Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon 1 vehicle has been delivered to its launch complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for a series of preflight tests leading to an expected launch in late November or December.

In anticipation of future demonstrations of deep-space laser communications, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. is requesting information from industry on laser communication terminals that would be deployed in the stratosphere or in Earth orbit. The agency wants information on communication packages, telescope configurations, control strategies, and baffling or filtering schemes that would enable operation within three degrees of the sun. Responses are due Nov. 26.

AM General Corp. of South Bend, Ind., won a $1.2 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for 1,408 M1114 chassis for the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee), the company said Oct. 1. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) awarded the contract. Work under the sole-source contract is expected to be completed by Dec. 21, 2007.

SOFIA STARGAZES: Scientists have for the first time looked at the stars through NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), according to the agency. During an "on-sky test" conducted in August with the aircraft parked on the ground, the telescope imaged the star Polaris and demonstrated that its basic optical, mechanical and software systems are working properly, according to NASA. When it begins making observations at 40,000 feet altitude with its 2.5-meter telescope next year, SOFIA will be the largest airborne observatory in the world.

RAPTOR REVIEW: A Pentagon review of the F/A-22 Raptor has been delayed from Oct. 5 to Nov. 1 due to a scheduling conflict, according to Defense Department and Air Force spokespersons. The high-level meeting is supposed to examine the program's status and is not expected to result in any major decisions about the Lockheed Martin-built fighter, which is slated for full-rate production approval in January (DAILY, Sept. 24).

A mishap investigation board (MIB) is citing lax discipline on the part of Lockheed Martin workers and poor oversight by both the company and NASA as primary causes of the September 2003 handling accident that severely damaged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) N-Prime satellite.

PATHFINDER TO FLY: NASA and AeroVironment Inc. have refurbished the company's Pathfinder-Plus unmanned flying wing for a series of flights to take place this fall at the agency's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. Three or four low-altitude flights will be conducted to help characterize the effects of turbulence on the performance of lightweight, highly flexible solar-powered flying wings. The flights are intended to help prevent another crash such as that which destroyed the Pathfinder's larger cousin, the Helios, in June 2003.

PEO SUPPORT: Anteon International Corp., a Fairfax, Va.-based technology and systems engineering and integration company, announced Oct. 4 that it was awarded a five-year contract by the Naval Sea Systems Command to support the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Integrated Warfare Systems. The estimated value of the contract, if all options are exercised, is $120 million.

House and Senate negotiators are nearing the endgame over compromise language for the fiscal year 2005 defense authorization legislation, according to a Senate staffer who did not want to be identified. The chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate armed services committees are hashing out the final details, although a number of sticking points remain, he said. The Senate approved a $442 billion defense authorization bill in late June; the House approved its version, authorizing a similar amount, in May.

General Dynamics received certification from the National Security Agency (NSA) for software version 5.3 for its AN/USC-61 Digital Modular Radio (DMR) system, the company said Oct. 4. The Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command awarded General Dynamics a $16 million contract to upgrade hardware and software for the AN/USC-61 DMR system, using the newly NSA-certified software.

The U.S. Navy announced Oct. 5 that the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program successfully completed its first major review since the Boeing Co. was picked to be the prime contractor almost four months ago. The three-day systems requirements review (SRR), held in Seattle, Wash., ended Sept. 30 and was designed to ensure program participants fully understand the Navy's needs. Stu Young, the Navy official who led the SRR, said the review convinced him that the program is on the right track.

The first successful drops of GBU-38 bombs in combat were executed recently over central Iraq, the U.S. Air Force said Oct. 4. Two F-16 Fighting Falcons simultaneously released a pair of 500-pound GBU-38s on a two-story building during a nighttime mission. The weapons struck their target precisely with little collateral damage, the Air Force said. Alabama Air National Guardsmen and Wisconsin and Illinois airmen were involved in the effort.

Oshkosh Truck Co. of Oshkosh, Wis., has awarded Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., a $115 million contract to support the U.S. Marine Corps Medium Tactical Truck Vehicle Replacement program (MTVR), Armor Holdings said Oct. 5.

NASA has tapped Lockheed Martin Space Systems to build the unmanned spacecraft that will service the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit after launching in December 2007. According to the terms of the $330.58 million award, Lockheed Martin must deliver the Hubble Robotic Vehicle Deorbit Module (HRVDM) within about 30 months, according to a NASA spokesman. The contract covers work approximately through April 2008, with initial money being reprogrammed from FY '04 funds.

London-based BAE Systems has been awarded a one-year, $8.6 million contract extension by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to provide supply management and in-country engineering for the Victoria-class submarines, BAE Systems said Oct. 5. A team of 55 Canadian nationals based in Victoria, British Columbia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ottawa, Ontario, are managing the support. They work for BAE Systems' Canadian subsidiary of its Customer Solutions and Support business, the company said.

Raytheon Co. says it expects to receive a contract by the first quarter of calendar 2005 to continue building a new radar for the U.S. Navy's newest fighter aircraft. The contract, slated to be for 22 systems, will be Raytheon's third low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract for the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, company spokeswoman Sabrina Steele said Oct. 5 in a written response to questions.

Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), the newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, was christened Oct. 2 during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Miss., the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command said. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) delivered the principal address. Ann Sherman Fitzpatrick broke a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen Forrest Sherman, which is named after her father.

Canada is seeking TOW anti-armor and "bunker buster" missiles, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress Sept. 30. Canada has requested 2,000 Radio Frequency (RF) TOW-2A and 600 RF TOW-2B anti-armor guided missiles, as well as 400 RF Bunker Buster Missiles, spare parts and other related items, DSCA said. The total value of the sale could be $136 million, DSCA said. The sale would improve Canada's military capabilities and "further weapon system standardization and interoperability with U.S. forces," DSCA said.

The Senate continued consideration Oct. 5 of legislation - the National Intelligence Reform Act (S 2845) - that would reform the intelligence-related activities of the U.S. government, including setting up a national intelligence director.

The cost of Bell Helicopter Textron's V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft will drop from its current price of about $70 million to about $50 million within the next five years because of lean manufacturing, according to the head of Osprey program partner Bell Helicopter. The V-22 currently costs $73 million per aircraft. The Navy's target cost for the aircraft is $58 million by fiscal 2010, a Naval Air Systems Command representative told The DAILY.

A suborbital rocket emulating an undisclosed "emerging threat" was launched by the United States in a Sept. 29 test in the Pacific, Defense Department officials said Oct. 5. The missile, which lifted off from Wake Island and flew about 606 miles, contained a mock warhead, a sensor package and various missile defense-related experiments. Radar and optical data collected during the flight will be used to design and improve missile defense interceptors and sensors.

American Pacific Corp. (AMPAC) has completed the acquisition of the former Atlantic Research Corp.'s in-space propulsion business (ISP) from Aerojet-General Corp., American Pacific said Oct. 1. The Delaware-based company announced April 26 it would acquire the ISP business for about $3.5 million in cash and the assumption of some liabilities (DAILY, April 29).

Lockheed Martin's Maritime Systems & Sensors unit has received contracts worth $625 million as part of the work on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program's design and development phase, the company said Oct. 4.