The U.S. Air Force released its latest revised request for proposals (RFP) for its combat search and rescue replacement (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet last week - apparently with no surprises for bidders - and also defended the program's requirements process, which has recently come under fire.
Gallium nitride (GaN), a highly promising new material in radar, will be ready for incorporation into advanced systems within the next few years, Raytheon officials told Aerospace Daily. "We're entering the homestretch of the [wideband gap semiconductors (WBGS)] program," said Joe Smolko, GaN project manager at Raytheon. "Over the next four to six months we'll be verifying its performance and reliability."
MCM EMNS: Lockheed Martin said Nov. 19 it was awarded an $11 million U.S. Navy system development and demonstration contract to develop and integrate the new Expendable Mine Neutralization System (EMNS) for the Navy's 14 Mine Counter Measures (MCM-1) Avenger-class ships. Lockheed's Undersea Systems facility in Syracuse, N.Y., will deliver two EMNS engineering development models to the Navy for developmental and operational testing and evaluation.
AIRCRAFT PROTECTION: To meet rapidly changing operational and technical threats to aircraft, Saab researchers are introducing a family of Compact Integrated Defensive Aid Suites (CIDAS) that can be continuously upgraded. The electronic warfare capability is an expansion of its integrated defensive aids suite, which provides radar, laser and missile warning with automatic dispensing of countermeasure decoys. A small version of the CIDAS offers electro-optical sensors and a small component package to defend against shoulder-launched missiles and laser threats.
Connecticut Sens. Chris Dodd (D) and Joe Lieberman (I) are touting several fiscal 2008 defense appropriations earmarks benefiting Connecticut companies, starting with pushing the U.S. Navy toward more multibillion-dollar Virginia-class submarines more quickly than the service planned. "Finally, Congress has acknowledged the importance of submarines to our nation's security by passing this bill," Dodd said.
Russia will work with India on robotic lunar exploration, including an orbiter, lander and rover, under a new 10-year agreement just signed in Moscow. Key to the agreement is the use of India's Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which is set to launch India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter next spring, to send the jointly developed vehicles on their way to the moon as well.
Spacehab announced Nov. 19 the completion of a formal systems requirements review on Oct. 25-26 for its Advanced Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft (ARCTUS), which the company is developing under an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA for the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Spacehab conducted its program management plan review in June 2007, and held a spacecraft concept review on Nov. 8. Its next major milestone is the preliminary design review (PDR), anticipated in early 2008.
SEA LAUNCH: Sea Launch plans to orbit the Thuraya-3 mobile communications satellite Nov. 20 at 10:29 a.m. EST, marking the Zenit 3-SL's return to flight following the Jan. 30 rocket explosion that damaged the Odyssey launch platform and destroyed SES New Skies' NSS-8 satellite (DAILY, Feb. 1, June 15). The flight has been delayed day-to-day by high winds and strong ocean currents at the Odyssey's equatorial launch location.
SECRET MANEUVERS: Two secretive customers, probably in Asia, have spent $41 million for "Ehud" air combat maneuvering instrumentation systems for aircrew training and debriefing from Israel Aerospace Industries' MLM division. This version is the first to tightly integrate fighters that are training against enemy air defenses and anti-aircraft units that are practicing interception. It includes advanced ground-to-air and air-to-ground weapons simulations and the ability to simultaneously train against live and virtual targets.
SUB UUV: The U.S. Navy in early October successfully demonstrated the first-ever submerged operation of two unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), from launch through recovery, during at-sea testing aboard the fast-attack submarine USS Hartford, Navy officials said Nov. 15. The two UUVs are part of the AN/BLQ-11 Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS), which was designed to allow subs to secretly find and map underwater minefields. Congressional auditors reported Oct.
Revised cost estimates for two troubled Defense Department acquisitions - Bell Helicopter Textron's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) and Lockheed Martin's C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) - have helped push up costs for DOD's major weapon systems by more than $7.65 billion, according to the latest data.
REBUILD BETTER: Democratic senators and left-leaning think tank analysts say that as the U.S. military is recapitalized while major Iraq operations wind down, forces should be reorganized and rebuilt to better meet post-Cold War needs. "We have an opportunity to not only enlarge and re-equip our armed forces, but to reconfigure as well," says Evan Bayh (Ind.) of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He calls for more counter-insurgency, unmanned aircraft, long-range strike, precision strike and bunker-busting capabilities.
NASA has awarded contracts to 302 small business proposals that address the agency's critical research and technology needs under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, the agency announced Nov. 19. The SBIR program selected 276 proposals for negotiation of phase 1 contracts, and the STTR program chose 26 proposals. The selected SBIR projects have a total value of about $27.6 million, and the STTR projects total about $2.6 million.
The current fleet of U.S. Air Force tankers, despite its advanced age, demonstrated the capability to refuel unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a September flight test, part of the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) program. Northrop Grumman's relative navigation software and fiber-optic inertial navigation system provided the positioning information used to successfully complete the positions and pathways flight test of the AAR program.
ANOTHER ARPA: The search is on for a director of the new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA), which is now officially open for business. IARPA is designed to focus the intelligence community's research efforts on developing disruptive technologies, much like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency does for the Pentagon (DAILY, April 13). The president signed off on its first classified budget along with other intelligence and defense fiscal 2008 appropriations on Nov. 13.
CHECKING PULSES: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) deployed two payloads of nuclear detonation detection equipment on the U.S. Air Force's last Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite that was launched Nov. 11 (DAILY, Nov. 13). Other NNSA-built payloads are on Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites as part of a global detection network. The next generation of nuclear detection instruments will go on the new Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites and a new block of GPS satellites.
COST ESTIMATES: A new permanent Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) council will attempt to bridge the sometimes huge gap between industry and government cost estimates on military space programs. Called the Joint Government/Industry Space Cost Analysis and Estimating Improvement Council, the new body is "a unique model of cooperation between multiple government agencies and industry," newly installed AIA President and former FAA Administrator Marion Blakey says.
Gen. Bob Kehler, who stepped in to oversee Air Force Space Command Oct. 24, says the anticipated cost of fixing the latest problem with the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is "considerably down" from the earlier estimate of up to $1 billion.
LITTLE SLIP: Hamel says that officers at the Space and Missile Systems Center are assessing how much it will cost to procure the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite from Lockheed Martin. Congress has appropriated funding to move beyond three of the protected communications satellites, though building a fourth will require a costly restart of the production line that could soar past $1 billion, based on past experience. The major variable in the pricing question is redesigning and qualifying obsolescent parts for the satellite.
