Metal Storm Ltd. will integrate its 40mm grenade launcher into a DP-4X vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle and conduct live-fire tests, the company said June 29. The work will be done under a $325,000 contract from DP-4X builder Dragonfly Pictures Inc. and a live-fire test is planned for September or October, with at least two or three to follow, Metal Storm CEO David Smith told The DAILY. The contract could be worth up to as much as $431,100.
USAF VICE: Lt. Gen. John Corley, a senior U.S. Air Force acquisition official, has been nominated by President Bush to become vice chief of staff of the Air Force, the Pentagon announced June 29.
NAVSEA CHIEF: U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paul E. Sullivan has been nominated to succeed Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle as the next head of the Naval Sea Systems Command. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced Sullivan's selection for the Navy's shipbuilding command on June 29. Sullivan currently is NAVSEA deputy commander for ship design integration and engineering. He served as program manager for the Seawolf submarine from 1995 to 1998.
Kenneth J. Disken has been named senior vice president of human resources, and has been elected a corporate vice president by the board of directors. Stan Arthur, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Fla., is retiring. Ron Abbott, the vice president for tactical missiles and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, will move to Orlando and become executive vice president for mission assurance, effective July 1.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency have signed an agreement for including European instruments on India's first scientific mission to the moon, Chandrayan-1, planned for launch in 2007 or 2008 atop India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 525-kilogram (1,157-pound) satellite will be placed in a 100-kilometer (62-mile) polar orbit around the moon and is designed for a two-year life.
The Government Accountability Office has denied a protest by Metro Machine Corp. of Norfolk, Va., which said the Naval Sea Systems Command treated it unfairly in a recent competition. Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp., also of Norfolk, won the work to repair, maintain and modernize naval amphibious assault ships homeported in Norfolk.
The U.S. Defense Department's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) has received more than 130 proposals responding to its request for ideas for new nonlethal weapons, a JNLWD official said June 28. The JNLWD published the solicitation in December and is accepting submissions until November.
CLEANER CLEARANCE: President Bush on June 27 signed an executive order to streamline application procedures for granting national security clearances across federal agencies. The new process is led by the White House Office of Management and Budget and is supposed to lead to "uniform, centralized, efficient, effective, timely and reciprocal" processes across departments such as Defense, Homeland Security, State and Energy, the White House said June 28.
NEW CUTTER: The U.S. Coast Guard expects to have the final National Security Cutter operational requirements document, a high-level test and strategies plan, complete within two months, according to the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command. Then, NAVSEA's Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division will offer recommendations to the Coast Guard for finalizing the document, and together they will craft the test evaluation master plan for the cutter. The Warfare Center should begin conducting combat system ship qualification trials aboard the new class of cutters in 2007, NAVSEA said.
STRENGTHENED: BAE Systems has been awarded a contract modification worth $143.1 million from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command to remake and upgrade 59 M88A2 Hercules Improved Recovery vehicles, as well as provide system technical support and spares. The deal calls for 53 vehicles for the Army and six for the Marine Corps, the company said June 28. BAE Systems will deliver the renewed vehicles from August 2006 through November 2007.
EDO Corp. will continue to produce acoustic modules for the Light Weight Aperture Array sonar system on Virginia-class submarines under a $4 million contract from Northrop Grumman. The New York-based company will take fiber-optic acoustic sensor assemblies supplied by Northrop Grumman and integrate them into large multisensor acoustic modules that conform to the hull of the submarine, the company said June 28. The use of fiber optics provides noise-free data transmission and reduces weight significantly, EDO said.
A detachment of Belgium's unmanned aerial vehicle unit will help maintain stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina during its first operational deployment, the Belgian defense ministry said June 27. An 80th UAV Flight detachment and its Hunter-B UAV began arriving at Tuzla Eagle Base on June 22 and will be ready to fly reconnaissance missions by July 4. The detachment will provide reconnaissance and air-surveillance support in anti-trafficking and organized crime operations during its four-month mission, the ministry said.
ARMOR KITS: AM General of South Bend, Ind., has been awarded a $19.6 million contract modification for the purchase and installation of armor kits for M1151 Humvees, the Defense Department said June 27. The work will be done in South Bend and is expected to be finished by Jan. 31, 2006. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he is confident that the shuttle will return to flight as early as July 13, although the agency he recently took over was not able to implement all the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, including solving the issue of debris damage on the orbiter.
Raytheon Co. will produce Excalibur 155mm precision-guided artillery rounds for early fielding in Iraq under a $22.1 million contract awarded by the U.S. Army, the company said June 28. Developed by Raytheon Missile Systems and Bofors Defence of Sweden, Excalibur uses Global Positioning System and Inertial Measurement Unit technology to provide greater range and accuracy than traditional artillery.
PREDATOR ISR: BAE Systems Advanced Information Technologies will provide a "multi-sensor, multi-look exploitation system" to give the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance under a $5.4 million contract modification, the Defense Department said June 28. The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded the contract.
DRS Technologies Inc. said June 28 that options on a previously awarded U.S. Navy contract to develop advanced shaftless propulsion technology for future nuclear-powered submarine designs under the Tango Bravo program could bring the contract total to $30 million.
Unmanned aerial vehicle builder AeroVironment is flight-testing a subscale prototype UAV featuring a new long-endurance liquid hydrogen fuel system at Yuma, Ariz., according to company officials. The company-funded vehicle flew for the first time on May 27 and then again on June 2 for roughly an hour each time, marking what the company believes is the first time a UAV has flown on liquid hydrogen. The aircraft flew in racetrack patterns, both under manual control and autonomously through waypoints. Global Observer
Like a meteor shower of reports, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on June 28 promised the House Science Committee several updates to Congress by September, including the research agenda for the International Space Station (ISS), space shuttle flight plans, a launch vehicle for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), an architecture for lunar missions and other exploration and astronomy projects.
ORDERS: CFM International said it logged orders for 218 new CFM56 engines, worth $1.3 billion, at the recent Paris Air Show. CFM International is a joint venture of France's Snecma and General Electric of the U.S. The engines have been selected to power several Airbus and Boeing aircraft, the company said.
