The U.S. Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) is operationally effective and suitable but has "limitations," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a Dec. 21 report on the program's status. Although EFSS met all of its key performance parameters, the system experienced "several safety, performance and reliability problems" during testing, GAO wrote in its assessment for the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
A new international task force met in Washington just before the New Year's holiday to lay the groundwork for a Mars sample return mission. The task force, dubbed the International Mars Architecture for Return of Samples (IMARS) group, is a committee of the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), which was formed in 1993. It includes NASA and the European Space Agency, which have led the sample return effort up to now, as well as the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and a half dozen other space faring nations.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Dec. 21, 2007, a $1,509,862,172 firm-fixed-price contract for UH/HH//MH-60 helicopters. The work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Oct. 20, 2005, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity W58RGZ-08-C-0003.
Assuming Congress and the White House remain in agreement over the rest of the defense authorization measure crafted for fiscal 2008, outside of one provision over Iraqi funds, a major defense trade group has warned industry that the bill could affect the way business is done in the defense realm. Among other acquisition policy changes, the bill would allow competitors to protest the award of a task or delivery order valued at more than $10 million, the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) said in a member alert.
Congress may have provided $137 million less than the U.S. Coast Guard's request for its embattled Deepwater recapitalization program this fiscal year, but a leading appropriator nonetheless is touting some new Deepwater equipment as proof that Democratic-led lawmakers supported homeland security efforts above President Bush's request. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) late last month highlighted $170 million for four additional Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPAs) and $166 million for the National Security Cutter under the enacted quasi-omnibus spending bill.
ARMY BAE Systems Land and Armaments, York, Pa., was awarded on Dec. 21, 2007, a $240,027,278.64 cost-reimbursable contract for purchasing long lead materials to support the national level reset of Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Aug. 14, 2007, and one bid was received. TACOM-WARREN, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-G-0005).
NASA managers will review prospects for launching space shuttle Atlantis this month at a teleconference Jan. 3, as analysis continues on the electrical connector that is believed to be responsible for the intermittent problems that postponed a launch attempt in December.
The U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics are touting lessons learned on the Virginia-class submarine program as the to-be-commissioned North Carolina (SSN 777) sails toward final delivery this month. The program has been under pressure from senior Navy officials and budget-minded lawmakers - all of whom are desperate to shore up shipbuilding - to rein in costs to roughly $2 billion per boat in fiscal 2005 dollars.
FLYING BY WIRE: The first H-92 helicopter to feature fly-by-wire (FBW) technology has completed its first flight, Sikorsky announced. The flight took place at 9 a.m. Dec. 20 from the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The FBW system electronically links controls inside the cockpit with exterior actuators. Designed to significantly improve aircraft maneuverability and safety, FBW technology is part of the company's X-2 Technology demonstrator and UH-60M Black Hawk.
Crew members on the International Space Station (ISS) retrieved a critical spare part from storage Jan. 2 as planning continued for a spacewalk to recover some of the mobility in the station's frozen starboard solar array. Engineers believe the bearing rotor roll-ring module - a power slip-ring known as the "broom" - on one of the beta gimbal assemblies that tilt the starboard array to face the sun is damaged.
Launch crews have finished loading and sealing the cargo hold and mating the two halves of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) in preparation for the freighter's inaugural mission in February. The five-day loading process, completed in mid-December at the S5 payload processing building in Kourou, French Guiana, included the installation of 1.3 metric tons of food, clothing, spare parts and other dry cargo and 268 liters of drinking water.
Edward T. Alexander has been appointed corporate lead executive for company business with the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles. Darryl M. Fraser has been named vice president of business development and strategic initiatives for the Mission Systems sector. John R. Landon has been named vice president of missiles, technology and space programs. Vice Adm. Stanley R. Szemborski (USN Ret.) has been appointed vice president of corporate strategy.
UPGRADED ABRAMS: The U.S. Army has signed with General Dynamics Land Systems to reset 180 Abrams tanks under the Abrams Improved Systems Enhancement Package (SEP) Reset program. The program could total in excess of $320 million if all options are exercised, the company said Dec. 20. Under the reset-turned-upgrade program, M1A2 SEP Version One tanks are modified to the second version, which includes improved displays, sights, power and a tank-infantry phone.
NASA has picked Boeing Satellite systems of El Segundo, Calif., to build two replenishment satellites for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system, which relays communications from spacecraft in low Earth orbit to ground controllers. TDRS is the primary source of voice, data and telemetry for the space shuttle and International Space Station programs. The first TDRS replacement spacecraft, TDRS-K, is slated to launch in December 2012, followed by TDRS-L in 2013. Each has a design life of 15 years.
Dr. Christopher L. Greer has been appointed director of the National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development.
The Army tested two Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets developed by BAE Systems by firing them from a Kiowa Warrior helicopter Dec. 13 as the weapon system is prepared for operational use. The APKWS can be fired from any helicopter that can launch 2.75-inch rockets including the Kiowa Warrior, Cobra and Apache, according to Frank Wilson, vice president of precision targeting at BAE Systems in Nashua, N.H.
Jack L. Kerrebrock, professor emeritus of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named principal engineer for propulsion.
The Bush administration's nominee for a top Pentagon international policy post suggests NATO could close the missile defense gap left by the U.S. program in Europe by expanding its ballistic missile program for protecting deployed NATO forces. Mary Beth Long, nominated to be assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, said in written answers to questions submitted by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) that it would be "premature to discuss possible funding arrangements for any defense in addition to those the U.S. is proposing."
