SUPERCOMPUTER: Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) has delivered a 2,048-processor SGI Altix supercomputer to the Aeronautical Systems Center's Major Shared Resource Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the company said April 25. The computer will allow the DOD to simulate entire aircraft, weapon systems and battlefield engagements, SGI said.
United Defense Industries Inc. has been awarded four contracts worth up to $479 million from Anniston Army Depot, Ala., to perform overhaul maintenance on the M109A6 Paladin Self Propelled Howitzer, the M88A1 Medium Recovery Vehicle, the M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicle, and the M9 Armored Combat Earth Mover, the company said April 25.
No matter how many ships the U.S. Navy eventually has in the fleet, the service is looking to cut its logistics and support forces "substantially," the Congressional Budget Office said April 25. The Navy's 30-year plan calls for having 260 to 325 ships.
NASA's Prometheus team is awaiting a decision from NASA headquarters on what mission the agency wants to replace the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) as a means of demonstrating new space nuclear power and propulsion technologies.
BAE Systems said April 25 that it was recently awarded two U.S. Navy contracts totaling more than $56 million as a prime contractor to provide technical services for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, R.I. (NUWCDIVNPT).
The U.S. Navy on April 22 awarded VSE Corp. of Alexandria, Va., a $544 million, five-year contract for services in support of ships that are bought, sold or transferred through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. While the contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Internet, only one proposal was received, according to the Navy. VSE said this new contract replaces a similar 10-year contract awarded to it in 1995. Ship transfer work has made up 37-56% of annual VSE revenues each year since 1996.
April 27 - 28 -- DOD Architectures, "Applications and Regulations Forecasts," Hilton Silver Spring, Silver Spring, Md. For more information go to http://www.idga.org. April 27 - 28 -- Performance Based Logistics, "Projecting and Sustaining Forces into the 21st Century," Georgetown University Conference Center, Washington, D.C. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to http://www.idga.org.
JSF RESTRICTIONS: The U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office has stopped sharing new information with Israel until concerns about that country's technology controls are resolved. There "are some types of technology information that we're not comfortable sharing until we can resolve some of these issues," Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita says. "But there's an expectation that they can be resolved." Israel, one of 10 countries participating in the program, often has drawn U.S. scrutiny for its arms sales to China.
NEW SHOP: One of the first organizational changes being implemented by new NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is the formation of a new Program Analysis and Evaluation office. "That's the office I will be looking to [for] forward-looking planning as well as the analysis of how we're doing what we're doing within NASA," Griffin says. The office will be led by Scott Pace, formerly the agency's deputy chief of staff.
The Defense Department, despite recent Senate objections to proposed plans, will continue to push for retiring the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier, a spokesman said. "We'll continue to make the case for what we said we wanted, what the president's budget reflects, and we'll see how it comes out," DOD spokesman Larry Di Rita said at a Pentagon press conference April 21.
The new leadership of the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO), the U.S. forces computer defense organization, will consist of Rear Adm. Elizabeth Hight (USN) and probably Maj. Gen. Charles Croom (USAF).
PRAGUE -- Czech aircraft company Aero Vodochody has won a multimillion-dollar contract to supply supersonic fighter components to former owner Boeing. The company, which was taken over by the Czech government last October after Boeing ended its six-year strategic partnership, said April 22 that it will supply 210 gun bay door (GBD) sets and spare parts to the U.S. aircraft maker for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters.
RFID COMPANY: Savi Technology Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) of Hong Kong have formed a new company, Savi Networks LLC, to build and operate an active radio frequency identification (RFID) information network to track and manage ocean-transported container cargo.
CARRYING ON: After a decade in space, the European Space Agency's ERS-2 satellite is continuing its earth observation mission with "all instruments functioning well," ESA says. ERS-2 images were used in the wake of the December tsunami in Asia, and "demand for ERS-2 data is ever increasing, spurred on by the fact that the spacecraft keeps on updating its data archives as it orbits the Earth," ESA says.
PRAGUE -- A Czech Republic defense spokesman has downplayed a press report that six new JAS-39 Gripen aircraft experienced technical difficulties while being flown from Sweden last week for delivery to the Czech air force. The Czech daily newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes reported April 21 that NATO guidance and communication equipment on the fighters could not communicate with onboard electronics, and that three of the Gripens were not initially accepted by the Czech air force on April 18.
The Defense Department's acquisition chief, Michael Wynne, has approved new construction of UH-1Y Huey light utility helicopters starting in 2006 rather than have them be remanufactured from UH-1Ns currently in use. Program officials estimate production costs for building new helicopters will add roughly $100,000 per aircraft - with nonrecurring engineering costs to add around $8.1 million - to the program for a total increase of $17.4 million for the 90 UH-1Ys.
UAV REVAMPING: The U.S. Air Force is restructuring the $6.3 billion Global Hawk program to contain recent cost growth and hopes to finish the process later this year. A high-level Defense Department panel is expected to review the revised program in November. The Pentagon has told Congress that the average procurement unit cost for the Northrop Grumman-built unmanned aerial vehicle has risen 18%, partly due to challenges in developing the larger RQ-4B Global Hawk (DAILY, April 20).
By a vote of 61-39, the U.S. Senate backed an effort by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) to provide $213 million for additional up-armored Humvees for the U.S. military in Iraq. The amendment to the Senate's version of the fiscal 2005 supplemental bill (H.R. 1268) was cosponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). The Senate later passed the bill 99-0 (DAILY, April 22). Bayh said April 21 that he proposed the additional money because Pentagon officials had underestimated the need for armored Humvees over nine consecutive requests to Congress.
FATHER KNOWS BEST: Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says he will try to recruit former President George H. W. Bush, the current president's father, to push for greater naval shipbuilding. The elder President Bush was a Navy pilot in World War II. "It's a privilege to work with the current president. He's a man of great courage and conviction," Warner tells Defense Department officials.
COLLABORATING: The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program is "actively working" with the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program "at a functional level" on small boat launch and recovery, weapons and combat systems and mission modules, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins says. The collaboration underscores the interagency National Fleet policy, under which the Coast Guard complements the Navy in homeland defense. The Navy also is responsible for choosing Coast Guard weapon systems to ensure compatibility.
Recent revisions to the Department of Defense's space acquisition rules schedule program reviews earlier to allow for better oversight by program managers, according to Air Force officials. Former Acting Air Force Secretary Peter Teets spearheaded a new acquisition policy for DOD space programs following a series of high-profile program overruns that called the effectiveness of military space acquisition into serious question. These rules were revised again in December 2004 in response to feedback from acquisition officials.
