The military services are considering a proposal from F-35 Joint Strike Fighter builder Lockheed Martin for a suite of JSF pilot training simulators ranging from traditional high-fidelity cockpit trainers down to applications that could run on laptop PCs. Rapid improvements in commercial computer and gaming technology are allowing for certain training tasks to be offloaded onto cheaper, off-the-shelf simulators, according to Lorraine Martin, vice president of flight solutions for Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support.
WEAPON FIRED: The Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW) was successfully test-fired at a military range near Adelaide, Australia, Metal Storm Ltd. announced Aug. 31. The AICW program, led by the Defence Science and Technology Organization, includes Metal Storm and Tenix Defence as consortium members. The weapon combines a 5.56mm Steyr assault rifle with Metal Storm's 40mm grenade launcher and a common trigger, laser sight and control system.
Clyde R. Kizer has been appointed to the board of directors. Kizer was president and COO of Airbus North America Customer Services and has served on numerous FAA committees.
IG QUITS: U.S. Defense Department Inspector General Joseph Schmitz, who has scrutinized Air Force acquisition practices during his 3 1/2-year tenure, intends to resign Sept. 9 to join the private sector. Schmitz disclosed his plans in an Aug. 30 e-mail to staff. The Project on Government Oversight disclosed the internal e-mail Aug. 31.
A Northrop Grumman-U.S. government team has demonstrated a new communications capability for the U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit bomber using a Link 16 system, the company said Aug. 31. Testing showed that a B-2 equipped with the system will be able to exchange information with a variety of aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and other equipment, the company said.
NASA shut down one of the Hubble Space Telescope's three remaining operational gyroscopes this week, putting the observatory into a "two-gyro" mode to preserve the third gyro and hopefully extend Hubble's operations through mid-2008. Hubble previously required three operational gyroscopes to stabilize itself sufficiently to make long-duration exposures of objects in deep space. Hubble's lifespan is contingent upon the health of its gyroscopes and batteries, which can only be replaced by shuttle astronauts.
One of six BAE Systems-built Hawk Mk129 aircraft bound for Bahrain's air force made its first flight from England last week, nine months ahead of schedule, the company said. The plane, flown by test pilot Pete Wilson, took off from BAE Systems' Warton facility on Aug. 26 and flew for 73 minutes over the Irish Sea. The aircraft is updated from the standard Mk127, which was originally provided to Australia's air force.
WEB SERVICES: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has tapped M.C. Dean Inc. of Dulles, Va., for a "second-generation," satellite-based broadband Internet service and voice-over Internet protocol network for deployed military personnel, mostly in Iraq. Other locations include the Balkans and non-Global Information Grid operations in the European and Central command areas. With one option, the two-year deal is worth $18.5 million, the Navy announced Aug. 30.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is on track to achieve its next milestone Sept. 7, when the electrical power system (EPS) for the first flight-test jet will be turned on for the first time, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The EPS consists of two subsystems: the Electrical Power Generating System (EPGS), provided by Hamilton Sundstrand of Rockford, Ill., and the Electrical Power Management System, supplied by Smiths Aerospace of the United Kingdom.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began checking out its instruments Aug. 30 after a successful course correction Aug. 27 that put the spacecraft on schedule to reach the red planet on March 10, 2006. The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft fired its six main thrusters for 15 seconds during the course correction maneuver. The main engines won't be used again until the spacecraft arrives at Mars, when they will fire for 25 minutes to slow MRO down enough for the planet's gravity to capture it into orbit.
General Dynamics Land Systems said Aug. 30 that it has been awarded a $15.2 million increment from a $62.1 million contract for materials to produce 92 M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management tanks. Initial funding of $31.3 million was awarded in April under the contract, and a second award of $15.6 million took place in July. Under the AIM program, Abrams tanks are completely disassembled and overhauled.
As part of its base realignment and closure considerations last week, the independent BRAC Commission approved the Defense Department's intent to consolidate military rotorcraft development in two locations. The changes create the Joint Center for Rotary Wing Air Platform Development, Acquisition, Test and Evaluation (DAT&E) at the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala., and "enhances" the Joint Center at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River, Md.
IDirect Technologies, which develops and markets satellite-based broadband systems, said Aug. 30 that it will be bought by Vision Technologies Electronics Inc. for $165 million. VTEE itself is a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, the U.S. headquarters of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd.
The Office of Naval Research is reviewing white papers describing basic research aimed at countering improvised explosive devices as part of its counter-IED "Manhattan Project." ONR released a broad agency announcement in July calling for research that can be "applied to the detection, neutralization, destruction and mitigation of the effects of these devices and to the advance prediction of the occurrence or potential for occurrence of IED events."
The National Defense Industrial Association, a lobby group for U.S. defense contractors, is raising concerns about "Buy America"-type sections of the House's fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill authored by China and European critics on the House Armed Services Committee.
SOLDIER EQUIPMENT: Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. said Aug. 31 that it has received a $17.4 million order from the Defense Supply Center-Philadelphia to continue producing components for the U.S. Army Modular Light Weight Load Carrying Equipment system (MOLLE). The order is part of a previously announced $40.9 million contract. The work will be done in 2006 at the Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Rob Legnosky will give up his CEO and president positions and become president of Celerity's Nevada subsidiary. C. Thomas McMillen has been named president and CEO.
Changes to the Iran Nonproliferation Act to allow NASA to buy Russian space goods and services could see legislative action starting next week. A House Science Committee spokesman told The DAILY that the congressional version of a Bush Administration proposal should be pushed through the House by the House Judiciary Committee in September, as part of a yet-identified bill. House and Senate science authorizers also plan to add the provision to their bill during a House-Senate conference on the fiscal 2006 NASA authorization.
H-60 ORDERS: BAE Systems said the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command awarded it a $10.6 million contract for 400 spare electronic control units for the GE T700 engines on UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters. The Army could order 800 more under contract options, BAE said Aug. 30. That same day, the Naval Air Systems Command ordered six low-rate-initial-production MH-60R multimission helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for $64.7 million.
RF BRIDGING: The U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center's Aircraft Division has awarded Trident Systems Inc. of Fairfax, Va., up to $25 million for a Phase III Small Business Innovative Research Program to develop radio frequency (RF) bridging equipment. Specifically, the Navy is looking to move raw sensor data via its legacy and emerging manned and unmanned RF communication nodes, then correlating and displaying it with command and control software while also providing it directly to front-line users. Trident Systems is expected to wrap up its work in August 2010.
About 20 Australian military personnel and one of their country's C-130J Hercules aircraft took part in an international disaster relief exercise in Thailand last week. The biennial exercise, called Pacific Airlift Rally, was sponsored by the U.S. Air Force and hosted by Thailand's air force. It was held in Udon Thani in northern Thailand.
