Bath Iron Works has been awarded a $30.9 million contract modification to do upgrade, repair, and maintenance work on two Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers, the company said Feb. 7. The work will be done on the USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), which are homeported in Norfolk, Va.
As the U.S. government reworks its plans to build the next generation of its own high-resolution imaging satellites, it has begun discussing stopgap measures to acquire more imagery from commercial providers, a key vendor says. "We have been asked by a number of people in Washington if we can fill gaps," GeoEye President and CEO Matthew M. O'Connell said at the Satellite 2006 conference and exhibition being held in Washington this week.
The U.S. Air Force is taking the first formal step to kicking off a program to upgrade the engines on its A-10s, to meet performance goals the current standard powerplant can't meet. The service is checking whether there are any contractors who would be interested in developing the kit-upgrade for the General Electric TF34 engines. The Air Force says it has $189.4 million budgeted for the effort, which should commence this fiscal year. The service wants the first engine upgrade kits delivered by late fiscal 2009 or early 2010.
The Defense Department is exploring alternatives to space-based communications as the gap between operational demands and military satellite communications capacity grows, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told senators Feb. 7. "Space-based platforms should focus on surveillance capabilities that we cannot readily replicate elsewhere," Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Meantime, the DOD will continue to rely upon commercial vendors for the foreseeable future.
The U.S. Navy this year will take a hard look at its aviation investments to "balance" them with shipbuilding and other naval costs, according to the chief of naval operations (CNO). "As anybody in a senior position, we've got to balance all of this," Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters at the Pentagon on Feb. 7.
Weather permitting, adventurer Steve Fossett was to try again at dawn Feb. 8 to take off from the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in the Scaled Composites/GlobalFlyer for a record around-the-world flight. Takeoffs with the 22,000-pound aircraft loaded with 18,000 pounds of JP-4 are always dangerous. A fuel leak in the modified vent system of the aircraft forced cancellation of a planned takeoff Feb. 7 for the 26,000-mile flight.
The Homeland Security Department's Information Technology Acquisition Center plans to establish $45 billion worth of department-wide contracts for IT support services under a program name Eagle, according to federal IT consultancy Federal Sources Inc. Contractors would support infrastructure engineering design, development, implementation and integration; operations and maintenance; independent test, validation, verification and evaluation; software development; and management support services.
A question of interest is how the U.S. Air Force will determine acquisition requirements for a fleet of tankers. George Muellner, Boeing's Air Force Systems vice president and general manager, says one factor in this decision may be whether the Air Force emphasizes employment or deployment in its specifications.
A surplus Russian spacesuit recycled as an amateur radio satellite continued to send weak signals, at least intermittently, through the weekend after the International Space Station (ISS) crew deployed it late Feb. 3 by pitching it over the side. Although NASA initially reported that "Suitsat" died after about two orbits, apparently because its standard-issue ISS batteries had gotten too cold, amateur radio operators later reported it continued to transmit a weak signal on Feb. 5.
CENTER RECOVERS: Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Sperry Marine North American Support Center in New Orleans is now operating at 100 percent capacity after damage was repaired from Hurricane Katrina, the company said Feb. 6. The center overhauls MK37 gyrocompasses, LCD monitors, radars, autopilots, and speed logs. It also holds new and refurbished spare parts and houses a worldwide service control center. The office suffered heavy exterior and interior damage from the hurricane.
The U.S. Army's topline budget request for fiscal 2007 is $110.4 billion, which includes $3.566 billion for aircraft purchases and $3.311 billion for the Future Combat Systems program. The topline request is scheduled to rise steadily over the next few years, reaching $123.4 billion in FY '11, according to service officials.
Northrop Grumman announced at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., last week a successful live test of a B-2 bomber dropping a 5,000-pound bomb with a new warhead and an improved Raytheon guidance system.
BUFFALO VEHICLES: Force Protection Inc. of Ladson, S.C., said Feb. 6 that it has been awarded a contract to provide the U.S. Army with about 19 Buffalo mine clearance vehicles along with training and field support. Financial details and first deliveries of the vehicles are expected within a month. The contract also includes an option for 27 more Buffalos that can be purchased in 2006. The contract was awarded by the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.
The U.S. Coast Guard is requesting $934.4 million for its Deepwater recapitalization program, according to a Homeland Security Department statement - roughly equivalent to the $933.1 million that the service received for FY '06. Still, the 25-year, $24 billion effort was previously eyeing just $752 million for FY '07, according to an industry representative - and that was dependent on FY '06 appropriations of $966 million, which was requested for the current fiscal year after a tussle with the White House Office of Management and Budget (DAILY, Jan. 17).
The U.S. Air Force wants $2 billion more in RDT&E money and $500 million less for procurement in fiscal 2007, and rolled out a budget request that reshuffles spending to emphasize long-range strike and reconnaissance and promises industry-style cost-cutting to free money for new systems and hardware.
The U.S. Navy is proposing to spend an average of $15.5 billion every year on new ship construction to boost its naval fleet from 285 ships now to 304 by fiscal 2011 -- although officials are requesting only $11.2 billion for seven new ships in FY '07.
The defense ministers from France and Luxembourg have agreed to study how countries that lack a domestic surveillance satellite capability can share data for European Union peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. Data sharing is a growing concern as Europe ratchets up its overseas military and security presence (Aviation Week & Space Technology, Jan. 30). The need to support out-of-theater military operations also lies behind a trend toward increased government reliance on commercially funded satellite communications capacity.
