The Irish air corps said Sept. 27 that it recently received the first of two EC-135 P2 helicopters from Eurocopter. The second aircraft will be delivered in October.
MORE C4ISR: CACI International Inc. will receive $7.4 million more to boost its support of Navy, Army, Air Force, Special Operations, and other agencies' command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance electronic systems. The additional work, under a contract modification awarded by the Naval Air Warfare Center's Aircraft Division, will be finished in February.
Rounding out its boost to the bomb-finding Man Transportable Robotic System program supporting ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded iRobot Corp. of Burlington, Mass., a $140.7 million modification for its PackBots. In mid-September, Foster-Miller Inc. received $133.3 million more for similar lifecycle support and spare parts for its Talon IV robot systems (DAILY, Sept. 20), which are also part of the program. Both companies' awards run through October 2012.
With the V-22 Osprey starting to close in on its initial fielding date, the U.S. Marine Corps is exploring how the Bell-Boeing tilt-rotor transport aircraft could be enhanced by potential manned and unmanned aviation systems.
Lockheed Martin Aircraft Center of Greenville, S.C., has been awarded a $35.4 million contract modification to provide aircraft depot maintenance for 19 C-9 Navy aircraft and four C-9 Air Force aircraft, the Defense Department said Sept. 26. The work will be done in Greenville and is expected to be finished in September 2006. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., awarded the contract.
CORRECTION: The Sept. 27 DAILY story "Director: DARPA to play no role in revamped J-UCAS program" incorrectly named Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Gary Payton, currently the Missile Defense Agency's deputy for advanced systems, will become the deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space beginning on Oct. 2. Payton will report to new Air Force Undersecretary Ronald Sega, the Defense Department's executive agent for space and the authority on all space acquisition programs. Formal approval of the nomination by the secretary of the Air Force is pending.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has devised a way out of its own defined-benefit pension plan policy problem, which has been holding up Gordon England from fully filling the No. 2 position at the Pentagon, and will require nominees to consult with governmental ethics officials before certain acquisitions.
A good place to start a national debate on the response to Hurricane Katrina, which President Bush suggested Sept. 26, would be to ask when data on the hurricane from National Technical Means satellites was first requested, one analyst said. "I want there to be a robust discussion about the best way for the federal government, in certain extreme circumstances, to be able to rally assets for the good of the people," Bush said in response to a question during a press conference in Washington.
FCS: The Boeing Co. has been awarded a $219.2 million increment for the Future Combat Systems' development and demonstration phase, the Defense Department said Sept. 26. The award is part of a $17.3 billion contract. The work will be done in St. Louis; Huntington Beach, Calif.; Seattle; Philadelphia; Huntsville, Ala.; Orlando, Fla.; Houston; Washington, D.C.; Mesa, Ariz.; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Santa Clara, Calif.; Bloomington, Minn.; and Plano, Texas. It is expected to be finished by Dec. 31, 2014. The contract was awarded by the U.S.
Kongsberg Maritime Simulations Inc. of West Mystic, Conn., has been awarded a $12.1 million contract to provide the U.S. Navy with Navigation Seamanship/Ship-handling Trainers, the Defense Department said Sept. 26. The contract includes logistics, maintenance and other support. NSST provides seamanship and ship handling training to the ship's helmsman on various Navy platforms. The work will be done in West Mystic and is expected to be finished by September 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., awarded the contract.
After the Senate votes Sept. 29 on the nomination of John Roberts to be chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the chamber will take up the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill, according to Senate majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). The Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee passed its draft of the $440.2 billion legislation Sept. 26, and the full SAC is scheduled to mark up the draft Sept. 28. The Senate version so far includes $50 billion in supplemental Defense Department funds for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.
The Air Force considered flying a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle over the Houston area to monitor the effects of Hurricane Rita, but ultimately decided the requirement wasn't justified, according to an Air Force source.
The closing of a biological lab and the termination of an office lease pushed net income down 83% for Versar Inc. in fiscal year 2005, the company said Sept. 27. Income from continuing operations also fell 13.6%, while higher contruction revenues spurred a 13% jump in gross revenues. The Springfield, Va.-based company, which provides professional consulting services in national defense, homeland defense and other areas, reported net income of $202,000, or 2 cents per share, in FY '05, compared to $1.2 million, or 16 cents per share, in FY '04.
Lead Systems Integrators Boeing and SAIC signed an undefinitized Federal Acquisition Regulation contract for the Army's Future Combat Systems program on Sept. 23, meeting their goal of switching to a more traditional contract structure by the end of the fiscal year. "We'll begin operating on the FAR-based contract as we go into FY '06," Boeing FCS Vice President and General Manager Dennis Muilenburg told The DAILY.
Top Defense Department officials on Sept. 27 offered the Senate Armed Services Committee a few possible structural responses, including strengthening the Joint Requirements Oversight Council by tying in budget and resources personnel, to what committee members have called the worst breakdown in defense acquisition integrity since the 1980s.
On Sept. 23 the U.S. Army and Boeing signed a $192.5 million contract for the company to build 13 new AH-64D Apache Longbow combat helicopters, the company announced. Production will begin in early 2006 at the Boeing facility in Mesa, Ariz. The new aircraft will be built in the current Block II configuration, and are in addition to 96 AH-64A Apaches being upgraded to the D model under a multiyear contract with the Army.
A study on the U.S. Marine Corps' future electronic attack needs is due to be finished in March, a key general said Sept. 27. The study, which the University of Pennsylvania has been hired to conduct, is expected to help the Marines refine their plans to replace their aging EA-6B Prowlers, said Lt. Gen. Michael Hough, the Marines' deputy commandant for aviation.
PRAGUE -- State-owned Czech aircraft producer Aero Vodochody will be put up for sale after the Czech defense ministry dropped its demand that the company's military aircraft servicing wing should remain in state hands.
A Boeing Delta II launched the first modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Lockheed Martin-built satellite, named GPS IIR-14 (M), lifted off at 11:37 p.m. Sept. 25, arriving at its transfer orbit 24 minutes later, Boeing said. The satellite is the first of a series of eight upgraded IIR satellites (DAILY, Aug. 24). They feature two new military signals for better security and anti-jamming performance, and a second civilian signal.
