All of the Defense Department's fighter aircraft replacement plans are being rocked by a host of internal and external forces, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says.
China probably will order 10 to 20 Tupolev 22M supersonic bombers as soon as this year and may build them under license, a Japanese newspaper has reported. The move will bolster Beijing's efforts to deter U.S. intervention in any Chinese attempt to forcibly recover Taiwan. Russia used the Tu-22M Backfire as a naval strike aircraft primarily designed to attack U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.
Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), have asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a comprehensive review of individual body armor systems. "We are convinced that the Department of Defense must definitively and officially determine the facts regarding the protective qualities of the body armor we are currently providing our troops and that of any other commercially available comparable and competing system," the SASC leaders told the secretary May 22.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - The CH-53E Super Stallions will be getting satellite communication (SATCOM) capabilities for missions in the Horn of Africa, said U.S. Navy Capt. Rick Muldoon, program manager for H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters. Joint force operations require SATCOMs in the region because other communication networks are not as robust as in other areas, Muldoon said. The Super Stallions will be getting ARC-210 radios to make the SATCOM links, Muldoon said during a May 18 interview. Installation is scheduled to begin in the fall.
The Pentagon's fiscal 2008 budget request poses several key affordability and spending balance questions for lawmakers, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. "Several aspects of the Department's FY2008 budget request and its projected budgets through FY2013 raise questions about the affordability of DOD's plan as a whole and about the balance of spending among major elements of the defense budget," said the May 11 report. CRS' concerns Specifically, CRS cited the following:
EUROSLOTS: Eutelsat is opening a new spacecraft "neighborhood" at 9 degrees east longitude to expand direct TV broadcasting capacity to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The slot is being served by Hot Bird 2, renamed Eurobird 9. This is the third spacecraft to be redeployed following the launch of Hot Bird 7A and 8 to Eutelsat's primary neighborhood at 13 degrees east longitude last year.
A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it provides strong new evidence that Spirit's landing area was wet and possibly habitable by Martian microbial life in the ancient past. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the long-term presence of water. The rover's German-built alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica for this soil.
MPA DELAYED: The U.S. Coast Guard now expects its third HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft, made by EADS CASA in Europe, to be handed over in June, according to Capt. Michael Anderson, program manager for the service's Deepwater recapitalization program. The new-production aircraft once was expected in March, Deepwater officials had said. The second MPA arrived in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Feb. 19. The first one was delivered last December. After delivery, MPAs get "missionized" with various C4ISR technologies before being operationally deployed.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and the Boeing Company were the leading U.S. defense companies for 2006 by total dollar amount in contracts and contract modifications, according to a DAILY computer analysis of contracting data. Sandwiched between the two defense giants were a catch-all group of contractors called Miscellaneous Foreign Contractors, the analysis showed.
President Bush and NATO Secretary General De Hoop Scheffer said May 21 that they will work harder together to try to persuade Russia that proposed U.S. ballistic missile interceptors in Eastern Europe do not threaten the former Cold War adversary.
The U.S. Air Force says it changed a key performance parameter (KPP) for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet to meet operational realities, but the service's rationale seems to contradict Air Force statements on what CSAR missions are meant to accomplish.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems has established a new office designed to oversee the company's efforts to address the question of how to protect U.S. and friendly space assets and improve situational awareness in space. The new Space Superiority Office is being run by Todd Citron, former chief technology officer for the company's space business unit.
TOPOWL: Thales' TopOwl helmet-mounted display has been selected for demonstration to U.S. forces as part of Lockheed Martin's Modernized Pilot Night Vision System. TopOwl, already used by the U.S. Marines, will be flown on an Army UH-1 helicopter.
Billions of dollars in new U.S. military aid to post-9/11 allies have flowed to countries whose "grim" records of human rights practices had led to pre-9/11 decisions by U.S. officials to cut off or curtail aid, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit public policy organization in Washington.
PURCHASE: Honeywell International has agreed to pay $230 million to acquire Dimensions International, a defense logistics company that provides support for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and other defense agencies. Alexandria, Va.-based Dimensions has 1,200 employees worldwide and is on pace to have sales of $173.5 million this year. Honeywell says the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, will bolster its business in areas such as field support, equipment pre-positioning, depot maintenance and vehicle overhaul and up-armoring.
NORAD and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) officials are awaiting a study on defending against electromagnetic pulse attacks due by the end of the month before deciding whether key computer terminals will move to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., or remain in the nearby Cold War-era Cheyenne Mountain Directorate.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Rockwell Collins plans to announce by the end of the year whether it will enter the commercial side of the aircraft simulation and training market, a move that would enable the avionics powerhouse to capitalize on booming demand for new commercial aircraft.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., is seeking proposals for the Mars Critical Data Products Initiative IV (CDP IV) program, which is aimed at reducing the risk and improving the science return of upcoming Mars missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
AIR FORCE Engineered Fabrics Corp., Rockmart, Ga., is being awarded a $15,952,382 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract action provides for C/KC-135 fuel cells used in the center wing, aft, will forward and upper desk positions of the C/KC-135 aircraft. The primary function of the fuel cell is to store fuel for use during flight. At this time, no funds have been obligated. The work will be complete by June 2010. Headquarters Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8103-07-C-0077).
DEDICATED: On May 21 in Waco, Texas, NASA dedicated its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft to pioneering aviator Charles Lindbergh on the 80th anniversary of his historic transatlantic flight. SOFIA is a highly modified 747 airliner that carries a 45,000-pound infrared telescope system. It was modified at L-3 Systems in Waco and is wrapping up a series of functional checkout flights before heading to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center for further tests and systems integration.
