Weather forecasters scaled back their optimism slightly for the first of three attempts to get the space shuttle Atlantis in orbit, but NASA managers at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., remained hopeful the delayed STS-115 mission can launch in the next three days. "We are a little more concerned about launch day than we were yesterday," launch weather officer Kathy Winters said Sept. 5. "It is a little more moist and so we are going to bump up our numbers from 10 percent to a 30 percent chance of KSC weather prohibiting launch."
Developing aircraft and capabilities to counter insurgents is a major priority in standing up a proper Iraqi air force, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officers said Sept. 1. The ability to do such counterinsurgency (COIN) missions as airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is a number one U.S. Air Force priority and remains a critical capability for the fledgling Iraqi air force, said Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog, director of the Air Component Coordination Element for the Multi-National Force-Iraq in Baghdad.
The launch of the twin NASA Stereo 3D solar imaging spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on board a Boeing Delta II will be delayed an additional month until at least Oct. 18 following a determination that the vehicle's second stage must be removed from the vehicle on Launch Complex 17A for additional checks.
The Missile Defense Agency's Sept. 1 test of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System exceeded expectations by hitting its target, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering III, MDA director. The test's expectation, or mission, was to get the interceptor into the kill region in space, Obering said in a post-test briefing. Actually, hitting the target would be icing on the cake, and Obering smiled in describing how the MDA had just completed the first successful in-flight test using all operational equipment and personnel.
The U.S. Special Operations Command is coming up short with people and training because of its increase in operations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says in a recent report. And the increase in operations -- along with the greater number of people needed to handle them -- will drive a need for more equipment, said John Gresham, a defense analyst and co-author of the book "Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces." "The equipment base has to grow to meet the extra needs," Gresham said Sept. 1.
The U.S. Air Force is building communications networks and using digitally controlled precision airdrops in combat zones to make them safer and more effective for American troops and allies, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officers said Sept. 1. To better ensure the safety of road convoys in Iraq, the command has established special communications networks to keep ground vehicles in constant contact with headquarters or other platforms.
Canada's defense minister is calling for military officials to develop a plan to help the Afghan government assume more responsibilities for the country's security. During an Aug. 31 visit to Kandahar, Afghanistan, National Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said he wants to see more Canadian money and military equipment provided to the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army. "This contribution will help the Afghan government take control of their own security," O'Conner said.
LAWMAKING AGAIN: Congress has a full plate to deal with when it returns this week from its August recess. The Senate has yet to pass a defense spending bill for fiscal 2007, although it could happen by midweek. The $466.5 billion defense spending measure passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee bogged down amid a flurry of amendments and other election-year-related lawmaking. But first Democrats are expected to introduce still more amendments on the floor.
BADGUYOLOGY: The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate is looking for sensor integration technology to be coupled with existing force protection technology and profiling called "BadGuyology" to combat suicide bombers. Researchers want to combine "smart" imaging, chemical and spectral sensors that can note cues such as brain activity with BadGuyology behavior cues to provide "novice operators" like ground troops a "more robust standoff" suicide bomber detection capability.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ship Systems (NGSS) unit in Pascagoula, Miss., a $95.9 million contract for DDG 1000-class destroyer detail design, the DOD and company said. Total value of the detail design effort is $307.5 million through 2013, with $39.4 million funded at contract award for advanced zone detail design. The remaining detail design is included in a priced option valued at $268.1 million.
FASTTRACKED POPULARITY: The U.S. Navy's new seven-year, $450 million "FastTrack" program to find, engineer and replace increasingly obsolescent parts for legacy aircraft across the Defense Department is becoming more popular with other armed services. "The Army is actively using the FastTrack program for efforts in Iraq," says Bob Polanowski, head of the Advanced Laser Data Acquisition Center reverse engineering unit.
IRAQI BUILDUP: Iraqi security forces are receiving the equipment they need to deal with the enemy they face, but they will get even more armored vehicles, aircraft and logistical capabilities in coming months, says U.S. Army Gen. George Casey Jr., the coalition commander in the country. Casey said Aug. 30 that while he does not know when Iraqi forces will be able to take over the security mission, they'll be able to take on security missions with very little coalition support over the next year to 18 months.
CEO PAY: The average pay of U.S. defense CEOs has doubled since 2001, far outstripping the 6 percent increase across all industries, a new report claims. The study by two liberal groups, the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, calculates that CEOs at 34 publicly traded companies that derive at least 10 percent of their revenues from defense contracts earned an average of $7.2 million a year in 2002-05, compared with $3.6 million in 1998-2001.
RUSSIAN ROCKETS: Israelis are unhappy about encountering some of Russia's top-of-the-line weapons during combat with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, including the Metis-M and laser-guided Kornet-E anti-tank weapons. U.S. aerospace industry officials, who spend their time developing defenses against these same weapons, say an Israeli government team was sent to Moscow to complain.
FLIGHT KITS: Boeing has snagged a $5.6 million contract to provide Air Mobility Command and the Air National Guard with 75 combat Track II flight kits. The systems, installed on tactical aircraft, use software that integrates national intelligence and theater tactical broadcasts to provide aircrews of bombers, tankers and airlift aircraft with real-time situational awareness of where threats are and what they're doing.
Sept. 12 - 14 -- 11th India International Defense/Civil Equipment & Aerospace Systems Conference & Exhibition, Ashok Hotel & Conference Center, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. For more information email [email protected]. Sept. 13 - 14 -- 2006 European Air & Port Security Expo, Brussels. For more information call +44 (208) 842-9175 or go to www.aps-expo.com.
JOINT LCS: Expect the U.S. Navy to continue looking at ongoing Army and Air Force research, development and acquisition efforts to help fill in its Littoral Combat Ship mission package elements. The LCS mission packages program "will continue to actively seek economic efficiencies through the potential use of other Army (and Air Force) systems that fill our mission needs," says Capt. Walter Wright, program manager. Wright spoke Aug. 28 as the Army Aviation and Missile Command formally awarded NetFires, a limited liability company established by Lockheed Martin Corp.
NASA's selection of the Lockheed Martin team for the $8 billion Orion vehicle development to replace the space shuttle will fundamentally change contractor interaction with the space agency and turn the Kennedy Space Center into a more centralized manned flight hardware production, assembly and integration center. Lockheed Martin took a much more openly aggressive approach to the use of Kennedy than did the Northrop Grumman/Boeing team, although the losing team would have also broadened the launch site's scope had it won.
UNMANNED C2: Lockheed Martin Corp. expects to demonstrate simultaneous command and control (C2) of 10 unmanned vehicles in late 2007. The company's Intelligent Control and Autonomous Replanning of Unmanned Systems (ICARUS) project, funded by the Office of Naval Research and executed by the company's Aeronautics division in Fort Worth, Texas, is in its third phase and has already "illustrated" simultaneous operation of seven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) - one HALE, four unmanned combat aerial systems and two Fire Scouts - by one operator.
DEEPER DEEPWATER: Former Lockheed Martin Corp. engineer Michael De Kort, who says he led C4ISR systems on the failed 110-foot Coast Guard patrol boat conversion effort under the Deepwater program, is alleging malfeasance in a unique way. With a self-posted video on the YouTube Web site, he asserts that camera security, FLIR and communications systems on the boats did not meet requirements but were passed over. The Coast Guard reportedly says it is cooperating with a Homeland Security Department inspector general review.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?: The Air Force, which hates calling its big, new MQ-9 the Predator B, has quietly named the turboprop-powered unmanned aerial vehicle the "Reaper." Since the UAV has six weapon stations and has been assigned the Killer portion of the Hunter/Killer mission, it appears there is an unspoken meaning, "as in Grim Reaper," confirms a senior defense official. Budget planning for fiscal 2008 leaves nearly all the UAV programs untouched, but without any large initiatives.
