TANK CONTRACT: General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $13 million contract modification to provide systems technical support (STS) for the Abrams tank, the company said April 4. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich. The work will be done at General Dynamics Land Systems' headquarters in Sterling Heights, Mich. It is expected to be done by Aug. 31, 2006. STS aims to maintain Abrams tanks at high operational readiness rates.
On April 7 the space shuttle program will begin its debris certification review, one of the key milestones that prompted the Stafford-Covey review panel to postpone its most recently scheduled meeting to await its results. NASA has redesigned the external tank to reduce instances of foam insulation shedding. The final analysis of how large a piece of debris may come loose during launch - and how critical the damage would be if it struck the orbiter - is coming in somewhat later than expected, according to shuttle managers.
AMARILLO, Texas - Although some Connecticut lawmakers plan to try to overturn the U.S. Navy's presidential helicopter award to a Lockheed Martin-led team (DAILY, Feb. 25), officials here are gearing up for more than two decades of high-technology, high-pay, high-visibility work on the $6.1 billion VXX program.
Northrop Grumman and Boeing's Crew Exploration Vehicle will be rounded out by partners Alenia Spazio, Draper Laboratory, ARES Corp. and United Space Alliance, the companies announced April 5. Alenia Spazio brings its expertise in spacecraft design, integration and test, advance composite structures and thermal management systems and analysis, according to Northrop Grumman. Based in Italy, the company has built several modules for the International Space Station (ISS). Autonomous systems
Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide hardware integration support for a passive, anti-submarine warfare sonar system for the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarine program under a $42.1 million, seven-year contract, the company said April 5.
Last month the U.S. Army initiated the first phase of its tactical wheeled vehicle recapitalization, Army spokeswoman Maj. Desiree Wineland told The DAILY April 5. "The first phase, for light vehicles, specifically Humvees, recapitalizes approximately 1,300 vehicles - converting them from M998, a 'plain Jane' version, to a M1097R1. This adds a utility shelter, an improved engine (6.2 to 6.5 liter), an upgraded transmission, and a heavier suspension," she said.
NOMINATED: Kenneth J. Krieg has been nominated as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, to succeed acting acquisition chief Michael Wynne. Krieg is director for program analysis and evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Current and former U.S. intelligence officials at a symposium here were skeptical about the effect that congressional reform measures will have on the intelligence community, but also said it could result in significant progress.
The U.S. Army is expected to announce April 6 a change to the acquisition strategy for its Future Combat Systems (FCS), which has come under fire from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for operating under an Other Transaction Authority (OTA), which he has complained limits the program's oversight. Army acquisition officials met April 5 with McCain and his staff on the issue, a source familiar with the program told The DAILY. Legislators "saw a sea change" from the Army on its position on the FCS acquisition strategy, the source said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen 118 prospective Grand Challenge 2005 teams to receive on-site visits by DARPA personnel in May, where they will perform further evaluations of the teams' robotic ground vehicles. DARPA personnel will visit the teams at locations across the United States to assess their vehicles' capabilities on a 200-meter (656-foot) test course. The robots will have to follow waypoints, stay within course boundaries and avoid obstacles.
There is no need at the moment for nuclear testing of the nation's weapon stockpile, but the nation would benefit from new nuclear weapons, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told members of a Senate Armed Services Committee panel April 4.
NEW DELHI - India's cabinet has approved talks aimed at buying 12 Mirage 2000-5 fighters from the government of Qatar, an Indian defense official said. The approval comes before a planned mid-April visit to India by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the aircraft are used, but have 80-85% of their operational lives remaining. India's air force signed a deal in September 2000 to buy 10 new Mirages.
NEW DELHI - India's government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) posted sales of $1 billion for the fiscal year ending in March, a 16.4% jump over the previous year, the company said. Highlights included HAL's delivery of domestically produced Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighters to Indian's air force and supplying upgraded avionics and mission computers for twin-seat Jaguars. HAL also established maintenance facilities for the Indian navy's Sea King helicopters.
MOSCOW - The Federal Space Agency's Scientific and Technical Council approved a proposal for NPO Applied Mechanics' (NPO PM) new Express-2000 satellite bus on March 28. The Express-2000, an unpressurized bus intended for 3-ton satellites, would lay the foundation for the company's new generation of communications satellites. Previously, the only Russian company marketing large unpressurized buses was RSC Energia, which launched four Yamal communications satellites in 1999 and 2003. Wider use of such advanced buses allows more onboard capacity.
MOSCOW - Russia's Federal Space Agency said March 31 that it is planning to use seven mothballed Tsiklon-2 light launch vehicles beginning in 2006, to carry 2-ton satellites to sun-synchronous orbits. The planned Tsiklon-2 launch program includes both original Yuzhnoe design bureau-built Tsiklon-2s, that have been in use since 1969, and Tsiklon-2Ks, which use a third stage built by Russia's Makeyev design bureau.
The XTAR-EUR satellite has completed in-orbit testing and is fully operational, XTAR announced April 4. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the satellite provides X-band coverage from eastern Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, across all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East to as far east as Singapore. The spacecraft was launched on the requalification flight of Arianespace's Ariane 5 ECA rocket in February.
Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., are developing a unique shape-shifting lunar rover that they hope will become part of the Goddard-run Robotic Lunar Exploration Program early in the next decade.
Raytheon Co. expects to receive within the next month the first of a two-part production contract for early fielding of its Excalibur long-range projectile, John Halvey, Excalibur program director for Raytheon Missile Systems, said March 31. The two-part contract totals $26 million and will cover the production of 240 rounds to support user testing and operational capability. The company will receive the second part of the contract in 2006. Raytheon's current Excalibur development contract runs through 2007, Halvey told The DAILY.
The U.S. Air Force is expected to start distributing money to major contractors within the next few months so the companies can further explore their ideas to improve the service's long-range strike capabilities, an industry official said April 4.
The aging Russian Elektron oxygen-generation unit onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is once again offline, although the astronauts still have ample supplies of tanked oxygen to draw on. "The current unit onboard is getting old, it's a little cantankerous," Commander Leroy Chiao said during a press conference April 4. "It comes up, works for a while, then needs a little more TLC." A replacement Elektron unit could be brought up to the station as early as June, according to NASA officials (DAILY, March 18).
