PRAGUE - The Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU), the body responsible for deciding who will operate Europe's proposed Galileo satellite navigation program, will open negotiations with the two remaining candidates for the concession, according to European officials.
Lockheed Martin Corp. on March 2 said it tapped the Ebensburg, Pa.-based architecture firm of L. Robert Kimball & Associates to design Lockheed Martin Systems Integration's new presidential helicopter facility in Owego, N.Y. The firm will design the 176,000-square-foot facility to house the VXX helicopter program's administrative offices, systems integration laboratories and an aircraft integration hangar. The deal is worth more than $1 million, Lockheed Martin said.
TOUCHDOWN: Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer pilot Steve Fossett landed at Salina Municipal Airport in Kansas at roughly 2:49 p.m. Eastern time March 3, becoming the first person to fly an aircraft around the world solo without refueling. Despite concerns over fuel consumption that nearly prompted an emergency landing in Hawaii, Fossett pressed on and completed his flight in 67 hours and two minutes.
Senate Armed Services Committee members said March 3 that budget cuts and ship delays in the U.S. Navy's budget request for fiscal 2006 appear to stem from deficit concerns instead of military forecasting, and warned that they may not go along. SASC chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), reflecting widely held congressional concern over the affect of a smaller fleet on future military ability and industry capacity, reminded the secretary of the Navy that Congress can set force levels, including the number of aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines.
The House Transportation Committee's Coast Guard subcommittee will push legislation authorizing an additional $134 million, almost 14%, over the Bush Administration's fiscal 2006 budget request for the service's Deepwater recapitalization in an attempt to finish the program by 2016.
National security products provider Titan Corp. of San Diego has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy worth up to $125.8 million to perform support services for navigation systems installation, the company said March 2. Under the contract, Titan will provide engineering, logistics, installation, testing, and fabrication in support of navigation systems for Navy ships, submarines, shore laboratories and training facilities, Coast Guard ships, and vessels serviced through foreign military sales.
Chris Conrardy has been hired as a technology leader in the Arc Welding, Materials and Automation Group. Brendan Cryns has been hired as an aerospace market leader. Doug Jeter has been hired as a technology leader in the Microjoining, Plastics and Ceramics Group. Seth Krem has been hired as an applications engineer in the Resistance and Solid State Welding Group (RSSW). David Speth has been hired as a senior engineer in the Microjoining and Plastics group.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee's projection forces subcommittee on March 2 grilled several Navy and Marine Corps officials on proposed budget cuts and delays to shipbuilding, with lawmakers saying they could affect future military capability against rising challenges, such as China. For the most part, the Pentagon officials maintained the message already provided by top military and civilian leaders: proposed shipbuilding cuts and delays represent "acceptable risk" under budget constraints because of efficiency and capability improvements.
Rolf Bartschi has been promoted to sector vice president and chief nuclear engineer, waterfront nuclear engineering and test, in the Newport News, Va., sector. Danny Hunley has been promoted to sector vice president, trades, education and training, in the Newport News sector. Northrop Grumman also announced the following changes in its Electronic Systems sector: Charles J. Brinkman has been named vice president, Surveillance & Remote Sensing.
REVENUE UP: National security products provider Titan Corp. of San Diego reported fourth quarter 2004 revenue of $552 million, 15% higher than fourth quarter 2003 revenue of $480 million. Revenue for all of 2004 was $2.05 billion, 17% more than the $1.76 billion in revenue for all of 2003.
A high-level Defense Department review of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been delayed almost two months due to a scheduling conflict, according to Pentagon and program spokeswomen. The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting had been slated for March 15 but has been moved to May 5 because one of the participants could not attend on the original date, said program spokeswoman Kathy Crawford. The delay will not affect the program's own schedule, including first flight of the stealthy fighter jet in August 2006, Crawford told The DAILY March 2.
Howard W. Kympton has been named vice president for Commercialization and Business Development. Kympton is a former Department of Homeland Security program director.
President Bush has nominated Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen to be chief of naval operations, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced March 2. Mullen is commander of Naval Forces in Europe, as well as commander of Allied Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy.
U.S. Army officials defended the service's request for nearly $57 billion of supplemental funds to members of the House Appropriations Committee on March 2, saying their plans will boost the service's flexibility and lethality. Moving from 33 to 43 Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) "will increase combat power 30 percent by 2007," Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey told members of the House Appropriations Committee on March 2. "Also, modularity will reduce stress of the force with more time at home base."
NASA on March 1 issued the final request for proposals (RFP) for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which answers a number of questions raised by industry in response to an earlier draft and sets a deadline of May 2 for proposal submission.
Turkey is having an "ongoing discussion" with American officials about the limited role its companies are playing in the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a Turkish official said March 2. O. Faruk Logoglu, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, told the Defense Writers Group that his government is concerned about the small number of JSF contracts won by Turkish firms.
The Civil Air Patrol unveiled a hyperspectral imaging system that it said will help aircraft identify objects as small as one meter in size from half a mile in the air. It said the system, called ARCHER - for Airborne Real-Time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance - will increase CAP's effectiveness in search and rescue, disaster relief, and homeland security missions.
