More U.S. military equipment and personnel are continuing to pour into the Gulf Coast region in response to Hurricane Katrina, the Defense Department said Sept. 5 and 6. Twenty-one Navy ships are in the area, including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, the amphibious vessel USS Iwo Jima and the USS Bataan. The Bataan has been serving as a platform for search-and-recovery missions and is ready to accept hospital patients. The Iwo Jima also is providing hospital beds.
The Class 1 unmanned aerial vehicle being developed for the Army's Future Combat Systems program will participate in a demonstration at Fort Dix, N.J., on Sept. 21-22, according to Brig. Gen. Charles Cartwright, program manager for the FCS Unit of Action. Honeywell is developing the ducted-fan Class 1 UAV, also known as the Micro Air Vehicle, for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as an advanced concept technology demonstration (DAILY, March 24).
ACQUISITION: Goodrich Corp. said Sept. 6 that it will buy Sensors Unlimited Inc. of Princeton, N.J., for $60 million in cash. Sensors Unlimited builds short-wave infrared systems for covert surveillance, missile tracking and other uses, and Goodrich said the buy will strengthen it in the surveillance, reconnaissance and homeland security markets.
RESCUE DOLPHINS: At least two of the U.S. Coast Guard's re-engined HH-65Cs Dolphins have been pressed into service to pluck stranded Hurricane Katrina survivors in the Gulf Coast region, although the Coast Guard has relied more on HH-60 Jayhawk medium-range helicopters for this mission in part due to greater range ability, according to an industry participant. Jayhawks also can fit more people in the back at one time, and the older, non-upgraded HH-65Bs are limited in their engine power - a concern in the 90-degree-plus Louisiana heat.
Three industry teams are expected to compete for a NATO contract to integrate alliance members' defenses against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. Boeing announced Sept. 6 that it has formed an "Alliance Shield" team that includes Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Brown Engineering of the United States, BAE Systems of the United Kingdom, Finmeccanica of Italy, Havelsan of Turkey, Prezemyslowy Instytut Telekomunikacji (PIT) of Poland and MBDA of France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
LAUNCH DEAL: Coming off the successful launch of Thaicom 4 for Thailand's Shin Satellite, Arianespace has signed a contract to launch Thaicom 5, the company said Sept. 6. Arianespace is to launch Thaicom 5 on its Ariane 5 booster in 2006. France's Alcatel Space will build the communications satellite (DAILY, July 8).
ACS FATE: U.S. Army officials are expected to hold meetings the week of Sept. 5-9 to try to resolve the fate of the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program. ACS was thrown into turmoil when prime contractor Lockheed Martin said in June that the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet that it had chosen for the intelligence-gathering program would actually be too small (DAILY, June 30). One option under consideration is to hold a new competition for ACS prime contractor, while another is to have Lockheed Martin remain the prime contractor but use a larger airframe.
POUNDING PAVEMENT: In separate pilot programs at different domestic depots and centers, the Army and Navy are testing competing autonomous, robotic unmanned vehicle systems eyed to be the high-tech night watchman of the future. The Navy bought one of iRobot Corp.'s Robotic Gators for $250,000 in July and is testing it at Naval Air Station North Island's Naval Weapons Magazine, Calif. (DAILY, Aug. 11). Meanwhile, the Army is testing General Dynamics' Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System at the Hawthorne Army Depot, Nev. (DAILY, Aug. 15).
UUV MAPPING: Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Maritime Systems & Sensors unit will integrate the Littoral Precision Underwater Mapping Array sensor into the Advanced Development Unmanned Undersea Vehicle under a contract modification from the Naval Sea Systems Command. The award is worth $10.6 million, according to a Sept. 1 Pentagon announcement.
Northrop Grumman Corp. in December will test a high-speed, wide-bandwidth, two-way data link using U.S. Marine Corps equipment from an F/A-18 fighter to a Humvee. If successful, the demonstration will show how front-line Marines could download data on demand directly from in-theater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Defense Department will get $500 million under a $10.5 billion emergency appropriations measure that Congress passed late last week in response to Hurricane Katrina. Senators and House members - a few of whom appeared on Capitol Hill to address the issue - approved the legislation by voice vote. Many said they wanted to get the measure to President Bush immediately so the money could start flowing.
F/A-22 TESTS: A total of 16 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) and 5 AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) will be used as part of the F/A-22 Raptor's follow-on operational test and evaluation (FOT&E), according to the U.S. Air Force. FOT&E, which began Aug. 29 and is scheduled to run through late fall, is designed to help the Lockheed Martin-built F/A-22 achieve an initial operational capability in December (DAILY, Aug. 30).
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy completed the first flight of the BQM-74F subsonic aerial target on Aug. 29, the company said Sept. 1. The flight was conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division sea range at Point Mugu, Calif. The target flew nearly an hour, met all its test objectives, and was successfully recovered, the company said. The BQM-74F, unveiled last month (DAILY, Aug. 23), can fly 70% farther than the E model, is 15% faster and has 75% more endurance, Northrop Grumman said.
Sept. 5 - 8 -- 9th World Summit for Satellite Financing, Hotel Intercontinental, Paris, France. For more information email euroconsult, [email protected] or go to www.euroconsult-ec.com. Sept. 8 - 9 -- Next Generation Tactical Data Links, "Opportunities and Requirements," Holiday Inn Tysons Corner, McLean, Va. For more information go to www.technologytraining.com.
Winning the war on terrorism, using better business practices and improving training and education for sailors and Marines are three top priorities for the U.S. Navy as it moves forward, according to Dionel M. Aviles, undersecretary of the Navy.
ACQUIRED: General Dynamics completed its acquisition of Itronix Corp., the company said Sept. 2. Itronix, of Spokane, Wash., makes wireless, rugged mobile computing systems. The 450-employee company is now part of General Dynamics C4 Systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
DEFENSE ACCORD: Switzerland's government is seeking parliamentary approval of a cross-border air force defense accord with Italy to guard against a terrorist attack during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin next February, the Swiss Information Service says. Switzerland's cabinet says an agreement is needed because the Olympics will be held so close to the Swiss border, although the accord would not be limited to the duration of the games. An agreement would improve communications between the countries and their ability to respond to a threat, the cabinet says.
The Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) development effort has gotten off to a quick start to meet the U.S. Army's goal of rapidly fielding the aircraft, an industry official said Sept. 2.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Army troops are using the portable Raven unmanned aerial vehicle throughout Iraq, but units charged with patrolling Baghdad have found it unsuitable for use in the congested airspace of the Iraqi capital. The Raven gives Army units greater control over their "situational awareness," said Maj. Raul Benitez, intelligence officer of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. "The best thing about it is we're able to push it down to the lower echelons, to the company and platoon level," Benitez said.
SHIPYARD EQUIPMENT: Most major Northrop Grumman Corp. shipyard equipment in the Gulf Coast region, such as cranes and most fabrication facilities, appears to have weathered Hurricane Katrina but is inoperable, according to company and U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command updates. All Ship Systems facilities sustained some structural damage and will stay closed until final damage assessments are complete and basic services are restored, the company says. "All six ships located at Ship Systems facilities successfully weathered the storm," Northrop Grumman says.
A story in the Sept. 1 issue of The DAILY, headlined "Iran act changes affecting NASA could pass House soon," incorrectly named a committee working on the issue due to incorrect information. The House Science Committee is working with the House International Relations Committee on the issue.
DEEPWATER C4ISR: The first round of upgrades to the U.S. Coast Guard's aging, unconnected legacy ships and aircraft that will allow them to communicate across the Homeland Security and Defense departments will be finished in 2009, says the joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. which is running the Deepwater recapitalization program. Further C4ISR upgrades scheduled from 2008 to 2011 are to improve joint operations and decision support, with a focus on Sector Command Center integration and local- and port-level intelligence tools.
