ARMY VEHICLES AWARD: The U.S. Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) has awarded Oshkosh Truck Corp. an $878 million contract to continue production on the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV), the company announced Feb. 23. The contract covers new production of the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), Palletized Load System (PLS) vehicle and PLS trailer, which are used for logistics support roles. Oshkosh will deliver 1,857 new vehicles and 2,599 new trailers under the contract.
UPPER STAGE: NASA on Feb. 23 released the final request for proposals (RFP) for the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle upper stage. Proposals are due to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center by April 13, and the prime contract will be awarded in August. Final manufacturing and assembly of the stage will take place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, where the space shuttle's external tanks are built.
Spacehab announced Feb. 21 that it is dropping all litigation against NASA seeking reimbursement for the company's Research Double Module (RDM), which was lost aboard the shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003. "Spacehab believes that the potential benefits that may be achieved by dismissing the claim against NASA, who is the company's largest customer, outweigh any potential benefits that may be achieved by continuing the litigation of claims against the agency," Spacehab said in a statement. Two separate claims
The U.S. Air Force changed the wording of a key performance parameter (KPP) during a crucial phase of the proposal requests for its high-profile multibillion-dollar combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter competition without explicitly alerting contractors to the alteration or its impact. While defense acquisition experts agree the wording change itself is substantial - and could have had a major impact on the competition - they disagree whether the Air Force should have made the change without drawing attention to it.
In developing the initial work for the Alternative Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS), a possible competitor to the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Air Force is looking for methods to boost technology and adhere to cost and deadline requirements, according to an industry day briefing. In a call for white papers for AIRSS development, the Feb. 21 briefing said the government has a particular interest in: * Affordability and feasibility of designing for two IR WFOV payloads with two Focal Plane Array (FPA) types;
If XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio succeed at winning regulatory approval of their $11.4 billion merger, the technical integration of the two systems could take years to complete.
FALCON FLIGHT: The next flight attempt for Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) low-cost Falcon 1 rocket has slipped to mid-March at the earliest, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's vice president of business development. The earliest launch window for the flight out of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean opens on March 9. "We certainly hope to launch prior to the 16th of March," Shotwell says.
Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin used bolt cutters and wire ties to get a malfunctioning radar-navigation antenna out of the way on the International Space Station Feb. 23, freeing one of two Russian Progress vehicles docked at the station to depart.
Members of the Launch Services Alliance defended the arrangement against criticisms that it is "pointless" during a panel discussion in Washington Feb. 21, with Boeing Sea Launch President Robert Peckham arguing that it really does provide schedule assurance even if manifests appear booked up. Formed in 2003, the Launch Services Alliance is an agreement between Sea Launch, Arianespace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in which each company's fleet of rockets serves as a backup to the others to provide schedule assurance for their customers.
The German government has signed a long-anticipated contract to upgrade some of its CH-53G heavy lift helicopters. Eurocopter will perform the upgrade on 40 helos. The German military operates 80 of the rotorcraft, although some are set aside for special missions.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are preparing to launch an investigation into the Feb. 21 crash of Bell Helicopter Textron's prototype ARH-70A Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter on a golf course in Mansfield, Texas. According to Bell, the single-engine helicopter was on its first flight and had departed Bell's XworX facility at Arlington Municipal Airport and had been in the air for about 30 minutes when the engine failed. The aircraft was being flown by a Bell pilot and an Army pilot. The crew initiated an autorotation to landing.
A leading Senate Republican on governmental reform issues is introducing legislation that aims to rein in sole-source contract awards, support inspectors general, limit the degree of subcontracting and targets lead systems integrators. "The federal government's prodigious purchasing can create abundant opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse," Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican and former chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in announcing her proposed Accountability in Government Contracting bill.
NASA's two Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) partners have passed milestones in their efforts to develop private vehicles to deliver cargo and eventually crew to the International Space Station.
A revamp of the Khrunichev Space Center recently approved by the Russian government should streamline production processes and quality control problems, according to International Launch Services, which markets the center's Proton launch vehicle. The reorganization is aimed at fixing problems that have slowed output, in particular with the Block M upper stage, which are currently limiting the Proton launch rate.
Northrop Grumman Newport News will be able to meet cost caps and price reductions for the new class of carriers - CVN-21 or CVN-78 - by designing the ship to meet threshold capabilities, said William Deligne, acting executive director of the Navy aircraft carrier program executive office.
CHENEY PLEASED: Vice President Dick Cheney says he is "very pleased" with how senior commanders of the U.S. and Japanese military forces are working together on plans against weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile threats and terrorist cells in the Pacific realm. Cheney, at the Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, said relations between the United States and Japan have "never been better" nor more vital than now. "This briefing gives me confidence that we are working to improve the interoperability of our forces - strategic, operational and tactical," he said. "The U.S.
A staffer for House Strategic Forces subcommittee chair Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) sees little chance for major reform of U.S. export control law in the near term, despite the recent congressional leadership changeover. The two House committees with jurisdiction over export control -International Relations and House Armed Services - still have leadership that "is more pro-security than pro-business in many ways," said Simon Limage, Tauscher's deputy chief of staff. "I would see a fairly conservative outlook for major change in the short term."
The Navy has "changed its acquisition model" to reconfigure, develop and deploy a new warfare center for its proposed next generation carrier, the CVN-21 or CVN-78, said William Deligne, acting executive director of the Navy aircraft carrier program executive office. The warfare center is essentially the combat brains for the carrier. Previous efforts to make the center more efficient and lethal for the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush had failed.
LONDON - British efforts to acquire a family of medium armored vehicles "is a sorry story of indecision, constantly changing requirements and delay," according to Parliament's Defense Committee. The British army's Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) is the latest of several efforts to provide ground forces with a family of vehicles to replace in-service platforms, some original designs of which are 40 years old.
RAVEN AWARDS: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command has awarded AeroVironment Corp. more than $53.5 million for RQ-11 Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, known as Ravens, for the Army and Marine Corps. The contract modifications, awarded Feb. 14, were announced late Feb. 20 and run through Jan. 11, 2008. The hand-launched Raven is expected to remain in the Army's inventory until the Future Combat Systems' Class I ducted-fan drone is fielded around 2010.
