WING NUTS: The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 25 rejected Space-Lok Inc.'s protests of the Defense Logistics Agency's award to UFC Aerospace for self-locking barrel nuts used in repairing U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter wings. Space-Lok argued that an agency supply center improperly awarded the contract based on a 210-day delivery schedule, and that UFS could not meet the timeline.
GREENVILLE, Texas -- Britain's new Astor ground surveillance radar aircraft has some hidden, next-generation information warfare and radar weapons effect potential.
LONDON -- U.S. and European land-system manufacturers are looking to a series of meetings set for February and March to clarify significant issues outstanding in a 14 billion-pound armored vehicle acquisition. The British Defense Ministry is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the likes of BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin to discuss elements of its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program.
Boeing officials are waiting to see the details of the long-awaited analysis of alternatives (AOA) for recapitalizing the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker fleet, hoping it will pave the way for the service to "outline a program path forward." John Sams, vice president of Boeing Air Force Systems, said Jan. 30 he hopes the Air Force would be able to issue a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said Jan. 30 that it successfully flight-tested the Air Force-led Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) from B-1 and F-16 aircraft, making for 11 successful flight-tests out of the last 13. The two flight-tests, Jan. 25 and Jan. 27, respectively, come as the company also is working on a maritime-interdiction software upgrade for the weapon, according to Mike Inderhees, Lockheed Martin JASSM program manager. The upgrades could boost sales to the U.S. Air Force and even Australia, he told reporters in a teleconference.
The Army will test its Future Combat Systems at Fort Bliss, Texas, because of its "immense" training areas and proximity to White Sands Missile Range and Biggs Army Airfield, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Carl Ey said. Three brigade combat teams are scheduled to move to Fort Bliss from Europe as part of the base realignment and closure process, and one of them will become the FCS Evaluation Brigade Combat Team (EBCT). The team will begin forming in March 2007.
NNSA NOMINATION: President Bush intends to nominate Thomas P. D'Agostino to be deputy administrator for defense programs in the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Energy Department, the White House said Jan. 27. D'Agostino now is assistant deputy administrator for program integration in Energy's Office of Defense Programs. The U.S. Navy Reserve captain has also served as deputy director for the Nuclear Weapons Research, development and simulation program.
Moving to improve profit margins and position itself for an anticipated slowdown in Pentagon spending in fiscal 2007, Boeing on Jan. 27 unveiled a major restructuring of its defense business. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), which has annual sales of more than $30 billion, is being consolidated from seven units to three: Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems, Networks and Space Systems, and Support Systems.
The U.S. Navy is speeding up its sea trials of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and particularly Hydroid Inc.'s Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS). Rear Adm. Deborah Loewer, Mine Warfare Command chief, led testing of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization's REMUS prototype off the northwest coast of Italy in mid-December, Naval Sea Systems Command said Jan. 27.
FULL PLATE: Launch of Echostar 10 on a Zenit-3SLB in early February will be the first of six missions scheduled for the Sea Launch Odyssey floating platform in 2006. Sea Launch recorded nine commercial contracts last year, the best order and launch pace since the company was founded in 1995. Replacements for satellites launched in the early 1990s and demand for broadband, digital radio and high definition/direct-to-home television services are sparking the sales, a company official says.
AIRCRAFT RFP: India is expected to float a request for proposals for 126 Medium Range Combat Aircraft in March. The RFP that was to be released in December 2005 has been delayed following ''technical issues'' relating to changes in the procurement policy that required some modifications in the tenders, according to S.P Tyagi, Indian's air force chief. Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Dassault, Gripen and Mikoyan are contenders. According to a defense official, the number of aircraft could be increased substantially to around 200.
The RAND Corp.'s analysis of alternatives (AOA) to replace the U.S. Air Force's aging refueling tanker fleet recommends picking an existing commercial airframe from a wide range of aircraft that could include planes made by Boeing and Airbus, according to a congressman who was briefed on the study.
CONGRESS RISING: With budgets tightening and President Bush facing lame-duck status, Congress is expected to assert itself more in budget making - and in turn for more offensive outreach by the aerospace and defense industry on Capitol Hill. With a nearly 50 percent jump in the defense budget since the Bush administration took office, the industry has enjoyed record growth in recent years. But now there is more uncertainty about the future, a top trade association representative says.
NEW HORIZONS MEETING: The Jupiter-flyby science team for the New Horizons mission to Pluto will meet by early February to begin more formal Jupiter science-data acquisition planning, now that the spacecraft has been launched (Aviation Week & Space Technology, Jan. 23). The team has roughed out a science plan, especially for acquiring Jovian cloud-motion imagery, but needed the exact day and time of launch to plan observations of the planet's moons. Propelled from Earth at 10 miles per second on Jan.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The U.S. Army this summer will publish a space master plan, according to Lt. Gen. Larry J. Dodgen, commander of Army Space Command. It will tell "exactly what the Army needs in space," he said Jan. 24 at the Spacecomm 2006 conference here. "You won't have to go to 20 places to understand what the Army wants in space, what the Army needs in space, where the Army is going in space."
NASA REMEMBERS: The coming days will witness a series of solemn anniversaries for NASA. Jan. 27 will mark the 39th anniversary of the loss of the Apollo 1 crew, who died when fire engulfed their capsule during a ground test. Jan. 28 is the 20th anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Challenger crew, who died when their vehicle exploded on ascent. Finally, Feb. 1 will mark the third anniversary of the loss of the Columbia crew, who died when their vehicle disintegrated during re-entry. On Jan.
IED PLEAS: The Defense Department has ramped up its pleas to industry to provide more ideas, and spend more money, to defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- but behind closed doors and only if business executives have classified clearance. IEDs are responsible for more casualties than anything else in the ongoing Iraq conflict and now are increasingly prevalent in Afghanistan.
