AEGIS SUPPORT: The U.S. Navy Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded a Blanket Purchase Agreement to Anteon International Corporation to provide management and technical support to the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program Directorate. The BPA is valued at about $45 million and has a 16-month period of performance. Anteon will provide acquisition and life cycle management, test evaluation, engineering and integration, system design, concept development and requirements analysis, and strategic planning for technology programs.
Egypt wants to continue a program to upgrade its CH-47C helicopters to the more modern CH-47D configuration. It has asked the Pentagon for engines and other equipment worth about $108 million to convert three C model Boeing Chinooks in its inventory to D models, according to a July 6 announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Congress must approve the plan.
ALLEGENT TECHNOLOGY GROUP, Woodbury, N.Y. Michael Swetnam, CEO of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, has been appointed to serve on the company's board of advisers. ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa, Israel Itzhak Dvir has been appointed chief operating officer. FLIGHTSAFETY INTL., LaGuardia Airport, N.Y. Geoff Bloss has been appointed director of business application development. HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION INTL., Alexandria, Va.
The first cluster for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) has begun building hardware and is on track to begin a key evaluation near the end of the year, according to government and industry officials. Lt. Col. David Lockhart (USA), the government's Cluster 1 manager, said in a July 7 press briefing that his program has not been easy because it was the first in a multiservice family of software-programmable communication radios. But he said Cluster 1 is making "significant progress."
Three members of the House Armed Services Committee have asked the General Accounting Office to explore post-employment restrictions on government officials. At issue is the so-called "revolving door," where federal executives and lawmakers move into lucrative jobs with contractors who do business with the U.S. government.
ELECTRONICS UPGRADE: EDO Corp. has been awarded $21.3 million in contracts during the first half of 2004 to maintain and upgrade the AN/ALQ-161 defensive electronics on the B-1B bomber, the company said July 6. The AN/ALQ-161 identifies and detects adversary threat emitters and applies the appropriate jamming technique. New jamming technology will enhance the AN/ALQ-161's capabilities and allow rapid reprogramming to address future threats, the company said.
MOSCOW - Anatoly Perminov, head of Russia's Federal Space Agency (FSA), said he sees "no problem" with the creation of a consolidated holding company for the rocket engine industry, and said such a move is "necessary." In early July, the FSA distributed a memo about merging Russia's rocket engine manufacturers into a single holding company. The government is actively promoting the consolidation of both the aviation and rocket and space industries. Perminov said the integrated companies would be easier to manage and more cost-efficient.
The U.S. Navy, through an effort called Radiant Blue, is evaluating its blue force tracking (BFT) requirements in support of maritime operations, according to Capt. Jon See (USMC), Navy tactical exploitation of national capabilities (TENCAP) project officer at the Naval Network and Space Operations Command. The Navy hasn't procured BFT devices for Navy units, as the Army has with (Force Battle Command, Brigade and Below (FBCB2), the major digital command and control system for the brigade level and below.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Environment Center (SEC) appears to be on better footing following a budget scare last fall in which Senate appropriators threatened to eliminate the center's funding. Located in Boulder, Colo., the SEC monitors and forecasts space weather phenomena such as solar flares that can adversely affect spacecraft, aircraft, or ground-based electrical power and communications systems. It has a staff of 47 federal employees.
International cooperation on missile defense has gained a boost on two fronts, with the tri-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) clearing a major hurdle and Australia revealing more details about potential ties with the United States.
The U.S. Army's Tactical Exploitation System (TES) - consisting of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s family of multi-intelligence ground stations - demonstrated some interoperability capabilities for the first time with airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors during a recent exercise. During the Joint Forces Command-sponsored Combined Joint Task Force Exercise (CJTFEX) at Fort Bragg, N.C., June 12-21, "there were several firsts," Ken Jennings, manager of C4ISRT network systems at Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems, told The DAILY.
House lawmakers are expected to hold a hearing this week on defense and aerospace trade offsets and to name conferees who will work with the Senate to hammer out details of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to hold a hearing this month on so-called "revolving door" rules aimed at high-ranking federal officials who leave their posts and take lucrative jobs with government contractors.
U.S. defense companies hold a technological lead over their international rivals in most areas of command-and-control (C2) technology, but several aspects of the domestic industry still need nurturing, the Pentagon says in a new report.
EVALUATING: Two United Kingdom Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons will be returning home this month after being sent to Singapore for about two weeks. Singapore is evaluating the aircraft for its fighter replacement program, along with the U.S. F-15 and the French Rafale, and is expected to make a decision next year (DAILY, June 18). The trip to Singapore also allows for the testing of some key performance requirements, including air-to-air refueling and performance in a hot and humid environment, according to Eurofighter partner BAE Systems.
FY '06 BUDGET: Coast Guard Cmdr. Kathleen Donohoe says the announcement on how the aviation assets in the service's Deepwater modernization program will be reconfigured will come in the fiscal year 2006 budget proposal in February. The Coast Guard says it is looking at changes in the requirements needed for the new mix, but declines to discuss specifics. Deepwater is the Coast Guard's $20 billion recapitalization program to replace aging cutters, patrol boats, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. In May, Coast Guard Commandant Adm.
STAYING MOBILE: NASA is working on concepts for mobile lunar bases that would travel via wheels or even legs, according to the agency. "If you set up a base at a fixed location on the moon, you are very limited in the sites of scientific interest that you can reach," says researcher Marc Cohen of NASA's Ames Research Center, Calif.
AIRSHIP DELAY: The critical design review (CDR) for the Missile Defense Agency's High Altitude Airship (HAA) has been delayed from June until September because some of the people involved in the program have been busy with other efforts, including the planned deployment this fall of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, according to Defense Department officials. The CDR is to help MDA decide whether to give HAA prime contractor Lockheed Martin a follow-up contract to build a prototype airship.
Quality control remains a major challenge for the Defense Department as it prepares to field a new shield against ballistic missiles, according to a key general.
AURA LAUNCH: NASA's Aura spacecraft is scheduled to launch on July 10 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Liftoff must occur in a three-minute window that will open at approximately 6:01:57 a.m. EDT. Spacecraft separation is scheduled to occur one hour and four minutes later. Aura will study the Earth's ozone, air quality and climate, and is the third in a series of major Earth-observing satellites launched by NASA to study the environment and climate change.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) standards committee has released its first technical standard, which defines the requirements for an automatic "sense-and-avoid" system that would allow UAVs to detect and deconflict with other air traffic.
The U.S. Army is procuring multiband super high frequency (SHF) Phoenix satellite terminals, part of a new family of military satellite ground terminals, according to Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran, director of Army information operations, space, and networks.
RAPTOR ENGINES: Pratt & Whitney will produce F119-PW-100 engines for the F/A-22 Raptor under a $431 million supplemental contract from the U.S. Air Force, the company said. The supplement covers 42 installed engines for 2006 deliveries, spare engines, spare parts, and support services. The supplement was added to a $168 million existing contract issued in 2003. The contract's overall value is about $600 million.
