CSAR-X DELAYS: For the past several months, Air Force officials have been chomping at the bit as Pentagon acquisition officials held up various portions of the Combat, Search and Rescue Replacement (CSAR-X) helicopter. But now, the Defense Department says that it's the Air Force that's asking for the latest delay, pushing back acquisition reviews until later this fall. The reason, the Air Force says, is to collect more data. But industry says there's a growing concern that the service is just asking too much from one aircraft.
DEFENSE BILL: The Senate passed its fiscal 2007 defense spending bill late Sept. 7 by a vote of 98-0 (DAILY, Sept. 8). Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in line to take over the Armed Services Committee, decried what he called more than $4 billion in earmarks, as well as the Appropriations panel's $9 billion cut to the Bush administration's request. "During a time of war we should be making every effort to support the president's budget request instead of slashing it and then adding earmarks for favored projects," he said.
Europe's Smart-1 lunar orbiter crashed into the moon's Sea of Excellence Sept. 3 as planned, just three weeks short of a three-year mission that demonstrated several advanced spacecraft technologies and produced valuable data on Earth's natural satellite right up to the end. Operators at the European Space Agency's control center in Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed touchdown at 1:42 a.m. Eastern time, when the New Norcia ground station in Australia lost radio contact with the probe.
Trying again to accelerate an organic U.S. special operations forces (SOF) UAV capability after an earlier legislative attempt was undone, the Senate is set to add $65.4 million in fiscal 2007 defense appropriations to almost double the number of General Atomics Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) going directly to SOF.
As Defense Department contract obligations have skyrocketed in the last five years, so has its reliance on the private sector to help it fulfill its missions and support its operations, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Sept. 7. The Air Force, for example, is now buying launch services rather than rockets for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. And with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan draining manpower, the Defense Department is hiring contract guards to protect 57 domestic installations.
LAUNCH SET: NASA has decided to attempt a launch of Atlantis on the STS-115 mission on Sept. 8 following a delay caused by an electrical spike detected in a Freon coolant pump motor associated with one of three orbiter cells. The liftoff target is about 11:40 a.m. Eastern time.
The Navy could wind up with shortfalls in its desired fleet size of next-generation cruisers and destroyers if the service continues with its current acquisition strategy, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The Navy, which plans to procure some of its ships in later years, and Congress have other options to consider, CRS naval expert Ronald O'Rourke says in the Aug. 29 report, "Navy DDG-1000 (DD(X)), CG(X), and LCS Ship Acquisition Programs: Oversight Issues and Options for Congress." (See related charts on page 5.)
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center plans to offer prospective partners in government and industry the opportunity to fly NASA-owned unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and take advantage of the center's UAV safety and flight certification expertise to support their own projects. "What we're trying to do is make the [UAV] community aware of some of the core competencies [and] capabilities that we have here at Dryden that might be of value or of interest to them," said Jeff Bauer, a business development manager at the center.
The annual budget cuts suffered by the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program are beginning to have an effect on its incremental milestones, although so far the program's major milestones remain on track, according to Assistant Army Secretary for Acquisition Claude Bolton.
Lockheed Martin plans to take over the marketing of commercial launch services on its Atlas V vehicles, shifting from collaboration to competition with its Russian partners and their Proton launchers. The U.S. aerospace giant Sept. 7 announced the proposed sale of its interest in International Launch Services (ILS) and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International (LKEI), the U.S.-Russian partnership under which it gained access to Proton services, to a startup headed by its former Moscow consultant.
The U.S. Army plans to fund the Lockheed Martin-led Joint Common Missile (JCM) program in fiscal 2008 at a level of roughly $140 million to $150 million, according to Army budget director Lt. Gen. Jerry Sinn. "When we put this POM [Program Objective Memorandum] together, we're going to fund it," Sinn said following a breakfast in Arlington, Va., Sept. 7. "And I suspect when we do that, all else will follow." The POM will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), after which the White House's final FY '08 budget request will be finalized.
RUMSFELD DEBATED: The Senate set aside several possible amendments to the fiscal 2007 defense spending bill Sept. 6 to mull over a Democratic-sponsored no-confidence vote in the Pentagon's civilian leadership. Senate leaders vowed to finish the bill Sept. 7, although Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said several amendment efforts would have to be sacrificed. Senators did reject by a vote of 70-30 an amendment proposal from Democratic Sens. Diane Feinstein (Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (Vt.) Sept.
Former astronaut Mary L. Cleave, the associate NASA administrator for science, will retire next spring. Cleave has been under fire from constituents in the scientific community since the agency used some $3 billion in expected science funding to pay unexpected costs for returning the space shuttle fleet to service after the Columbia accident.
A source selection document explaining NASA's rationale for choosing Lockheed Martin to build the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) says the aerospace giant bested rival Northrop Grumman/Boeing's bid in the areas of mission suitability, cost, and past performance.
More growth is on the way to the Iraqi air force, U.S. officials say, with the first of 16 UH-1H Iroquois aircraft to join the Iraqi fleet by January as the service tries to ramp up its counterinsurgency capability. The UH-1s are being upgraded in the United States to the more powerful "Huey II" configuration and will provide a much-needed medium lift capability, as well as a casualty evacuation capability. Ten Mi-17 Hip helicopters also are slated to join the fleet, and Iraqi pilots are in training now.
ROADRUNNER: IBM has been awarded a competitive contract to partner with Los Alamos National Laboratory to build what could eventually be the world's fastest computing supercomputer, starting with construction of a new "Roadrunner" supercomputer, according to Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.H.).
Next month Northrop Grumman expects to at last receive the long-delayed contract for Germany's first Euro Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, which the German military hopes to have operational as a signals intelligence platform by 2010. Euro Hawk is a joint effort by Global Hawk manufacturer Northrop Grumman and EADS, which is furnishing a new signals intelligence sensor for the aircraft. Purchase of the first Euro Hawk has suffered repeated delays as a result of both legislative factors within the German government and the U.S. export control process.
A U.S. Army officer and Lockheed Martin Corp. are praising the performance of Lockheed's Hellfire missiles during intense Iraqi operations a year ago in Tall Afar and the Ninewa Province. "The Hellfire really became the weapon of choice," said Army Maj. Butch Whiting, who as a captain led eight AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's Renegade Troop at the time.
C-17 SUSTAINMENT: The Boeing Co.'s McDonnell Douglas Corp. received a $7.1 million contract addition to the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership contract to increase the fiscal 2004-05 ceiling and funding and to fund FY '06 Material Improvement Projects (MIPs) for the U.S. Air Force through September 2011, the Defense Department said Sept. 1. The MIP program was established based on estimated performance requirements for nonrecurring engineering and retrofit.
Using soldiers instead of contractors to fix and maintain Stryker vehicles may still fail to increase the brigades' flexibility to do different missions, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. The Pentagon disagrees, saying the Army strategy of using soldiers will give the brigades the flexibility the service wants.
NASA remained undecided late Sept. 6 on whether to proceed with the launch of Atlantis on the STS-115 mission Sept. 7, 8 or 9 or delay the flight into perhaps October for repairs following an electrical spike detected in a Freon coolant pump motor associated with one of three orbiter fuel cells. The orbiter fuel cells use cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and all three must be operational for a mission to launch or remain in orbit should one fail in space.
L-3 Communications has said that a U.S. Navy contract award to extend the service lives of several Landing Craft Air Cushion amphibious carriers is potentially worth $94 million and was "strategic" as the company prepares bids for international customers.
