AMERICAN DEFENSE: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $25 million contract to continue mission-critical operations, maintenance and support for Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2). ISC2 will modernize the command and control systems of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) into an integrated, interoperable capability to support the National Command Authority and the Canadian Chief of Defense Staff for the defense of North America.
The Pentagon's Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program increasingly looks set to blossom briefly before falling off almost as quickly as it grew this year as Army officials turn to a light tactical vehicle replacement. "We have really taken this thing as aggressively as we can," Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes told reporters Oct. 9 about MRAPs. "This is a very important program and we're approaching the limits of what I think you can bring in the way of change to an Army in contact with the enemy, and I think we're there."
The chairman and senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) wrote Defense Secretary Robert Gates Oct. 9, expressing "strong concern" about a reported $100 million military equipment purchase from China by the Iraqi government.
ARMY SPACE CRADA: Raytheon announced Oct. 9 that it signed a five-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command-U.S.
The U.S. Army picked the C-27J for the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program, despite its higher cost, because of concerns about the C-295's ability to meet certain performance requirements, according to the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) decision rejecting Raytheon's bid protest.
NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) is turning its attention to the issue of how the agency decides whether a particular mission should be manned or unmanned, and whether safety concerns are being weighed appropriately in that process.
If the U.S. Air Force and the rest of the Pentagon want to truly develop a military-strength cyber force, they'll have to change the way they buy equipment and services, according to retired Gen. John Jumper, former Air Force chief of staff. "We are focused on platforms," Jumper said Oct. 9 during an Air Force Association briefing and panel on cyberspace in Washington. "We reward people who build platforms, who can do a Block 30 upgrade to a Block 40 capability," Jumper continued. "We tend not to reward people who offer a complete new business."
Italian space agency chief Giovanni Bignami says that the fourth satellite in Italy's CosmoSkyMed radar imaging system may be orbited by a Soyuz booster from a new launch pad under construction in Kourou, French Guiana, even though the first three were contracted to fly aboard Boeing's Delta II. The primary question mark, according to Bignami, will be the ability of the Guiana launch pad, currently slated to enter service in March 2009, to meet the CosmoSkyMed 4's early 2009 target launch date.
NAVY Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Greenville, S.C., is being awarded a $17,951,018 firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-05-G-0030) for the procurement and installation of 15 defensive electronics countermeasures (DECM) kits for C/KC-130 aircraft. The work will be performed in Greenville, S.C., and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
SNIPER SYSTEMS: Lockheed Martin said it received a nine-month, $2 million Phase 1 contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a sniper system that will profile and compensate for downrange cross wind to help snipers hit targets over long ranges under challenging conditions (DAILY, Nov. 20, 2006).
AAI ACQUISITION: United Industrial Corp. (UIC), the parent company of AAI Corporation, announced Oct. 8 that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Textron Inc. Textron will acquire all of the outstanding shares of UIC common stock for $81 per share in cash through a tender offer targeted for mid-October. As UIC's primary operating subsidiary, AAI produces aerospace and defense systems, including the U.S. Army's Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle.
PATRIOT PURE FLEET: Raytheon said it received a $150 million U.S. Army contract to begin the Patriot "Pure Fleet" modernization program, bringing all Army Patriot equipment to Patriot Configuration 3 status. Pure Fleet stems from the Army's February 2006 decision to upgrade additional tactical Patriot fire units. The initial contract provides for the upgrade of one battalion consisting of four fire units of Patriot hardware.
HARRIS RADIOS: Harris said it has received a $104 million order from the U.S. Army for high-frequency radio systems. Under the agreement, Harris will provide the Army with Falcon II AN/PRC-150(C) radios and related accessories, as well as installation services and training. It is the first and only Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS)-approved radio to be certified as fully compliant with version 2.2 of the JTRS software communications architecture. Separately, Harris claimed it has successfully demonstrated the new programmable software for U.S. and U.K.
The U.S. Army could operate fine through the end of the year under the current continuing resolution for appropriations, but after that the service needs new fiscal 2008 supplemental funds, according to the service's deputy chief of staff for programs. Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes told an Association of the United States Army audience Oct. 8 that the Army can last 60-90 days before a "drawdown" would occur in buying long-lead parts for equipment. "At this point, we're not at risk," the three-star general said on a panel of numerous other generals.
The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program expects to finally award the long-delayed Airborne Maritime Fixed (AMF) portion of the program before the end of this year. JTRS is developing a family of interoperable, software-defined radios based on open architectures and capable of mobile ad hoc networking on the battlefield. The AMF portion will produce a radio for wide-body aircraft, a maritime version for ships and a version for fixed shore sites.
The U.S. Navy's CG(X) Cruiser program is likely to come under a congressional microscope, according to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). "The CG(X) raises several potential oversight issues for Congress," CRS says in its Sept. 20 report. These include the balance in the CG(X) design between affordability and capability, the accuracy of the Navy's cost estimate, technical risk, and whether some or all CG(X) ships should be nuclear-powered. Other issues
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Delores Etter has indicated she wants to leave her post in mid-November to take a teaching position at the Naval Academy, a Navy source confirmed Oct. 8. Etter would then have served about two years on the job. She was nominated Sept. 6, 2005, and sworn in on Nov. 7 that year.
SUPREME STATE: Supreme Industries said its Texas subsidiary has been awarded a potential $100 million contract to manufacture armored vehicles for the U.S. State Department. The initial order is for $500,000 - and future purchase orders are not guaranteed, the company noted. But if fully contracted, the deal could lead to sales of up to 800 armored vehicles. The vehicles' appearance, resembling that of the original equipment manufacturer's design, and heavy armor provide more discreet and secure transportation of diplomats to and from U.S. embassies, the company said.
