HELPFUL IMAGERY: DigitalGlobe said April 18 that San Diego State University (SDSU) is using high-resolution imagery from its QuickBird satellite to aid relief efforts in Indonesia after the Dec. 26 tsunami. SDSU's Immersive Visualization Center used the imagery to help establish refugee camps and coordinate medical information. Doctors from the center flew to Indonesia in January to work with the U.S.
The Loitering Attack Missile (LAM), which was recently removed from the U.S. Army's Non-Line-of-Sight-Launch System (NLOS-LS), could be revived in a year or two if key technologies mature, an Army program official said April 19.
ISR SERVICES: The Boeing Co. has been awarded a $14.5 million contract to provide "persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle services" for an unidentified Naval Expeditionary Strike Group deployment, as well as Gulf Oil Platform security, in direct support of Iraq and antiterrorism operations. The contract, which was not competitively procured, is for work on an unidentified U.S. Navy vessel in the Pacific Ocean and should be finished next February, the Navy said April 18.
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. will provide its EPX-500 visual system for a MiG-29 trainer simulator being built for the Indian navy, the company said April 19. The system will be delivered to Rheinmetall Defence Electronics' simulation integration facility in Bremen, Germany, by the end of the year, and is to be installed in 2006.
Carson Helicopters Inc. of Perkasie, Pa., has awarded Ducommun Inc. subsidiary Ducommun AeroStructures Inc. (DAS) of Monrovia, Calif., a follow-on contract worth more than $8 million to produce composite main rotor blades for Sikorsky S-61 helicopters, Ducommun said April 19. The Carson Composite Main Rotor Blades will allow S-61s to lift an extra 2,000 pounds and fly 15 knots faster than existing aircraft with metal main rotor blades, the company said.
Dividend: Goodrich Corp.'s board of directors has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share, payable July 1 to shareholders of record as of June 6, the company said April 19.
Sea Launch's Odyssey Launch Platform departed from Long Beach, Calif., last week to prepare for the April 26 launch of DIRECTV's Spaceway F1 broadcast satellite from the Equator. The satellite will be launched on a Zenit-3SL vehicle.
The cost of the U.S. Air Force's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle program is expected to grow more than 15%, triggering a requirement that the Defense Department formally notify Congress, according to sources. But the increase is not expected to be big enough to invoke a Nunn-McCurdy Act provision that requires a program whose costs jump 25% or more to be canceled or recertified as key to national security.
The U.S. Army is "trying to do the right things to get the capabilities ready for Spiral 1" for the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) and Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C), according to Rod Summers, program manager for NLOS-LS. The Army plans to conduct a Spiral 1 assessment of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) technologies in 2008, he told The DAILY on April 19 during a break at the Precision Strike Annual Programs Review 2005 in Crystal City, Va.
The U.S. Defense Department has begun exploring the possibility of developing a joint weapon that could slash the time it takes to deliver munitions to ground targets. With the military already expecting to find ways to speed up the detection of targets and the planning required to strike those targets, a Joint High Speed Weapon (JHSW) might be needed to help ensure that "weapons delivery won't be the long pole in the tent," said Rear Adm. Timothy Heely, the Navy's program executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has moved to make sure the futuristic DD(X) destroyer's next-generation power system remains under development, despite an expectation that land tests this summer instead will use a backup product.
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin told reporters April 18 that he would consider approving the launch of STS-114 over the objections of the Stafford-Covey review panel if shuttle program managers said they were confident of success.
U.S. soldiers overseas need more robots to assist them with scouting, explosive ordnance disposal and identifying improvised explosive devices, according to Col. Bruce Jette (USA-Ret.), former program manager of the Army's Rapid Equipping Force. "Make more robots," Jette told members of industry during the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's Military Robotics conference in Washington April 19. "We want lots of robots, but we've got to be able to afford them."
The White House's Office of Federal Procurement Policy has issued new policies that more broadly define the federal acquisition work force and more closely aligns civilian and defense acquisition work force requirements. The move, long favored by new OFPP Administrator David Safavian, was announced April 18. Civilian agencies should use Oct. 1 as a general guideline for adopting the Defense Department's curriculum, OFPP said.
New legislation to update how the Pentagon buys goods and services in the 21st century could emerge this year on Capitol Hill, according to comments made by senators and defense officials April 19. The next likely deputy secretary of defense, Gordon England, said at his Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hearing that the mid-1980s acquisition reforms of the Goldwater-Nichols Act need to be re-examined as the Defense Department moves from buying lots of large platforms to fewer, smaller items that are more capable.
PRAGUE -- A comprehensive test of the JAS-39 Gripen's air-to-air refueling capabilities over the past month has been a success, according to Swedish defense, aviation and space company Saab. The company reported April 15 that the successful test program involved 19 sorties with the Gripen C single-seat and Gripen D two-seat versions and a South African Air Force Boeing 707 tanker. Saab said the test, held at its facility in Linkoping, Sweden, was designed to verify Gripen's refueling capabilities with a NATO standard compatible tanker.
Implementation of the U.S. Coast Guard's program to replace and modernize more than 90 ships and 200 aircraft used in its offshore missions -- including homeland security, drug and migrant interdiction and fisheries law enforcement -- will be the topic of a Congressional oversight hearing on April 20.
NASA will begin an internal review on the possibility of reinstating the fifth space shuttle servicing mission (SM4) to the Hubble Space Telescope immediately after the space shuttle completes its return to flight mission, according to Administrator Michael Griffin.
The U.S. Army has awarded FLIR Systems Inc. of Portland, Ore., a $13 million contract to develop an advanced stabilized electro-optical infrared system for lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles, the company said April 19. The small and lightweight stabilized thermal imaging system will offer long-range performance, color visible imaging and advanced laser capabilities, the company said. The work will begin immediately in Billerica, Mass., and be done over three years.
DRS Technologies Inc., which provides defense and intelligence products and services, has purchased Codem Systems Inc. of Merrimack, N.H., for about $29 million in cash, DRS said April 18. Codem Systems produces signals intelligence systems, network interface modules and antenna control systems. Parsippany, N.J.-based DRS said it expects Codem to generate about $25 million in revenues in its first year under DRS ownership and be accretive to earnings. Existing cash on hand was used for the buy, DRS said.
The U.S. Army is scheduled to conduct the preliminary design review (PDR) for all manned ground vehicles (MGVs) for the Future Combat Systems in March 2008, an Army representative told The DAILY. Before that, the Army will decide which long-lead items it will need to buy, she said. The Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) and Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar (NLOS-M) are the first two MGVs to be procured for the FCS program.
General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Mich., has been awarded a $138 million delivery order to provide the U.S. Army with 99 additional Stryker combat vehicles, the company said April 18. The vehicles are part of a $4 billion contract awarded in 2000 to produce more than 2,100 Strykers for the Army's new Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. More than 1,000 vehicles have been delivered so far.
