Lockheed Martin said Oct. 7 that it has successfully completed a live-fly demonstration of its Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) prototype. The demonstration featured airborne, ground-based and simulated maritime units collaborating in real time across an integrated, airborne Internet Protocol network to rapidly find, identify and strike a time-sensitive target, the company said.
The Defense Department has issued its latest overarching business enterprise architecture - and a new transition plan to get there - to try to help the largest federal agency get a handle on its bookkeeping and stop wasting taxpayers' money. Kenneth Krieg, the Pentagon's new chief acquisition official, told members of the Senate Homeland Security government management subcommittee on Oct. 6 that the new architecture and plan should help "reduce risks" that congressional investigators and White House budget-makers have identified as severe (DAILY, Jan. 26).
The United States is sending eight military helicopters and support personnel to Pakistan following a devastating earthquake that may have killed at least 20,000 people, the Defense Department said Oct. 10. Five CH-47 Chinook helicopters and three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and their crews were set to arrive on Oct. 10. They will provide rescue, recovery and logistics assistance. The aircraft were deployed from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan at the Pakistan government's request.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has tacked on $5.8 million more to Northrop Grumman Corp.'s contract to design, manufacture and test a shipboard compatible control station for the Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle to operate from a Littoral Combat Ship.
Science Applications International Corp. of McLean, Va., said Oct. 10 that it has purchased IMAPS LLC of Columbia, Ill. Financial terms were not disclosed. IMAPS provides geographic information systems and marine navigation, aviation flight planning and navigation software products. SAIC furnishes research and engineering services to national security, homeland security, space, and other customers. As part of the deal, 67 ex-IMAPS workers have joined SAIC's Mission Integration Business Unit.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s shipbuilding woes from Hurricane Katrina landed on Wall Street Oct. 10 as the company said it now expects 2005 revenue to be off by about $1 billion, while earnings could be down roughly 40 cents a share due to damage to its Ships Systems unit on the Gulf Coast.
Successful at-sea testing of the first Aegis Weapon System equipped with the new SPY-1F radar has been performed by Lockheed Martin and Spain-based shipbuilder Navantia, Lockheed Martin said Oct. 10. The Integrated Weapon System (IWS) testing took place aboard the Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen (F-310), the first of Norway's five new Aegis-equipped frigates.
AeroAstro Inc. will continue development of a Fast Angular Rate Miniature Star Tracker under a contract from the Air Force's Small Business Innovation Research program, the company said Oct. 10. A miniature star tracker is being developed in conjunction with MIT through a contract from the Missile Defense Agency, and that work laid the groundwork for the Air Force contract, the Ashburn, Va.-based company said.
Officials with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Stanford Racing Team's autonomous ground vehicle "Stanley" credit its winning performance in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge to its onboard software. The Stanford University team, with participation from Volkswagen, won the $2 million prize Oct. 8 by finishing the rugged 132-mile course through the Mojave Desert in six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds at an average speed of 19.1 mph. Stanford did not participate in the first Grand Challenge race in 2004.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has opened a new electronic warfare systems integration laboratory to support the development of the airborne electronic attack system for the U.S. Navy's EA-18G aircraft, the company said Oct. 10. The system is scheduled to enter the fleet in 2009. The lab, at Bethpage, N.Y., will be operated by the Bethpage-based Integrated Systems sector, which is the airborne electronic-attack systems integrator for that aircraft.
OSPREY OVERSEER: The U.S. multiservice V-22 Osprey program is about to get a new leader. During an Oct. 21 ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Marine Corps Col. Bill Taylor, who has been the V-22's deputy program manager, will be elevated to program manager, succeeding Air Force Col. Craig Olson, who is awaiting a new assignment that will take him to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The Osprey program recently achieved a key milestone, receiving Pentagon approval to begin full-rate production of the Bell-Boeing-built tiltrotor aircraft (DAILY, Sept.
GLOBAL REACH: In late October the Air Force Research Laboratory plans to release a broad agency announcement calling for research proposals on trans-atmospheric hypersonic vehicles capable of quickly reaching any spot on the planet. The first BAA under the Reusable Operationally Responsive Trans-Atmospheric Technology program will cover high-speed global reach air vehicle technologies including unpowered hypersonic glide and powered vehicles.
The Senate voted 97-0 on Oct. 7 to pass the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill, which would provide $445.6 billion in spending for the Defense Department for the year that started Oct. 1, including $50 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and domestic military air patrols.
SHIPBUILDING: U.S. Navy officials must separate shipbuilding requirements from "desirements," reinvigorate the service's acquisition work force and technical expertise, and try to convince industry to invest more in maintaining capacity and work forces on their own, says Donald Winter, the Bush Administration's nominee to be the next Navy secretary. He tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that if confirmed he will take a "good, hard look" at shipbuilding requirements and offer Congress and industry a "viable, credible" shipbuilding plan (DAILY, Oct. 7). He says Adm.
DEFENSE OUTLAYS: Outlays for defense spending grew by an estimated 7.6% in fiscal 2005 to $474 billion, although the growth was half the rate of increase averaged over the previous three years, the Congressional Budget Office reported Oct. 6. The total federal budget deficit totaled about $317 billion in 2005, CBO estimates, $96 billion less than the shortfall recorded in 2004.
The U.S. Army is making plans to conduct ground tests to help it explore a possible low-cost interceptor that would be fired from a Surface Launched AMRAAM (SLAMRAAM) launcher. Miltec and Aerojet, both contractors for the potential Multi-service Extended Range Low-cost Interceptor (MERLIN), are developing a design for the missile's dual-stage booster. If funding is available, the Army will be ready to begin conducting ground tests of that booster design "within the next six months or so," said David Tilson, who manages MERLIN for the Army.
PRAGUE - The Czech defense ministry has launched the initial phase of a tender to purchase an unspecified number of new medium-sized transport aircraft to be received no later than 2011. The ministry said Oct. 5 that it was talking with several companies about price, delivery deadlines and aircraft parameters. "I can't give you a specific number of aircraft at this time but it is more than one," defense spokesman Andrej Cirtek said. "A tender should take place in 2008-2009 and we would like delivery to be around 2010 or 2011."
The Pentagon's Senior Readiness Oversight Committee is reviewing a group of readiness challenges characterized as "encroachment" issues, according to the likely next Air Force secretary. Michael Wynne, currently the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 6 that encroachment is a "serious problem" and a unique challenge to Air Force training.
The Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle program has achieved cost savings of $82 million since December 2002 through the application of lean manufacturing principles, according to industry officials. The actual savings are higher, prime contractor Northrop Grumman says, because they include costs that were avoided altogether. These achievements have been overshadowed by overall cost growth on the program created by technical and programmatic issues as Northrop Grumman gears up to produce the upgraded RQ-4B Global Hawk for the Air Force.
