ARMY UAVS: The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command awarded General Atomics Aeronautical System an $11.5 million contract for four extended range multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), associated support equipment and initial spare parts, the Defense Department said. The Aug. 22 award runs through Aug. 31, 2007, the DOD said Aug. 24. A similar $21 million contract for "improved" UAVs was announced two months ago (DAILY, June 29).
ARMY Northrop Grumman of Linthicum Heights, Md., was awarded Aug. 22 a firm-fixed price letter contract amounting to $73,999,589 for vehicular intercom systems, components and spare parts. The work will be conducted in Linthicum Heights, Md., and is to be completed by Oct. 31, 2008. The U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command Acquisition Center is the contracting activity. Army Public Affairs can be reached at (703) 692-2000 (W15P7T-06-C-L010).
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. J. "Boomer" Stufflebeem, commander of Joint Task Force Lebanon, has announced that Air Force Col. Brad Webb will command Task Force "Alpha," comprising air and land components, while Navy Capt. John Nowell will lead Task Force "Bravo," overseeing maritime assets in the eastern Mediterranean joint operating area. JTF-Lebanon was recently reassigned to the European Command from the Central Command.
The USS San Antonio (LPD 17), the first of its class of amphibious transport dock ships, should finally finish testing next year, making it "one of the most intensively tested and evaluated amphibious ships ever built," the U.S. Navy said. But first, the San Antonio's post-delivery test and trials will pause as the ship's crew begins "intensive unit-level training," the Navy said Aug. 24. The training will qualify the crew to be "amphibious surge ready" before additional testing resumes later this year.
CBP AIR: The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine division's new 67,500-square-foot National Air Training Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., is scheduled to open in October 2007, officials said Aug. 25. The construction contract has been awarded to the Korte Construction Co. of St. Louis. CBP Air and Marine Operations merged with elements from the Border Patrol to form the CBP Office of Air and Marine, the world's largest law enforcement air force with more than 500 pilots and 250 aircraft, including unmanned aircraft.
Iraq needs more logistical help to service its army and secure its borders, said Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, commander of the Iraq Assistance Group. "The Iraqi army, for the most part, is fairly well-equipped. There are some areas that need assistance, and that's in their logistical system," Pittard said in an Aug. 28 briefing at the Pentagon. "The areas that at least we are focusing on are just basic sustainment: sustainment of fuel, sustainment of ammunition, their medical supplies and their maintenance," Pittard said.
IRAQI CONTROL: The Iraqi government will assume control of some of its soldiers, sailors and airmen starting early next month, according to U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq. "The majority of Iraqi (army) divisions will remain under coalition forces initially," Caldwell explained at a news briefing Aug.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Co., Ft. Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,324,425 firm fixed price contract modification. The contract provides for provisioned items order modification, which will procure the spare parts for the Greece Peace Xenia IV F-16C/D aircraft. At this time $6,324,425 has been obligated. The work will be complete in June 2007. Headquarters 84th Combat Sustainment Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. (FA8212-06-C-0012/PM0017)
Officials from the U.S. Air Force Future Concepts Division have been meeting with national experts involved in space-based solar power to discuss the feasibility of developing such a capability. The division - which sets up future war-gaming scenarios for the service and helps design road maps for Air Force technology and interests - has been talking with the experts to determine what equipment, legislation and other changes would be needed to make space-based solar power possible.
SHORTAGE DENIED: The United Kingdom's defense ministry has denied a British newspaper report that said U.K. soldiers in Afghanistan have a shortage of ammunition and other equipment. "British soldiers in Afghanistan have not been left without ammunition or other core equipment," a spokesman said Aug. 28. "As with any other operation, some equipment is used more quickly than other types of equipment.
DEMO PHASE: Now that the Boeing and Lockheed Martin teams vying for the contract to build the U.S. Air Force's Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) network have demonstrated their systems' ability to handle basic waveform manipulation, the companies are about to face more stringent tests. Demonstrations running through next spring will focus on the teams' systems ability to truly create an orbital Internet protocol with laser links - the keys to making TSAT work.
Aug. 29 - 31 -- AUSVI's Unmanned Systems North America 2006, Orlando, Fla. For more information call (703) 845-9671 or go to www.ausvi.org. Sept. 4 - 6 -- Maritime Systems and Technology Conference for Defense, Security and Safety, Acropolis Convention & Exhibition Center, Nice, France. For more information go to www.mastconfex.com.
TAKING IN TEXAS: The U.S. Navy is commissioning the USS Texas, the second Virginia-class attack submarine, on Sept. 9, with First Lady Laura Bush as the ship's sponsor. The boat sports a nuclear reactor plant that will not require refueling during the planned life of the ship, cutting lifecycle costs while increasing sailing time. Troubles during production forced the Bush administration to request $136 million for further cost growth in the Texas next fiscal year, raising the ire of some lawmakers (DAILY, June 21).
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Space Command on Aug. 25 issued new common federal launch safety standards that they said were designed to create consistent, integrated space launch rules. "The consistent government approach will make expendable commercial rocket launch operations safer, more efficient and less costly," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said.
The Defense Department said Aug. 24 that the Air Force awarded both Aerojet General Corp. and ATK Thiokol $49 million contracts apiece to help kick off "major" efforts to develop new or enhanced technologies in missile propulsion and related inspection systems and service-life assessment tools. The work follows the Pentagon's priority to transition new technologies into propulsion systems for a prompt global strike capability, a land-based strategic deterrent and an operationally responsive space lift system, according to the DOD.
The U.S. Navy's master plan for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) should be published for industry's digestion by the end of the year, according to Capt. Paul Ims in the Program Executive Office for Littoral and Mine Warfare. Ims said Aug. 24 at a USV industry briefing in Arlington, Va., that the master plan should be out within the next four months, although he did not have a specific date for release.
SUB TEST: The Virginia-class attack submarine North Carolina is scheduled to be hull pressurized and tested Aug. 31 - a key milestone for the vessel. The nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines are the replacements for the Los Angeles-class fleet.
