The Senate late Nov. 8 agreed to the House's expanded version of amendments to the Iran Nonproliferation Act that would allow some U.S. payments to Russia in support of the International Space Station, such as paying to use Soyuz vehicles to reach the ISS. The Senate's agreement clears the bill to be signed by President Bush. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin praised the move, saying it "helps to ensure the continuous presence of U.S. astronauts" on the space station.
ELECTRIC LASER: Northrop Grumman Corp. said Nov. 9 that the electrically driven, solid-state laser laboratory demonstrator it has developed for the U.S. Defense Department's Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program produced a 27-kilowatt beam with a run time of 350 seconds, exceeding the requirement for a 25-kilowatt device that runs for 300 seconds. The results seem to boost the company's chances of winning a contract for the program's next phase: developing a 100-kilowatt laboratory demonstrator.
H. Jeffrey Leonard has resigned as chairman of the board of directors, effective Nov. 30. Leonard Moodispaw, the company's CEO and president, has been appointed chairman of the board of directors, also effective Nov. 30.
The House Armed Services Committee has promised to expand its probe into the Defense Logistics Agency's $7 billion prime vendor contract vehicle, including calling some food services contractors on the carpet for alleged price gouging.
CONFERENCES AGREED: The House voted Nov. 9 to approve the House-Senate conference report for a bill funding NASA for fiscal 2006, as well as an appropriations bill that excluded Energy Department funds for a proposed nuclear bunker-busting bomb. The House voted 397-19 to approve the bill including NASA's $16.5 billion budget, and 399-17 on the agreement about the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer Bainbridge (DDG 96) will be commissioned on Nov. 12, the Defense Department said. A ceremony for the Arleigh Burke-class vessel will be held at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.) will give the principal address, and Susan Bainbridge Hay will be the sponsor of the ship, named for her great-great-great-grandfather.
The Defense Department is making headway in getting its financial house in order, officials said at a hearing Nov. 9, and so far is managing to avoid a congressional effort to install a chief management officer at the Pentagon to reign in wasteful spending.
General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works Corp. has received $12.1 million for lead yard services for the U.S. Navy's DDG-51 destroyer program. The work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by November 2010. The Naval Sea Systems Command contract was not competitively procured, a Nov. 8 Pentagon announcement said.
In its fiscal 2006 appropriations legislation, Congress is ordering NASA to submit two reports early next year on the future of unmanned aerial vehicles. The first request appears to confirm NASA's rumored plans to withdraw from the Access Five UAV airspace initiative in FY '07 (DAILY, Sept. 29).
The U.S. Navy Air Systems Command is seeking industry reaction to its revised plan for acquiring a sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missile target that includes a supersonic "sprint vehicle," mimicking the Russian system known as Threat D.
The final 2005 Base Closure and Realignment recommendations for reshaping the Defense Department's infrastructure and force structure officially took effect Nov. 9 after Congress allowed them to pass into law at the mandated Nov. 8 deadline, the Pentagon said. The DOD now has until Sept. 15, 2007 - two years from the date President Bush sent Congress the BRAC commission's final report - to begin closing and realigning facilities as decided by the independent BRAC Commission.
Michael B. Baughn has been appointed president and chief operating officer, effective Dec. 31. Robert J. Khoury is retiring as president and CEO at the end of the year.
Major programs at the U.S. Missile Defense Agency appear to have largely dodged a bullet in the latest round of Pentagon budget cuts. No major programs were canceled, despite persistent speculation that such technologically challenging efforts as the Airborne Laser and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor might be killed. The majority of cuts would simply delay future programs that still are being defined.
