DEFEATED: The Senate rejected an amendment to the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would have eliminated funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). The amendment, offered by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), was defeated 55 to 42. The Bush Administration is seeking $27.6 million to study RNEP in fiscal 2005, but its opponents contend the weapon could cause radioactive fallout.
The U.S. Navy plans to give other countries a major role in the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program, possibly on a level approaching that of the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Navy acquisition chief John Young told reporters June 14 that the United States already has had initial talks with several potential international participants, and he expects those discussions to intensify now that the Navy has picked the Boeing Co. to be the new prime contractor for the new anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft.
The Government Electronics and Information Association (GEIA) has released the first in a series of handbooks to help program managers navigate the Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) process when bidding on Department of Defense contracts with Earned Value Management (EVM) requirements. "The Program Managers' Guide to the Integrated Baseline Review Process" supports the Earned Value Management Systems Standard, EIA-74B.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) program is preparing to draw to a close with an upcoming demonstration to the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Ga., according to prime contractor Honeywell. The OAV is an autonomous ducted fan vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle designed to provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition for small units in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS). Happening soon
SPACE IMAGING will provide commercial satellite imagery to the U.S. Geological Survey under a one-year, $5 million contract. The imagery will help the building of a seamless geographic land base of the United States. The data also will be used to support natural hazards and disaster response, homeland security, land and resource management, infrastructure planning and management, policy decision-making, and scientific study, the Denver-based company said. The contract has two one-year options that could boost its value to $15 million.
NASA began brainstorming ideas for its upcoming Centennial Challenges aerospace prizes with industry representatives during a meeting in Washington June 15, in anticipation of announcing the first prizes later this year. Modeled on successful 19th century navigation prizes and early 20th century aviation prizes, the Centennial Challenges program is aimed at stimulating industry to produce breakthroughs in technologies that would support NASA's new vision for space exploration. The agency is requesting $20 million for the program in fiscal year 2005.
NEW DELHI - About 70 Indian air force MiG-21s are to be phased out by 2012 and replaced by BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers, according to Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, the air chief marshal. India signed a contract for 66 115Y Hawk advanced jet trainers earlier this year (DAILY, March 22), with deliveries scheduled to begin around 2007.
In July, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) plans to perform a demonstration in which the Silver Fox unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) will work together to classify ships. The UAV will be the Silver Fox, conceived by ONR and built by Advanced Ceramics Research of Tucson, Ariz. NAVSEA is providing the 42-foot-long Power Vent USV for the demo, which will be outfitted with radar and a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera.
A U.S. Forest Service plan to replace 33 tanker aircraft used to fight wildfires in the West with three times as many smaller aircraft is inadequate, according to Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Flake has introduced a bill to require the temporary reinstatement of contracts for the larger tankers, which were canceled in May by the secretaries of agriculture and the interior.
Elbit Systems Ltd. and RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd. said they will complete the development of an advanced system to defend Israeli airliners against shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles. The system already has been chosen by Israel's ministries of defense and transport as the long-term solution for protecting the country's civil aircraft. The team said it has been given the go-ahead to complete system development and engineering, already in advanced stages.
The M1A1 Abrams battle tank, manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems Division, has proven itself to be the premier main battle tank in service today, according to Forecast International's annual ranking. The M1A1 has an unmatched combat record in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Dean Lockwood, FI weapons systems analyst, said in FI's re-evaluation of its annual ranking of the world's best main battle tanks. The ranking is based on combat experience.
BRAHMOS TEST: The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which India and Russia are developing jointly, was test fired June 13 for the seventh time since 2001. BrahMos, which is fired from a mobile launcher, has a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead weighing up to 200 kilograms (441 pounds). A two-stage vehicle, its propulsion consists of a solid propellant booster and liquid propellant ramjet system.
Pakistan has purchased 13 new Mi-17 Kazan Russian helicopters for $50.7 million, five of which may be used against al Qaeda and Taliban remnants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The region has been in turmoil since the United States launched its operations in Afghanistan in October 2001. Pakistan also has asked the U.S. for 120 additional helicopters for its army.
One challenge facing the U.S. Navy's future Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is the integration of mission systems that have never before cohabited on one ship, said Navy officials June 14. The Navy's goal is eventually to integrate most of the mission modules - mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare. However, full integration probably won't happen for Flight 0, Rear Adm. William E. Landay, program executive officer for littoral and mine warfare, said at a briefing.
The U.S. Navy announced June 14 that it has chosen the Boeing Co. to be the prime contractor for the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), a program expected to be worth tens of billions of dollars for the winner. Boeing, which defeated Lockheed Martin Corp., has been awarded a $3.89 billion contract to develop the replacement for the aging Lockheed Martin P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft. Total development and production costs are expected to be $25.5 billion.
The U.S. Army is deactivating cockpit airbags on more than 400 UH-60A/L Black Hawk and OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters while investigators try to determine why the inflatable devices seemed to malfunction in two recent incidents, according to a spokesman for Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM).
Debate is set to begin June 15 on an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 defense authorization bill that would ban funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered the amendment, which is scheduled to be the first debated as the Senate resumes work on the bill.
CHINASAT: Alcatel Space of Paris will design and produce the ChinaSat 9 communications satellite for China Satellite Communication Corp. (ChinaSat), the company said June 11. The satellite, based on the Spacebus 4000 C1 platform, will be fitted with 22 active Ku-band transponders. It will enable ChinSat to be the first state-owned company to provide satellite broadcast services in China, according to Alcatel.
JSF REVIEW: The first critical design review (CDR) for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of calendar 2005, according to program officials. Officials had previously indicated that the key review would take place sometime in 2005 (DAILY, March 1). The CDR, which will determine the design for the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant and for parts that will be common among all three JSF variants, originally had been slated for April 2004 but was delayed so the program can resolve the aircraft's lingering weight problems.
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Lockheed Martin-Bell Helicopter Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) team analyzed 11 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) concepts before settling on a compound helicopter configuration, according to Walter Sonneborn of Bell Helicopter.
INTEGRATED APPROACH: The U.S. Navy could take an "integrated approach" to maintaining a sufficient submarine force in the future, short of buying more attack submarines, according to a naval analyst. Congressional Research Service analyst Ronald O'Rourke says this could include extending the service life of Virginia-class submarines from 30 to 40 years, having multiple crews and additional forward home-porting on Guam, and using sub-launched unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions currently performed by satellites and aircraft.
