The U. S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., now says it was a hydrogen propellant valve in the Pratt & Whitney RL10 Centaur upper-stage engine that caused the placement of two classified National Reconnaissance Office ocean surveillance spacecraft into the wrong orbit after launch from Cape Canaveral June 15. The Air Force had earlier put the blame on the Centaur, which is Lockheed Martin's responsibility, as opposed to specifically the engine, which is Pratt & Whitney's responsibility (DAILY, July 3).
CHINA BASHING: Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), a candidate to be the Republican presidential nominee and the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that China's rapid economic growth, its devaluation of the yuan and its military modernization efforts are "gouging" the American defense industrial base but being paid for by the U.S. trade deficit with the country. And the situation is getting worse, according to his July 13 remarks.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are postponing until at least September the scheduled Aug. 16 launch of their moon explorer mission, Selene, due to improperly installed condensers on two piggy-back satellites.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command officials here say their requirement for CV-22 Ospreys could increase well into the 70s, and the need for more C-130s for transport also could grow, according to Col. Billy Montgomery, AFSOC's top planner. The command's requirement for the Bell/Boeing tilt-rotors now stands at 50. The boost is expected to come in a study of global posture and mobility needs now being conducted by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The Defense Department is now looking to buy as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as can be built, but industry's capacity is still in question, according to lawmakers and defense leaders at a recent House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing.
GOOGLE EARTH: U.S. strike pilots have been using Google Earth to practice missions in places where they can't fly. Now BAE Systems has come up with a new version of its image analysis and mapping software that enables analysts to better evaluate and share data by integrating Google Earth with the Environmental Systems Research Institute's geodatabase to produce a 3-D, color image in real time. Connection with the database allows users to work with data over secure networks.
Northrop Grumman has started work to integrate a new 30,000-pound class penetrator weapon on the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber, the company announced. With the new weapon, a B-2 would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
SHORT-RANGE: Raytheon announced July 19 it has delivered the first Near Term Sea-Based Terminal weapon to the U.S. Navy for use in defending against short-range ballistic missile threats. Raytheon, the Navy and Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab partnered on the program to update the Standard Missile 2 Block IV, which will be deployed on Aegis-class warships. The delivery follows the Pacific Phoenix sea trial, where a Near Term Sea-Based Terminal missile successfully intercepted a Lance target in May 2006.
Driven largely by its space business, Orbital Sciences Corp.'s second quarter revenues increased 39 percent to $273.3 million, compared to $197 million last year, the company said July 19.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is trying to head-off plans by the Massachusetts Air National Guard to lower the floor of military training airspace near Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine from 7,000 feet to 500 feet. "Placing high speed, low altitude military aircraft into airspace that is regularly occupied by slower moving, less equipped general aviation (GA) aircraft increases the potential for mid-air collisions," wrote Pete Lehmann, AOPA government analyst, in a letter to FAA.
The Pentagon plans to delay a decision on whether to terminate the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) to the spring of 2008, bringing the total time needed to address a key technical problem in the stealthy cruise missile to one year. Though a senior Air Force official says the missile is "eye watering" when it works, reliability is still a top concern for continuing the program.
SAFRAN DEFENSE: Jean-Paul Herteman has been named head of the company's Safran Defense & Security Div., to replace Jean-Paul Bechat as Chairman/CEO. Herteman will take the reins when Bechat turns 65 on Sept 2. Bechat, who was asked to step down following a crisis in the defense business late last year, had hoped that the company's strong performance since would permit him to stay on until 2008.
Northrop Grumman has added Knight Aerospace Products Inc. of San Antonio, Texas, to its KC-30 Tanker industry team, Northrop said July 18. Knight Aerospace will provide palletized passenger seats for the KC-30 Tanker's passenger and troop carrying capability. The roll-on/roll-off palletized seats will allow airmen to reconfigure the KC-30 quickly to meet a variety of mission requirements when the tanker is used in a transport role.
NEW DELHI - India's defense minister A.K Antony reiterated during a speech at a military symposium that his government's armament deals would be considered purely on the basis of merit. "We have no tilt or bias toward any country in matters of defense relations," he said during the international seminar NavArms 2007. "We are not favoring anybody. We have had arms deals with France, Russia, Israel and lately even with the U.S," Antony said, referring to the increasing opposition from Left parties to India's growing ties with Israel and the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) plan in the event the QuikSCAT satellite fails could mitigate the loss of its data "very effectively" and preserve the quality of hurricane forecasting, a NOAA laboratory director told House lawmakers July 19.
Responding to a recent DOD Inspector General report that criticized the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle acquisition process in its early days (DAILY, July 18), Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, head of Marine Corps Systems Command, says he agrees with the major findings of the report but still believes the service did the right thing by awarding sole-source contracts to Force Protection Inc. (FPI) in 2004.
Defense Department officials next week will provide Congress with a cost estimate to fund all 7,774 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles it is requesting through early 2008, and they promised lawmakers a major planning decision for the program's long-term future come September.
The Defense Department has asked Congress for the right to reprogram an additional $1.2 billion in fiscal 2007 funds to build 2,650 more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new reprogramming, added to $443 million in U.S. Marine Corps procurement money that was already being shifted to MRAP, brings the total FY '07 reprogramming for the vehicles to nearly $1.6 billion.
NASA astronaut Clay Anderson will toss a 1,400-pound ammonia tank off the International Space Station (ISS) July 23 along with another surplus piece of hardware, as he and Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin conduct a U.S.-side extravehicular activity (EVA) that will mark the first time a Russian cosmonaut operates the station's Canadian-built robotic arm.
VIRGINIA GENERAL: U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $116.4 million contract modification for Virginia-class submarine lead-yard services, development studies and design efforts. The company will update and support design drawings and data for each sub, as well as complete studies to over potential technologies for future Virginias. The contract was initially awarded in October 2005 and will be worth $890 million if all options are exercised and funded through September 2009, General Dynamics said July 17.
