Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's projection forces subcommittee, hopes an upcoming Groton, Conn., field hearing on nuclear submarines will bring "a new appreciation of submarines for our national defense and a new vision of what they could do for us in the future."
PURCHASE: Information technology provider SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., has agreed to purchase Galaxy Scientific Corp., which provides systems engineering, information technology, and tactical communications services, SRA said June 9. Financial terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed. The transaction's completion is subject to closing conditions and Hart-Scott-Rodino approval. The closing is expected in late June or early July.
The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA) on June 9 embraced legislation proposed by Democratic Reps. Steve Israel (N.Y.) and Melissa Bean (Ill.) to require the transportation secretary to buy shoulder-fired missile defense systems to protect the nation's fleet of 6,800 commercial aircraft. "The expense of installing missile defense systems pales in comparison to the price tags of modern commercial aircraft and the thousands of lives at risk," CAPA President Jon Safley said.
Switzerland's parliament has approved a trimmed-down 2004 defense budget that includes funding for an army air surveillance system, combat simulation equipment and helmets, the Swiss Information Service said June 8.
REVENUE UP: Net revenue for Herley Industries Inc. rose 36.5% in the third quarter of 2005, but net income fell 7.6%, the company said June 9. Third-quarter net revenue was $41.3 million, compared to $30.3 million a year ago. Net income dropped from $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2004 to $3.6 million, the company said.
NASA's Deep Impact team remains confident as the spacecraft nears its July 4 high-speed rendezvous with comet Tempel 1, despite a focus problem that is hampering the capability of its high-resolution camera. When it nears Tempel 1, the Deep Impact spacecraft will release an 820-pound guided penetrator on a collision course with it. The mothership spacecraft has three sensors to observe the effects of the collision: the High Resolution Instrument (HRI), a Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI) and a duplicate camera on the Impactor Targeting Sensor (ITS).
An AH-1Z Super Cobra and a UH-1Y Huey helicopter have entered final modification periods before beginning operational evaluation, which is expected later this year, and operational pilots and aircrew are training for the review, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command said June 9. Meanwhile, with more than 95% of their development complete, the AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters reached their collective 3,000-flight hour June 1 during weapons accuracy testing in Yuma, Ariz.
A key U.S. senator is criticizing a House panel's vote to kill the Air Force's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense panel whose state hosts some of the work that is done on the stealthy cruise missile, said late June 9 that he is disappointed with the House Appropriations Committee's June 7 decision to terminate the program (DAILY, June 8).
CALIPSO, a joint effort of NASA and the French space agency CNES, has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to prepare for its launch later this year. CALIPSO - Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations - was shipped from Alcatel Space's facility in Cannes, France, on May 19. The spacecraft will use "revolutionary measurement technologies" to study aerosols, small liquid or solid particles in the air.
The Department of Defense still is facing "pervasive" and longstanding problems with its business management systems despite spending billions each year to operate, maintain and modernize them, the Government Accountability Office says in a new report. "Our reports continue to show that the department's stovepiped and duplicative systems contribute to fraud, waste and abuse," the report says.
MDA PLAN: The long-awaited interagency Maritime Domain Awareness plan will be unveiled and implemented this summer, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins told lawmakers on Capitol Hill June 8. "We locked the whole team up for six months and shoved pizzas under the door," Collins joked about the interagency effort to devise a common plan across the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and others.
A June 7 DAILY story headlined "Raytheon team's TMOS proposal will stress flexibility, official says," should have said that the Raytheon team competing for the TMOS program includes AT&T in addition to Boeing and General Dynamics.
Arianespace has postponed the dual-launch of Spaceway 2 and Telkom-2 due to an electrical problem discovered on Telkom-2 during prelaunch testing in Kourou, French Guiana, which will require the spacecraft to be shipped back to manufacturer Orbital Sciences in the United States for diagnosis.
Roger L. Simpson, Cowling Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has been elected president. Vincent Boles, general manager of the Aerospace Corp., was elected vice president of international activities. Amr ElSawy, senior vice president and general manager of MITRE, was elected vice president of standards. David Shaw, senior MD and CEO of Global Business Analysis Inc., was elected vice president of finance.
The merger of two units of General Atomics Company, Aeronautical Systems and Reconnaissance Systems (DAILY, June 7), signals that the company provides "a systems solution for persistent situational awareness," said Randy Walti, senior vice president and general counsel of San Diego-based GA.
The U.S. Defense Department is expected to issue another request for ideas to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which remain a grave threat to U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq despite a host of efforts to defend against such weapons. Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, the Army's point man for IEDs, told a Lexington Institute luncheon audience June 8 in Washington that he hopes to see another broad agency announcement (BAA) issued "within the next six months."
