The U.S. Air Force source selection evaluation team for the KC-X tanker replacement program is taking lessons from the combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter program acquisition in looking over industry proposals. CSAR-X losing bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky launched a protest - sustained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) - against the Air Force award of the contract to Boeing for more than 140 helicopters at a program cost between $10 billion and $15 billion.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's (AFSOC) top planner says he hopes for a quick resolution to an unmanned aerial system (UAS) dispute that he refers to as a "potential friction point" in a very close relationship between his command and the Army's special operations command.
Lockheed Martin has delivered the Phoenix Mars Lander to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to begin a three-month test and integration effort in preparation for a planned liftoff on a Delta II in early August.
RESIGNATION: Now that Israel's top uniform military position has reverted to the Israeli army following the recent resignation of Israeli Air Force (IAF) Lt. Gen. Dani Halutz as the Israel Defense Force's chief of the general staff, expectations among senior IAF officials are that the ground forces' acquisition priorities will be elevated. Whether that will be to the detriment of aviation modernization is not yet known, but IAF officials believe some priorities won't change.
Germany's Rheinmetall says it has set a first-quarter revenue record and also achieved strong bookings driven largely by sales in the air defense equipment market. Although this is typically a weak performance period for defense contractors, Rheinmetall notes it has logged 328 million euros (US$445 million) in revenue since the start of the year. Order intake for the period came in at 550 million euros, compared to last year's 282 million euros for the same period. Of the bookings, air defense equipment represented 300 million euros
ROME - Despite delays to the final go-ahead for the Saudi acquisition of the Eurofighter, European industry is funding long-lead items in an effort to hold to the initial delivery schedule. Agreement between the U.K. and Saudi governments on the purchase of 72 Typhoon aircraft was expected to be sealed by mid-year. This, however, is slipping toward the late third quarter or beginning of the fourth.
The U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee is seeking research proposals that will allow improved test and evaluation of hypersonics over the next ten to 15 years. "The goal is not to develop hypersonic flight systems or subsystems in this solicitation, but to investigate improved ground and flight test facilities, techniques and test methodologies that are needed to support hypersonic system/subsystem development," DOD said in an announcement. Proposals are due June 8.
PARIS - An Ariane 5 rocket has launched a pair of communications satellites that will expand video and broadband capacity at SES Astra and Intelsat. The launch, the second of six planned this year by Arianespace, carried Astra 1L, a Ku-/Ka-band spacecraft, and Galaxy 17, a Ku-/C-band satellite. The combined total payload mass of 9.4 metric tons, including integration and deployment hardware, established a new record for a mission to standard geostationary transfer orbit, Arianespace said.
Observers are watching for Israel's secret, large-payload, weapons-carrying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to make its first public appearance at the Paris Air Show in June. The potential exhibition comes as uncertainty grows whether the recent resignation of the Israel Defense Force's chief of the general staff, Israeli Air Force (IAF) Lt. Gen. Dani Halutz, will affect the modernization plans that include the UAV, variously known as the Heron II, Eitan and Machatz II.
PAM ON: The container-launched Precision Attack Munition (PAM), developed for the congressionally protected Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, is being eyed for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), formerly the Joint Common Missile. Besides the fact that it is already being pursued, the PAM is a major contender because its dual infrared and laser designator seekers make it appealing, according to U.S. Army Col. Chuck Bush, chief of force development for the Future Combat Systems.
Accurate Automation Corp. has delivered one of its 38-foot Sentinel unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to the U.S. Navy, according to company President Robert Pap. The company delivered the USV in March and it features a sensor payload and fusion capability that makes it suitable for riverine operations, Pap said May 7 during a briefing at the 2007 Navy Opportunity Forum.
Initial imagery from France's COROT planet finding probe suggest the spacecraft may be capable of detecting extrasolar planets equivalent in size to our own.
BAE Systems' $4.5 billion deal to acquire Armor Holdings would add to the London-based defense giant's heft in the U.S. while furthering its push into the global land systems market. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, would add more than $3 billion to BAE's U.S. sales, which were $11 billion last year. It would also make the company the Pentagon's sixth largest contractor and move BAE close to its goal of generating 50 percent of its sales from the U.S.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and DOD Chief Information Officer John Grimes has signed into effect a new "DOD Information Sharing Strategy."
The U.S. Navy's Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR) is gaining in importance and has tripled its budget in recent years to more than $60 million in fiscal 2007, according to Vice Adm. Paul Sullivan, commander of Naval Sea System Command, "When you're under $20 million, you're under the radar," Sullivan said in a May 7 presentation at the 2007 Navy Opportunity Forum. "When you're over $70 million, people tend to pay attention."
'GOOD SOLDIERS': Much of the funding for the Iraq war is being directed to the Army and Marine Corps, and while the ground forces replace war losses, some analysts have suggested the Air Force may need to tighten its belt and cancel some programs. USAF Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley disagrees and says he can recapitalize the Air Force with an additional $20 billion per year. Leave it to a retired blue-suiter, former Air Combat Command chief Gen. Richard Hawley, to speak candidly on the question. "Money. It consumes almost everyone who works at the Pentagon.
EXECUTIVE AGENT: The Pentagon Joint Requirements Oversight Committee (JROC) this week will likely take up the Air Force's bid to become the executive agent for higher flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A unified command and control UAV structure just makes sense, argues Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of staff. The Air Force wants to oversee operation and acquisition for UAVs flying above 3,500 feet. One of the most sought-after UAVs in the field is the Predator.
