Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate Homeland Security Committee Sept. 10 that in case a nuclear or dirty bomb attack on the U.S. succeeds, his agency has created a nuclear forensic office to investigate it rapidly and prevent further attacks. The heads of four U.S. counterterrorism agencies warned the panel that the U.S. still faces a terrorist threat from al Qaeda and other extremist groups that could include attacks using small boats, small aircraft or nuclear weapons.
HONEYWELL LAB: Honeywell announced Sept. 10 that it has opened the $35 million Aerospace Mexicali Research and Technology Center in Mexico. The 100,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will house engineers and technicians working on research and development for next-generation narrow-body aircraft like the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Honeywell hopes to test and integrate technologies at the center to reduce aircraft fuel consumption and increase reliability.
SBIRS MATING: Lockheed Martin said Sept. 10 that it successfully mated the spacecraft bus and the payload for the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO-1) satellite. "We are on track to sustain our momentum in the remaining integration and test work ahead and look forward to the ultimate deployment of this first-of-its-kind satellite," said Mark Crowley, Lockheed Martin's SBIRS vice president. Northrop Grumman last month delivered the payload for the first SBIRS early missile warning sensor package.
The commander of coalition forces in Iraq, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, said U.S. ground forces there could be cut back to a pre-"surge" level of about 130,000 in about a year, although the forecast is leading to greater concerns over the U.S. military's ability to respond to other potential crises.
The U.S. Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Northrop Grumman have jointly conducted the first aerial transport of a Navy MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) on a Marine KC-130T, the company announced Sept. 10. A second VTUAV, an Army MQ-8B Future Combat System (FCS) Class IV UAV also was loaded on the aircraft, but only to demonstrate that a tandem load of two VTUAVs is possible. Only the Navy Fire Scout was airlifted--from Moss Point, Miss., to Naval Air Station Patuxent River for flight test operations.
NASA is proposing to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that the space shuttle program be terminated six months early, in March 2010 instead of by Sept. 31, 2010, Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach says. The web site NASASpaceFlight.com first revealed the plan last week. NASA's Office of Public Affairs labeled the report as incorrect.
AIR FORCE DTS Aviation Services Inc. is being awarded a contract option for $44,294,000. This action is for the exercise an option III under the contract for Contract Logistics Support for the C-21A Aircraft for the Air Force and Air National Guard consisting of maintenance, repair and support functions (FY08) Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008. For more information, please call (405) 339-4443. 727 ACSG/PKA, 3001 Staff Drive Suite 1 AF1 104A, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., 73145-3020 is the contracting activity (FA8106-05-C-0001:P00101).
BAMS TESTS: Northrop Grumman's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program has conducted more than 40 hours of flight testing on 19 flights, according to a Sept. 10 statement. The company claimed it successfully completed a program of simulations, demonstrations and tests over the past four months. The mission system was tested on a Northrop test aircraft flying out of California and linked to a Maryland-based prototype ground segment.
The perennial number one Pentagon contracting cost - fixed-wing aircraft - is down a few notches in the rankings for Defense Department deals as of mid-August, near the same spot it was through the first half of last year before catching up and ending 2006 in the top spot, according to an Aerospace Daily analysis.
Nearly 13,000 anti-ship missiles worth an estimated $7.9 billion will be built over the next 10 years, with Boeing expected to garner about $1.5 billion in sales revenues followed by MBDA with $789 million, according to Forecast International (FI). "Boeing's current success is based on international orders for its Harpoon II, but a future surge is attributed to U.S. Navy plans to acquire the Harpoon III," according to Larry Dickerson, senior missile analyst.
The Defense Department's counter-narcoterrorism technology group is ramping up a multiple contractor award with an estimated value of up to $15 billion over five years, according to one of the prime contractors. The scope of work across all task orders is to provide equipment, material and services to DOD's Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office (CNTPO). Work began Aug. 24 and will end Aug. 23, 2012.
AIR FORCE General Atomics of San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for $94,341,404. This action will provide for 36 Predator MQ-1B Aircraft, Aircraft Spares, RSP kits, Hellfire Missile Kit Installation, IMAs and core tasks. At this time, all funds have been authorized. For more information, please call (937) 904-6986. 658 AESS/PK, Building 557, 2640 Loop Road West, Room 213, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 45433-7106 is the contracting activity (FA8620-05-G-3028 0027).
NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the adjoining Canaveral National Seashore are using space-related hardware to protect the thousands of Loggerhead sea turtles that nest and hatch on a 43-mile stretch of pristine beach near the massive space shuttle launch pads.
AIR FORCE Merlin International Inc. is being awarded a contract for $7,060,000. The project is to implement a Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. The contractor is to deliver equipment, provide software and installation support. At this time all funds been obligated. For more information please call (781) 266-9179. Electronic Systems Center, 350th Electronic Systems Group, 11 Barksdale Street, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., 01731 is the contracting activity (FA8706-07-F-8040). NAVY
RAVEN SUPPORT: The U.S. Army will receive support of its Raven small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) under a $16.4 million award to manufacturer AeroVironment for contractor logistics services (CLS). The services include refurbishment, reconstitution and repair as well as migration of systems to the latest configuration. The Army has flown the hand-launched Ravens for tens of thousands of hours in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
DOD's RDT&E: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is telling the Defense Department (DOD) to adjust its current research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) program element (PE) code structure to provide Congress with a clearer picture of the proposed development. DOD asked Congress for $73.2 billion in fiscal 2007 for RDT&E, organizing its request using PE codes to convey key information about budget requests.
KEI TEST: Northrop Grumman has performed another first-stage rocket motor test for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program. A full-duration burn at Alliant Techsystems (ATK) facility in Promontory, Utah, the Sept. 6 test was the fourth test for the program in the past 18 months, according to Northrop Grumman. A booster test flight is expected next year. Raytheon is principal subcontractor for KEI, a land-based missile defense system designed to intercept missiles as early as their boost phase of flight.
NASA has informed Congress it is terminating its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement with Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) because the company has failed to meet financial milestones. Aides said that after reviewing the company's performance, the space agency sent RpK formal notification Sept. 7 saying that additional activity under the agreement is "not in the best interest" of NASA,
CLUSTER CONFRONTATION: The Bush administration is voicing opposition to Democratically crafted restrictions on cluster munitions sales abroad but is not signaling a veto threat over the provision. Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) added the provision to the fiscal 2008 state-foreign operations appropriations bill, which passed the Senate Sept. 6. The provision would ban U.S. military assistance for cluster munitions sales, export licenses or even related technology unless submunitions have a 99 percent or higher tested reliability rate.
SENATE SPENDING: The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) is expected to finish its markup of the fiscal 2008 defense spending bill by Sept. 12. The defense subcommittee will meet the day before. The House has already passed both its appropriations and defense authorization bills, but the Senate stalled over its policy bill in July. Among several programs to watch for are SAC provisions over Virginia-class submarines.
The U.S. Navy plans to request $300 million per year in fiscal 2008 and FY '09 to fulfill its duties as the newly assigned executive agent for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) within DOD.
Several senior House Democrats want the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to put plans to share classified satellite imagery with non-federal agencies on hold until the constitutional ramifications are settled. In a letter to the department, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and two of the panel's subcommittee chairs, Reps. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Christopher Carney (D-Pa.), call for a moratorium on the program, slated to start Oct. 1, because it raises "very serious privacy and civil liberties concerns."
DOD CMO: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to believe that DOD needs a chief management officer (CMO), established in statute, to provide focus and sustained business transformation leadership. DOD continues to fight the move, according to a Sept. 5 GAO report. "A broad-based consensus exists among GAO and others, including the Institute for Defense Analyses and the Defense Business Board, that the status quo is unacceptable and that DOD needs a CMO to provide leadership over business transformation efforts," congressional auditors say.
