Jane Alexander, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), said May 27 that the pre-solicitation phase for the second round of new technology grants is underway. DHS's science and technology directorate made 66 small business awards to companies in 23 states this year, in response to DHS' and HSARPA's first small business innovation research (SBIR) program solicitation.
TESTING: The Airborne Stand-off Radar (ASTOR), a ground surveillance aircraft under development for the United Kingdom, has begun flight-testing, prime contractor Raytheon Co. announced May 27. The first modified Bombardier Global Express business jet, which has a Synthetic Aperture imagery/Moving Target Indicator (SAR/MTI) radar mounted on the bottom and a satellite communications link on top, took off from Greenville, Texas, May 26 and flew for more than four hours.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on May 27 marked the shift from the obsolete Granite Sentry aircraft tracking system to the new Air Migration Evolution (AME) system. "We actually had the cutoff on the 19th of May, but today [May 27] was the ceremony," said Maj. Dave Patterson, spokesman for Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station here.
Finmeccanica's acquisition of the other half of AgustaWestland will pave the way for the company to pursue a more aggressive growth strategy in the U.S. market, according to Finmeccanica Inc. President Stephen Bryen. "As far as Finmeccanica is concerned, it's an opportunity for us, so we're looking at it that way," Bryen told The DAILY. "We're very pleased to be able to have control. It makes it easier to move forward with the company." Some have speculated that the acquisition could go through as early as June, Bryen said.
Since its establishment in October 2002, United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has become a "largely untold" success story and a leader in homeland defense training and interagency cooperation, according to Gen. Charles Wilhelm, (USMC-Ret.). Headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, NORTHCOM is the first command to have unified responsibility for the defense of the American homeland (DAILY, April 18, 2002). Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, who also leads North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), commands NORTHCOM.
A U.S. proposal to make missile defense-related upgrades to an early warning radar in Greenland cleared its last major political hurdle May 26 by receiving the approval of Denmark's parliament. Officials in Greenland, a semi-independent colony of Denmark, endorsed the plan earlier, according to a spokesman for the Danish Embassy in Washington.
To reduce risk, Department of Defense program managers must know more about software developers, especially when using international suppliers to develop weapon system software, the General Accounting Office (GAO) said in a recent report.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has formed a multinational consortium of small-caliber ammunition producers to market to the U.S. Army, company parent General Dynamics said May 25. The team, made up of General Dynamics, the Winchester Division of the Olin Corp., Israel Military Industries Ltd. and SNC Technologies Inc. of Canada, will respond to a recent U.S. Army market survey for a small-caliber ammunition systems integrator, the company said.
ACULIGHT, Bothell, Wash. Mark Hatlen has been named chief financial officer. ALCATEL SPACE, Paris Marc Pircher has been appointed senior vice president and chief technical officer. COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP., Falls Church, Va. Tim Sheahan has been named president of the company's new Enforcement, Security and Intelligence Division. CPI AEROSTRUCTURES, Edgewood, N.Y.
Stryker vehicles used by the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) are exceeding Department of Defense expectations, an Army official said May 26. The first SBCT, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was deployed to Iraq in October (DAILY, Oct. 13, 2003). The Strykers have a 95 percent operational readiness rate and on average, 97 percent of their parts are available when needed, said Lt. Col. Bryan McVeigh (USA), product manager for Interim Armored Vehicle - Combat Support. 96-day turnaround
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A joint training center for air force pilots could be set up in central Europe to help cut training costs. The move was announced after a meeting here May 24 of defense ministers from the Visegrad Four (V4) countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Poland is to lead a working group that will examine the feasibility of such a center, and is to report back to the next scheduled meeting of V4 defense ministers in October. Spreading the burden
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said May 25 that a House-Senate budget resolution approved last week recognizes "the criticality of funding for NASA" and could set the stage to begin President Bush's space exploration plan. The resolution calls for $23.9 billion in budget authority for Function 250, or spending covering General Science, Technology and Space, including NASA's budget request of $16.2 billion. It allows the setting of 302(b) funding allocations for appropriations committee subcommittees, which they use to fund government agencies.
Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense compnay, plans to buy GKN's 50 percent stake in their joint helicopter venture, AgustaWestland, the company said May 26. The company would buy United Kingdom-based GKN's stake for 1.06 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), although that is contingent on the U.K. Ministry of Defence awarding the "Future Lynx" contract to equip the British army and navy with remanufactured Lynx helicopters. If that doesn't happen, the price will be adjusted downward by 35 million pounds ($63.3 million), Finmeccanica said.
The Defense Department could reopen the competition to modernize Air Force refueling aircraft, once two studies on the service's tanker needs are finished in about six months, a Pentagon spokesman said May 26. "Sure, it could be" reopened, DOD spokesman Larry Di Rita said during a Pentagon press briefing.
JSF FACILITIES: Machines to produce major subassemblies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are in the final stages of assembly and testing on the factory floor at company facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, JSF maker Lockheed Martin said May 26. The Fort Worth plant will be the final assembly point for the JSF. "These are the most advanced machines ever applied to fighter aircraft assembly," Tom Burbage, the JSF general manager, said in a statement.
PARTNERS: SkyWay Communications Holding Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, SkyWay Aircraft Inc., have entered into a sales and marketing partnership with Titan Corp., the company said. Titan Corp. will market and sell SkyWay's high-speed airborne network services to U.S. government agencies, including the departments of defense and homeland security. The product could be used for advanced air combat and flight control services, and the company anticipates contracts worth up to $500 million over the next two years.
Raytheon Co. has begun flight-testing an upgraded version of the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) that is designed to give the anti-missile, ship-defense weapon the ability to destroy more types of targets.
The U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) unit is continuing to study the idea of a submarine-launched, intermediate-range ballistic missile (SLIRBM). Last summer, it asked industry for input to help determine "plans and programs, including technology challenges and proposed solutions" for such a system (DAILY, Sept. 2, 2003). Now, it wants "detailed cost and technical information for the development and production of a propulsion system for" an SLIRBM.
Weight is a major issue for ground vehicles that will be part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) as the program begins its integrated baseline review, a program official said May 25.
The Defense Department announced late May 25 that it will wait until November to decide whether to allow the Air Force to acquire 100 new Boeing-made KC-767A refueling aircraft. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants two more studies to be finished before deciding whether to approve an Air Force proposal to lease 20 KC-767As and buy 80 more, DOD said.
