Raytheon Co. is close to completing its first order for a miniature version of a system that uses nonlethal energy to repel people, company officials said Jan. 7. Raytheon is building a 400-watt version of the Active Denial System (ADS) under a $720,000 contract from the U.S. Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. Raytheon plans to deliver the system in February to Sandia, which intends to test the unit in a lab to determine its utility, company officials told The DAILY.
NAVY OVERVIEW: Manpower, readiness and quality of service are among priorities the Navy is stressing in 2005, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark says in his CNO guidance, released last week. Increased diversity and the quality of recruits and their training will be emphasized, Clark says. The Sea Power 21 vision, which is transforming the way the Navy fights, will include refining the service's battle against terrorism, Clark says.
NO FREE RIDES: Russia plans to begin charging the U.S. to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 2006, according to Russian news reports. In the absence of the space shuttle, NASA for the past two years has relied entirely on Russia to transport astronauts and cargo to the ISS, via Soyuz and unmanned Progress vehicles. Russia has provided the flights for free. The new Soyuz plan will be discussed at the next ISS Heads of Agency (HOA) meeting, according to a NASA spokeswoman.
CANISTER CARTRIDGES: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has won a $5.8 million contract to produce 3,600 M1028 120mm anti-personnel canister cartridges, the company said Jan. 7. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. The M1028 cartridge is fired from the main cannon of the M1A1/M1A2 Abrams battle tank.
Jan. 10 - 12 -- GOVCON: 4th Annual Government Convention on Emerging Technologies, "Enabling the National Security Community," Anaheim, Calif. For more information call 1-888-603-8899 or go to www.federalevents.com. Jan. 24 - 26 -- The ION National Technical Meeting, The Catamaran Resort Hotel, San Diego, Calif. For more information go to www.ion.org. Jan. 25 - 26 -- JPEO-CBD Advanced Planning Briefing for Industry, The DC Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
Honeywell began flight-tests of its 13-inch Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) at company facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., last month, in anticipation of handing the system over to the Army for evaluation in March. Honeywell is developing the MAV for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as an advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD). A backpack-portable ducted-fan surveillance UAV, the MAV is being developed to serve as the Class 1 UAV in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program.
MODERNIZING: Canada's military has received its 40th Phase I modernized CF-18 Hornet from Boeing International, marking the midway point for the aircraft modernization program, the Canadian defense department says. Under an $880 million contract awarded in 2001, Boeing and subcontractor L-3 MAS of Quebec are modernizing Canada's CF-18s to extend their lives until at least 2017, following the outline of a similar program it undertook for U.S. Navy F-18 Hornets.
Possible termination of the Lockheed Martin C-130J program would break a multiyear contract, which could result in termination liabilities, a Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. representative told The DAILY on Jan. 7. Defense Department Program Budget Decision (PBD) No. 753 calls for killing the Air Force's C-130J transport aircraft program. The Air Force is in the midst of buying 168 C-130Js (DAILY, Jan. 4).
U.S. Army officials are seeking to clarify whether work on at least some Joint Common Missile (JCM) components could continue even though the Defense Department has canceled the overall missile program. DOD recently terminated the Army-led program as part of an effort to cut defense spending (DAILY, Jan. 4). But Army officials told The DAILY late Jan. 6 that they believe continued work on JCM technology, such as the seeker, could be useful, especially if the program is revived in some form in the future.
ROCK BOTTOM: Industry has joined a push from some lawmakers to protect aircraft carriers and new shipbuilding from planned defense budget cuts. American Shipbuilding Association President Cynthia Brown tells The DAILY that the "rock-bottom production rate" outlined in the Program Budget Decision No. 753 - which would fund only four ships in fiscal 2006 - could lead the U.S. fleet to drop below 180 ships from its current 289. It takes at least seven years to build aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, five years for large amphibious ships and four years for destroyers.
Dogged by unfinished business, a tightening budget and the future requirements of President Bush's new space exploration mission, Republicans and Democrats on the House Science Committee this year will strive to finally reauthorize NASA, committee staffers told The DAILY Jan. 7.
LOCKHEED ON UCAR: Lockheed Martin's Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team made "great technical strides" in manned-unmanned systems integration before the cancellation of the program, according to a statement from the company. "We achieved advancements in mission management, sensors systems and rotorcraft design capable of delivering speed, agility, endurance and survivability," the company says.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) will remain chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation subcommittee while Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) retains the chair of the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation subcommittee, full committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) announced Jan. 6.
The U.S. Army has received from Lockheed Martin its first Warfighters' Simulation (WARSIM) system, a computer-based simulation tool that supports the training of brigade, joint and coalition level commanders and staffs, the company said Jan. 6. The delivery is the first in a series set through 2006. The program is valued at more than $330 million. WARSIM was developed under a contract first awarded in 1996. The system was delivered to the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation Training and Instrumentation, the company said.
Immediately upon its activation, NASA's Swift spacecraft began detecting more gamma-ray bursts than scientists had expected, NASA announced Jan. 5. Scientists still were calibrating Swift's main instrument, the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), when the first burst appeared on Dec. 17. Three more followed on Dec. 19, and one on Dec. 20. Swift's primary mission is to study the fleeting bursts, the most energetic explosions observed in the universe, which may signal the births of black holes.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, are considering cutting the number of subcommittees on their massive spending panels, several industry sources have told The DAILY.
The Defense Department announced new Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) projects for fiscal 2005 on Jan. 7, including Northrop Grumman's Viper Strike "smart" munition, Lockheed Martin's Sea Talon submarine tracking system and the Air Force's Weapons Data Link. Other ACTDS announced by Michael Wynne, the acting undersecretary of defense for logistics, include the Joint Coordinated Real Time Engagement program, the Special Operations Command Long Endurance Demonstrator unmanned aerial vehicle and the Sea Eagle maritime monitoring program.
END STRENGTH: Part of the U.S. Army's proposed $25 billion funding plus-up might pay for 4,000 more Army troops, "according to rumors," says an industry source. Defense Department Program Budget Decision No. 753 would add $5 billion a year from fiscal 2007 through fiscal 2011 for ongoing Army reorganization (DAILY, Jan. 4). Current high-tempo operations in Iraq have put a strain on Army active duty troops and reservists.
The U.S. Army has exercised two contract options worth $12.4 million with St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems Inc. for the production of Tactical Quiet Generator (TQG) sets, the company said Jan. 6. The orders were received by Engineered Support's Fermont subsidiary in Bridgeport, Conn.
Phoenix-based Suntron Corp., which provides electronics manufacturing services and products to the aerospace, defense and other industries, has signed a five-year lease to expand its Tijuana, Mexico, facility from 35,000 square feet to more than 110,000 square feet, the company said Jan. 5. The expansion is in the Tijuana Industrial Park, five minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border and next to a top-rated Mexican technical university, Suntron said.
The U.S. Defense Department has ordered a study on whether requirements for part of the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) system should be reduced to avoid more cost and schedule overruns in the program. The Air Force is to conduct the review with the Joint Staff and U.S. Strategic Command and give the results to the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) and the undersecretaries of defense for intelligence and acquisition by March 31. The review is to focus on the program's geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites.
AMMO CONTRACT: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems of St. Petersburg, Fla., has been awarded a $54 million contract modification to produce 120mm M831A1 and M865 tank training ammunition for the U.S. Army, the company said Jan. 6. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Field Support Command at Rock Island, Ill. The rounds are fired from M1A1/A2 tanks. The work is expected to be finished by September 2008.
Oman's military has agreed to buy about 100 Javelin Anti-Tank Weapon Systems from the U.S. government through a joint venture of Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin, the companies said Jan. 6. Financial terms were not disclosed. Oman's military will receive about 100 Javelin missiles and command launch units, along with training and support packages, the companies said.
