A top Chinese space official has repeated his country's invitation for a visit from the NASA administrator, but the U.S. space agency and its White House bosses are remaining aloof.
Shifting requirements scuttled the B-52 Stand-Off Jammer program and pushed its projected cost from an original estimate of roughly $1 billion up to nearly $7 billion, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley. "I think you could say there were lots of people that took opportunities to have it be something other than the initial requirement," Moseley told reporters following a breakfast speech in Washington April 4. Though such efforts were well-meaning, the ultimate result argues in favor of freezing configurations early, Moseley said.
A proposed trans-Atlantic mega-merger between telecom giants Alcatel and Lucent Technologies is driving new interest in defense electronics company Thales, long a target of bigger European defense players. Thales' board of directors is scheduled to meet April 5 to discuss a proposal by Alcatel to transfer its space and secure communications businesses to Thales in return for additional equity. The move would increase Alcatel's stake in Thales to 25 percent from 9.5 percent.
AMMO CONTRACT: AMTEC Corp. of Janesville, Wis., has been awarded a $78.5 million contract modification to provide the U.S. Army with M385A1, M430A1, M433, M583A1, M781, and M918 40mm ammunition, the Defense Department said April 3. The work will be done in Janesville, Wis., and is expected to be finished by Sept. 30, 2010. The contract was awarded by the Army Field Support Command, Rock Island, Ill.
The Marine Corps hopes to refurbish and return to service up to four more retired H-53 cargo helicopters on top of the three being refurbished now, according to Marine Col. Paul Croisetiere, Heavy Lift Replacement program manager. The Marines have a requirement for 160 heavy-lift CH-53s, but have only 148 in the current active inventory. Last summer the Navy and Marines took three H-53s out of retirement (DAILY, Aug. 29, 2005). The refurbishment takes 18-20 months and includes approximately 80 modifications to the aircraft.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems, Clearfield, Utah, is being awarded a $34,782,840 cost plus incentive fee contract modification to provide for Minuteman III Safety Enhanced Reentry Vehicle Full Rate Production FY06 10 each; FY07 120 each; FY08 120 each and FY09, 111 each. At this time, total funds have been obligated. The scheduled completion date is March 2010. Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-98-C-0001/will advise on modification number).
High-profile Washington-based analysts continue to cast doubt on the Navy's long-term shipbuilding and force structure plan, and many congressional members are expressing their own concern although no consensus has formed to do anything significant just yet.
An Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport jet crashed at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on April 3, the Defense Department said. All 17 people aboard survived. The survivors are members of the Dover-based Air Force Reserve's 512th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Mobility Command's 436th Airlift Wing. No information on their conditions was available. The jet was trying to return to the base because of mechanical problems shortly after takeoff when it crashed at 6:30 a.m. The C-5 broke into three pieces: the cockpit, fuselage, and tail.
NASA's plans to reopen its fiscal 2007 science budget next month to address scientists' complaints don't mean the budget will actually be changed. Indeed, Administrator Michael Griffin is holding fast to his position that for now it's more important to spend money on flying humans to space. And if the science community can't agree on changes in the way science funds are allocated, he says, the allocations won't change.
The Trophy active protection system (APS) destroyed a rocket-propelled grenade during its first U.S. live-fire test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., on March 30. The Trophy system was installed on a Stryker vehicle, which was moving when it detected, tracked, and destroyed the inert incoming RPG by hitting it with an explosive projectile. The Trophy system is based on an Israeli design. The test was held at the request of the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation (OFT).
KIDD RELAUNCHES: The Aegis guided missile destroyer Kidd (DDG 100) is relaunched March 31 from Northrop Grumman's Ship System's sector in Pascagoula, Miss. The Kidd, the 24th missile destroyer built by the company, sustained damage to its hull during Hurricane Katrina and some compartments were flooded. The relaunch took place six weeks earlier than originally scheduled.
Within the next two months the Navy is expected to award full-rate production contracts to Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky for 12 MH-60R helicopters. The MH-60R will replace the Navy's aging SH-60B and SH-60F helicopters, which currently share the submarine-hunter and surface-attack roles. Sikorsky provides the helicopter while Lockheed Martin performs system integration.
BAE Systems expects the U.S. Navy to award another option on the BAE-Rafael Mk 38 naval gun soon, an executive told reporters April 3. The company will also try to get the Mk 38, the Protector unmanned surface vehicle (USV), and the recently announced Talisman unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) into the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Coast Guard's Deepwater programs.
In a marriage made on Mars, and Earth, a robotics and composite materials company will merge with another firm to combine forces for new Mars and other NASA, commercial and defense space mission applications. The merger planned by July between Alliance Spacesystems Inc. of Pasadena, Calif. and Vision Composites of Signal Hill, Calif. is designed to strengthen ASI's ability to provide integrated robotic and composite structural systems to aerospace programs. Just what the two companies will call themselves after the merger is still being determined.
The Defense Department's long-range strike project would get more bang for its buck using missile-firing large cargo aircraft, like the C-17, but their vulnerability to enemy air defenses would severely limit their offensive reach, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
HYBRID HUMVEE: The Air Force and Army are partnering to develop and use a hybrid electric-diesel engine for the ubiquitous Humvee with a planned delivery starting in 2008, according to top Air Force officials. Other alternative fuel technology is still in the development stage, they told Senate defense appropriators March 29.
