We’re implementing some exciting updates this weekend, so you might encounter occasional issues. Be sure to come back on Monday and check out our dedicated Defense and Space channels!
Lockheed Martin and DRS Technologies Inc. have delivered to the U.S. Navy the 4,000th AN/UYQ-70 (Q-70) Enhanced Control Display Work Station (ECDWS), Lockheed Martin said Nov. 5. ECDWS provides submarine crews with real-time, enhanced processing, secure analysis and target detection capabilities and situation analysis and target motion on one console, Lockheed Martin said.
Nov. 11 - 13 -- Pacific Marine Expo, The West Coast Commercial Marine Marketplace," Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, Wash. For more information go to www.pacificmarineexpo.com. Nov. 15 - 16 -- ISR Integration 2004, "Enabling Precision Strike," Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.defensenews.com/conferences/isr.
ONE STOP: The Department of Defense may deem one location accountable for joint command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR), says Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lt. Gen. Robert Shea (USMC), director for command, control, communications and computer systems on the Joint Staff, is pushing the idea, Myers says. The assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration most likely would be the one-stop entity in charge of C4ISR, an Army spokesperson tells The DAILY.
The U.S. Army Aviation Missile Command has awarded McLean, Va.-based Innovative Concepts a five-year production contract to produce 682 IDM V304 data modem units, the company said Nov. 4. Financial terms were not disclosed. The IDM V304 is a six-channel tactical modem/router that connects ground and airborne platforms using existing radios and crypto equipment. It also provides the data-link required between ground and Army aviation units and air-to-air transmission of target data between IDM V304-equipped attack aircraft.
SUB CONVERSION: The USS Ohio, the first of four Trident ballistic missile submarines being converted to carry Raytheon-built Tomahawk cruise missiles, is on track to achieve an initial operational capability (IOC) in May 2007, says U.S. Navy Capt. Willy Hilarides, the project's overseer. The USS Ohio is being modified at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., and is about two-thirds of the way through its conversion.
Raytheon Co. will expand the Airspace Concepts Evaluation System (ACES), which helps develop air traffic management tools for the future National Airspace System, under a $3 million contract from NASA's Ames Research Center, Calif. The contract has two option years worth $3 million each, the company said Nov. 4. "This sets the stage for NASA and Raytheon to continue developing advanced tools and concepts for the future National Airspace System," Bob Eckel, vice president of Raytheon Air Traffic Management Systems, said in a statement.
NASA's Centennial Challenges program on Nov. 5 issued two requests for information (RFI) seeking information on potential support contracts for future prizes and one announcement of partnership opportunity looking for organizations wishing to contribute funding or services to the program.
Raytheon Co. is ahead of schedule in delivering its family of thermal weapon sights (TWS) to the Army, Jon Piatt, manager of Raytheon Soldier Weapon Sensor Systems, told The DAILY. The TWS are used for surveillance, detection and targeting in degraded battlefield conditions. In response to an Army request 11 months ago for Raytheon Systems Co.'s Network Centric Systems to more than double its TWS production from 400 to more than 1,000 systems per month, Raytheon today is producing more than 1,200 systems a month, Piatt said.
The U.S. Air Force is seeking to have the Government Accountability Office (GAO) take over a review of protests by companies contending that the Boeing Co. received preferential treatment in contract competitions handled by now-former Air Force acquisition official Darleen Druyun, a service spokesman said Nov. 5. Because Air Force decisions on the protests likely would cause the losing companies to appeal to the GAO anyway, the Air Force believes it makes sense to "cut to the chase" by having the GAO involved at the beginning.
Thales U.K., Boeing and QinetiQ will fly Boeing's ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle to identify the joint service operational requirements for future maritime UAVs, Thales said Nov. 4. The contract, with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, is for the maritime UAV part of the Joint UAV Experimentation Program (JUEP). The JUEP is intended to show how UAV systems could contribute to a future networked maritime intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability, Thales said.
MISSION PLANNING: The U.S. Air Force says it is consolidating more than 20 separate mission planning contracts into a single contract in hopes of achieving greater system interoperability. BAE Systems Mission Solutions, the Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Defense Mission Systems and TYBRIN Corp. are the recipients of the Mission Planning Enterprise Contract (MPEC) and will compete for each mission planning delivery order requirement.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Adm. Timothy J. Keating, who assumed command of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command on Nov. 5, said terrorists might think they have the best chance of successfully attacking Canada and the U.S. from the sea, but the vulnerability is not as great as some have said. Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, who passed the commands to Keating in a ceremony at Peterson Air Force Base here, said recently that he believes "terrorists are looking at that avenue of attack. Our maritime domain awareness is not as secure as our monitoring of our airspace."
NAVY JDAM: The U.S. Navy dropped its first two 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) during combat operations in Iraq on Oct. 29, the service announced Nov. 3. Strike Fighter Squadron 34 (VFA-34) of Carrier Air Wing 17, which is embarked aboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), dropped the GBU-38s on a position where insurgents were known to be operating, according to the Navy. "The 500-pound JDAM is perfect for the urban warfare that's taking place now in Iraq," Navy JDAM Program Manager Capt. Dave Dunaway said in a statement.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is asking the Boeing Co. to assess airliner counter-missile approaches being developed by BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman Corp. Potential high-level risks and technical issues associated with installation of the systems on a series of Boeing airliners will be discussed at a Boeing facility in Renton, Wash., during a Nov. 30-Dec. 3 technical interchange meeting, DHS said in a Nov. 3 FedBizOpps notice.
MODERNIZATION: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has won a $5.5 million contract from the U.S. Army Field Support Command to start additional modernization efforts at its ATK Lake City plant in Independence, Mo., the company said Nov. 4. The project will improve product quality, efficiency and capacity, the company said. It is scheduled for completion in September 2006.
The Allied Defense Group Inc.'s third-quarter and nine-month financial results lagged behind 2003 results, but the company said on Nov. 4 that it "anticipates an excellent fourth quarter and a good full-year 2004." During the third quarter of 2004, Allied earned 3 cents per share on revenues of $37.1 million, compared with earnings of 16 cents per share on revenues of $34.9 million for the same period in 2003.
St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems Inc. has won a $2.7 million contract to provide 11 Manportable, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) systems to Poland, the company said Nov. 4. The systems will be produced at the ESS facility in St. Louis. Deliveries will take place through the end of 2005, the company said. ESS previously has sold MSTARs to Australia, Canada and Colombia, Gerald A. Potthoff, ESS vice chairman, CEO and president, said in a statement.
BRAHMOS FLIGHT: The joint Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was flight-tested from the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast on Nov. 3, the Press Trust of India said. The naval version of the missile was fired from the Indian navy destroyer INS Rajput. BrahMos was last test fired in June, and the Indian navy said it plans to induct the missile next year (DAILY, Aug. 30).
European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADS) boasted soaring financial earnings for the third quarter of 2004, more than tripling its profits compared with the third quarter of 2003, the company said Nov. 4. EADS earned 210 million euros ($269 million) during the third quarter of 2004, up from 65 million euros ($83.4 million) in the third quarter of 2003. Sales rose to 6.89 billion euros ($8.8 billion) from 5.48 billion euros ($7 billion) during that period, EADS said.
The U.S. Air Force Space Battlelab's Near Space Maneuvering Vehicle (NSMV) program plans to test fly a revised propeller design at 100,000 feet altitude later this month, according to NSMV Program Manager Maj. Robert Blackington. Part of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), the Air Force Space Battlelab is exploring various technologies for exploiting "near space" altitudes, which are roughly defined as 65,000-300,000 feet. The first applications for this regime are likely to be surveillance and communications relay (DAILY, Sept. 15).
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began its border patrol flights using Northrop Grumman's Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) this week, according to an industry source. "They're using two RQ-5 Hunters, and they're just going to be using EO/IR [electro-optical/infrared] sensors, and they're going to make flights up and down the Arizona border near the area of Fort Huachuca," the source told The DAILY (DAILY, Nov. 4). Awaiting approval
The U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office has received the formal go-ahead to fix the aircraft's weight problems. DOD announced Nov. 4 that acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne has approved a series of design changes for JSF, especially for the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, which has been battling the biggest bulge. STOVL design changes approved by Wynne include shrinking the weapons bay and tweaking the propulsion system to provide more thrust (DAILY, July 22, Sept. 10, Sept. 15).
