WATCH LIST: The Defense Department has identified four important, "unusual" technologies that while not likely to be part of the U.S. defense arsenal, could pose challenges to U.S. military personnel if possessed by potential adversaries, according to the Pentagon's 2005 Industrial Capabilities Report to Congress. The four technologies are: Metal Storm Ltd.'s million-rounds-per-minute gun; electrohydraulic cavitation devices; towed fabric balloon pressure sweep; and rigid polyurethane foam.
United Defense Industries Inc.'s Southwest Marine shipyard has been awarded a five-year contract worth up to $44 million to perform maintenance and other work on seven Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers in San Diego, the company said March 31. Besides maintenance, the work will include planning, nine Selected Restricted Availabilities and two Dry Docking Selected Restricted Availabilities, Arlington, Va.-based UDI said.
Metal Storm Ltd.'s new CEO acknowledged the recent volatility of the company's stock, but said there's nothing the company knows about "that has not been publicly disclosed which would explain the movements in price."
With the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group awaiting data from NASA that probably won't be available until mid-April, it now appears unlikely that the group will meet its original goal of delivering its final report one month before the space shuttle's next flight.
Most of the 54 major defense programs surveyed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) "are costing more and taking longer to develop than planned," the congressional watchdog agency said in an annual report. The programs, worth a total of $800 billion, mostly "proceeded with less knowledge at critical junctures than suggested by best practices, although some programs came close to meeting best practice standards," the report says.
The threat from cruise missiles "is real and growing, but not unmanageable," according to a report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "The United States clearly has the wherewithal to improve greatly its defenses against anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles," it says. "What is needed is a holistic approach to the problem."
LaBarge Inc. will supply electronic subsystems for Northrop Grumman's Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar system, the company said March 30. The company will manufacture antenna switch phase shifter (ASPS) units for the system under a $5.4 million contract from Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. The subsystems will go into airborne early warning and control aircraft being built for Australia and Turkey.
A-10 WORK: Lockheed Martin will provide kits to enable A-10 aircraft to use "smart" weapons under a $37.8 million Air Force contract. The kits will enable the A-10 to use precision weapons, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, as well as advanced targeting pods, the company said.
An FAA research and development (R&D) official is concerned about NASA's future commitment to aircraft safety and environmental mitigation R&D, given the agency's dwindling aeronautics budget over the next few years. According to Joan Bauerlein, FAA's director of air traffic organization operations planning R&D, one of her "major objectives" is to get FAA and NASA to collaborate more closely on R&D work.
Jeremiah Gertler and Christine Wormuth have been appointed senior fellows. David McGinnis has been named a senior associate in the international security program.
Adm. Robert J. Kelly (USN-Ret.) will retire from the board of directors effective April 1. James E. Reed will succeed Kelly as president of VSE's wholly owned subsidiary Energetics Incorporated, effective April 1.
NEW DELHI - The Bush Administration's offer of U.S. military aid to India is more substantial than the one offered to Pakistan, but India is apt to feel militarily insecure with its rival, an analyst says. "No matter how much military India acquires, it is likely to feel insecure vis-a-vis Pakistan. That variable has become an inexplicable fact of Indo-Pak strategic affairs," said Ehsan Ahrari, an Alexandria, Va.-based independent strategic analyst.
Fielding of the first unit to be equipped with the Army's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) began earlier this month, Dan O'Boyle, a spokesman for the Army Program Executive Office, Missiles and Space, told The DAILY March 30. The HIMARS is being deployed with the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C. In addition, three prototype HIMARS launchers were used by the 18th Airborne in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he said.
Vice Adm. Joe Dyer (USN-Ret.) has been appointed to the board of directors. Dyer is executive vice president and general manager of iRobot Inc.'s government and industrial division.
Stephen T. Catanzarita has been appointed vice president and comptroller. Michael L. Cauldwell has been named senior vice president. Therese C. Mohn has been appointed treasurer.
The U.S. Navy has begun flight-testing an improved version of the AN/AAR-47 missile warning system, an official at prime contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK) said March 30. The Navy, in conjunction with the Air Force, began the tests earlier in 2005 and plans to do more later this spring, said Steve Myers, vice president of the Clearwater, Fla., operations of ATK Missile Systems Co. "So far, everything is working just as planned," Myers told The DAILY.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory plans to mount mirrors on a crane later this year to determine whether they would be useful for reflecting laser energy. Boeing SVS is expected to deliver two relay mirrors to Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., in late spring, an AFRL spokesman said March 30. The Air Force intends to test the hardware on a tall crane at Kirtland in late summer.
Greg Albert has been named vice president and general manager of the Aircraft Landing Systems business. Peg Billson has been appointed vice president and general manager of the Airframe Systems business. Roger Wolfe has accepted a position with another company. Billson is replacing Wolfe.a
If Northrop Grumman Corp. loses a proposed competition to build the Navy's future DD(X), it could cut $600 million to $1 billion from the company's 2006 sales outlook, as well as have a smaller affect on 2005 estimates, an analyst said March 30. However, "we believe that if the Navy does decide to sole-source the DD(X) program, Northrop Grumman is well positioned to be the winner, although program delays could still occur," said Eric Hugel, an industry analyst with the investment bank Stephens Inc.
