U.S. military science and technology (S&T) officials are focusing on force protection measures, mainly against roadside bombs plaguing coalition forces in Iraq, as well as stronger, more reliable networks to disseminate the information new sensors and systems provide combat personnel, a panel told senators on March 9.
BUSH KEEL: Northrop Grumman Corp. on March 8 said it lowered the final keel section of the George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) aircraft carrier into place. The 700-ton lower bow unit was joined to the other keel sections in the Newport News, Va., dry dock and completes the length of the carrier, which is as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The ship is the second aircraft carrier to have the new bulbous-bow design that provides more buoyancy to the forward end of the ship and improves hull efficiency, the company said. The George H.W.
SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERS: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation announced its subcommittee leadership appointments March 8. For the aviation subcommittee, Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) will chair with Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) as ranking member. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) will lead the science and space subcommittee with Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) as ranking member.
SAS C PANELS: The Senate Armed Services Committee's defense subcommittee will be chaired by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) under subcommittee assignments announced late March 7 by SASC Chairman Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) will be the defense panel's ranking Democrat. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) will head the Homeland Security subcommittee, with Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.), the SASC ranking Democrat, taking the same position there as well. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) will chair the Commerce, Science and Technology subcommittee, with Sen.
The new combatant commander for U.S. military forces in the Pacific realm tried on March 8 not to jump directly into the debate about U.S. naval shipbuilding and fleet structure, but Navy Adm. William J. Fallon still referred to China's military growth trend as a potential future concern. "It's disconcerting to see this buildup, it seems to be more than might be required for their defense," Fallon told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
MODERNIZED: Lockheed Martin has completed the early installation of components to improve launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the company said March 8. The PC-based equipment, installed 30 days earlier than required, will improve safety operations management and post-flight analysis of launch and range operations, the company said.
The U.S. aerospace industry expanded its foreign trade surplus in 2004, increasing the positive balance by $4 billion to reach $31 billion, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) said March 7. According to statistics compiled by the AIA Aerospace Research Center, the industry saw an increase in exports of $4.3 billion and an increase in imports of about $400 million. The positive trade balance in 2003 was $27 billion.
Spurred by combat injuries suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is starting a program to develop realistic-looking prosthetic arms that would be controlled by a person's nervous system.
Lockheed Martin's Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM) is expected to enter the next stage of its development later this month when the missile's seeker will be tested in flight aboard a Beech King Air small aircraft, according to a company spokeswoman. Lockheed Martin plans other SMACM flight-tests later in the year, including launching the missile from an aircraft. The company has said that SMACM successfully underwent wind-tunnel tests in late 2004 (DAILY, Dec. 23).
NEW DELHI - Singapore's defense ministry has submitted a request for proposals to three companies for the production of 20 fighter aircraft worth $1 billion, defense minister Teo Chee Hean said. Under consideration are Eurofighterís Typhoon, Boeing Co.'s F-15E and F/A-18, and Dassault Aviation's Rafael. Two United Kingdom Royal Air Force Typhoons were evaluated in Singapore last year. (DAILY, July 6, 2004). The defence ministry will award the contract in the next few months and "ensure that it extracts the best value," Teo said.
COOLERS DELIVERED: Netherlands-based DCN has delivered the final two of six seawater/freshwater coolers for the British navy's Astute-class nuclear-powered attack (SSN) submarines, the company said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The coolers were ordered in 2001 by prime contractor BAE Systems Marine Ltd. of Glasgow, Scotland. Nuclear-powered subs use the coolers to dissipate waste heat from the nuclear power plant and auxiliary cooling circuits. Britain's Ministry of Defence ordered three Astute-class subs from BAE Systems Marine in 1997.
Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles has awarded Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Rockwell Collins a four-year, $49.6 million contract to provide avionics upgrades for 18 E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, Rockwell Collins said March 7. The upgrades will allow the aircraft to meet Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) requirements, the company said.
Now that the U.S. Air Force has lifted its sanctions against Boeing in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, the company hopes it may be able to avoid layoffs among its Delta IV personnel if it fares sufficiently well in the upcoming "Buy 3" round of launch assignments.
A BUDGET OF THEIR OWN: Democrats in the House will propose their own federal budget, House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters March 8. The Democrats' budget will outline a "strong commitment to national defense," although Hoyer did not provide further details. The Democratic budget proposal will exclude some of the same things that President Bush left out of his fiscal 2006 budget proposal, including costs for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Government Accountability Office has warned the U.S. Navy about the vulnerability of the planned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to large enemy warships. "Because the Navy focused the surface warfare threat and requirements analysis exclusively on small-boat swarms, the risks posed by larger surface threats when the LCS operates independently from nearby supporting U.S. forces have not yet been assessed," GAO investigators said in a report sent last week to the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees.
Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) of Exton, Pa., was awarded two new patents in February by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the company said March 7. One is for methods of "determining obscuration of sensors that are mounted on a spacecraft" and the other is for analysis of three-dimensional orbit maneuvers, the company said.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A new command center at Cheyenne Mountain here gives military officials better tools to deal with post-9/11 threats, according to Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has won the second phase of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to develop electronic components made from gallium nitride, a next-generation semiconductor material system aimed at providing improved communications, radar and intelligence capability to warfighters.
The U.S. Army general in charge of United States and United Nations forces in South Korea asked Congress on March 8 to continue support for modernizing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities there. "Our intelligence transformation efforts are focused in three critical areas: improving our warning posture, modernizing legacy C4I architectures and sensor suites and improving our ability to discern intent," Gen. Leon J. LaPorte told the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).
The U.S. Defense Department says it currently has no plans to intervene in a labor strike that began March 8 at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Ga., plant, where the Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor and C-130J Super Hercules are built. "At this point, it's in the contractor's hands until/unless it becomes an issue involving a critical contract for needed equipment, weapon systems, etc.," DOD spokesman Glenn Flood said. "Then the contracting activity that has the most at stake could get involved."
Navy Rear Adm. William Landay III, program executive officer for littoral and mine warfare, on Feb. 28 approved the milestone B decision for the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis system (COBRA). The decision allows the program to move toward Block I system development in fiscal 2006.
DEFENSE OUTLAYS: Outlays for defense and nondefense programs have increased at about the same pace so far this fiscal year, about 7%, compared with the same period in FY 2004, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest monthly budget review. By the end of fiscal 2005, CBO expects defense spending will be up by around 9% and nondefense spending by 6.5%. If the supplemental appropriations and other policies recently proposed by President Bush are enacted, the deficit for FY '05 will reach $394 billion.
Although the Boeing Co. is involved in yet another ethics scandal - this time involving the ouster of President and CEO Harry Stonecipher for an alleged affair with a female executive - this is not expected to affect the Air Force's recent decision to lift the company's 20-month suspension from space launch competitions, said Maj. Karen Finn, an Air Force spokeswoman.
