The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Lockheed Martin launched a payload to test various ballistic missile defense sensors on April 13 from Kauai, Hawaii, as part of the agency's Critical Measurements/Countermeasures program, Lockheed announced April 17.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said April 17 that it was awarded a $17.4 million contract for systems engineering and integration services for the U.S. Navy's Combat System Warfare Federated Tactical Systems, which manages and oversees all technical products integrated into submarine combat systems. The contract is funded for the first year and includes options for up to 10 years.
TANKER RFI: The U.S. Air Force's request for information to recapitalize its aerial tanker fleet should be out before May, the Pentagon said April 17. A draft request for proposal (RFP) is expected in the fall, with a final RFP next January and a contract award next summer. "We must ensure that this program models a traditional competitive acquisition program and that every step proceeds in a deliberate and transparent fashion," Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said.
Navy United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Group, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded $8,195,925 for priced order 5139 under a basic ordering agreement contract (N00383-04-G-003M) for turbine blade sets used on the J-52 engine, which powers the EA-6B aircraft. Work will be performed in Hartford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by November 2008. Contract funds will not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not awarded competitively. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software is a term that means a lot of different things to different people, but the head of an influential market research firm says that Dassault Systemes owns 70 percent of the aerospace market for these products and services.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has given General Dynamics Corp.'s Bath Iron Works a $42.8 million award for more DD(X) transition design efforts, initial detail design and long-lead material procurement for ship construction. "The requirements for DD(X) will be procured, without full and open competition, from Bath Iron Works, one of only two qualified sources capable of completing the Flight 1 Class design and building a lead ship," said a Defense Department announcement on April 13.
MORE MIP FUNDING: Pentagon officials are touting success in their new resourcing and accounting system for intelligence programs, adding that the Military Intelligence Program - or MIP, pronounced "mip" - garnered 7 percent more funding in the fiscal 2007 budget proposal, now before Congress, than its predecessor programs.
Changes made in the Defense Department's acquisition policy over the past five years have not eliminated cost and schedule problems for major weapons development programs, the congressional Government Accountability Office reported April 13.
TOMCAT CEREMONY: The U.S. Navy's Tomcat program will host a public "disestablishment ceremony" at 2 p.m. Eastern time April 27 in hangar 2133 at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. "We are recognizing a legacy - the effort of sustaining the Tomcat, a mainstay in naval aviation for 32 years," says Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bob Hyde, assistant program manager for logistics. The swing-wing Tomcat, initially operable in May 1972, has been modified over the years from a single mission air-to-air fighter to a precision strike aircraft and a digital tactical reconnaissance platform.
ATV TESTING: After long months of rework to modify software and equipment bay structural elements, the first flight model of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for International Space Station resupply is ready to begin an extensive test campaign. The space tug will begin acoustic testing at the European Space Agency's Estec engineering center in the Netherlands in May, followed by thermal-vacuum testing in August, says ESA project manager Alan Turkettle.
GLOBAL STRIKE AOA: "Prompt global strike" would provide the United States an unprecedented ability to "kick down the door" by attacking high-value, anti-access targets within hours, not days, says Air Force Maj. Gen. Roger Burg, director of strategic security in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air, Space and Information Operations, Plans and Requirements. Among the options under an ongoing analysis of alternatives are delivering conventional payloads via missiles and bombers to nonkinetic means, such as attacking an adversary's computer network, he says.
After reorganizing its space programs, Boeing has shuffled top management in its new Space Exploration business unit to focus on NASA's Constellation initiatives for return to the moon and deep space manned missions. Formerly called NASA Systems, the new Space Exploration unit is to be headed by John Elbon as vice president and general manager. He succeeds Chuck Allen, now vice president of Boeing business operations in Huntsville, Ala.
NET CENTRIC CENTER: The Army's chief information officer and Materiel Command are establishing a net centric data center of excellence at Fort Monmouth, N.J., and it should begin operating next month. The center should reach its full capability by November, says Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, Army CIO.
SAT LAUNCH: International Launch Services will launch the Astra 1KR direct broadcast satellite aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on April 20. To be operated by SES Astra of Luxembourg, the satellite will provide direct-to-home telecommunications services for European customers. Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems in Newtown, Pa., built the spacecraft. The flight will mark the 100th mission for ILS, which markets commercial launches on Atlas and Russian Proton rockets.
British shipbuilder VT has snagged a deal potentially worth $700 million to build patrol vessels for Oman. Oman selected VT as the preferred bidder for its Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV) program following a prolonged acquisition process. Contract talks get under way next month and are anticipated to conclude toward the end of the third quarter.
MICHOUD MEETING: Potential bidders to build the upper stage of NASA's planned Crew Launch Vehicle meet this week at the Michoud Assembly Facility, where the space shuttle external tank is built, for an update on the competition. Plans call for the upper stage to be built in the government-owned plant in New Orleans as well, using lightweight aluminum-lithium alloy stocks originally purchased for the shuttle tank. NASA will choose separate contractors for the stage's production and avionics, with the production request for proposals expected before the end of this year.
The Pentagon's acquisition chief has formally directed the Air Force to begin the requirements and acquisition process to recapitalize the service's aging aerial refueling tanker fleet, and he approved releasing a request for information to industry. Ken Krieg signed an acquisition decision memorandum late April 13, according to a Defense Department spokeswoman. No further information was available, she said.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is two weeks into its six-month aerobraking phase, repeatedly dipping into Mars' atmosphere to circularize and lower its orbit. The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft currently is flying in very elongated loops around Mars, according to NASA. Each orbit lasts about 35 hours and takes the spacecraft 27,000 miles (43,000 kilometers) away from the planet at its highest point, or apoapsis. The spacecraft arrived at Mars on March 10.
April 17 - 20 -- 22nd Annual National Logistics Conference & Exhibition, "Dynamic Logistics to Meet Evolving Threats," Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami, Fla. For more information go to www.india.org. April 18 - 19 -- Precision Strike Annual Programs Review, Marriott Crystal City-Potomac Ballroom, Crystal City, Va. Call +1 (703) 247-2590, fax +1 (703) 522-1885 or see www.precisionstrike.org. April 18 - 20 -- Lean Aerospace Initiative 2006 Conference. Hyatt Regency Hill Country, San Antonio, Texas. For more information go to www.lean.mit.edu.
FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE: Current and new acquisition efforts are expected to be the most expensive and complex ever and are intended to fundamentally transform military operations, a recent Government Accountability Office report says. The Defense and Homeland Security departments and other agencies such the NASA have relied on a common supplier base to meet ongoing and future mission requirements. But due in part to a changing acquisition environment, these agencies face challenges to maintain and manage suppliers, the congressional auditors say.
