TERMINATION MIXUP: Air Force Materiel Command Chief Gen. Bruce Carlson defends Air Force actions in providing cost data on the possible termination of the C-130J, which was considered last year during budget deliberations. The Pentagon's inspector general could not substantiate USAF's cost estimate, pegged in briefings to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Congress at $1.7 billion if the 60-aircraft buy were reduced by 25 airframes. The amount factored heavily into the Pentagon's decision to continue the program.
Subcontracting competitions for the Marine Corps' CH-53K development program have picked up in earnest with Sikorsky Aircraft, a United Technologies Corp. subsidiary, announcing June 29 that it selected Rockwell Collins to provide the avionics management system for the new heavy lift helicopter.
EASY CALL: NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says that his decision to proceed with the launch of shuttle Discovery over objections from the agency's top safety officer and chief engineer was not a particularly difficult one. "Frankly, the decision to fly ... that everyone seems to find so controversial, on the technical merits, made itself." Given the option of using the space station as a refuge for the crew, "I very strongly feel that we are not risking crew for foam in this case, or I would not feel comfortable launching," he says.
Missteps by Boeing Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) unit could add up to a hit of more than $1 billion when the company announces its second quarter earnings on July 26.
DOT&E DIRECTOR: The Bush administration will tap Charles McQueary to be the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation, the White House said June 30. McQueary was the first undersecretary for science and technology at the Homeland Security Department. His career includes leadership positions at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies and General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems.
LUH AWARD: EADS North American Defense of Arlington, Va., was awarded a $43.1 million contract on June 30 for the Light Utility Helicopter with MEDVAC B and hoist B kits along with pilot transition and maintainer training. The work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2016. Bids were solicited July 26, 2005, and five bids were received. The Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
PRICE IS RIGHT: Air Force Materiel Command Chief Gen. Bruce Carlson says the service and the Army have reached an agreement that will enable the Pentagon to potentially purchase the technical data and tooling information for the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA). USAF wants to perform in-house maintenance on the system, while the Army prefers to outsource the work for the small intratheater-resupply aircraft.
A day after finalizing fiscal 2006 authorization legislation for the U.S. Coast Guard, lawmakers marked up FY '07 policy language that again would approve as much as $1.73 billion for the Deepwater recapitalization program. The sum once again towers over the amount that appropriators likely will allocate for next fiscal year despite growing calls for increased investments by the Bush administration to speed up replacing and modernizing aging air and marine assets in the Homeland Security Department.
TEST HELP: The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Information & Technology Services unit a maximum $39.9 million, one-year contract for design agent engineering and technical support services for combat system ship qualification trials, ballistic missile defense and other test and evaluation events. The contract, which was not competitively awarded, was announced June 29 by the defense Department. Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor, with work ranging from the new Littoral Combat Ship to the new Joint Strike Fighter and F-22A Raptor.
SWITCHING TO DIGITAL: International Telecommunications Union delegates from 101 nations have agreed to switch totally to digital broadcasting by 2015 for the 470-862 MHz terrestrial frequency band. The move will free up more spectrum for handheld TV, high-definition TV and other mobile, fixed and radio navigation services. An additional five-year extension will be provided for the 174-230 MHz VHF band. The ITU will deal with regulatory aspects of the transition from analog to digital broadcasting at the next World Radiocommunications Conference in the autumn of 2007.
Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center were scheduled to restart the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope July 2 after switching the instruments detectors to a backup power supply. Ed Ruitberg, deputy associate director of the Astrophysics Division at Goddard, said June 30 that an engineering review the day before had concluded it would be virtually risk-free to switch to the backup. Controllers began the work needed to command the changeover on June 29.
In a nod to both the Apollo program and to Mars as an eventual destination for astronauts, NASA has named its new shuttle-derived orbital rockets the Ares 1 and Ares 5. Ares, the Greek name for Mars, "connects to our vision of going to the moon, Mars and beyond," Associate Administrator for Exploration Scott Horowitz said during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center June 30. "We didn't name it after the [Greek] god of war. That's not our intent."
OSPREY COSTS: The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awarded the Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office in Patuxent River, Md., a $37.8 million delivery order for one-time efforts associated with the V-22 Osprey's price-reduction program. The award covers a "cost-reduction initiative" (CRI), "affordability team support, and CRI tracking and validation of savings." Half of the work will be carried out in Ridley Park, Pa., with the rest split between Fort Worth and Amarillo, Texas. The order, announced June 29 by the Defense Department, should be finished in December 2009.
WITHOUT DELAY: NASA's space exploration program is a little stronger in the House despite the resignation of the agency's most powerful backer. Last year Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) used his clout to thwart a move that would have shifted $200 million of exploration funds into grants for state and local law enforcement. The vote was 230-196. This year a similar House amendment to the $16.7 billion fiscal 2007 NASA appropriation bill failed 236-185, even though the pot for cops was sweetened to the tune of $476 million.
The U.S. Navy has cleared the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's Raytheon-built APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to enter its operational evaluation (OPEVAL), the company announced June 30.
DORGAN DOWNED: Industry representatives say they will remain "vigilant" despite having twice defeated attempts by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to adopt legislative language aimed at curbing "no-bid" contracts, reinstating "blacklisting" regulations of the Clinton era, instituting stricter revolving-door rules, and establishing a special congressional "Truman Committee" to look into allegations.
SHUTTLE SUPPORT: Responding to a recent press editorial urging NASA to stop flying the space shuttle, House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) says he supports NASA Administrator Michael Griffin's decision to go forward with Discovery's launch despite the objections of the agency's safety and mission assurance officer and chief engineer (DAILY, June 22). "All indications are that the safety culture of NASA is working well thus far throughout the pre-launch process," Calvert says.
July 16 - 18 -- Summer Legislative Issues Conference, co-sponsored by AAAE & ACI-NA, Washington, D.C. For more information contact Ashleigh de la Torre at 202-293-8500, email [email protected] or go to www.aci-na.aero. July 17 - 23 -- 45th Farnborough International Airshow 2006, Farnborough Aerodrome, Hampshire, England. For more information go to www.farnborough.com. July 24 - 26 -- Geospatial Intelligence, "Imagery Exploitation on All Fronts," Westin Arlington Gateway, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.idga.org.
Senators last week made several changes to authorized defense research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds before passing their fiscal 2007 policy bill which affected the Arrow ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, the Advanced Aluminum Aerostructures Initiative and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
RESET: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has awarded BAE Systems a $27.2 million contract modification to reset 44 Bradley A2 Operation Desert Storm (ODS) vehicles returning from Iraq. The work will begin immediately, with deliveries to be complete by May 2007. Combined with $227 million previously funded in March, this modification brings the company's total FY '06 reset contract value to $254.4 million.
