VINSON RETURNS: The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, will return to the West Coast and probably relocate its homeport to San Diego in early 2010. U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter selected San Diego as the preferred alternative after evaluating a number of factors, the service says, including its existing infrastructure, family support facilities, and proximity to training areas.
The Homeland Security Department has granted Safety Act certification and liability protection to three Northrop Grumman Corp. anti-terrorism technologies, the company announced March 29. The liability-limiting certification was granted to Northrop Grumman's System Engineering, Design and Integration (SEDI) services; Integrated Security Services (ISS); and Tactical Automated Security System (TASS).
THERMAL SIGHT SYSTEMS: Raytheon Co. Network Centric Systems has been awarded a $6 million delivery order for 108 Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) Thermal Sight Systems (TSS). The contract allows the purchase of up to 1,026 TSS, which would bring the total value to $34.2 million. The work will be done in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be finished by August 2007. The contract was awarded by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va.
JAPAN LAUNCH: EADS Astrium-Khrunichev joint venture Eurockot will launch Japan's Servis-2 technology satellite on the Rockot booster. The 900-kilogram spacecraft, intended to verify the use of commercial off-the-shelf components in space environments, is to be launched into sun-synchronous orbit in 2009 from the Rockot launch pad in Plesetsk, Russia. The next Rockot launch, late this year, is to orbit the European Space Agency's Goce Earth observation satellite.
CHARLIE HELICOPTERS: The U.S. Coast Guard's remaining eight HH-65C helicopters are expected to be delivered ahead of schedule this summer, industry representatives said March 29. Seventy-six of 84 re-engined HH-65Cs have been delivered so far by Integrated Coast Guard Systems following the accelerated power upgrades at the Coast Guard's Aviation Repair & Supply Center in Elizabeth City, N.C., and the American Eurocopter facility in Columbus, Miss.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has awarded Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC a $10.7 million contract to produce missile launchers for U.S. Navy F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. The LAU-115 and LAU-116 launchers provide the structural and electrical interfaces that allow the aircraft to carry and launch missiles such as Sparrow, Sidewinder and the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), according to Raytheon.
MRH-90 FLIGHT: Australia's first MRH-90 conducted its initial flight March 29 in Marignane, France, flying for 90 minutes and satisfying the Eurocopter test crew with its performance, Australian defense officials announced. The first four MRH-90s are on schedule for delivery to Australia by the end of this year, and the first fuselage of the 42 aircraft to be assembled in Australia arrived in Brisbane on March 27, they said.
SUPPORTING JOHNSON: NASA has awarded a $30.4 million extension of the Center Operations Support Services (COSS) contract for Johnson Space Center to Computer Sciences Corp. of Ft. Worth, Texas. The extension begins April 1 and has a base period of six months, followed by five one-month options. Exercise of all the options would bring the total potential value to $55.4 million. The contract includes operations support activities at Johnson's Sonny Carter Training Facility and Ellington Field. Major subcontractors include Anadarko Industries, LLC, of Houston and Lynx Ltd.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command announced that the last of more than 400 T58 engine gas path modules were delivered March 28 during the 50th anniversary celebration of the T58. General Electric and the CH-46E program office delivered the upgraded modules under budget and ahead of schedule to the Marine Corps, completing a $300 million, seven-year upgrade program for the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter, Navair said.
The Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) will be deploying soon to Iraq with U.S. Navy units to help hunt for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to sources familiar with the MAV program. The MAVs should deploy for those missions by early April, the sources said. Neither MAV contractor Honeywell nor Navy officials would comment about any proposed deployment of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). But Honeywell has been marketing the MAV as a force protection system for urban terrain scenarios - such as looking for IEDs in certain parts of Iraq.
TRIDENT MATERIALS: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. has been awarded a $20.5 million contract to procure Trident II (D5) long lead time materials, the Defense Department said. The work will be done at various locations and is expected to be finished by September 2011. The contract was awarded by Strategic Systems Programs, Arlington, Va.
Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) will again try to push Congress to allow and fund a Pentagon desire to refit submarine-based Trident nuclear missiles with conventional warheads, according to several expected legislative efforts announced March 29 by Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) members.
The U.S. Army Future Combat Systems (FCS) Lead Systems Integrator Boeing-SAIC has chosen Lockheed Martin to manufacture the FCS Centralized Controller Device, which will allow soldiers to command FCS unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles and unattended sensors, among other functions. The hand-held device also will be able to command manned ground vehicle functions and will "enable superior situational awareness, training, logistics and medical functions," Boeing/SAIC said in a statement.
BETTER NAVIGATION: U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has signed a cooperative research agreement with L-3 Communications to develop improved personal navigation technology for soldiers in areas where the Global Positioning System is denied or degraded. The technology is a hybrid that "cooperates" with GPS but has its own embedded capability, allowing for navigation to be maintained in "GPS-deprived" areas like cities or underground structures, JFCOM says.
TUSKEGEE GOLDEN: Capitol Hill has awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor it can bestow. "Perseverance, sacrifice, duty and an outstanding service record are part of the lasting legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said March 29. "Because of their efforts, our nation is free and we are richer as a people. Today's ceremony is long overdue, but our nation's gratitude for the Tuskegee Airmen's service is profound." Lawmakers moved to honor the World War II legends a year ago (DAILY, March 6, 2006).
Space tourist Charles Simonyi will contribute to research for the European Space Agency (ESA) during his 10-day visit to the International Space Station next month, Space Adventures announced March 29. Simonyi will act as a test subject for a research program designed by ESA to study the response of the human body to the microgravity environment aboard the station and hopefully cast light on common Earth ailments.
The Pentagon is seeking more than $56 billion in fiscal 2008 and the remainder of FY '07 to pay for resetting and reconstituting the U.S. Army and Marine Corps' equipment needs, Defense Department officials said March 29. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee that 40 percent of the Army and Marine Corps' existing equipment is either deployed in Iraq or in depots being repaired.
GLOBAL HAWK SUPPORT: The U.S. Air Force is extending Northrop Grumman a $35.5 million contract modification to provide logistics for Global Hawk unmanned aircraft from April through September, the Pentagon announced March 28. The logistics support incorporates all contractor activities required for support of the system, including planning, activating and operating in support of Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and forward operating locations and bases overseas.
The leading Pentagon expense for 2006, in terms of money spent or designated by contract or contract modifications, was about $70 billion for architecture and engineering services, according to an Aerospace Daily computer analysis of government contracting data, although industry budget analysts are puzzled by the size of the outlay.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) research and development unit has ruled out using satellites to monitor airports for small surface-to-air missile attacks but might consider high altitude manned aircraft, the unit's chief said March 28.
Top U.S. Navy leaders threw a little cold water on budding efforts to boost the fiscal 2008 shipbuilding request March 28, saying they are "very concerned" with industry's limitations in regard to increased production. Any additional appropriations over President Bush's request should be carefully matched to industrial capacity, according to Navy Secretary Donald Winter and Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations.
India is actively seeking international partners for its space industry, and plans to use the upcoming International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad for some serious matchmaking. The Sept. 24-28 gathering will include a heavier-than-usual focus on space business, and Indian space leaders hope they parlay that into some new contracts for their industry.
