method that could enable a variety of future small science missions to get beyond low Earth orbit without upgrading to large launch vehicles.
ARMY General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Burlington, Vt., was awarded on Sept. 26, 2008, a $56,654,822 firm fixed fee price contract procurement of MK19 Grenade Machine Guns. The work will be performed in Saco, Maine, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 20, 2009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Joint Munitions and Lethality Life Cycle Management, Picatinny, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15QKN-08-D-0459). NAVY
ARMY Northrop Grumman Technical Services, Sierra Vista Garden Cannon, Ariz., was awarded on Oct. 1, 2008, a $47,530,000 cost plus fixed price contract for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance surge requirement. The work will be performed in Sierra Vista Garden Cannon, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2015. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0025).
The U.S. Army’s Black Hawk UH-60M helicopter stands to take a $6.6 billion loss in funding if the service’s Program Objective Memorandum (POM) for fiscal 2010-2015 is carried out as written now.
LASER GUIDED: The U.S. Army has awarded Northrop Grumman a $128 million contract to provide Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR) systems, which provide targeting capability for laser-guided, GPS-guided and conventional munitions. The LLDR targets enemy positions during the day, night and in nearly all battlefield conditions including haze, smoke, fog and rain, Northrop Grumman says.
RATE SENSOR: Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract by General Dynamics Land Systems to develop the LRS-2000, a Rate Sensor Assembly (RSA) for the Stabilized Commander’s Weapon Station (SCWS) on the U.S. Army M1A1 Abrams tank. Based on Northrop Grumman’s G-2000 dynamically-tuned gyro, the LRS-2000 RSA is a two-axis rate sensor developed to support targeting and stabilization applications, with a drift rate of less than one degree per hour.
UNMANNED TAKEOFF: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced the successful first automatic takeoffs and landings of a Sky Warrior unmanned aerial system (UAS) controlled from the AAI-developed Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) One System Ground Control Station (OSGCS). Three automatic landings were executed at GA-ASI’s El Mirage Flight Operations Center in Adelanto, Calif., on Aug. 29, followed by three successful automatic takeoffs on Sept. 26.
HELO HELP: Sikorsky Aerospace Services and U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) have signed nearly $11.8 million in contracts for support work on the UH-60A and UH-60L helicopters. The company received an $8.4 million contract to strip and rebuild 89 UH-60 A/L helicopter main rotor blades, $1.74 million to overhaul 74 other hubs, and $1.89 million to strip and rebuild 20 main rotor blades.
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FAIT ACCOMPLI: NASA has awarded Boeing a two-year, $650 million sole-source contract to continue to deliver and integrate components and software for the International Space Station. Boeing has been the ISS prime contractor since 1995. The new contract, which runs through September 2010, includes management of station subsystems and specialized ground-based engineering work.
GUARDRAIL: Northrop Grumman has announced the fielding of its Guardrail Ground Baseline (GGB) 2.0 hardware and software to U.S. Army military intelligence battalions, standardizing Guardrail ground components across the service. GGB 2.0 provides common hardware and software and eliminates obsolete equipment for the Army’s RC-12 Guardrail Common Sensor aircraft ground component. GGB’s network-based architecture supports forward garrison operators and rear operators via satellite link, as well as cooperative operations with other signals intelligence sensors.
NEW DELHI – Set to celebrate its 76th anniversary on Oct. 8, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is trying to modernize its fleet, building capabilities it expects to achieve within a decade. “Geopolitics has undergone a change,” Air Chief Marshal Fali Major said. “In this strategic scenario...the Indian Air Force will endeavor to launch its growth profile in our operational tactical doctrine and the way we do warfighting... We need to re-equip and retrain.”
LONDON – The political face of the British Defense Ministry continues to get a makeover as further changes have followed the appointment of John Hutton as successor to Des Browne as defense secretary. The moves were part of a wider government shake-up (Aerospace DAILY, Oct. 6).
