The U.S. Air Force grounded its U-2 intelligence aircraft worldwide last week due to fuel leaks found in at least three of the high-flying aircraft. The grounding disrupted intelligence collection operations around the globe, including surveillance activities in Iraq. The U-2 is being augmented by the Global Hawk there, though the comparatively young unmanned aerial vehicle is not able to collect the same imagery and signals intelligence as the U-2.
U.S. Marines need communications alternatives for those times when satellite services are unavailable on the battlefield, according to Brig. Gen. George Allen, chief information officer for the Marine Corps. "We need to take a look at other means of low-Earth orbit things that will take care of things when we don't have the satellite available, for whatever reason," Allen said during a March 14 luncheon sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).
SEARCH & RESCUE: The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is sponsoring a search and rescue unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) challenge in Australia. The student competition is to take place Sept. 24-27 at Kingaroy Airport in Queensland. The contestants must develop a low-cost UAV that can be used to save lives in the outback by finding lost people and delivering medical supplies.
The U.S. Air Force competition to replace the service's aging tanker fleet will likely hinge on risk reduction and which competitor can deliver the promised aircraft on time, according to Mark McGraw, Boeing's tanker program vice president. The tanker replacement acquisition is another "time-certain" program for the Air Force, with more focus on meeting deadlines than on adding capability in replacing more than 500 tankers, McGraw said March 16. The Boeing KC-767 proposal should be able to meet any schedule demands, McGraw said.
LASER TRACKING: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Boeing successfully fired the Airborne Laser (ABL) system's tracking laser in-flight at an airborne target for the first time March 15, the company announced. The ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400 freighter, used infrared sensors to locate the simulated missile exhaust generated from a test aircraft, then fired its track illuminator laser (TILL) at the target to gather tracking data - a key precursor to a missile engagement.
FAST RESPONSE CUTTER: Northrop Grumman Ship Systems still could compete for the B-variant of the U.S. Coast Guard's Fast Response Cutter (FRC) when the service releases its request for proposals later this year, according to an industry representative. Nothing precludes Northrop Grumman or Lockheed Martin -- who are teamed for the Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program under a joint venture called Integrated Coast Guard Systems -- from bidding on that project.
Lockheed Martin is back at square one with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight-testing after the December crash of its P-175 Polecat demonstrator, which is only now being disclosed. The aircraft went down on Dec. 18, 2006 at the Nevada Test and Training Range, according to U.S. Air Force officials who run the range. An "irreversible unintentional failure in the flight termination ground equipment, which caused the aircraft's automatic fail-safe flight termination mode to activate" is cited by Lockheed Martin as the cause of the crash.
WIN-WIN: If it wins the U.S. Air Force tanker competition with its KC-767 bid, Boeing says it will use Pratt & Whitney PW4062 engines to power the aircraft. Italy and Japan selected General Electric's CF6-80C2 series for their KC-767 tankers. A GE official said the company did not "aggressively" pursue the KC-X competition because the economics were not seen as favorable. In its promotional material for the KC-30 candidate, Northrop Grumman/EADS North America has said it will use the GE CF6-80E.
HOT POTATO: All parties agree that the U.S. Air Force should proceed expeditiously with a remedy for the protests of its Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter competition, but things aren't that simple. Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley is said to want a place in the discussions of how to proceed with the $712 million development contract issued to Boeing for a Chinook variant. However, he lacks the legal authority to influence acquisition decisions directly.
Defense Department Undersecretary Kenneth Krieg said there's a very simple message underlying some of the award fee concerns addressed in the February Defense Acquisition Report to Congress. "Performance matters," said Krieg, undersecretary for acquisition, during a March 14 briefing on the report. The report said the Pentagon will issue a policy memorandum stressing that contracting officers must give contractors incentives to deliver products to meet the requirements on time and within cost.
MARSHALL SUPPORT: Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., will continue to provide systems development and operations support for the Science and Mission Systems Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for another five years, NASA says. In light of the company's "outstanding performance," the agency decided to exercise a five-year option on the 2002 support contract, bringing its maximum potential value to $568 million.
GROWLER DEVELOPMENT: Initial operational capability for the U.S. Navy's EA-18G Growler wide-spectrum jamming aircraft is scheduled for 2009, but first it will go through an in-process review under the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) on April 30. The Growler reached a major milestone on Jan. 24 with the successful completion of its jammer flight-test, Navy officials declared March 15. "We successfully exercised all available jamming types and all aspects of the system worked as advertised, and we saw no notable issues," says Cmdr. Jaime Engdahl, EA-18G department head.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE: The U.S. Marines want to get the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport to Iraq this year, but no one is certain this will happen. "It is my fervent desire to get the V-22 into the fight as soon as we can, and that is probably going to be this year," says the new Marine commandant, Gen. James Conway. "I think it's going to prove itself rapidly. There is going to be a crash. That's what airplanes do over time. We're going to have to accept that when it happens. We'll hear some folks who are not fans of the program rise up."
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has completed its acquisition of PZL Mielec with the Polish government. The airframe manufacturer, based in Mielec, employs about 1,500 people and was operated by Poland's Industrial Development Agency under the Ministry of Treasury. Sikorsky will use PZL Mielec as a "major step toward establishing the foundation of our European operations," says Jeffrey Pino, president. He says the company will be a "key component" of Sikorsky's long-range global strategy to sell and support its helicopters, particularly the Black Hawk series.
MORE FUNDING: "Each day, the readiness of both our airmen and our equipment is eroding," the U.S. Air Force vice chief of staff tells the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee. Gen. John Corley says increased flying hours are stressing airframes, while general costs also are going up. The cost of aircraft spare parts has increased 6 percent this year, for instance. Meanwhile, each $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil costs the Air Force another $600 million annually, he says - although oil prices are off their highs from last year.
U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter announced late March 15 that he is ready to lift a previously issued stop-work order against Lockheed Martin over one of its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) if the leading defense contractor agrees to take on more risk associated with its development. "LCS 3 construction may be resumed under revised contract terms that rebalance the risk of cost growth between the government and industry," Winter said in a Defense Department statement.
The new head of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee says she thinks space situational awareness capabilities have not received appropriate consideration and resources in recent years due to an emphasis on rapid deployment of so-called transformational space platforms such as Space Radar and Transformational Satellite Communications.
March 19 - 21 -- 2007 Homeland Security Symposium and Exposition, "The Secure Border Initiative (SBI): Challenges, Opportunities, Solutions - The Continuum of Border Security," Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.ndia.org. March 19 - 22 -- Battlespace Information 2007, "Advancing Networked C41 Operations For Decision Superiority In The Joint Battlespace," Hotel Le Plaza, Brussels, Belgium. For more information call +44 0 20 7368 9465 or go to www.battlespaceinformation.com.
CH-46 SHOOTDOWN: Reversing itself, the U.S. Marine Corps says the CH-46 transport helicopter that crashed last month in Iraq was shot down by a missile, possibly with a design sophisticated enough not to trigger the helicopter's defensive flares. "Those initial battlefield reports, once again, were wrong," says the new Marine commandant, Gen. James Conway. At first, analysts thought there was a mechanical failure because there was no obvious deployment of survival equipment. But an insurgent video proved there was a missile strike, Conway says.
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.
