DROPPING OUT: The Space Frontier Foundation said it has dropped out of the multi-group Space Exploration Alliance, saying it was not doing enough to promote real space exploration. Foundation Chairman Bob Werb said in an Oct.
SSGN CONVERSION: The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat division in Groton, Conn., a $162.4 million award to convert the USS Georgia from an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine to an Ohio-class guided missile submarine, SSGN 729. The conversion will be conducted concurrently with the ship's engineered refueling overhaul being performed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Va. The conversion is supposed to be done by September 2007.
Goodrich Corp. will supply the flap actuation package for Airbus' A400M military transport aircraft, and Aerolec, its joint venture with Thales, will supply the main and auxiliary power unit generators for the aircraft's electrical power generation system. The flap actuation contract is Goodrich's first A400M contract, Brian Gora, president of the company's Actuation Systems division, said in an Oct. 17 statement. The company provides flight control actuation systems for all current Airbus models.
Colombia is seeking two UH-60L medevac Black Hawk helicopters and related equipment and services in a deal that could be worth up to $43 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Oct. 14. Colombia wants the helicopters equipped with T700-GE-701C or 401C engines, spare and repair parts, communications and support equipment and other related equipment and services, DSCA said. The helicopters would be "of critical value" in setting up a Colombian army search and rescue/medevac program, DSCA said.
The U.S. Air Force began its first practice deployment of the Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor over the weekend, but a technical glitch left it without its full complement of eight jets.
The U.S. Air Force is considering replacing its aging Minuteman III nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile by incrementally upgrading the existing system until it evolves into Minuteman IV, rather than by buying a new missile outright. An incremental modernization approach would be more affordable than a new system and would still significantly improve missile performance and reduce ownership costs, said Col. Richard Patenaude, chief of the deterrence and strike division in Air Force Space Command's requirements directorate.
Johnstown, Pa.-based Concurrent Technologies Corp. announced Oct. 17 that it was awarded a five-year, $150 million contract from the Office of Naval Research to continue to operate the Navy Metalworking Center, whose purpose is to transition advanced metalworking technologies to build new naval weapon systems. In a statement, Concurrent CEO Daniel DeVos said the center's work would be applied to the proposed CVN-21 aircraft carrier and the DD(X) destroyer, the Joint Unmanned Aircraft System, the Littoral Combat Ship and the M777 Lightweight Howitzer.
The U.S. military is continuing to provide a variety of aircraft to help survivors of the deadly Oct. 8 earthquake in Pakistan, the Defense Department said. Two U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster IIIs and three C-130 Hercules aircraft have transported more than 141,300 pounds of supplies, and Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 sent two aircraft and 25 sailors to Pakistan on Oct. 15 and 16.
CONFERENCE: Congressional negotiators working out differences between the House and Senate over fiscal 2006 appropriations for the Defense Department will be pressed to find common ground on naval shipbuilding. The Bush administration requested $8.72 billion for four new ships including one Virginia-class submarine, one Littoral Combat Ship and one T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ship.
Oct. 18 - 19 -- 3rd Annual Interoperability Tools & Case Studies, Georgetown University Conference Center, Washington, D.C. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. Oct. 18 - 20 -- Aviation Week's MRO Europe Conference & Exhibition, Hotel Estrel & Convention Center, Sonnenallee 225, Berlin, Germany. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences.
LANDING CEV: NASA and the industry teams competing to build the Crew Exploration Vehicle know that the CEV will parachute down onto dry land in the western U.S., but its precise method of touching down safely still is being debated. According to Boeing CEV Deputy Program Manager Leonard Nicholson, engineers are weighing several options: installing an airbag under the vehicle to absorb the impact, designing a "crushable zone" of material between the heat shield and the pressure compartment to absorb the shock, or employing retro rockets to slow the descent.
SUPPORT SERVICES: EDO Corp. said Oct. 14 that it won three contracts totaling $15.4 million for professional services provided to U.S. Marine Corps and Navy programs, including collecting and analyzing data to assess fleet aviation readiness. Other awards were to support the Marine Corps Joint Concept Development and Experimentation office and the Logistics Command and Control component of the Marine Corps Global Combat Service Support System.
ANOTHER REVIEW: The troubled Joint Tactical Radio System Cluster 1 program underwent another review last week by the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board, although no major decisions on its fate have emerged yet. Reports had speculated that the meeting would decide whether to cancel Boeing's billion-dollar contract for the program, although now it appears the company has gotten a reprieve at least until the next DAB meeting, scheduled for Nov. 21.
The U.S. Navy's new top military officer intends to have the service conduct an extensive review of its fighter aircraft, helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle plans.
The U.S. Army has delayed until next month its request for proposals for industry to build and deliver the third phase of the Joint Network Node program, according to Army officials. The reason is that the Army wants the latest JNN version to include technologies that will be part of the service's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) system, officials said.
The Australian air force's Hawk 127 Lead-In Fighter has reached 30,000 hours of flight time, the country's defense ministry said Oct. 14. The milestone took place on Sept. 12 during a flight from the Williamtown, New South Wales, air base. The fighter, built by BAE Systems, has been invaluable in training "fast jet" pilots, the defense ministry said. The Hawk 127 also provides air support to the army and navy during exercises.
CONCERNS: Senate appropriators are pushing to keep $195.6 million from shipbuilders who make the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers because of what appears to them as additional costs outside the contract. In its fiscal 2006 defense spending bill, the Senate agreed with the appropriators, who slashed that amount from the Defense Department's request of $225.4 million to close out and shutdown the DDG-51 contract.
France-based shipbuilder Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) said Oct. 13 that it has been awarded a EUR 127.5 million (USD $153.9) contract to provide through-life support services for the French navy's front-line warships. DCN also won a separate euro 161 million (USD $191.3) contract from the French navy for the refueling and overhaul of the nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine SSBN Le Temeraire.
The U.S. Navy tentatively plans to award a contract to Raytheon Co. within the next few months to study adding a moving-target capability to Raytheon's Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), company officials said Oct. 14. The study contract is designed to lead to the award of a development contract in late 2006 for the moving target-capable JSOW, known as JSOW Block III, Raytheon officials told The DAILY.
