Rising cost estimates and a longer timeline than originally proposed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission will result in less net savings overall, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says.
The first Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system satellite remains on track for a December 2008 launch with some margin to spare, according to prime contractor Boeing. Boeing and Ball Aerospace are developing the SBSS Block 10 spacecraft, while Boeing is working with Harris Corp. and MIT Lincoln Labs on the SBSS operations center. Sixty percent of flight hardware and software for Block 10 has been completed over the past year, according to Todd Citron, Boeing's program director for space superiority and special missions.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Mission Systems of San Jose, Calif., is being awarded a contract for $54,900,000. The purpose of the action was to procure MQ-1 Unmanned Aerial System ASIP-1C scaled sensor for the Predator Unmanned Aerial System. At this time $16,678,757 has been obligated. USAF/AFMC, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3004).
ARMY LOGISTICS: Northrop Grumman said Dec. 10 it was awarded a U.S. Army logistics contract worth up to $600 million over seven years to help the far-flung land war service try to keep track of its equipment and parts. Under the Global Combat Support System-Army (Field/Tactical) program (GCSS-Army) contract, Northrop Grumman's Mission System sector will implement an enterprise system capable of providing the current status of all Army equipment and assets, the company declared.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., is being awarded a $165,678,110 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-2100) for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. The work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa. (74 percent), and Schenectady, N.Y. (26 percent). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spacecraft was launched Dec. 10 from Cape Canaveral onboard a U.S. Air Force/United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
AIR FORCE The Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a contract for $19,615,786. The action will provide engineering, manufacturing and development activities in support of the Global Hawk Program. At this time all funds have been obligated. 303 AESG/PK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600, P00229). ARMY
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded BAE Systems and American Airlines a $29 million contract to test laser jammer technology on scheduled commercial airline flights as a defense against shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile attacks, the department confirmed Dec. 10. The contract calls for installing BAE's JetEye infrared laser jamming device on project partner American Airlines aircraft making scheduled flights across the U.S. The contract runs through April 2009.
Boeing installed a high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130H aircraft Dec. 4 as part of its Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) advanced concept technology demonstration program. The laser, including its major subsystem - a 12,000-pound integrated laser module - was moved into place aboard the aircraft and aligned with the previously installed beam control system, which will direct the laser to its target. A series of tests will follow, leading to an in-flight demonstration in 2008.
When the Pentagon picked three companies Dec. 7 to develop a new generation of electronic bomb-jamming devices, incumbent contractor EDO Corp. was left out in the cold. Or was it?
A plan has emerged on Capitol Hill to provide more funds to the Defense Department for Iraq operations, as well as the rest of the federal government now operating under a continuing resolution, but the outcome is far from certain. The House on Dec. 11 is expected to take up a convoluted appropriations bill essentially covering all non-DOD discretionary spending - including NASA - and worth more than $500 billion. Using the annual foreign operations spending measure as its vehicle, lawmakers would amend or peg other legislative language to it.
Northrop Grumman demonstrated its new high-energy laser (HEL) bomber concept Sept. 26-27 in a wargame exercise that evaluated advanced capabilities and concepts for the next-generation long-range bomber.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied ITT Industries Space Systems' protest of Ball Aerospace's win of the contract to develop the primary instrument for NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM).
LONDON - The British defense industry is anxiously awaiting a government pronouncement on a successor to the Defense Export Services Organisation (DESO), with an announcement possible as early as Dec. 11. Government ministers were understood to be reviewing a proposal early this month that would see a unitary organization replace DESO. The revised structure could be up and running by April of next year, and will likely be part of the government's U.K. Trade and Investment Dept.
RAIDRS 2010: Integral Systems announced the U.S. Air Force has exercised contract options to extend the Rapid Attack Identification Detection Reporting System (RAIDRS) Block 10 program through December 2010. The $29.8 million extension follows approval from Air Force Space Command leadership to move forward with the development of the RB-10 final operational capability system, the company said Dec. 10. A new system, RAIDRS alerts operators of anomalies in satellite communications signals (in the C, Ku, X and UHF frequencies) sent to ground and airborne users.
The South Korean air force says it has a "realistic plan" to introduce fifth-generation fighters in the middle of the next decade under a program called F-XX. The strategy is included in the Defense Reform Plan 2020. The priority will be procurement in the F-15K class until neighboring countries begin acquiring fifth-generation fighters, Chief of Staff Kim Eun-ki said. He stresseed that F-XX will be pursued regardless of the outcome of KFX, the program to develop a home-grown stealth fighter.
Italy's second COSMO-SkyMed dual-use radar satellite reached orbit Dec. 8 after delays due to high-altitude winds and an insulation issue on its Boeing Delta II launch vehicle. Liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base's pad SLC-2W came at 9:31 p.m. EST, and the satellite was deployed about 58 minutes later. Earlier attempts were cancelled when weather balloon data indicated out-of-bounds wind speeds above the pad, and to give crews time to reattach cork insulation to the Delta II (DAILY, Dec. 7).
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - Space shuttle engineers spent Dec. 10 reviewing Atlantis external tank engine cutoff (ECO) sensor troubleshooting options, to solve problems that have postponed the launch of the European Columbus module to January. A tanking test mid- next week, with added instrumentation placed on the vehicle, is the primary option being discussed.
FAST RLVs: Northrop Grumman says it will help the U.S. Air Force develop and demonstrate technologies critical to a future "aircraft-like" reusable launch vehicle under a contract awarded Dec. 4 by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. The 39-month, $5.2 million contract will support the Future Responsive Access to Space Technologies (FAST) program, which is aimed at helping mature the technologies required for quick-response space systems.
NASA has reserved time for a later launch in case it can't meet its Oct. 28, 2008 target date to send the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to the moon. Rick Gilbrech, associate administrator for exploration systems, said Dec. 10 the planned orbiter and its piggyback Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impactor face "a very challenging schedule." While NASA is sticking to the target date and has "a chance" of launching then, "we've also booked alternate launch dates in November as backup plans."
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., has been awarded a $38,000,000, a firm-fixed-price contract for H-60 supplies and technical, engineering and logistical support. The work will be performed in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Nov. 6, 2007, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity W58RGZ-08-C-0037.
