The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, a $115.84 million contract modification for integration of the U.K. version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) air system with the U.K. carrier version future (CVF) under the JSF systems development and demonstration. The new work will be carried out in Warton, U.K. (57 percent), Fort Worth (35 percent), Orlando, Fla. (5 percent), and El Segundo, Calif. (3 percent). It should be finished in October 2013, the Defense Department said June 27.
DISAPPOINTED: Australian Minister of Defense Brendan Nelson says he is "very disappointed" with Boeing's performance on the Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, and has met with Boeing CEO Jim Albaugh to discuss the program. "Recently we were informed there were ... significant delays in the project," he says. The Wedgetail is a 737-700 carrying a Northrop Grumman multirole electronically scanned array radar.
After years of delays, a U.S. Air Force Boeing Delta IV inaugurated Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., as a West Coast launch pad for highly inclined payloads with the successful June 27 launch of a secret National Reconnaissance Office satellite. The 8:33 p.m. pacific time launch was delayed for 19 minutes by strong winds, but the final count proceeded nominally once it was started. The payload, NROL-22, was successfully deployed into a highly elliptical orbit after a 54-minute ascent and is now in checkout.
Senate energy appropriators are suggesting $62.7 million for the Energy Department's Reliable Replacement Warhead program in fiscal 2007, a $35 million increase over the Bush administration's request. The additional funds would go to accelerate RRW design activities, including $10 million to initiate a second competition to replace one or more of the existing legacy systems. Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories have been key to the effort, according to chief Senate energy appropriator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.).
Perhaps foreshadowing budget fights for years to come, NASA supporters in the House turned back a spirited effort June 28 by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that would have barred spending for sending astronauts to Mars. By press time, the House, which was debating a fiscal 2007 appropriations bill including NASA, had rejected Frank's proposal by voice vote. Supporters of the Bush administration's moon-Mars agenda and its subsequent federal spending asserted technological and economic advantages of striving toward such a goal.
Turkey has extended the source selection period for two aviation acquisition programs, a large helicopter procurement effort and a basic trainer replacement initiative.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker and U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee during Capitol Hill testimony spelled out the equipment reset needs of their respective services which together are pegged at $29 billion in fiscal 2007. Schoomaker told the House Armed Services Committee on June 27 that the Army's reset requirement is $17.1 billion, which includes nearly $5 billion deferred from the service's FY '06 request. Hagee said that the Marines need $11.9 billion.
PATRIOT GAMES: U.S. and Japanese officials are working to release a halted shipment of composite materials needed for the Patriot theater missile defense system following Japan's decision to hold the ship due to snags in export licensing. Torus Industries of Japan manufactures the material for the Army's Patriot Advanced Capability Missile-3; Japan has agreed to procure the system and wants to co-produce the missile. Torus's material is available elsewhere, an industry official says, but the two governments are working to get the shipment out of port and on its way.
Boeing Co. said June 27 that it has been awarded a $50 million Foreign Military Sales contract to provide Egypt's military with Avenger short-range air defense fire units, spares and logistics support.
The snake eaters are moving to New Mexico. Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., was designated for shutdown by last year's Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and it will lose its F-16s in the coming months as previously planned. However, Air Force Special Operations Command has since convinced government officials to stand up by October 2007 a new West Coast staging facility at Cannon for its CV-22s and possibly AC-130U gunships and MC-130Hs.
The U.S. Navy has inked several contract awards for shipbuilding, according to the Defense Department and industry participants, including for the Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and for nuclear-submarine work. The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin Corp.'s LCS team nearly $197.6 million for construction of the third LCS, the second ship awarded to that group. Lockheed Martin said it will begin construction in the first quarter of 2007 at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La.
Senate homeland security appropriators will recommend $993.63 million for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program next fiscal year, about 11 percent more than the House's allocation of $892.64 million weeks earlier.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a $72.8 million contract to Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems of Sudbury, Mass., for long-lead material items and critical work center efforts for the AN/SPY-1D (V) Aegis Weapons Systems (AWS) Transmitter Group production for Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program.
NASA will begin the countdown for the launch of shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 at 5 p.m. Eastern time June 28. The countdown includes nearly 28 hours of built-in hold time, leading to a scheduled launch at 3:49 p.m. July 1. The launch window for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida lasts nearly five minutes. STS-121 will be the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission is expected to last 12 days and end with a 10:45 a.m. landing back at Kennedy on July 13.
Major U.S. industry associations are praising an amendment to the Senate's fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill that would exempt some so-called commercial items technology hardware, including specialty metals from foreign suppliers, from the longstanding Berry Amendment restriction - a move that nonetheless sets up a congressional showdown.
HUBBLE TROUBLE: The Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys remains offline as engineers try to diagnose a problem with its power supply. On June 19 the power supply voltages went above acceptable limits and the camera shut down. NASA says it is "very close" to understanding the issue, and managers plan to meet at Goddard Space Flight Center on June 29 to decide on corrective action. NASA hopes normal observations can resume by July 3.
JOINT SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems a $95.5 million contract option to support the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Experimentation Program and Joint Futures Lab. The work in Suffolk, Va., is expected to be finished by July 2007, the Defense Department said June 26. General Dynamics has received previous awards for similar support work (DAILY, Aug. 2, 2005). All are competitively procured, but only General Dynamics apparently responded with an offer.
FLYING HIGH: Alenia Aeronautica has signed a contract with Lithuania for 3 C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft. The company said June 26 that the selection "confirms that the C-27J Spartan is the preferred aircraft of the new NATO countries as they modernize legacy fleets to meet NATO standards." Coupled with an agreement signed last week by the U.S.
