The German defense ministry has given the go-ahead to Diehl BGT Defense to develop a short-range adjunct interceptor for the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). The project revolves around adapting the IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile for surface launch. The concept has been talked about for some time, but only late last week did the German defense procurement agency (the BWB) and Diehl finalize the terms of the 123 million euro ($166 million) program.
House Science Energy and Environment subcommittee Chairman Nick Lampson (D-Texas) is pressuring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA for answers on the future of the QuickSCAT research satellite. QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) provides data on ocean surface winds that NOAA finds useful for its forecasting of hurricanes and where they will make landfall. Launched by NASA in 1999, the spacecraft is now two years past its design life and NASA has no near-term plan to replace it.
The proposed schedule in the May 14 revised request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Air Force's combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet calls for face-to-face interviews with company officials this week and sets deadlines of May 18 for comments or questions, May 29 for the final revised RFP to be issued and June 19 for the amended proposals. As Air Force officials forewarned and industry players predicted, the revised RFP focuses on maintenance manpower calculations and operation and support (O&S) costs.
The U.S. Army's Pentagon-based aviation director, Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt, last week picked up the long-simmering fight between the service and NASA over the agency's aeronautics investments. During the annual Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) conference in Atlanta, Mundt said that less than one-half of 1 percent of NASA's aeronautics budget is dedicated to advancements in rotorcraft technology. "They are killing us," he told the audience. "Unless all of us stand together on the funding, we will ultimately lose this battle."
Bipartisan recognition of climate change issues, like growing awareness and support of synthetic fuel alternatives, is emerging this year in defense policy legislation that is working its way through Congress.
What started as a NASA research initiative has grown into a combined NASA-FAA Web-based flight-test safety database intended to provide a one-stop reference guide for members of the flight-test community who may not have had access to significant safety information in the past because it's been restricted to specific users.
DOCKED: Russia's Progress M-60 (25P) docked with the International Space Station (ISS) early May 15, safely delivering 5,125 pounds of supplies to the orbiting outpost. The unpiloted cargo-carrier used the automatic Kurs system to dock at the aft end of the Russian-side Zvezda service module, although ISS Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin was ready to take control with the manual Toru system had it become necessary. Docking came at 1:10 a.m. EDT.
Japan is planning to develop high-power laser weapons next year to strengthen its anti-missile defense system in response to the growing threat from North Korea, Mainichi Shimbum, a Japanese daily, reported May 13. The report said the Defense Ministry was seeking funds to research and develop the ground-based laser weapons in its annual budget request for fiscal 2008.
GMLRS AWARD: The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command on May 8 awarded Lockheed Martin a $125 million contract modification for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System's Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) and unitary rockets. The award, announced by the Defense Department, runs through November 2008. This was a sole-source contract initiated on Nov. 9, 2006, DOD said May 14. Last month an Army official said the 200-pound unitary variant should enter full-rate production in fiscal 2009 (DAILY, April 25).
MBDA has bought key supplier Bayern-Chemie/Protac, which manufactures missile motors. The value of the deal is not being disclosed. Bayern-Chemie/Protac was owned equally by EADS Deutschland and Thales. The unit is being bought by MBDA's German arm, which includes the Lenkflugkorpersysteme (LFK) business. Once completed, Bayern Chemie will be a subsidiary of LFK. The motor maker's turnover is 53 million euros ($72 million) from its two facilities in Aschau am Inn in southern Germany and La Ferte Saint Aubin in France.
CASEY AT BAT: Gen. George Casey Jr., U.S. Army chief of staff, said May 11 that there is some "tweaking" to do, but Rumsfeld-era modularization is the correct path for the Army. It is no secret that the Army, as an institution, "is affected by the cumulative effects of five years at war," he told Pentagon reporters. Current Army modularization and transformation strategies were pushed by controversial former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was replaced after Democrats won November elections.
Four companies that provide spacecraft to NASA under a catalogue approach will spend as much as $600,000 each over the next four months to deliver data on how their products can accommodate the planned Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM).
The U.S. Navy's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is pushing for the accelerated development of its most promising candidates. Under program guidelines, there is $15 million available for its accelerated transition (SAT) program for Phase II technologies, which have moved into more detailed demonstrations, SBIR officials said during the May 7-9 2007 Navy Opportunity Forum in Arlington, Va.
Raytheon researchers will test a new interceptor missile's seeker - fired from a fighter - against a boosting ballistic missile in late summer at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has been funding a program that seeks to develop collaborative control for small and mid-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to make more effective use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data.
House Democrats are not trying to do away with the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program or seriously diminish the multibillion dollar modernization project, the chairman of the Armed Services' air-land forces subcommittee said May 14.
A May 9 story on the U.S. Navy's Twin-line 29A Array (TL-29A) underwater sensor system listed the wrong manufacturer for the array. Lockheed Martin makes the array and also serves as the design agent, prime contractor and integrator for the TL-29A system. L-3 Communications provides many of the modules for the array. Aerospace Daily regrets the error.
The Pentagon's Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) is keeping acquisition control over the new Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles being bought and fielded to Iraq to make sure they get delivered on time, said Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and JROC chairman.
The Department of Defense needs to improve its management of service contracts, which account for an ever-growing portion of military spending and reached $151 billion in fiscal 2006, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). "Over the past decade, DOD has increasingly relied on contractors to provide a range of mission-critical services from operating information technology systems to providing logistical support on the battlefield," GAO said in testimony delivered to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee May 10.
Russia launched another unpiloted Progress resupply vehicle to the International Space Station late May 11, setting up a docking early May 15 using the Kurs system. Progress M-60 (25P) lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:26 p.m. Eastern time, and antennas and arrays deployed as planned with orbital insertion. Subsequent tests were nominal, clearing the way for docking at about 1:10 a.m. Eastern time May 15 on the ISS Zvezda service module aft port.
