Two more companies have announced their teammates in the competition for the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF) cluster of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). The Boeing Co. said it is partnering with BBN Technologies, Harris Corp., L-3 Communications, MILCOM Systems Corp., Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and Rockwell Collins, while Northrop Grumman Corp. said its team includes Arinc, Honeywell, ITT Industries, Titan Corp. and ViaSat.
EMS Technologies, Inc. has delivered the first set of beam-forming networks (BFNs) for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications program two months ahead of schedule, the company said April 12.
The U.S. Air Force's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab (UAVB) has tested software that can pick desired features out of UAV video long before they become visible to the naked eye, according to Lt. Col. Timothy Cook, chief of the UAVB's Combat Applications Division. Based at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the UAVB's mandate is to take existing hardware and weapons and integrate them with UAVs. The recognition software originally was developed for the Nevada gaming industry, to automatically spot problem gamblers when they enter casinos, Cook said.
The U.S. Army intends to convene a high-level meeting in Colorado this week to kick off development of a blueprint for the service's directed energy (DE) programs. About 85 leaders of Army organizations are expected to gather for the April 13-14 summit, which is to begin crafting a "strategic plan" that will set research priorities for lasers and other DE weapons, according to the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), the event's organizer.
POWERED FLIGHT: Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne flew its second powered flight on April 8, reaching a speed of Mach 2 and a maximum altitude of 100,000 feet, according to a statement released by the National Space Society. The first powered flight took place Dec. 17, during which the suborbital spacecraft reached speeds of Mach 1.2 and a maximum altitude of 67,800 feet. SpaceShipOne is carried to its release altitude by the White Knight aircraft, which takes off from Mojave Airport in California.
NO SUPPORT: The General Accounting Office says it could find no evidence that the U.S. Department of Defense provided guidance to combatant commanders on how to implement legislation allowing the agency to support coalition liaison officers. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2003 authorized Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to provide services and support to foreign coalition officers temporarily assigned to the headquarters of combatant commands as part of the war on terrorism.
The first guided weapon drop from Boeing's X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle prototype is expected within the next two weeks, according to Mike Francis, director of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program office. Originally scheduled for the weekend of April 4, bad weather over the test range at China Lake, Calif., combined with other pressing priorities, have pushed the drop back, according to Francis. The X-45A conducted its first drop of an unguided inert Small Smart Bomb late last month (DAILY, March 26).
April 12 - 16 -- SPIE Defense & Security Symposium, Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, Orlando (Kissimmee), Fla. Email Bonnie Peterson at [email protected] or go to www.spie.org/info/or/. April 20 - 22 -- Aviation Week presents MRO Conference & Exhibition 2004, including MRO Latin America and the new MRO Military, Cobb Galleria Centre, Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, Ga. To register go to http://www.aviationweek.com/conferences.
NEW TECHNOLOGY: The wave of the future for ship weapon elevators may be "ropeless," say Navy officials and industry members. The technology's first application may be on the future aircraft carrier CVN-21, says Matthew Mulherin, vice president of CVN-21 at Northrop Grumman Newport News. Instead of the traditional cable-and-hydraulics elevator systems found on current Navy ships and in buildings, the CVN-21 program is considering using a linear motor solution that won't involve pistons driving cables, Todd Webber, president and COO of MagneMotion, tells The DAILY.
An article in The DAILY of April 7, "Lockheed Martin JCM completes inert munitions testing," incorrectly described the kind of testing the Joint Common Missile's motor has completed. It has completed insensitive munitions testing, meaning it won't detonate when subjected to fire or struck by debris.
Boeing is ready to resume discussions on the KC-767A tanker lease-buy agreement with the U.S. Air Force because the Pentagon's inspector general found "no reason not to proceed with the tanker deal," the company said April 9, although the IG's report was highly critical of the way the agreement was put together. A redacted summary of the report from the Defense Department's top auditor, released April 9, said the U.S. Air Force used an inappropriate procurement strategy in its negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer.
NASA is preparing to relieve the Expedition 8 crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) later this month, while managers on the ground mull a suggestion from the Russians that station missions be extended from six months up to a year. NASA and Russia are performing a joint analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of year-long missions that should be complete in the next few weeks, according to ISS Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier.
MAKING THEIR DEBUT: Lockheed Martin plans to roll out its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) on April 15 at its facility in Camden, Ark., the company said April 9. HIMARS is the newest member of the family of MLRS launchers and GMLRS is the latest addition to the MLRS family of munitions, the company said.
FUEL EFFICIENT: Sens. Sue Collins (R-Me.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) are pushing legislation to increase energy efficiency in military vehicles. Under the proposed National Defense Energy Savings Act, which they introduced last week, the government would pay no up-front costs for private contractors' energy-efficient upgrades to military vehicles such as tanks, aircraft and ships.
Aerojet is proposing that it take over rocket motor work on two Lockheed Martin missile programs that has been carried out by Pratt & Whitney, an Aerojet official said. Aerojet, the missile and space propulsion unit of GenCorp Inc., already is doing some work on motors for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, which would help defend Army troops against enemy aircraft and cruise missiles, and the Boost Vehicle-Plus, planned by the Missile Defense Agency for use in the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.
VALIDATION: An airborne instrument that will be needed to validate data from a European Space Agency satellite has had successful flight tests and appears ready for the "challenging validation work ahead," ESA says. ESA's CryoSat, due to launch by the end of this year, will monitor minute changes in the thickness of polar ice sheets and floating sea ice, to determine whether they are thinning due to global warming.
COMPLIANCE: Anti-bribery efforts are gaining momentum in the international marketplace, including among defense and aerospace companies, says a recent survey by a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. "Bribery of public officials in foreign markets is no longer being shrugged off as just another 'cost of doing business' by multinational corporations," says the April 6 survey released by Transparent Agents and Contracting (TRACE), which specializes in anti-bribery due diligence reviews and compliance training for international commercial intermediaries.
Aerospace and defense industry members have some concerns about the implementation of the Department of Defense's Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system, Alan Estevez, the DOD deputy undersecretary for supply chain integration, said April 9. DOD held an April 6-8 summit in Washington to discuss those concerns.
Roughly a year after delivery to the U.S. Navy, the upcoming X-Craft demonstrator will be fitted with a lifting body to enhance its speed and provide additional stability for helicopter operations, according to Chief of Naval Research Adm. Jay Cohen. A lifting body is an underwater wing that raises the hull of a boat off the surface of the water at high speeds while providing enhanced stability at low speeds. Pacific Marine of Honolulu, Hawaii will provide the 350-ton lifting body for X-Craft.
The U.S. Navy's EA-6B Improved Capability (ICAP) III aircraft began its operational evaluation (OPEVAL) April 2, the Navy announced April 8. During the five-month OPEVAL the Navy will operate the two upgraded EA-6B Prowler test aircraft normally while testers evaluate the performance of the ICAP III system, the reliability and maintainability of its components, and other metrics. Operational Test Squadron VX-9 out of China Lake, Calif., is conducting the OPEVAL.
The newest version of the Lockheed Martin-led team's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) design would allow the ship, at full weight, to move at 46 knots, Lockheed Martin representative Keith Mordoff told The DAILY. The ship could move at up to 60 knots in special operations outfitting for shorter ranges, Mordoff said. The ship would be able to accelerate to full speed in less than two minutes, and turn a 360-degree radius in less than eight boat lengths at its rated sprint speed, he said.
The Large Aircraft Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system is intended to give tanker and transport aircraft an improved capability to defend against proliferating man-portable missiles, according to the Air Force. The colorless, eye-safe, multi-band Viper laser, mounted in a small pointer/tracker turret, is designed to be more effective than flares, which mimic the heat of aircraft engines to draw heat-seeking missiles away their target. LAIRCM's laser dazzles a missile's guidance seeker, sending it astray. It requires no human intervention once it is activated.
