The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress that Egypt is seeking 200 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers as part of a sale that could reach $181 million. Egypt wants the howitzers, intercoms, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment and other related equipment and services, including overhaul and refurbishment, DSCA said. In addition, six U.S. government quality assurance personnel would be needed at two-week intervals for an unspecified amount of time.
ThalesRaytheonSystems Co. is providing spare parts for U.S. Army AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder weapon-locating radars under a $130 million contract modification, the company said Aug. 1. The modification makes the company's work on the Raytheon-built radar effort worth more than $220 million, and it is being done on an "urgent basis" to finish the work as soon as possible, the joint venture said.
The Aerospace Industries Association is pushing for industry involvement in crafting a long-range plan for the defense industrial base, AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said Aug. 1. Douglass said other areas of interest to the AIA, including the air travel and space segments, have moved to implement recommendations from the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, released three years ago.
The STS-114 spacewalk team is planning ahead for the possibility that Discovery's crew will have to perform an unprecedented on-orbit repair of two protruding "gap-fillers" on the shuttle's underbelly before coming home. "We're getting everything staged and ready to go," STS-114 Lead Spacewalk Officer Cindy Begley said during a press conference Aug. 1. If the repair is approved, STS-114 Mission Specialist Steve Robinson will perform it as part of the mission's third spacewalk on Aug. 3.
SOLE SUPPORT: General Dynamics' Advanced Information Systems unit won another $47 million contract to support the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Experimentation Program and Joint Futures Lab, following on an almost $93 million contract for similar work that was awarded a month ago. This contract, like the previous award, is expected to be completed by July 2006, the Navy said late July 29. While both awards were competitively procured by the Fleet and Industrial Center Norfolk Philadelphia Division, only one offer was received.
SPARE WINGS: Spain's cabinet has approved a five-year, EUR 18.4 million (USD $22.4 million) contract to purchase spare wings for its Northrop-Grumman built F-5B fighter aircraft, the company said Aug. 1. The contract is part of a modernization program that includes upgrading avionics and precision navigation systems, as well as instrument panel data display. The program's aim is to make the F-5B similar to modern combat aircraft such as the F-18 and Eurofighter EF-2000, the company said. The program will extend the F-5B's operational life beyond the year 2020.
ELECTRO ARMOR: The U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research has awarded BAE Systems a three-year contract worth up to $2.8 million to develop "advanced" armor for Marine Corps ground combat vehicles, the company announced Aug. 1. The program, which has BAE working with the Army Research Lab in Aberdeen, Md., will try to develop an advanced system by combining electro-magnetic armor with other armor technologies. Once the armor "recipe" is written, the group will pursue multihit arrays and, eventually, a full vehicle kit. The lab will provide design, modeling and test support.
ISRAEL DISPUTE: The U.S. Defense Department remains optimistic that a dispute over Israel's defense trade with China will be settled soon, even though a quick resolution was predicted several months ago (DAILY, April 25), Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita says. Di Rita says the two parties are wrestling with "tough issues" but expect to resolve them "sooner rather than later." The U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office was told to stop sharing new information with Israel until concerns about Israel's technology controls are resolved.
ALWAYS 'GROUNDED': Space Shuttle Deputy Program Manager Wayne Hale resists the media's widespread use of the term "grounded" to describe NASA's decision not to fly the orbiter again until a new foam debris source on the external tank is eliminated. "The shuttle is an experimental flight vehicle," Hale says. "We're not operational. So every time we fly, every time there's a flight anomaly that's got to be resolved, we have to know that it's safe to fly the next flight before we go fly.
NEW DELHI - India's air force has received nine upgraded Jaguar combat aircraft and a Lakshya reusable aerial target drone from government-owned defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The upgraded Jaguars have been fitted with an indigenous avionics suite with night attack and precision bombing capability, as well as an improved airframe for new countermeasures armament pods.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to hold the first ground test of its indigenously developed cryogenic stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in October. Integration work for the test is under way, according to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Station. The cryogenic engine for the stage has been test-fired several times. If the ground test is successful, a flight-test of the stage will be conducted.
NO COMMENT: Ronald M. Sega, the Bush Administration's nominee to become undersecretary of the Air Force and the next Defense Department executive agent for space, is staying mum, for now, on a proposed Boeing Co.-Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture to provide government space launches (DAILY, May 3).
STANDOFF DETECTOR: A Kansas State University professor says he has won U.S. Marine Corps interest and funding to develop a standoff detector for bomb detection without having to get close to suspicious containers. Bill Dunn, an associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, says his device analyzes pulses of gamma and neutron radiation that reverberate off a target to detect elemental signatures. Dunn has teamed with M2 Technologies Inc.
The U.S. Air Force's first C-130J deployment to the Middle East was "incredibly successful," according to Col. Larry Gallogly, commander of the 143rd Airlift Wing at Quonset Point, R.I., who oversaw the 120-day operation. Two of the Lockheed Martin aircraft, four crews and associated maintenance gear operated in Iraq and Afghanistan, and flew "sporadic" sorties to the Horn of Africa, Gallogly told reporters at the Pentagon July 28.
Aug. 2 - 4 -- Directed Energy and Test Evaluation Conference, Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North, Albuquerque, N.M. For more information call Rick Graber (505) 944-2133 or email [email protected] or go to www.itea.org. Aug. 8 - 9 -- Next Generation Tactical Data Links, "Opportunities and Requirements," Holiday Inn, Rosslyn at Key Bridge, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.technologytraining.com.
TOMAHAWK OFFICE: The U.S. Navy's Tomahawk missile program offices have consolidated into a single new organization, PMA-280, that will be "the Navyís premier acquisition command and life-cycle manager for the Tomahawk Weapons System," the service says. Dubbed the Tomahawk Weapons System program office, the organization includes the formerly separate Tomahawk Weapon Control System office (PMA-282) and the Tomahawk All-Up-Round program management office (PMA-280). The office is located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
On-orbit inspections of shuttle Discovery have shown no serious damage that would prevent the orbiter from safely re-entering Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. Shuttle astronauts used the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System on July 29 to perform a series of "focused inspections" of six areas where the orbiter may have suffered damage during launch, including the chipped tile near the nosewheel landing gear door (DAILY, July 28).
A decision could soon be made on where Lockheed Martin will do its assembly work as the prime contractor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's targets program. Jim Tevepaugh, Lockheed Martin's program director for targets and countermeasures, said nine potential sites across the United States are being examined and that a decision is expected this fall. A mix of new and existing facilities probably will be chosen, Tevepaugh told The DAILY July 28.
Bell Helicopter Textron has been picked over Boeing to be the prime contractor for the U.S. Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), the Defense Department announced late July 29.
JSF CUTS? Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita denies recent reports that decision-makers for the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) are considering deep cuts in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, saying they are still discussing broad capabilities, not specific programs. Program officials have said they expect the Air Force's planned procurement of 1,763 F-35s to decline ultimately because that figure amounts to a one-for-one replacement of the F-16 and A-10, a ratio the Air Force no longer believes it needs (DAILY, June 15). Air Force Brig. Gen.
The U.S. Air Force is resisting a legislative effort sponsored by the Senate Armed Services Committee that would authorize $200 million for up to two fully equipped, dedicated, aeromedical evacuation (AE) aircraft for seriously wounded and ill military patients.
PENTAGON LEADERS: The White House plans to designate former Rep. Preston "Pete" Geren (D-Texas) as acting Air Force secretary and nominate Navy acquisition chief John Young to be director of defense research and engineering.
