CONTROL SEGMENT: Northrop Grumman has brought Lockheed Martin on-board to compete for the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Control Segment (OCX) Phase B contract. The OCX modernization effort will provide mission enterprise control support for the nation’s existing GPS Block II and future Block III satellites. The current OCX contract for Phase A of the program is valued at $160 million. According to Northrop Grumman, if the team is selected for Phase B, it will use a block development approach to sustain and develop OCX.
Northrop Grumman is promoting the apparent successful test pairing of the lone Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) mini-submarine with the Ohio-class cruise missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN 727) ahead of an expected go-or-no-go ASDS decision this year. The March test, which Northrop announced April 30, comes after the 14-year-old program was halted at its first troubled article in April 2006 and the military and industry were excoriated for development problems (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 21, 2007).
Boeing has decided it will not bid the Super Hornet for the Swiss fighter program to replace the F-5, even although the country is already an F-18C/D operator. The company says the decision not to bid was based on a “thorough review of Switzerland’s requirements for partial replacement of its Tiger fighter aircraft.” Boeing concluded that the “disparity between the requirements for an F-5 replacement aircraft and the next-generation capabilities of the F/A-18E/F Block II Super Hornet,” did not favor a successful outcome.
An impressive roster of cabinet and congressional members warned an audience in Washington April 29 that challenges facing science and technology education in the U.S. will have ripple effects throughout society. Without a commitment to advancing math and science in grades K-12, “America’s kids today might enjoy a lower standard of life than their parents,” Norm Augustine said in his opening comments at a summit organized by the National Academies.
MONTREAL – The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps plan to fund a fatigue test article VH-71 starting next year to determine the life available on the initial fleet of presidential replacement helicopters, according to Navy Capt. Donald Gaddis, VH-71 program manager. The move is spurred by delays now expected to the fully capable Increment 2 version of the Lockheed Martin-led VH-71A that will require the interim Increment 1 aircraft to stay in service longer than planned.
FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell named George C. Nield associate administrator for commercial space transportation. Nield was deputy to former Associate Administrator Patricia Grace Smith, who retired in February.
MISSION STATEMENT: Raytheon asserts that a recent industry-led review has confirmed that the mission system design for the planned DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer “is mature and meets U.S. Navy requirements.” Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems and the Zumwalt National Team have completed more than 2.7 million lines of software code and 10,127 drawings, conducted detailed design reviews of 92 percent of the program’s detail design and integration elements, and transitioned 56 percent of those elements to production.
The U.S. Navy’s two, very different Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are in the water, with LCS 1 testing its propulsion systems and LCS 2 launching for the first time. LCS 1, the Freedom, is Lockheed Martin’s competitive bid: a 378-foot survivable, semi-planing steel monohull structure. On April 30, Freedom tested its main propulsion diesel engines. According to Lockheed, the two Fairbanks Morse engines can provide 17,000 brake horsepower, and will power the ship at cruise speeds to ranges of more than 3,500 nautical miles.
NEW DELHI – The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) soon will ask the Indian government to approve a human spaceflight mission by 2014-15 at a projected cost of $2.5 billion. The Space Commission headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will review ISRO’s request, contained in a report on the agency’s next five-year plan. A decision is expected by the end of 2008.
MOVE ON: The U.S. Army has approved the final design of Increments 1 and 2 of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program, authorizing General Dynamics and partner Lockheed Martin to prepare for field testing in October 2008. Testing will be followed by deployment of WIN-T on-the-move communications capabilities in 2009. The approval follows successful critical design reviews (CDR) conducted in January and February. During the CDRs, the Army assessed the systems’ final designs to validate that baseline requirements would be met.
NEW POSITION: SES Astra has begun operating a new orbital position at 31.5 deg. E. Long. that will enhance operational flexibility at neighboring slots, notably 5 and 23.5 deg. E., and provide a solid springboard for development of markets in Central Europe and the Middle East. The position will initially be filled by Sirius 2, an older satellite with up to 26 active transponders owned by SES’s Scandinavian affiliate, Sirius. Transfer of this spacecraft, renamed Astra 4A, was made possible by the launch of Sirius 4 late last year.
STILL WATERS: Congress wants to make sure the U.S. Coast Guard doesn’t forget its acquisition responsibilities for the Integrated Deepwater Program by including the details of its implementation in its recent authorization bill. Threats of a presidential veto of H.R. 2830 have focused on objections to a provision requiring the Coast Guard to assess whether security resources at a liquid natural gas site are up to standard. Commandant Adm. Thad Allen issued a statement last week echoing President Bush’s objections. But no mention has been made of the Deepwater provision.
The U.S. Air Force has put research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) money at risk by improperly funding some of the contract work, a recent report by the Defense Department Inspector General (IG) says. “The Air Force’s management of incrementally funded RDT&E contracts was not effective to ensure that vendors were paid in accordance with laws and regulations,” said the IG review, “Report on Management of Incremental Funds on Air Force Contracts,” released earlier this month. Examples
MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS: The U.S. Navy’s selection of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk for its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program raises the opportunity of shared maintenance, suggests Michael Wynne, the U.S. Air Force Secretary. Commenting on the Navy’s choice, Wynne notes this will provide a “complementary capability,” and adds: “We may share maintenance.”
PARIS – The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has shown its ability to reboost the International Space Station (ISS) – one of the three critical station functions the European freighter is designed to perform. The ATV space tug docked with the ISS for the first time on April 3 carrying 1,150 kilograms (2,540 pounds) of dry cargo plus a large supply of water, oxygen and fuel.
Subscribers, profits and revenue were all up markedly in the first quarter for satellite services provider Iridium, which ended the first quarter on March 31 with revenues of $74.3 million, a 41 percent increase over $52.7 million in the same period last year. The company also has broken through the quarter-million subscribers milepost, up 37 percent over 183,000 at this time last year. Matt Desch, chairman and CEO, said the results make Iridium “the fastest growing and second largest mobile satellite services company in the world.”
BEIJING – China is beginning the geosynchronous orbit checkout of its first relay satellite to increase communications coverage for manned Shenzhou spacecraft. The relay program is analogous to the U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system and indicates that China is installing major infrastructure for long-term manned space operations. The Tianlian I spacecraft was launched from the Xichang space center April 25 onboard a Long March 3C booster.
The Australian Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), the first developmental Airbus A330-based tanker, has been grounded since March while receiving new parts for its refueling boom system. The MRTT also is receiving some production configuration equipment, such as the remote air refueling station and other mission systems, during this time on the ground. This follows what Northrop Grumman officials say was the first phase of MRTT flight-test last year and this year.
Anticipating a glut of flight requests from prospective commercial operators of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the next several years, FAA has assembled a rulemaking committee to develop regulations for their use. The charter for the committee is signed and the group’s first meeting is scheduled for next month, according to Doug Davis, head of FAA’s UAS program office. The committee’s goal will be to develop draft policies for the commercial use of UAS below a specified weight, speed and/or altitude.
SAY WHAT: Northrop Grumman, as part of the Global Linguistic Solutions (GLS) team, was awarded a subcontract to provide management of translation and interpretation services for the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The GLS teams also includes 11 other subcontractors, and will employ about 7,000 locally hired Iraqi citizens and more than 2,000 U.S. citizens as interpreters. The Interpreter and Translator Management Services-Iraq subcontract has a potential value of $135 million over five years.
Raytheon will produce and install upgrade kits for the U.S. Army’s Secure Mobile Anti-jam Reliable Tactical Terminal (SMART-T) under an $86.7 million contract, the company announced April 28. SMART-T is designed to communicate with DOD’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellites. Raytheon’s upgrades will be installed on joint and international terminals for the U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps as well as for Canada and the Netherlands.
LINKOPING, Sweden – Sweden’s Gripen Demo prototype, unveiled here last week, is designed to fill two roles, according to company executives. It is an aerodynamic and propulsion prototype for a Gripen Next-Generation (NG) design, being offered to Norway, Denmark and other customers, for deliveries in 2015 or later.
Top Pentagon leaders recently have made genuine progress in adopting necessary acquisition policy reforms, according to a congressional investigator, but they continue to battle an ingrained community and Congress still may have to consider massive overhaul legislation.
