The U.S. is planning to have a smaller and more efficient nuclear weapons stockpile by 2030, an Energy Department official says. Tom D'Agostino, deputy administrator for defense programs at the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, told a House subcommittee that he foresees "a smaller, safer, more secure stockpile, with assured reliability over the long term," according to an April 6 State Department statement.
DIGITAL FIRES: The first Navy battle group, the Iwo Jima, with digital-fires capability will deploy in the fall, the Navy says. A mid-March test verified for the first time that a Supporting Arms Coordination Center-Automation (SACC-A)-equipped ship could work with a Naval Fires Control System (NFCS)-equipped ship. SACC-A is an automated command and control digital system for planning and execution of fire support performed aboard Landing Helicopter Dock- and Landing Helicopter Assault-class ships. An NFCS ship receives fire mission tasking from SACC-A ships.
Modernizing the B-52 bomber fleet with additional conventional weapons and systems while cutting the total number of aircraft is the right plan and will foreshadow changes to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to Air Force Maj. Gen. Roger Burg.
The U.S. Navy says the first DD(X) destroyer will be designated DDG-1000 and will be named for former chief of naval operations Adm. Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt Jr. "The youngest man ever to serve as CNO, Zumwalt cemented an acclaimed reputation as a visionary leader and thoughtful reformer," the Navy said in naming its futuristic -- and contentious (DAILY, April 4) -- new class of destroyers after him.
PENTAGON CALLING: The Pentagon still is asking industry to help the Defense Department connect its information and communications systems, according to Air Force Gen. Lance Smith, head of U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO's supreme allied commander for transformation. Once, there were more than 300 data systems in Iraq dealing with counter-improvised explosive device (IED) information, Smith said.
LUNAR LANDING: NASA has decided to mount a surface probe on its 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for "high-risk and high-return research of the lunar surface." The agency will announce details April 10 of its decision to send a piggyback lander into a deep crater at one of the moon's poles. The mission will attempt to find out what is generating strong hydrogen signatures detected by past orbiters in permanently dark crater bottoms there.
The U.S. Navy expects to complete an internal design readiness review of its Multimission Aircraft (MMA) by May 2007, about seven months ahead of deadline, which would clear procurement of four P-8As from the Boeing Co. for operational testing, program officials told The DAILY.
FINDING IEDs: Marine Corps officials say the service is having "great success" using its Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle to find and counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Pioneer has been spotting insurgents in the act of emplacing IEDs, as well as locating suspicious objects, disturbed earth, and hot or cold spots along roadsides. In the last six months Pioneer has flown 1,106 hours, more than a third of its flying time, focusing on IEDs.
Members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) say they have witnessed a slight de-emphasis of safety within NASA's Exploration Systems organization as it firms up plans to develop the agency's next generation of manned spacecraft. During a meeting at NASA headquarters in Washington April 7, ASAP panelist and former Stafford-Covey member Dan Crippen said he feels that NASA's exploration directorate has "lost a little of the focus on safety as being one of the most important criteria in the design process."
TOTAL LOSS: Russian Satellite Communications Co. will boost its failed Express-AM11 satellite into a graveyard orbit to prevent its destruction from making the orbital slot at 96.5 degrees East Longitude. RSCC declared AM11, a 2 kW, 30-transponder satellite launched in April 2004, a total loss. Prime contractor NPO PM blamed an orbital debris or meteoroid impact for the failure, which knocked out the thermal control system and caused the spacecraft to veer out of control.
April 11 - 12 -- Military Robotics, "Advancing Autonomy to Reduce Human Casualties," Georgetown University Conference Center and Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. 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.
CONFIRMED: Dorrance Smith was confirmed by the Senate April 7 as assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. He is a former ABC News producer. The vote was 59-34. Smith was opposed by Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.), the ranking SASC Democrat, who criticized an editorial column in which Smith implied a relationship between insurgents and terrorists and U.S. broadcasting outlets. Bush used a recess appointment to install Smith in January.
The U.S. Air Force is shifting funds from other efforts to pay for the launch of the TacSat-2 small satellite, and hopes to have all the money in place by the end of this fiscal year, according to Undersecretary Ronald Sega. "We do have a reprogramming activity to fully fund the launch of TacSat-2," Sega told lawmakers during a hearing on the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee in Washington April 7. The TacSat series is intended to demonstrate the military's ability to launch small, "responsive" satellites quickly and at low cost.
Senate appropriators are demanding more details from the Bush administration regarding its military supplemental spending requests, and warn they will be less conciliatory than before.
UAV ENVY: Not to be outdone by the Air Force's performance using unmanned aerial vehicles to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy is considering sending its first Global Hawk, delivered from the factory only last month, to the Middle East for duty. N-1 would carry its integrated sensor suite and specialized maritime surveillance software to the theater and collect data on targets in and around the Persian Gulf. The Navy has long been worried about asymmetric maritime threats, such as a swarming boat attack.
DEFENSE OUTLAYS: Defense outlays grew by 6.5 percent on an adjusted basis through March relative to the same period last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Spending for operations and maintenance increased by about 10 percent, while payments for military personnel rose by 4.6 percent and spending for research and development grew by only 2 percent.
U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corp. officials responsible for aircraft carrier programs are asserting that they can trim construction costs on successive flattops under the CVN-21 program and are asking lawmakers to lock in authorization for one aircraft carrier every four years. Briefing reporters April 6 at the Navy League's SeaAirSpace Symposium in Washington, the officials said it will cost less to build CVN-21 ships compared with the current Nimitz class. Another Nimitz would cost $7.5 billion if started in fiscal 2008.
Defense Department programs are experiencing recurring problems with cost overruns, missed deadlines and performance shortfalls because the Pentagon has trouble distinguishing wants from needs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress April 5. "Poor performance and cost overruns will likely persist until DOD provides a better foundation for executing its weapons programs," U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
