The U.S. Coast Guard should update the 2002 Deepwater acquisition schedule in time for the modernization program's budget submission to the Department of Homeland Security and Congress, and should update it annually after that, the General Accounting Office concluded in a new report.
The House Appropriations Committee voted not to fund the U.S. Army's Non Line of Sight-Launch System (NLOS-LS) in its version of the fiscal year 2005 defense budget, setting up a conflict with the Senate when the two versions of the defense bills are combined.
DIGITALGLOBE has been awarded a portion of a $15 million multiyear contract from the U.S. Geological Survey to buy high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, the company said. The contract provides the USGS and its partner agencies with coordinated access to the remote sensing industry's products and services. The contract complements others signed in September 2003 between the USGS and four commercial companies that provide high-resolution aerial remote sensing data.
NASA is teaming with U.S. and international agencies in an air quality and climate study to measure the movements of pollution around the globe this summer, the aerospace agency said June 28. In the first phase of a two-part experiment, NASA and other researchers will track the path of aerosols and polluting gases traveling from North America to Europe.
Northrop Grumman Corp., as part of an Air-Force-led team, has won the 2004 Brent Scowcroft Air Force Association Award for outstanding performance on one of several life extension programs for the Minuteman III ICBM system, the company said June 29. The program, called REACT SLEP, or ICBM Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting Service Life Extension Program, is intended to ensure the viability of the system through 2020. It is named for Brent Scowcroft, the former national security adviser.
In a highly accelerated procurement, the U.S. Army has contracted with Lockheed Martin and Raydon Corp. of Daytona, Fla., to deliver virtual reality simulators for training soldiers on convoy operations in Iraq.
C-5A REVIEW: An Air Force team of experts that studied whether the aging C-5A transport fleet should be retired has presented its findings to Air Force Secretary James Roche. The conclusions of the Air Force Fleet Viability Board have not been announced because Roche has "some technical questions" he wants answered, a spokeswoman said. "The results of the study will be released after additional information is provided and the appropriate congressional notifications are made," she said.
The U.S. Army's logistics operations are undergoing major improvements, including the installation of a permanent satellite-based network in Iraq and the replacement of land-based prepositioning with a sea-based capability, said Lt. Gen. Claude Christianson (USA), deputy chief of staff, logistics. The Army also wants to improve logistics by modernizing its transportation delivery platforms and better integrating its supply chain with commercial partners, he told reporters June 29.
TELESPAZIO has chosen Intelsat to provide oil and gas industry contractor Saipem with voice and data services for its on-shore and off-shore drilling, construction, and deepwater operations, Intelsat said June 28. Intelsat's IS-701, IS-905 and IS-904 satellites will transmit voice and data traffic from Saipem's land-based operations center in Europe to 16 oil and gas vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. All 16 vessels will communicate with Intelsat's satellite system with 2.4-meter C-band maritime antennas.
NEW DELHI - India's navy and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a memorandum of understanding on June 28 to create a facility in Bangalore to repair and overhaul the transmissions of the navy's Sea King helicopter fleet. The rehab of India's four squadrons of Sea Kings, used for anti-submarine warfare in the Indian Ocean, will be done in concert with a $15.6 million transfer of technology contract with Westland Helicopters Ltd. of the United Kingdom. The Westland contract was a prerequisite to establishing the new facility.
United Defense Industries (UDI) will fabricate an Integrated Survivability Advanced Technology Demonstrator for the U.S. Army under a $6.2 million contract modification, the company said June 28. The work is part of the Army Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center's effort to develop and integrate survivability technologies that can be fitted to current and future vehicles to protect soldiers.
ST. MARY'S COUNTY, Md. - Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is flight-testing a unique spherical airship to gauge its value for future surveillance applications. Under a U.S. Navy contract with Cyber Aerospace of New Orleans, the 62-foot diameter SA-60 spherical airship has undergone several days of flight-testing at St. Mary's County Airport in Maryland, just a few miles from Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The main goals of the flight tests were to reach 10,000 feet and stay aloft for three hours, both of which were achieved in a June 28 flight.
Northrop Grumman plans to begin retrofitting a new heavy-fuel engine into the U.S. Army's RQ-5A Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fleet in September, the company said June 28. Heavy fuels are similar to diesel and kerosene and are less expensive than the aviation fuels currently used for the Army's UAVs, including the Hunter and Predator, the company said.
The U.S. Air Force's Command and Control Battlelab wants industry input on the idea of examining past satellite and aircraft imagery of the Middle East and Southwest Asia to track down terrorists after a car bomb explosion or similar event. The concept is called GOTCHA, for "Geo-spatial Observation of Terrorists with Consequences for Hostile Activities."
Senate lawmakers approved funding for body armor research, warfare, weapons and advanced aviation technology in their version of the fiscal 2005 defense spending bill, although a defense analyst said their interest may be shifting from new generation equipment to more basic items needed on the battlefield.
FLIGHT CONTROL: BAE Systems will develop the flight control computer for the newest version of the U.S. Army's CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F, the company said June 28. The work will be done for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. BAE Systems will design the system and produce seven development shipsets to support flight tests scheduled for 2005.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office has received formal Pentagon approval to delay several milestones to provide more time for fixing the aircraft's weight problems. The program office's "re-plan strategy" obtained the go-ahead from acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne on June 25, the Defense Department said in a three-sentence "acquisition decision information paper" released June 28.
NEW HELO: Bell Helicopter Textron has reached agreements with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Co. to develop, certify, produce and market the 427i light twin helicopter for the world market, the company said. Preliminary specifications call for a maximum cruising speed of 164 miles per hour and a range of 365 nautical miles.
Titan Corp. still is an attractive company to purchase despite the aborted $2.2 billion acquisition deal with Lockheed Martin, two industry analysts said June 28. However, it's doubtful another suitor will come forward while Titan remains under a legal cloud, one of the analysts said. Lockheed Martin announced June 26 that it had terminated its merger agreement with Titan because Titan had not secured a plea agreement with the Justice Department concerning allegations of improper payments to foreign officials.
EFFICIENCY: The continuing transformation of the U.S. Air Force "very much depends" on another base closing round, according to Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff. "It is not only the money," Jumpers says. "As I said before, it is also the people. Every 10,000 people in our Air Force costs us $1.5 billion a year. I owe it ... to make sure that we do not have any more people wearing the uniform than needs to be wearing the uniform. We try as hard as we can to reach efficiencies.
ON SCHEDULE: The deactivation of Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles is continuing "safely, securely, on budget and on schedule," says Maj. Gen. Frank Klotz (USAF). The three-year program to deactivate 50 Peacekeepers is slated to be complete "by this time next year or a little later," Klotz says. The deactivations are "not a trivial task," and doing so faster would be "difficult" and "not without risk," he adds. Klotz, commander of the 20th Air Force, spoke at a Capitol Hill Club breakfast in Washington.
SPACEWALK RESCHEDULED: The Expedition 9 astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) will make a second spacewalk attempt to restore power to one of the station's Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) no earlier than June 29, according to NASA. One of the station's CMGs, which are responsible for maintaining its orientation, went offline in late April due to a faulty Remote Power Controller (RPC). The CMGs are located in the station's Z1 Truss, and the RPC is on the S0 Truss.
