NAVY Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, Archbald, Pa., is being awarded a $19,927,908 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-05-D-0020) for the procurement of 11,466 laser guided training rounds. The work will be performed in Archbald, Pa., and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $881,166 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
COLUMBUS, Miss. – The U.S. Army plans to roll out the first UH-72A for the Army National Guard, which will operate the majority of the new helicopters, on June 7. Meanwhile, EADS North America is establishing its U.S. final assembly facility of the EC-145 derivative helicopters here. Managers of the facility here are in the second phase of what began as a three-phase transition of final assembly from Eurocopter’s facility in Donauworth, Germany. Final assembly consists of seven workstations at the Columbus facility.
SECTOR LEAD: Northrop Grumman has appointed Roger Fujii vice president and general manager of its Network Communications Division within its Mission Systems sector. Fujii reports to Phil Teel, corporate vice president and president of the Mission Systems sector. He is responsible for overall leadership and management of the division and will serve as the division’s executive of strategic initiatives. Fujii was a vice president in communications and systems technology prior to his promotion.
SECTOR LEAD: Northrop Grumman has appointed Roger Fujii vice president and general manager of its Network Communications Division within its Mission Systems sector. Fujii reports to Phil Teel, corporate vice president and president of the Mission Systems sector. He is responsible for overall leadership and management of the division and will serve as the division’s executive of strategic initiatives. Fujii was a vice president in communications and systems technology prior to his promotion.
ELECTRIC ARC: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) accepted its 25,000th ARC-210 radio from Rockwell Collins on April 29. The radio is installed on more than 180 different types of platforms worldwide, ranging from fighter aircraft, transports, unmanned aerial systems, ships, vehicles and in buildings. The Navy alone has more than 9,800 in service. The ARC-210 provides two-way, multimode voice and data communications, with the most recent variant supporting a 30- to 941-megahertz frequency range.
The House Armed Services Committee is likely to approve language this week that slashes the Bush administration’s fiscal 2009 budget requests toward the proposed Reliable Replacement Warhead while underpinning Democratic efforts to re-examine the U.S. nuclear strategy in the post-9/11 world.
EAGLE STRIKE: A potential $447 million cut in authorized funding for F-15 repairs next fiscal year could amount to the greatest single spending reduction proposed by House Armed Services Committee members, a staff member says. The full $497 million request was to pay for structural fixes for the F-15A-D fleet, but subcommittee recommendations included only about $50 million for the repairs. The staff member noted that repair costs have been better estimated since then.
P5 SALE: Cubic Defense Applications has scored its first export sale of the P5 rangeless combat training system, to Poland. The potential $9.5 million contract for the Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation program includes 16 DRS-built airborne pods for Polish air force Lockheed Martin F-16s, plus ground brief/debrief stations to be delivered to the Poznan-Krzesiny and Lask airbases by late 2009. The P5 system is operational at 10 U.S. bases, with deliveries to U.S. Air Force bases in Europe set for 2010.
LONDON - Network and processing constraints are limiting the U.K.’s ability to fully exploit its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms in ongoing military operations.
Top-level engineers overseeing development of the Orion crew exploration vehicle have decided to slip preliminary design review (PDR) on the six-seat capsule — probably by about two months — to give some contractors more time to work design changes adopted last fall in a major weight-saving exercise. Meeting on May 6, the Constellation Program Control Board tentatively authorized a PDR slip from Sept. 16-26 to Nov. 10-21.
ACQUIRING DRS: “Accounting issues” are holding up further progress in the discussions Finmeccanica is having with DRS Technologies about purchasing the New Jersey-based defense electronics firm. If the two companies reach agreement, the proposed transaction almost certainly will come under intense scrutiny by regulators concerned about the transfer of sensitive technologies, including new infrared detector systems for the Missile Defense Agency.
VIRGINIA ON TRIAL: The U.S. Navy’s first, namesake Virginia-class attack submarine is starting its six-month comprehensive evaluation, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. The trial will include operations with an aircraft carrier strike group in a large naval exercise, simulated combat operations against surface ships and other subs, the launch of Tomahawk test missiles, and a simulated special operations mission with Navy SEALs.
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Executive Steering Board meeting in Amsterdam on April 22 has discussed the possibility of extending the JSF system development and demonstration (SDD) program by one year to late 2014, according to Dutch state secretary for defense procurement Jack de Vries. A decision on this is expected in the fall, he further said. Such an extension also would lead to a longer initial operational test and evaluation program, now scheduled to last from 2011-2014.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) May 14 - 16 — EW – Electronic Warfare 2008. “New Threats Require New Solutions,” Casino Krusaal, Interlaken, Switzerland. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk/ew
ASSIGNING ROLES: Pentagon leadership is looking at a congressionally mandated report over U.S. military roles and missions as a way to solidify some Bush administration changes while making recommendations to the next president ahead of the next quadrennial defense review. “We felt that it was best to look at it as an opportunity to continue some of the things that we’ve learned in this administration, as far as organization and construct, and things that could perhaps be of value to the next administration,” a Defense Department representative told reporters May 8.
SMALL SATS: Within a year, the Army will have a firmer plan of how to proceed with two experimental efforts: building a small satellite for tactical use and building a high-altitude, long-loiter tethered platform for intelligence collection. Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, director of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, says these efforts are driven to provide more access to ground commanders of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and communications capabilities.
NATO INFO: Northrop Grumman will provide NATO hardware and software support services for the rollout of the Maritime Command and Control Information System (MCCIS) across NATO countries. The MCCIS merges information gathered from satellites, wide area networks, computerized tactical data processors and machine-readable messages to create a common operating environment for maritime and other assets. It is integrated by NATO support staff and includes commercial-off-the-shelf products together with NATO-developed applications.
GPS III: The U.S. Air Force must take “specific actions to mitigate program risks” on the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) III program, according to DOD acquisition chief John Young.
The German defense ministry is competing a requirement for new, single-engine basic training helicopters for use by the country’s Army Air Corps School in Bueckeburg. The nine helicopters would be used for basic training before pilots migrate to use of the 14 Eurocopter EC135s in use at the school since 2000. In addition to the new production rotorcraft, the Germany defense armaments agency, the BWB, says the deal will come with a 10-year logistics support arrangement.
Astronaut/Astronomer John Grunsfeld will get a little observation time on the Hubble Space Telescope after his upcoming space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the orbiting observatory. Grunsfeld will lead the extravehicular activity (EVA) team on the STS-125 mission, tentatively scheduled for late September or early October, that will install two new instruments on Hubble and give it a final servicing before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.
Raytheon and Emirates Advanced Investments of Abu Dhabi have reached an agreement to cooperatively develop and eventually produce a Laser Guided Rocket (LGR) system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 70mm LGR system will first be qualified for the UAE’s military, and the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are likely to buy the system later for multiple platforms.
WIGGLE ROOM: Senators drafting a new NASA authorization bill are considering giving the agency a little more time to finish the International Space Station. Instead of a hard September 2010 deadline for grounding the space shuttle fleet, per President Bush’s plan, some lawmakers want to allow the shuttles to keep flying until the 10 remaining flights to the station are completed. Sen. David Vitter (La.), the top Republican on the Senate space subcommittee, says the idea is still in the “discussion” stage.
Boeing is looking for a buyer for the 767-400ER airframe originally intended as the prototype for the now cancelled E-10 Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), but in the meantime is using the platform for some flight deck upgrade test work.
