The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program has made strong strides by delivering and flying the first developmental aircraft, a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says, but there are still concerns over price and delays. "Cost and schedule goals established in the fiscal year 2004 rebaselined program have not been met," says the GAO report "Joint Strike Fighter, Progress Made and Challenges Remain," released March 15. 'Parts shortages' GAO cited concerns about overall program costs and per aircraft increases.
MEADS FUNDS: The Medium Extended-Range Air Defense System was slated to lose about $22 million in annual planned Army cuts, according to top MEADS International executives. They announced March 13 that the Army has committed to restoring the funding and that the program should remain on schedule (DAILY, March 15). MEADS and Raytheon's Patriot missile work share a funding line in the Army budget, which most recently outlined that $87.5 million was to be "realigned" to higher priorities next fiscal year, and then $108.9 million similarly sliced out in FY '09.
PREDATOR SERVICES: Battlespace Flight Services LLC has been awarded a five-year, U.S. Air Force contract worth more than $162 million to perform maintenance services on the MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aircraft System program. Battlespace Flight Services comprises Northern Virginia companies Battlespace Inc., AOC Global Services LLC and Defense Support Services LLC. Battlespace Flight Services said it will perform maintenance services at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., and worldwide deployed sites.
CERTIFICATION: The FAA has awarded Raytheon Co. three more Experimental Airworthiness Certificates for its Cobra Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the company said March 15. Raytheon now has five certified Cobras. The certification authorizes Raytheon to conduct market surveys, crew training and research and development with the aircraft in specified airspace in southeastern Arizona. The Cobras are used for the development, integration and testing of unmanned systems technologies, the company said. The aircraft is 9 feet long and has a 10-foot wingspan.
Believing it can do it faster and for less money, the U.S. Coast Guard is stripping a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman from providing the delayed-but-needed Fast Response Cutter-B (FRC-B). The move is a relatively small punishment in terms of lost business under the Coast Guard's $24 billion, 25-year Deepwater recapitalization program, but a high-profile rebuke to joint venture Integrated Coast Guard System's (ICGS) management of the embattled Deepwater effort (DAILY, Dec. 6, 2006).
Among the actions NASA recommends in its fiscal 2007 operating plan is shutting down the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center, where a whole generation of unmanned orbiters, rovers, hoppers and penetrators was under consideration as scouts for a human landing on the moon.
Controllers in the U.K. and India are checking out the Skynet 5A and Insat 4B communications satellites following their March 11 launch on an Ariane 5 ECA vehicle from the European spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana. The launch at 5:03 p.m. Eastern time came after a one-day delay when an anomaly was detected in the water-deluge system used to control pad acoustic levels (DAILY, March 13).
The Pentagon says it will wait for the results of the upcoming SpaceX demonstration scheduled later this month for the company's Falcon 1 rocket before cementing a launch date for the TacSat-1 spacecraft on the vehicle. The Office of Naval Research/Naval Research Laboratory (ONR/NRL) is the spacecraft owner and makes the decisions on launch changes. The U.S. Air Force holds and maintains the contracts, and service officials say they are concerned about launch reliability.
The security ambitions of some members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are not matched by their political will or funding commitments, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander told House lawmakers March 15. While NATO requires that members spend 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their militaries, only six countries out of 26 do so, and "the trends are negative," Gen. Bantz Craddock said.
Democratic leaders of the House Committee on Science and Technology criticized NASA's fiscal 2008 budget request during a hearing on Capitol Hill March 15, saying the White House has consistently failed to request enough money for the agency over the past few years. "I'm afraid that NASA is headed for a train wreck if things don't change," Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said. "There are certain challenges that NASA is facing as a result of the FY '07 Joint Resolution, but the agency's budgetary problems run much deeper."
RANGEFINDERS: Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a $20 million contract to provide the U.S. Army with more than 500 Eyesafe Laser Rangefinders (ELRF) for its M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, the company said March 15. The ELRF allows tank gunners to determine target ranges in all types of battlefield conditions and provides a safe way for U.S. forces to train against each other, the company said.
The House on March 15 overwhelmingly passed an acquisition reform bill that seeks greater competition and safeguards in federal acquisition, especially against perceived problems in the defense realm. The legislation was spurred by Iraq-related awards of major Pentagon programs.
The Mastiff, the newest armored vehicle British forces are using to patrol in Iraq, was reviewed by Defense Minister Paul Drayson during a recent visit to Basra, the U.K. Defense Ministry said. The 27-ton vehicles were purchased, upgraded with special equipment and delivered to Iraq in December 2006. Following training, British troops recently started patrolling with them, the defense ministry said in a news release.
Donald E. Felsinger has been named to the board of directors. Felsinger is chairman and chief executive officer of Sempra Energy. Linda A. Mills has been named to oversee federal government information technology initiatives. James Palmer has been appointed chief financial officer.
Chris Cyr has been named executive vice president for Airlines Americas for the Civil Aerospace Airlines business. Dave Whetton is being replaced by Cyr.
John Balaguer has been named vice president and general manager of customized engineering and depot support in Indianapolis David Dacquino has been appointed vice president and general manager of Integrated Support Solutions headquartered in Burlington, Mass. Lt. Gen. Paul T. Mikolashek (USA Ret.) has been named president of Raytheon Middle East/North Africa/Pakistan for Raytheon International Inc.
