ISS NETWORK: International Space Station Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams this week will conduct some of the work required to install the station's new integrated station computer network, which is 10 times faster than the station's current local area network (LAN) system, according to NASA. The new network will use Ethernet connectivity over a router through either cable or wireless equipment, eliminating the need to run cables through the U.S. segment into the Russian segment.
ARBITRATION GUIDANCE: The Department of the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, has adopted a policy that authorizes contracting officers to use binding arbitration procedures for issues in controversy arising under procurement contracts using appropriated and nonappropriated funds, according to a March 20 notice in the Federal Register. The guidance was signed into effect March 5, according to the Navy.
General Dynamics Land Systems business unit announced late March 19 that the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command awarded it a $144 million contract modification for continued system development and demonstration (SDD) of the troubled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program. 'Design for reliability' The contract funds the "design for reliability" effort through September 2008, the company said.
MORE UNITY: Aerospace industry members need to lock arms with each other instead of taking up arms against one another, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. "I'm wary about the aerospace industry," Wynne said March 19 at a breakfast on Capitol Hill. Wynne called on aerospace companies to develop a coalition and caucus to present a united front with Congress, similar to U.S. shipbuilding industry efforts through the years. The aerospace industry needs to be more collaborative and less competitive in certain areas, Wynne says.
The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $376 million hardware and services contract for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile program, the company announced March 19. The contract includes the production of 112 hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missiles, launcher modification kits, spares and other equipment, as well as program management and engineering services.
The recent Chinese tests to disrupt and destroy satellites and their capabilities are causing the U.S. Air Force to alter the way it looks at satellites and other space operations, service Secretary Michael Wynne said. The Chinese tests had an immediate impact on the Air Force's mindset, Wynne said March 19 during a breakfast speech on Capitol Hill. "We were shocked, but not surprised," Wynne said. "We were shocked because it was an aberration of behavior - and the initial denial it was theirs at all."
The second fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriations measure, including roughly $100 billion for defense requests, is headed for a showdown as the White House threatens to veto any measure that includes a troop-withdrawal timeline while the Pentagon declares an imminent need for the funds. The Democratically controlled House is slated to take up its appropriators' politically divided recommendation later this week, but President Bush has decried around $24 billion in additional funds added last week in a committee markup.
JSOW CONTRACT: Raytheon has been awarded a $93.8 million delivery order for a network-enabled, moving target capability and seeker redesign for the AGM-154C-1 Block III Joint Standoff Weapon. The contract includes development, test and delivery of replacements for obsolete seeker processor and detector components.
By the end of this year Japan will have upgraded all four of its Aegis destroyers to perform missile defense missions in anticipation of conducting its first missile defense test with the system in December, according to Aegis prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
U.S. Air Force planners this summer will begin studying the implications of the U.S. military adding 92,000 permanent ground troops on its air operations as the service cuts its own personnel by about 40,000 to pay for recapitalization costs, service Secretary Michael Wynne said March 19 during a breakfast speech on Capitol Hill. An Air Force team will try to determine how much airlift will be needed for the additional troops, as well as what will be required to provide close-air support, Wynne said.
Greater Russian and Chinese efforts to sell their so-called fifth-generation fighter planes provide another example of why the U.S. Air Force needs to stick to its stated purchases of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), said Michael Wynne, Air Force secretary. Speaking about the Russian and Chinese efforts, Wynne said, "They see what we're doing. "The so-called Chinese fifth-generation variant, Wynne pointed out, "looks like a European Tornado."
MINE DETECTION: U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command awarded small-business Critical Solutions International Inc. of Dallas a $36.3 million contract modification on March 12 for interim vehicle mounted mine detectors. The work will be performed in Gauteng, South Africa, and is expected to be completed before October 2008, the Pentagon announced March 19. The original sole source contract was initiated on Jan. 31.
ARMY General Dynamics, Garland, Texas, was awarded on March 12, 2007, a delivery order amount of $44,877,079 as part of a $104,476,951 firm-fixed-price contract for MK80 series bomb bodies. The work will be performed in Garland, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Feb. 16, 2006. The U.S. Army Field Support Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-06-D-0006).
A House panel continued its probe of possible improper White House interference with releasing government-funded science results on climate change March 19, hearing from Bush administration political appointees that they were only following procedures established in the Reagan administration when they required a prominent NASA scientist to seek approval from agency headquarters before speaking to the press.
The congressional Government Accountability Office [GAO] has sustained a protest by ITT Federal Services International Corp. over a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers award to Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. to acquire logistics support services throughout the Army's European theater of operations.
CUTTER MUNDRO: BAE Systems said March 19 it was awarded a $1.7 million contract for the routine overhaul of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro (WHEC 724). Work on the Munro, which will begin in June and is scheduled for completion in August, includes repairs to the vessel's machinery, piping, sea valves and propulsion systems, as well as hull preparation and preservation. All work will be performed at BAE Systems Ship Repair in San Francisco.
IRAQI NAVY: By 2010, 15 patrol boats, four patrol ships, and two off-shore support vessels will be added to the Iraqi navy's current fleet of fast-attack boats and Predator-class ships, coalition officials said March 19. "They have a 24-hour capability, are armed for self-defense, and I would say the Iraqi navy is considering these to be the jewel in the crown of their future fleet," said British Navy Cmdr. Paul Marshall, Royal Navy advisor.
Northrop Grumman won a $7.3-million contract add-on from the U.S. Special Operations Command for an extension of a demonstration of the Viper Strike munition as a stand-off precision guided weapon for use on the AC-130 gunship. The goal is initial proof-of-concept of the system.
