MARKUPS: Two Senate Armed Services Committee panels held mark-up sessions May 4 on the fiscal year 2005 Department of Defense authorization bill. The airland and seapower subcommittees held closed sessions, but made no substantive changes to the $401.7 billion bill, according to a committee aide. The sessions were classified, and aide told The DAILY, and details likely will not be released for several weeks.
ACQUISITION: Austin Semiconductor of Austin, Texas, has acquired SAAT Technology LTD. of Alton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, a silicon design company. The acquisition will provide Austin Semiconductor with a "sister company in Europe with common goals and aspirations," the company said. SAAT Technology will change its name to Austin Semiconductor Europe Ltd. The buy will bolster Austin Semiconductor's move into the military and aerospace market, the company said.
RESTON, Va. - Under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Navy, Foster-Miller, Inc. of Waltham, Mass., is developing a small robot that would inspect the propeller shafts of 688-class submarines without requiring the shafts to be removed.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a tool that would allow maintenance personnel in different locations onboard ships to collaborate and share knowledge over a wireless network. Navy ships are entering an era of increased automation and reduced crew sizes, according to Joseph Tesar, director of research and development for Cybernet Systems Corporation of Ann Arbor, Mich. For example, the DD(X) will have about 130 personnel onboard, compared with roughly 300 on a comparably sized ship today, he said.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers released a survey that said workers in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington are concerned about continued job losses. The poll found that 51 percent of those polled who identified themselves at blue-collar workers were somewhat or very concerned about job loss. The IAM represents members in aerospace, manufacturing and defense related industries.
Northrop Grumman Corp. on May 1 redelivered the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to the U.S. Navy after a post shakedown availability (PSA) at Newport News Shipbuilding, the company said May 3. The USS Ronald Reagan was first delivered to the fleet in June 2003. It was returned for upgrades to its electronics package, combat systems, radar equipment and minor repairs, as well as modifications to accommodate F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft, Northrop Grumman CVN-76 program director Ken Mahler told The DAILY.
Avionics supplier Rockwell Collins is taking its lean development and manufacturing process to the next level, to "life cycle value stream management," Bob Chiusano, the company's executive vice president and chief operations officer of Commercial Systems division, told The DAILY.
Northrop Grumman, having re-ceived an $888 million contract April 30 for the next phase of the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), is preparing for a final design review of the system next month, according Dave Mazur, the company's program manager. Once the review is completed, he said in a May 3 telephone interview, "we'll basically say the design is done and we'll start actually going into the development and the demonstration" of the radar.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a new method for refurbishing infrared (IR) domes on aircraft that would cost only one-tenth as much as replacing them, according to developer Computer Optics of Hudson, N.H.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would maintain or expand funding for NASA if he wins the White House in November, but he doesn't support President Bush's new space exploration program, according to an aide for the campaign. Jason Furman, Kerry's economic policy director, told The DAILY that Kerry supports increasing NASA funding, focusing on research and development and high technology.
RAISED RATING: Standard & Poor's has raised its ratings outlook on European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. from negative to stable, the ratings service said. "The ratings action reflects EADS' ability to maintain strong financial measures, the expansion of the group's defense-related activities, and the resilience of subsidiary Airbus to the tough market environment," S&P said. It said Airbus aircraft deliveries will again top 300 units in 2004, and that EADS' defense activities will contribute significantly to cash flow generation by 2006.
RESTON, Va. - Through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is sponsoring the development of multi-purpose flight data recorders for the F/A-18 and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. Most current Navy aircraft fly with several data recording systems that separately record voice, video, vehicle health, and other information, according to Francis Peter of Management Sciences, Inc. Based in Albuquerque, N.M., Management Sciences is working on a multi-purpose flight data recorder for the F/A-18 under a Phase II SBIR grant.
TANKER REPORTS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to be briefed during the week of May 3-7 on two reports he requested on the Air Force's controversial proposal to lease 20 Boeing KC-767 refueling aircraft and buy 80 more. The report by the Defense Science Board (DSB) is to examine whether new tankers are needed now, while the report by the National Defense University (NDU) is expected to examine the cost effectiveness of the Air Force proposal. Early this year, Rumsfeld put the potential deal on hold so DOD could finish several reviews of the matter.
JOINT FORCIBLE ENTRY: The U.S. Marine Corps is planning to conduct Sea Viking 04, a concept development and experimentation campaign to assess future Marine Corps and naval capabilities for joint forcible entry, the Navy says in its Naval Transformation Roadmap (DAILY, April 23). The U.S. Department of Defense is studying forcible entry to address the anti-access problem.
MP-RTIP: Northrop Grumman was awarded an $888 million contract for the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program's (MP-RTIP) system development and demonstration phase, the U.S. Department of Defense announced late April 30. The contract includes the development of an MP-RTIP radar for the Multi-Sensor Command and Control aircraft and the delivery of three MP-RTIP radars for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, as well as other equipment and support, according to the DOD. Work is to be completed by May 2010.
UPGRADE: Rockwell Collins will upgrade the communications of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles to allow the fighters to "engage more actively" in homeland security activities, the company said. Rockwell Collins will replace one of the F-15's military single-band radios with a multi-band radio capable of providing Very High Frequency communications with civil air traffic control authorities and civil aircraft. "The addition of this new Rockwell Collins radio is a critical improvement for the U.S.
Despite the passage of the Safety Act of 2002, companies wishing to offer products to combat terrorism still are too vulnerable to third-party liability claims, according to Ron Sugar, chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman.
MISSILE COUNTERMEASURES: Several factors make current military anti-missile systems a poor fit for commercial airlines, according to Ronald Robinson of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The failure rates that are quite acceptable for military operations are up to 30 times more frequent than the standard that we've set for commercial [airlines], which is about 10,000 hours of operation on the airplane between failures," he says. False alarms on anti-missile systems also could pose a significant problem for the commercial air traffic system, according to Robinson.
One of three companies receiving contracts for the Innovative Space Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT) program will be chosen in 2006 to build a 100-meter demonstration antenna that would fly in 2010, according to an Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) official.
U.S. Air Force officials are declaring victory in their battle to fix a major technical problem with the F/A-22 Raptor: avionics software instability. "Software stability [is] no longer an issue," the Air Force said in a graphic displayed at an April 30 press briefing.
WORKING TOGETHER: Today, unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) are "point solutions," in that they conduct single missions with an operator. In the future, they will work in tightly integrated teams with other UGVs, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and warfighters, says Eugene Hudson, coordinator of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Joint Robotics Program. OSD is conducting a study on the collaborative engagement of unmanned systems and naval vessels, says Mack Barber, president of Northrop Grumman's REMOTEC.
WAITING: Textron Inc. officials are waiting for results of the U.S. Army's Strategic Priorities Board review of an Operational Needs Statement (ONS) for 28 Armored Security Vehicles. Textron has a contract for 104 of the vehicles, which are used by military police forces. Of those, 99 are part of an earlier multi-year contract and four were added in the fiscal 2004 budget. Sixty-three of the vehicles are in Iraq and performing well," says Jay Johnson, director of ground systems at Textron's Marine and Land Systems division.
