The United States should harden defenses around its space-based assets, experts say, and a recent Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) attack test could lift the space segment of the defense industry and finally force a widespread debate over U.S. national security space policy, analysts suggest. "You'll need a balance of defensive and offensive capabilities," Heritage Foundation analyst Baker Spring said Jan. 22 at a Capitol Hill forum hosted by the Marshall Institute's ongoing National Security Space project.
TOMAHAWK TEST: The U.S. Navy successfully tested a Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile from the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Gulf of Mexico sea ranges off the Florida coast on Jan. 17, the service announced Jan. 22. After launching vertically and transitioning to cruise flight, the Raytheon-built missile flew a 645-nautical mile course guided by Global Positioning System satellites and digital scene matching. The flight lasted 90 minutes and ended at a recovery site on the Eglin Air Force Base land range.
JET SCHOOL APPROVED: The European Advanced Training Jet Pilot School at Talavera la Real, Spain, has been given the go-ahead. The project is in cooperation with the Spanish air force and EADS to further develop the current training facility to attract foreign students. Students will use upgraded F-5s as training aircraft, which will be provided by the Spanish military. The aircraft feature enhanced navigation systems, radar function simulation and self-test and monitoring systems.
WorldSpace Italia says its Italian partner, Telecom Italia, has agreed to build an ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) network to provide hybrid ground and space-based digital audio radio services (DARS) to the Italian market.
CARGO AIRCRAFT: Boeing Rotorcraft Systems says it is exploring how to develop an aircraft capable of using common cargo handling systems similar to the C-17, which is the primary Air Force workhorse shuttling equipment around Iraq. The goal is to develop an aircraft suitable for the Joint Heavy Lift requirement of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
The U.S. Army's Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Rapid Response program (CR2) could be recompeted, with an initial announcement as early as this summer, according to Input, a market analysis company in Reston, Va. At stake may be as much as $23 billion in mostly information technology spending over eight years, according to a recently released Input report.
Back in flight-testing following a crash that grounded the system for a year, the A160 Hummingbird unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is slated to upgrade to a turboshaft engine during the next quarter that will boost its power and endurance.
F-15 A DECOY: In recent battles in and above central Baghdad, F-15 Eagles swooped from the skies with no ordnance. And, according those familiar with the skirmishes, the fighters didn't use their guns either. The combat jets were used to draw the enemy's attention skyward - a feint used to open up some ground operations.
ACS LIVES: Army acquisition chief Claude Bolton says he has a notional goal of relaunching the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program by February 2008, when the fiscal 2009 budget will be submitted to Congress. Lockheed Martin won the ACS contract, but the program unraveled in 2005 after officials realized that the planned platform, the Embraer EC-145, was not large enough to carry the intelligence suite. At that point, ACS money was redistributed to the existing Guardrail and Aerial Reconnaissance Low fleets.
REMOTE MINEHUNTING: A technical evaluation of the U.S. Navy's new - and strategy altering - Remote Minehunting System (RMS) is scheduled for February, Navy officials say. The Navy completed installation of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s AN/WLD 1(V)1 RMS on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer U.S.S. Bainbridge (DDG 96) on Jan. 15 at Norfolk Naval Base, Va. The RMS represents an effort to transition from a specialized fleet of minehunters and killers to an "organic," inherent anti-mine ability within multimission classes like the Littoral Combat Ship (DAILY, Nov.
The Army is looking to develop small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), common sensors and processors, and more efficient aircraft flying or sustainment systems, said Thomas Killion, Army deputy assistant secretary for research and technology. The service is trying to balance investments for current conflicts against future needs, according to Killion, who spoke Jan. 19 during a briefing at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA) Institute of Land Warfare Aviation Symposium and Exhibition.
Jan. 22 - 24 -- Institute for Defense and Government Advancement 5th Annual Conference Image Fusion 2007: Improving Visualization for Better Situational Awareness, Hilton Old Town, Alexandria, Va. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or (973) 256-0211, fax: (973) 256-0205, www.idga.org. Jan. 24 -- AHS Federal City Chapter Dinner Meeting, The Military Helicopter Industrial Base," Army/Navy Country Club, Arlington, Va. For more information call (703) 684-6777.
FLEET MODERNIZATION: The German government is eyeing modernization of its aging VIP transport fleet, with a contractual decision due this year. The air force currently operates six Challenger CL-601 for those missions, but in recent months the government has realized it needs a replacement. Rather than fielding a common aircraft type, the government is looking to acquire two larger aircraft, with a 48-seat capacity, and four smaller, business-jet sized aircraft that can accommodate 12 people, according to a Defense Ministry official.
JUST SAY YES: The House Armed Services Committee, now under Democratic leadership, wants to know more about the U.S. military's counterdrug operations, capabilities and record of achievement, and shortfalls. For fiscal 2007, the DOD received more than $1 billion in counterdrug funding - which "reflects DOD's role as the leading federal agency in the detection and monitoring of the aerial and maritime transit of illegal narcotics into the United States," HASC staff say.
PACIFIST NO MORE?: Look for Japan and the U.S. to establish by September a strategic planning office in charge of drawing up medium- and long-range defense policies, now that Japan has upgraded its Defense Agency to a full-fledged government ministry. Post-World War II pacifism overcame the idea of a ministry for 40 years, and the Agency was run as a subordinate part of the cabinet with a budget that went through the prime minister's office instead of being submitted directly to the Finance Ministry.
NAVY CONTRACTING: U.S. Navy acquisition officials are promulgating a potential rule in drafting a proposed Navy Marine Corps Acquisition Regulation Supplement contract clause or statement-of-work requirements that will persuade contractors to use "continuous process improvements" on major defense contracts.
WEAPON SIGHTS: BAE Systems said Jan. 17 that it received two U.S. Army orders totaling $80 million for production of thermal weapon sights. BAE also said that unidentified funds awarded early in 2006 will go to advanced microbolometer technology to cut the size, weight and cost of future weapon sights. The company, with help from the Defense Department, recently completed a $150 million factory modernization, providing a new specialty production capability to manufacture precision microelectronics.
PROTECTION FROM ABOVE: Army aviation leaders want Pentagon funding for more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to fight against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been a big threat in Iraq.
ANTI-SAT HEARING: An AVIATION WEEK online report that China destroyed an aging weather satellite with an anti-satellite weapon has prompted Bush administration officials to conduct a highly classified briefing for lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "China's successful test raises serious concerns about the vulnerability of our space-based assets," said Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.), one of those who attended the Jan. 19 briefing.
