Word that Boeing is strongly considering a “no bid” position for the next round of the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker competition is spreading only two days after the Pentagon released the revised KC-X draft request for proposals (RFP). Multiple sources familiar with Boeing’s internal discussions say company officials are strongly considering the option of not submitting a proposal as the company’s Integrated Defense Systems sector tries to respond to the draft RFP within the government’s speedy timeline. Comments are due this week.
Tests by the Phoenix Mars lander are being reoriented toward verification that Martian soil contains totally unexpected salts like those consumed on Earth by extreme life forms. The salts, called perchlorates, have been discovered in back-to-back wet chemistry runs by the Phoenix MECA (Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer) instrument. The team now hopes to obtain perchlorate data using the TEGA (Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer) instrument that has been tuned using commands from Earth to help it find perchlorate
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: Contractors who’ve battled to win a spot on a task order contract vehicle only to be shut out of task order competition will be interested in recent changes to federal acquisition guidelines. According to consultancy Input’s reading of the May 26 rulemaking, which was mandated by Section 843 of the 2088 defense authorization bill, these changes are likely to have some significant ramifications, both good and bad.
POWER PLAY: How do you avoid restricting the competition to build a hypersonic powerplant around an in-production fighter engine to just General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, the only U.S. makers of fighter engines? The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) solution for its new Vulcan program is to get the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to supply “generic” engine data to any interested bidder who isn’t GE or Pratt.
Congressional reaction was swift to the Pentagon’s latest request for proposals (RFP) in the U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tanker competition Lawmakers’ comments broke along predictable partisan lines: pro-Boeing and pro-Northrop Grumman/EADS.
CONTINUOUS LOOK: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and BAE Systems will jointly develop architecture to automate the detection and identification of ground battle targets. The companies will integrate the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Continuous Look Attack Management for Predator (CLAMP) program under a $6 million Air Force contract. CLAMP will integrate a high-resolution Lynx synthetic aperture radar with other sensors on an MQ-9 Reaper under an effort called C-RIP, for CLAMP-Reaper Integration Program.
VIRTUALLY UNMANNED: Ground systems developed as part of the U.K.’s Astraea program examining the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in non-segregated airspace are being tested throughout the course of this month. Pilots, navigators, and air traffic controllers are taking part in trials using the ground station to fly a simulated UAV mission. The results of the tests will be used to help further development of ground control station software.
PUBLIC ANGER: A prominent consultant to the aerospace and defense industry tells Aerospace DAILY that budget pressures and public anger over defense acquisition costs and slippages will soon drive paradigm-shifting technologies. In particular, he predicts that military transport and bomber aircraft will become dominated by unmanned and blended-wing designs due to their appealing economics. Moreover, the F-35 is the last new-generation (as in 5th, 6th, etc.) of manned fighter we’ll ever see.
The acting secretary and presumptive chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force are receiving a day and a half of intensive briefings on the state of the beleaguered service in preparation for a summit they plan to have at the end of the month with their four-star general officers.
RMS EVAL: The U.S. Navy completed technical evaluation and training of the Remote Minehunting System (RMS) aboard USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) in Panama City, Fla., on July 28. RMS Project Engineer Keith Hartless said operational evaluation will be conducted at the South Florida Test Facility this September as planned. The Bainbridge deployed with an RMS, a key part of the Navy’s future countermine operations plan, in September 2007 (Aerospace DAILY, Jan. 15).
NEW BEAR BORN: The Russian Defense Ministry is working on a long-term strategy covering the period out to 2030. A draft of the ministry’s “The New Face of the Russian Armed Forces Until 2030” is already being circulated among senior officials. Reportedly, the draft document stresses the importance of high-precision conventional weaponry to complement the Russian nuclear triad.
PARIS — The European Union (EU) has launched efforts to provide licenses for mobile satellite services operators covering all 27 member states, rather than forcing providers to go to national authorities. Satellite operators now have until Oct. 7 to make applications to the European Commission for services operating in the 2 Ghz bands, a spectrum specifically reserved for the pan-EU services. Each service has to cover at least 60 percent of EU territory.
STAR-CROSSED ACQUISITION: The White House has reversed its previous stance on some recommendations from the Gansler Commission — a blue ribbon report concerning faulty defense contracting in Iraq — and submitted proposed legislation creating five new general officer positions for U.S. Army contracting, according to the Professional Services Council, a national association of the government professional and technical services industry.
Research project proposals pitched to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) are due Sept. 19. CINT, a DOE Basic Energy Sciences Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) jointly operated by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, offers access to its state-of-the-art equipment for nanoscale science research at no fee to users, except for proprietary research.
DIGITAL TANK: U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems $614 million to upgrade 235 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks to the M1A2 Systems Enhancement Package (SEP) Version Two (V2) configuration. The M1A2 SEP V2 is a digital tank with improved color displays, day and night thermal sights, auxiliary power and a tank-infantry phone. It can also accommodate future technology improvements for compatibility with the Army’s Future Combat Systems.
THERMAL MANAGEMENT: Northrop Grumman has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and demonstrate an ultra-high capacity hybrid thermal ground plan needed to overcome heat-related challenges in semiconductors employed in electronics systems. High temperatures are a key barrier in the development of next-generation military electronics, such as high-power radars, electromagnetic weapons and all-electric aircraft. The $1.7 million, 18-month contract is for the first phase of the three-phase DARPA program.
JOINT AWARENESS: BAE Systems has partnered with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to compete for the upcoming U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Joint Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS) program. JATAS is the next-generation missile warning system that will provide protection for rotary-wing aircraft from infrared guided missiles. The Navy is expected to make a contract announcement in 2009.
U.S. Air Force Space Command will hand over historic Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC 36) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for commercial launches arranged by the State of Florida. Pending environmental review, SLC 36 will be reconfigured to handle several light and medium-lift launchers for missions to low-Earth orbit and higher. The Legislature has appropriated $14.5 million in fiscal 2009 to Space Florida, the state’s aerospace development organization, to begin work on modifying the launch facility.
The U.S. Navy’s optimistic prognosis for Lockheed Martin’s VH-71 could wind up having a far greater effect than on just the presidential helicopter replacement program. One of the reasons for prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s poor finish in its attempt to win the $15 billion Air Force combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement contract was because of delays and cost increases in VH-71 work.
NEW DELHI — Government-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) has handed India’s first indigenously developed 3-D radar, named “Rohini,” to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Multifunction Medium Range Surveillance Radar has been developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization’s (DRDO) Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bangalore and engineered and produced by BEL.
Canada is leasing Mi-8 medium helicopters and Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support its troops in Afghanistan.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is urging immediate action to address the looming “silver tsunami” — the wave of impending retirements in the aerospace and defense industries. Although many of those eligible for retirement have stayed on in their jobs, that only exacerbates the problem by putting it off, AIAA says in a new report released following its May work force forum.
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Internet technologies are bringing advanced U.S. intelligence gathering and combat skills to the front lines in Korea. Because of the lack of security, manpower and facilities on the front lines, intelligence practitioners are forging new paths for getting cyber combat power forward, according to a veteran intelligence official in Korea.
SpaceX has revealed that excessive residual thrust in the Merlin 1C first stage engine caused the loss of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 booster on Aug. 2, rather than a separation issue as was first believed.
