An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., early on Sept. 7 to test the missiles reliability and accuracy, the Air Force said. The missile's two unarmed re-entry vehicles traveled about 4,200 miles in 30 minutes, hitting predetermined targets at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marhsall Islands.
It's not clear which missile-defense related equipment will be transferred from the Missile Defense Agency to the military services, making it hard for the services to make plans and realign budgets to "support the missile defense mission," the Government Accountability Office says in a new report.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin visited Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Sept. 7 to survey the damage wreaked by Hurricane Katrina. Griffin and several other senior emergency operations personnel flew from Washington to Stennis in the morning, then took a previously scheduled supply helicopter flight to Michoud, which still is only accessible by aircraft or boat.
SUPPLEMENTAL SPENDING: President Bush will ask for $51.8 billion in additional spending for relief and recovery efforts due to Hurricane Katrina, and the House will debate a supplemental bill Sept. 8. The Defense Department, which received an initial $500 million in the first Katrina measure last week, is due for more as the size of its forces performing Katrina response missions has increased. U.S. Northern Command reported Sept. 7 that 18,000 active-duty ground forces and almost 43,000 National Guardsmen are committed.
Michael R. Boyce has been named to the board of directors. Boyce is currently chairman and CEO of PQ Corp., an industrial chemicals business owned by JP Morgan Chase Partners; and chairman and CEO of Peak Investments, which buys and operates chemical and mineral businesses.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said a recent $50.8 million U.S. Navy contract to improve the communications capabilities of the MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters will include adding Link 16 equipment to allow all future MH-60Rs, and armed versions of the MH-60S, to swap situational awareness information and coordinate weapons engagement with friendly forces.
Kakali Banerjee has been appointed vice president for business systems modernization, U.S. Agency for International Development Program. Patrick Burke has been named senior vice president for the Command and Control, Communications and Intelligence Sector. Dorothy E. Cleal has been named vice president and director of the Navy and Marine Corps Business Program. Allen H. Deitz has been appointed vice president and deputy program manager of the U.S. Agency for International Development Program.
ASN ANNOUNCED: President Bush has nominated Delores M. Etter of Maryland to be assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, replacing John Young Jr., who has been tapped to oversee Defense Department research efforts (DAILY, Aug. 1). The White House said Etter is a professor in the electrical engineering department at the U.S. Naval Academy, but had assumed the position of acting director of defense for research and engineering, the position for which Young was nominated. In addition to Etter, the White House on Sept.
The U.S. Air Force faces several challenges with large unmanned aerial vehicles as it fields a growing number of those aircraft, a service general said Sept. 7. Among the challenges is "assured communication," or encrypting information flows to ensure an enemy cannot "redirect" a UAV or otherwise "deny you the ability to control that platform," said Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, who recently became the military deputy in the Air Force acquisition office.
Titan Flyby: On Sept. 7 NASA's Cassini probe made its latest flyby of Saturn's moon, Titan, coming within 668 miles of its cloud-covered surface. The spacecraft focused its sensors on Titan's high southern latitudes, where earlier photographs have shown possible indications of lakes.
SPANISH MISSILES: The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Sept. 6 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Spain of 94 Standard Missile-1 Block VIB Tactical missiles for as much as $41 million. The agency said the principal contractors are the Raytheon Co. and Aerojet General Corp. "It is vital for the U.S. to assist Spain's development and maintenance of a strong self-defense capability that is consistent with U.S. regional objectives," a DSCA statement said.
SATELLITE SUPPORT: The Defense Department is providing some military satellite bandwidth to mobile phone companies in the Gulf Coast region affected by Hurricane Katrina, according to the head of U.S. Northern Command. The support is provided so the companies can get back to their servers and return to providing mobile phone communications among the civilian population in Mississippi. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating told reporters in a Sept.
TURKEY JSOWS: Turkey is seeking up to $35 million worth of Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOWs), the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Sept. 6. Turkey is seeking 50 AGM-154A-1 JSOWs with BLU-111 warheads and 54 unitary penetration variant AGM-154Cs, along with dummy trainers, captive flight missiles and missile simulation units. The sale is tied to Turkey's plans to modernize its F-16 fighters, DSCA said. Raytheon Systems Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., would be the prime contractor.
commercial space services provider Spacehab said its fourth quarter financial performance was affected by slips in the launch of the space shuttle, but that figures for its full fiscal year show a strengthened balance sheet.
The Army and Boeing/SAIC, the Future Combat Systems' lead systems integrator, have released the final request for proposals for the active protection system to protect manned FCS ground vehicles from attack. The APS is intended to counteract incoming threats such as rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and missiles, providing a lighter and more effective alternative to traditional slat armor. Proposals are due in October, and the Army plans to select a prime contractor in the first quarter of next year.
Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Yakovac, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, defended the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development system during a speech here Sept. 6, calling it sound in concept but lacking in execution. "My contention is that if we can get it to be more streamlined, the concept is the right concept," Yakovac said during the Association of the U.S. Army's Acquisition Symposium in Falls Church, Va.
The Senate plans to address its fiscal 2006 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, including $16.4 billion for NASA, later this week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Sept. 6 on the chamber's floor.
The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for a new "headborne system" that incorporates a helmet, eyewear, lower face protection, hearing protection and communications gear, among other capabilities. The Corps also is looking for potential bidders able to act as a systems integrator for the project, according to a request for information from the Marine Corps Systems Command.
