Although Boeing so far has been unable to entice any of the services into drafting a requirement for its Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) helicopter, the aircraft is proving useful as a test tool for other technology development programs both inside and outside Boeing, the company says.
Senate defense appropriators have kept legislative language in their fiscal 2007 spending bill that would continue a ban on foreign sales of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22A Raptor, setting up a conference fight with the House, which approved foreign sales last month.
Proposed Congressional cuts to two of the Army's key aircraft programs - the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter and the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) - would cause delivery delays and program cost increases, says U.S. Army Aviation Director Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt. The $109 million Congress wants to cut from the JCA program, for example, would slip that program by at least two years, Mundt said during a July 18 Pentagon briefing. The Army wants to start buying the planes in 2008. Such cuts and delays can cause a domino effect, Mundt said.
MODERNIZED GPS: Lockheed Martin Corp. announced July 18 that its industry team has completed the fifth of eight modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) IIR satellites that the company is developing for the U.S. Air Force. The GPS IIR-M modernized program will provide enhanced features such as two new signals and enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, as well as a second civil signal. Finished satellites are delivered to storage and become available for launch when requested by the Air Force.
The aerospace and defense industry should help the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) recapitalize its C-130 fleet, possibly with C-130Js, rather than by offering more C-17s, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley. Head air commando Wooley said AFSOC is studying a follow-on airplane for its current C-130s, and industry should help replace MC-130s first and then eventually AC-130 gunships. In particular, Wooley favored a possible MC-130J variant.
JCSAT: Japan's JCSAT-10 telecommunications satellite is undergoing checkout in the S5 clean room facility at Arianespace's launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft is slated to launch Aug. 11 on an Ariane 5 rocket along with France's Syracuse 3B military relay spacecraft. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems built JCSAT-10, which will be operated by Tokyo-based JSAT Corporation.
Six CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters are being used to evacuate U.S. citizens from Lebanon while the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Gonzalez is escorting the Orient Queen, an ocean liner contracted to help evacuate other Americans as a force-protection measure, according to the Defense Department. Going to Cyprus Three of the Sea Stallions belong to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and three are from U.S. forces based in the United Kingdom. The aircraft are evacuating U.S. citizens from the embassy in Beirut and taking them to Cyprus.
NASA's dwindling aeronautics research program slights the "transitional" work that is needed to drive the results of basic science into industrial applications that can add to the U.S. balance of trade, experts in the field told Congress July 18. Testifying to the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee, panelists from The National Academies, industry and academia agreed that while fundamental research is important, the "first A in NASA" - aeronautics - needs to bend some more metal.
SEA SPARROWS: U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Raytheon Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems unit a $13 million contract for the fabrication, assembly, test and delivery of 52 MK 20 MOD 1 canisters for Japan (88 percent) and Canada (12 percent) under the foreign military sales program. The canister holds a RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile in the MK 48 guided missile vertical launching system, the launcher for the Sea Sparrow surface-to-air ship self-defense missile.
Senate displeasure with the $615-million Boeing-Justice Department settlement that ended investigations of two Air Force contract scandals continued to build July 18 as the Senate Finance Committee chairman added his voice to concerns that the company was not specifically barred from exempting the charge from its taxes.
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report questions whether the Bush Administration's proposed $3 billion sale of 36 F-16 C/D Block 50/52 combat jets to Pakistan will help that country better battle terrorists or help solidify the American military aircraft manufacturing base as promised. "The Block 50/52 variant that is being proposed for export is the most advanced version of the F-16 flown by U.S. military forces," writes CRS aviation analyst Christopher Bolkcom in his July 6 report, "Combat Aircraft Sales to South Asia: Potential Implications."
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a maximum $224,417,752 firm-fixed-price contract for spare parts to support aircraft platforms for federal civilian agencies. This is a sole source competition with one solicited and one responded exercising option year one. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is July 7, 2007. Contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Richmond, Richmond, Va. (SP040005D9413). NAVY
AIR FORCE Boeing Co., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $39,616,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification. This action provides for engineering change proposal 0305, Sweden C-130 avionics modernization program engineering and manufacturing development. At this time, $19,808,000 has been obligated. This work will be complete January 2010. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-0047/P00099).
The space shuttle STS-121 astronauts piloted Discovery to a safe touchdown July 17 in a dynamic weather situation at the Kennedy Space Center that forced a runway change 14 minutes before landing as the vehicle was at about Mach 10 off the coast of Central America. Mission commander USAF Col. Steve Lindsey, assisted by copilot Navy Cdr. Mark Kelly, and flight engineer Navy Cdr. Lisa Nowak piloted Discovery to a 9:14 a.m. EDT landing on Runway 15.
RETRIEVABLE DECOYS: The U.S. Air Force and BAE Systems said they have completed design, development and testing of a "conceptual" deployment and retrieval mechanism for the AN/ALE-55 fiber-optic towed decoy for use on F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. The decoy's reel-out/reel-in mechanism would replace a dual-canister launcher. Retrievable decoys also are supposed to cut costs by allowing reuse of decoys. Additional ALE-55 flight tests on the F-15 also are evaluating a new fast-deploy mechanism, they said July 17.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Alliant Techsystems announced July 17 that they have successfully test fired a first-stage booster motor under the Submarine-Launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile booster system demonstration for the U.S. Navy.
