DEDICATED: On May 21 in Waco, Texas, NASA dedicated its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft to pioneering aviator Charles Lindbergh on the 80th anniversary of his historic transatlantic flight. SOFIA is a highly modified 747 airliner that carries a 45,000-pound infrared telescope system. It was modified at L-3 Systems in Waco and is wrapping up a series of functional checkout flights before heading to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center for further tests and systems integration.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) research arm said May 21 that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are his top priority. DHS undersecretary Jay Cohen said IEDs pose a new threat to the U.S. and not just to its military. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe they're coming to a theater near you," Cohen told a homeland security science and technology conference in Washington.
The Pentagon could save money and resources by combining certain similar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs being developed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. The Defense Department needs to encourage better joint ISR development across the services, according to the report, "Defense Acquisitions: Greater Synergies Possible for DOD's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems." (See charts p.6,7.)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Orbital Express spacecraft redocked with each other May 19 after spending nearly eight days separated following a critical failure of one of the two spacecrafts' primary sensor flight computers.
Certain annual cost calculations for the Air National Guard (ANG) Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) are wrong and other associated operational costs are going unreported to Congress, according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
Development issues under the U.S. Coast Guard's massive Deepwater program have extended to aircraft, with plans for a vertical takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) now getting pushed back to the middle of next decade while the service eyes land-based alternatives to bridge an urgent maritime patrol gap.
A depreciating dollar and a growing ruble that could increase the price of contracts - including for Su-30MKI jets and the aircraft carrier Gorshko - has Russia's government arms export company Rosoboronexport proposing a review of defense contracts with India.
ARMY AM General SPLO, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 14, 2007, a $23,098,788 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Frag 5 Field Kits for the M1152A1 and M1165A1 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. The work will be performed in South Bend and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2000. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
GLOBAL HAWKS: The U.S. Air Force is extending Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems $371.4 million more under an existing contract for five Global Hawk unmanned air vehicles, three mission control elements, three launch and recovery elements and other associated equipment. Already, $185.7 million has been obligated for the work, which will finish by March 2010, according to the Defense Department's May 18 announcement. Air Force solicitations began in March 2006 and wrapped up this month.
BOEING MACHINISTS: Machinists have ratified a three-year contract with Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis. The deal covers 2,500 workers who are members of International Association Of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 837, and includes lump sum payments of $2,500 in 2007 and 2008. A 17 percent increase in pension benefits raises them to $70 per month per year of service as of July 1.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - The international community is starting to show keen interest in procuring the proposed follow-on to the Super Stallion helicopter, the CH-53K, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Rick Muldoon, program manager for the H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters. Germany and France are among the countries actively seeking information about the K models, Muldoon said during a May 18 interview with The DAILY. The countries already have a data exchange agreement in place, he said.
MORE RETHINKING: "Complex" military challenges facing the United States will require all four military services to rethink the way forces are manned, equipped and deployed, according to a RAND Corp. study issued May 17. "U.S forces are being called upon to perform new missions far outside their normal repertoire, from confronting terrorism spawned by radical Islam to the possibility of fighting new nuclear powers," says Andrew Hoehn, director of RAND's Project Air Force and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy.
ANTISHIP MISSILE TRIALS: MBDA has completed qualification trials of its MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missile. The last firing, on April 28, included a littoral attack trajectory from more than 160 kilometers (99 miles) and more than double the overall range of the existing missile - two of the features of the upgrade.
AIR RAIDS: Raytheon will provide 16 Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Tower Systems with Base Defense Operation Centers for U.S. and coalition force protection in Afghanistan and Iraq under a $10.1 million U.S. Army contract. The contract calls for 16 "elevated sensor systems" - or airships - including remote operation capability, with delivery in June through September. The company also will provide a systems engineering approach on the RAID program that involves linking it to other existing Army systems and providing whole-life engineering support.
COOLER ASSEMBLIES: Raytheon has awarded France's Sofradir a multimillion dollar award to supply second-generation mercury cadmium telluride Dewar cooler assemblies for U.S. Army infrared detectors. Sofradir has identified the U.S. as a prime growth area.
The chairman of the House Armed services air-land forces subcommittee says it's not a good idea to sell the F-22 Raptor to Japan. In fact, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) says he's "a real reactionary" when it comes to the issue of selling sensitive defense technology - like the stealthy Raptor's cruise missile-detecting radar and wide-band data links - to foreign governments.
STAYING ALIVE: Astrobiology, which has seemed like the poor stepchild at NASA with Michael Griffin as administrator, has regained some ground under Alan Stern, the planetary scientist Griffin hired as the agency's new associate administrator for science.
GWOT SPENDING: With Congress poised to provide another $100 billion to DOD to fight what the Bush administration calls the Global War on Terror (GWOT) once differences with the White House over Iraq policy are worked out, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is tallying up all the GWOT funds Congress has provided the Pentagon so far. GAO says $454 billion has been allocated for GWOT from fiscal 2001 through last month.
The U.S. Navy and Marines have some points of disagreement regarding the mixture of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) that would be appropriate to the two services, said Gen. James Conway, Marine commandant. The Navy would like the Marines to buy mostly - if not entirely - carrier-version F-35s. The Marines say the short-take-off-and-landing (STOVL) version they have picked is better for their missions.
REVENUES UP: Inmarsat reported a 16 percent jump in revenues to $140.8 million for the first quarter, and a 24 percent surge in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company's Broadband Global Area Network, which entered service last year, generated revenues of $7.1 million in the first quarter and recorded 9,842 subscribers, reflecting strong demand for land-based aeronautical services.
