Australia has requested three MK 7 Aegis weapon systems and related equipment totaling as much as $350 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress. The sale would improve the Australian navy's ability to participate in coalition operations, make its air warfare destroyer platform more lethal and provide common logistical support with the U.S. Navy, DSCA said May 23.
Raytheon is gearing up to begin work on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program that will further develop nonmechanical laser beam control technology originally created for the agency's Steered Agile Beam (STAB) effort. DARPA released a request for information for the program, dubbed APPLE (Adaptive Photonic Phase Locked Elements), in December and decided to award a sole-source contract to STAB prime contractor Raytheon. APPLE will focus on space-to-ground laser control.
As both chambers of Congress prepare to debate their respective $441.6 billion fiscal 2006 defense authorization bills this week, perhaps no greater divide exists between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee versions than in naval shipbuilding. Both committees have complained about the Pentagon's acquisition practices, although for different reasons, and both have targeted space programs for cuts. Both have kept alive the Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft program, and both make supporting military forces engaged in combat operations a priority.
AFFORDABLE WEAPON SYSTEM: International Systems LLC of San Diego, a subsidiary of Titan Corp., has been awarded a $32.3 million contract modification for the fiscal year 2005 demonstration, test and evaluation phase of the Affordable Weapon System, the company said May 20. The work on the lower cost, Global Positioning System-guided cruise missile will be done in San Diego and is expected to be finished by September 2006. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington. D.C., awarded the contract.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Pittsburgh Pa., is being awarded a $104,217,527 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2102) for naval nuclear propulsion components. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa. (70 percent) and Schenectady, N.Y. (30 percent). Work completion date or additional information is not provided on naval nuclear propulsion contracts. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
INCOME, REVENUE UP: High-tech company Mikros Systems Corp. of Princeton, N.J., posted gains in revenue and net income in the first quarter of 2005, the company said May 23. The firm's revenue rose to $355,413, compared with $218,440 for the same period a year ago. Net income increased to $30,814, compared with $28,604 in the first quarter of 2004, the company said. The revenue was generated from $1 million and $2.4 million contracts from the U.S.
MOSCOW - RSC Energia is proposing to build a new unmanned space tug as part of a next-generation space transportation system, company deputy general designer Nikolai Bryukhanov said last week. Parom, or "ferry boat," would complement the company's proposed Clipper space vehicle, intended to replace the aging Soyuz. It would be a reusable orbital transfer vehicle that would dock with cargo delivered by various boosters, and then carry the cargo to the International Space Station or other locations.
General Dynamics Corp. said it received a $5.9 million contract modification to upgrade its Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle and that the Marine Corps workhorse ground vehicle's system capabilities would be demonstrated early next year.
Data Link Solutions will provide its Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) Class 2 Terminals for the U.S. Navy's E-2C Hawkeye aircraft under a $13 million contract from the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, the company said May 23. The terminals provide a real-time, jam-resistant transfer of combat information and navigation data "between widely dispersed battle elements," the company said.
PRAGUE - European officials are seeking approval from state ministers to begin negotiations on a cooperation agreement with South Korea to develop its Galileo Civil Global Navigation Satellite System, the European Commission said May 23. The EC said it intends to start talks immediately after gaining approval for its recommendation from the European Council of Ministers. Jacques Barrot, vice president of the commission in charge of transport, said in a statement that the Galileo has attracted interest from countries all over the world.
PROTON LAUNCH: A Russian Proton Breeze M rocket placed the DirecTV 8 satellite in an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit after lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on May 22. Over the next week the satellite will maneuver into a circular orbit 36,000 kilometers (22,300 miles) above the equator. Built by Space Systems/Loral, DirecTV 8 carries Ku-band and Ka-band transponders. International Launch Services managed the launch.
NEW COMPLEX: Northrop Grumman Corp. said May 23 that it will build a new five-building complex in Huntsville, Ala., to accommodate its growing presence in the area. The company will consolidate most of its 1,200 area employees, currently located in more than 20 facilities, in the new complex. "We project even more growth in the years ahead, with Huntsville supporting or managing several major programs and new contract wins," Daniel L. Montgomery, the company's vice president and corporate lead executive for the Huntsville region, said in a statement.
Raytheon Co. said it has won a competition to provide a sensor payload for the Army's Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aerial vehicle. A $16.5 million contract for the Electro-Optic/Infrared/Laser Designator (EO/IR/LD) payload was awarded to Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) unit, the company said May 23. The payload will be manufactured by the unit's Precision Attack and Surveillance Systems (PASS) business area in McKinney, Texas.
ANTI-TERRORISM AWARD: Applied Marine Technology Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., has been awarded a small business set-aside contract worth up to $271.8 million over five years for anti-terrorism support. The Navy announced late May 20 that the company would provide engineering, analytical, technical and programmatic support services for systems and projects under a joint effort in support of the U.S. Army Prophet/Cobra Project Office. The work is to be finished by May 2006.
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard should become far more integrated, their ship acquisition plans scrutinized for affordability and interoperability, and Congress should oversee their collaboration, according to an analyst writing for the Heritage Foundation. "Despite great commonality in how both services conduct maritime security operations, the Navy and Coast Guard are headed in different directions to provide this capability," said Bruce B. Stubbs, a retired Coast Guard officer and Reagan Administration National Security Council staff member.
MINING SONAR: The Defense Department said May 19 that Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems/Oceanic and Naval Systems, Annapolis, Md., was awarded a $7.4 million contract to develop sonar for high-resolution bottom mine detection and classification for use in unmanned undersea vehicle applications. The work will be done in Annapolis and should be finished by February 2007.
A chart on major programs from the fiscal year 2006 defense authorization bill, in the May 20 issue of The DAILY, contained mistakes due to errors in the original.
NASA conducted a second fueling test of the shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 20, once again encountering an anomaly with a pressurization relief valve that opens and closes to ensure that the shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel remains at the right temperature. During both the prior test on April 14 and the May 20 test, the valve cycled 13 times, compared with a more normal eight or nine times. Thirteen cycles does not violate the shuttle's launch commit criteria, but it is "out of family," according to shuttle officials.
After several delays, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-N satellite was launched May 20 on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Following a 65-minute flight, the spacecraft was placed in a circular orbit, Boeing said.
GMD OVERSIGHT: Although a similar effort failed last week during the House Armed Services Committee's markup of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee has written language into its version to give the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation more authority over the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. It also would call for the director's "characterization" of operational effectiveness. Rep.
ORBITAL EXPRESS: NASA expects to fill in any gaps in its experience left by last month's early abort of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) mission when it flies Orbital Express in 2006, according to Associate Administrator for Exploration Rear Adm. Craig Steidle. A joint effort with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Orbital Express will launch two spacecraft mated together that will separate in orbit before beginning their mission (DAILY, July 15, 2004).
May 24 - 25 -- Military Satellites, "Ensuring Optimal Secure Satellite Communications," Hilton Silver Spring, Silver Spring, Md. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. May 24 - 25 -- McGraw-Hill's Homeland Security Summit, Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to http://www.aviationnow.com.conferences.
