Because weapon system programs that result from award- and incentive-fee contracts are often "unexecutable" or subject to "shifting 'requirements'" and funding, the Defense Department has been unwilling to hold its programs or its contractors accountable for achieving the very acquisition outcomes it outlines, the U.S. Comptroller General said Dec. 21.
SPACE TUG: Europe's ATV space tug has moved one step closer to qualification in March by recently completing an 18-day environmental test campaign. The final step in the new-generation freighter's qualification will involve completion of closed-loop functional tests, intended to verify the compatibility of ATV flight software with the overall design. Completion by March would allow the first flight unit, the Jules Verne, to be shipped to Kourou in the spring for a planned third-quarter launch.
Top executives from the Lockheed Martin Corp.-Northrop Grumman Corp. joint venture responsible for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program remain cautiously optimistic about federal appropriations despite recent mainstream news media profiles questioning the 25-year, $24 billion program.
MTG OPTIONS: Eumetset says it is studying two alternatives for a planned third generation geostationary orbit weather system (MTG), intended to replace the existing second-generation network around 2015. Three instruments - an imager, infrared sounder and lightning imager - are planned for the MTG. However, the European Space Agency says development of the IR sounder is on a critical path and could take until 2017. Buying one from the U.S. - a fallback solution - has been rejected by Eumetsat as prohibitive.
Key aerospace groups say they approve of the White House's new national aeronautics research and development (R&D) policy, although group leaders stressed the need for the policy to be supported with funding. "We are thankful that the administration has recognized the importance of aeronautics in strong and forceful language," said John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). "The challenge now is to make the financial commitment match the policy."
W7 SPACECRAFT: Eutelsat has selected Alcatel Alenia Space to supply a new W-Series spacecraft, the W7, and Sea Launch to serve as the launch provider for a second quarter 2009 liftoff. The 5.6-metric ton 12 kW spacecraft will be equipped with up to 70 Ku-band transponders, allowing the Paris-based operator to double capacity at its new 36 degree east orbital neighborhood and move an older spacecraft, Sesat 1, to a new location.
AUSA APPROVES: Retired Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, head of the Association of the U.S. Army, says he's pleased that President Bush wants to increase the permanent size of both the Army and Marine Corps. Bush has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to present a plan to expand the size of both forces. Sullivan says that an Army endstrength increase of 100,000 troops, plus an increase of the Army's share of the total Defense Department budget to at least 28 percent, would allow the service to meet its needs and prepare for the future.
BUDGET TIFF: Incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) expects President Bush to provide a "war budget" as part of the regular fiscal 2008 budget request in February. Tiring of supplemental requests that skirt defense authorizers and other congressional scrutiny, Congress, in the FY '07 defense authorization act, mandated that Bush budget for Iraq and Afghanistan as much as possible in regular, capped budget making. But Bush, though presidential "signing statements," has questioned the provision and Skelton's cross-Capitol colleague, Sen.
The Defense Department continues to increase its reliance on contractors to provide both products and services, the U.S. comptroller general has told lawmakers. The Pentagon's obligations on service contracts rose from $82.3 billion in fiscal 1996 to $141.2 billion in FY 2005, he says.
Lockheed Martin has completed the basic structure of the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite and delivered it ahead of schedule to company facilities in Mississippi for integration with its propulsion subsystem, the company announced Dec. 22. The integration work at Lockheed Martin's Mississippi Space & Technology Center, which is located at NASA's Stennis Space Center, will take several months.
TANK ARRIVING: The Lockheed Martin-built external tank that will fly with Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-117 next year was due to arrive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida Dec. 23, following a five-day, 850-mile trip via barge from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where it was built. Currently scheduled for liftoff on March 16, STS-117 will deliver a second starboard truss and a third set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. The external tank for the mission is designated ET-124.
JOINT VENTURE: Force Protection Inc. and General Dynamics Land Systems said Dec. 22 they will form a joint venture to compete for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program, a U.S. joint services program being managed by the Marine Corps. Specifically, the joint venture was formed to offer Force Protection's Cougar 4x4 and 6x6 armored vehicles. It builds on an earlier agreement between the companies for General Dynamics to perform structure fabrication of the armored capsule used in Cougar medium mine-protected vehicles.
Space Shuttle Discovery returned safely to Earth Dec. 22, completing a 13-day mission in which astronauts conducted four spacewalks and continued work on the International Space Station. The shuttle's seven astronauts were cleared to perform a re-entry toward a Kennedy Space Center landing at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern time after initial Kennedy and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., opportunities were cancelled because of dynamic weather conditions. The final "go" for a Kennedy landing was made only five minutes before the deorbit burn to KSC.
SHARE BUYBACK: SES Global has completed a share buyback program, allowing shareholders to cancel 25 million shares. Shareholders have also authorized a new buyback program for up to 10 percent of issued share capital, and voted to change the name of the company to SES. The new repurchase plan, to run through June 2008, will be priced at 9.75-19.75 euros. The previous program, authorized in December 2005 following the completion of another buyback that had led to the cancellation of 50 million shares, brought in 233 million euros ($305.6 million), or 9.32 euros a share.
NOT OUR FAULT: Making sure they got it on the record before they really do control the purse strings, Democratic congressional appropriations and budget staff issued a six-page statement about the results of almost 12 straight years of Republican-dominated budget making.
More than three years after its creation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) still needs comprehensive acquisition guidance and oversight, according to the department's inspector general. More certified program managers, comprehensive department-wide procurement management standards, greater independent analysis and review, and better defined technical requirements to avoid wasting time and money are among the needed measures, DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner said in a report released Dec. 21.
GREEK FALCONS: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $931.3 million contract modification for new F-16 C/D aircraft for Greece under the F-16 Block 52 aircraft lot, according to a Dec. 21 announcement. The procurement of 20 operational, single-place F-16C Block 52 aircraft and 10 operational two-place F-16D Block 52 aircraft will take place under the firm-fixed price portion of the contract. The basic undefinitized contract action was awarded for the long lead requirements only, the Defense Department said.
AFFORDABLE ENGINES: The U.S. Navy has awarded General Electric Co. a $40 million contract for research and development in support of the Naval Air Systems Command's Propulsion and Power Department's Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines Program. The program hopes to develop, demonstrate and transition "advanced multiuse, turbine engine technologies that provide a revolutionary improvement in affordability to a broad range of legacy, pipeline and future military propulsion and power needs," according to a Defense Department announcement Dec. 20.
U.K. MERGER: With the U.K. Defense Procurement Agency and the Defense Logistics Organization merging next spring, some on Wall Street believe the move will make it more difficult for newcomers to enter the market, thereby protecting companies like BAE Systems, Thales, VT Group and Selex (Finmeccanica) and QinetiQ. Merrill Lynch analysts tell investor clients that the merger could result in a move toward long-term service contracts, usually with the U.K.-based builder being the prime contractor for the support contract as well.
The creation of a U.S. African command is a good first step to controlling the spread of terrorism from the region, an anti-terrorism expert says. But to make a real difference, the U.S. will have to treat the region as it did Europe after World War II, he said. "To check the communist and Islamist expansionism, the West will need nothing short of a modern Marshall Plan," said H. John Poole, a former Marine who has become a counterinsurgency expert.
ALLIES SLACKING: His tone might have been constructively critical and his intent not to complain, but the former NATO and U.S. European commander's message is nonetheless clear: many allies have not grasped the new age of warfare and the need for proactive global antiterrorism operations. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones - adamant that he'll retire in February - says in C-SPAN'S Newsmakers interview to be broadcast Dec.
