A recent hurricane in Florida has briefly delayed testing of the U.S. Air Force's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), a government source said July 18. A total of three flight-tests were scheduled for July 18 and 20 but were postponed because Hurricane Dennis forced F-16 test aircraft to be temporarily moved out of Eglin Air Force, Fla., interrupting preparations for the tests, according to the source, who estimated that the delay would be a week or so.
AGILE EAGLE: The Air Force has awarded SelectTech Services Corp. of Centerville, Ohio, a $24 million contract to provide for the Agile Eagle Program, which is for the research, design, development, assembly, modification and testing of specialized airborne communications packages, the Defense Department said July 18. The work will include the fabrication and delivery of one Command Control Module and one System Integration Laboratory. The work is to be finished by July 2011.
Full-rate production of the Long-Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) for the Advanced Gun System onboard the U.S. Navy's planned future destroyer, the DD(X), is expected to begin in 2011, Lockheed Martin Corp. said July 18. Meanwhile, the LRLAP has completed four successful test flights out of a total of eight, according to the Navy. Preliminary results from the latest test on June 29 indicate the LRLAP operated normally and hit within the predicted target area after completing a 46.5-nautical mile, 183-second flight.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $109.6 million contract for advanced planning, long-lead material acquisition and systems engineering on the LHA(R) amphibious assault ship, the company said July 18.
FUTURE BUYS? BAE Systems has made six "significant" acquisitions in the United States in the past year, including the purchase of combat vehicle maker United Defense (DAILY, June 27), but BAE Chairman Dick Olver says no further buys are in the works at the moment. However, he says that BAE Systems' U.S.-based businesses now employ 45,000 people, 35,000 of whom are Americans, and the "strategy remains" to increase buys of U.S. companies. Olver spoke last week at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
WYNNE'S WHEREABOUTS: Although former Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne's successor took office more than a month ago, Wynne still has not left the building. According to a Defense Department spokeswoman, it is because Wynne, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for Air Force secretary, has been tapped to oversee the Defense Department's current base-closing efforts.
DD(X) DAYS: The Defense Department, Navy, analysts and industry supporters will get two hearings this week before the skeptical House Armed Services Committee projections subcommittee to discuss the DD(X) destroyer program. Scheduled to testify are Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Kenneth Krieg, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition John Young Jr.
China critics in the House tried but failed July 14 to get the chamber to take up and pass a bill that would require the president to prepare annual reports identifying individuals or corporations from Europe that export specified munitions or associated items to China.
International Space Station prime contractor Boeing is brainstorming a list of possible experiments for astronauts to perform onboard the station that will help NASA plan for long-duration space voyages to the moon and Mars. "A big thrust on the station right now is to make it a testbed for exploration," said John Elbon, Boeing's vice president in charge of the ISS. Former astronaut Rich Clifford is leading the team at Boeing that is coming up with ideas, Elbon said.
A British naval task group on deployment in the Caribbean is standing by to assist in the wake of Hurricane Emily, which damaged and flooded parts of Grenada on July 14. The destroyer HMS Liverpool and Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Wave Knight have equipment to help deal with the aftermath of natural disasters, the U.K. defense ministry said July 14. The vessels have carried out several successful counter-drug operations during their deployment.
MOSCOW - Russia's government on July 14 approved a 10-year, 305 billion ruble ($10.5 billion) budget for its Federal Space Agency. About $800 million was budgeted for 2006 for the agency, also known as Roscosmos. Annual increases of 6% are set through 2015.
F-16 UPGRADES: Lockheed Martin Corp. is expected to receive a contract to supply long-lead items for upgrades to Turkey's F-16s. The contract is scheduled to be signed July 18 and is projected to be worth about $83 million, or about a tenth of the program's $800 million total value to Lockheed Martin. Improvements are slated for 37 Block 30 aircraft, four Block 40s and 76 Block 50s, for a total of 117 jets. Turkey has an option to modernize 100 more Block 40s.
MOSCOW - An anomaly in one of four second-stage engine combustion chambers was the most likely reason for the June 21 launch failure of a Molniya M booster carrying a military communications satellite, Russia's Space Forces said July 15. The anomaly caused second-stage engine fuel to be used up prematurely and the mission was aborted, Space Forces said. Eighteen possibile reasons for the failure were considered.
PUSHED BACK: NASA says it will not be able to launch Space Shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida before the end of next week at the earliest. Engineers continue to troubleshoot an elusive problem with a hydrogen fuel cutoff sensor that forced a scrub of Discovery's first launch attempt on July 13. NASA must launch the shuttle by July 31 or wait until the next window in September, which would bump the next scheduled flight, STS-121.
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - Marines stationed in Iraq are field-testing a satellite communications system meant to help them overcome challenges of radio use in such a spread out environment. Marine Regimental Combat Team-2, based out of Al Asad Air Base in Al Anbar province, are using the Command and Control On-The-Move Network, Digital Over-The-Horizon Relay (CONDOR) program to relay data, allow tactical data to retain connectivity while on the move and allow radio systems to enter the tactical network.
Aug. 31 is the final day for submission of proposals to the National Reconnaissance Office for its annual effort to fund new ideas that may make classified U.S. reconnaissance satellites more effective. This year's version of the Director's Innovative Initiative, or DII, differs in several respects from those of previous years, NRO says. For one thing, it wants ideas with a potential effect on near-term, not just long-term, operations.
The U.S. Defense Department's new advisory panel on acquisition reform plans to study whether DOD is properly equipped to oversee major weapon system programs, according to a key player in the review.
AVIATION MERGER: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has decided to combine the aviation fleets of the Office of Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and the Office of Border Patrol (OBP). But it remains unclear what shape the merger will take. To achieve efficiencies, AMO was recently moved from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which already included OBP (Homeland Security, April 20). AMO's aircraft modernization plans are on hold while details of its transfer to CBP are worked out.
TESTING CABLE: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has awarded Andrew Corp. of Orland Park, Ill., a potential five-year, $9.8 million contract for up to 7,275,000 meters (7,956,036 yards) of fiber optic micro cable to support fleet testing of submersible systems.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - New Zealand's military has opted for NH Industries' NH90 helicopter to replace its fleet of 14 aging Bell UH-1H Iroquois. It is likely that 14 of the NH90s will be purchased, although the exact number has not been determined. The NH90s can carry 16 fully equipped troops, compared with seven in the Iroquois. New Zealand's military is also seeking a new training/light utility helicopter to replace its Bell 47 Sioux aircraft, according to the ministry of defense (DAILY, June 21).
INTEGRATED LEARNING: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking proposals for a new program to develop computer software capable of learning general plans or processes from humans after being shown one example. Dubbed "Integrated Learning," the software will learn by "opportunistically assembling knowledge from many different sources, including generating it by reasoning," DARPA says. Integrated Learning technology will enable low-cost military decision/planning support systems, according to the agency.
The Senate late July 14 passed its version of the fiscal 2006 Homeland Security Department spending bill, appropriating $30.8 billion altogether and including money and direction for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), countermeasures for man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and the Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization effort. The vote was 96-1.
WELCOMING: Much of the United States' military superiority can be "traced to its willingness to welcome people and ideas from other countries," says Dick Olver, chairman of British company BAE Systems. Olver says attempts to pass "buy American" legislation in Congress are "misguided" (DAILY, July 13).
