Mine Safety Appliances Co. of Pittsburgh will provide communications components for the Advanced Combat Helmet it produces under a $20.8 million contract awarded by the U.S. Special Operations Command, the company said Feb. 1. The communications device, called the Ranger System, allows hands-free communication. It also allows soldiers to hear two separate radio communications or a combination of radio and intercom transmissions, the company said.
The U.S. Navy will push ahead with an accelerated schedule to fly the next new fleet of presidential helicopters so that the next U.S. president has a modern aircraft, despite program concerns expressed by the Pentagon's senior adviser on defense program operational test and evaluation.
The U.S. Navy is surveying industry for capabilities to build an aerial target that would cruise at subsonic speeds and then sprint to supersonic speeds. The service now has targets that perform best at speeds of less than Mach 1 and more than Mach 1, but none that are optimized for both. "The United States Navy has an emergent requirement for a cost-effective aerial target system to simulate a Subsonic Cruise/Supersonic Sprint Sea-Skimming Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Threat," says a Feb. 1 FedBizOpps notice from Naval Air Systems Command.
The U.S. Army started its Extended Range/Multi-purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aerial vehicle "fly off" Jan. 31 to test Northrop Grumman's Hunter II and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Warrior vehicles. The Army downselected in December 2004 the two teams that will compete to replace the service's next-generation UAV system. The Army's current UAV is Northrop Grumman's Hunter. General Atomics' team includes partners AAI Corp., which will supply its "Army One System" ground control equipment, and Sparta, which will provide support services.
DRS Technologies Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., has been awarded contracts worth $153 million to support the infrared sighting systems on U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters, the company said Feb 2. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., awarded the contracts. The orders are part of a five-year, $514 million U.S. Army contract which DRS received in December 2003.
While praising the draft request for proposals (RFP) for NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) as exceptionally clear, industry hopefuls preparing to bid on the spacecraft still have some questions for NASA.
AAI Corp. will provide maintenance, repair and other services for hydraulic components of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler and F-14 Tomcat aircraft under an initial $4 million, one-year contract, the company's parent, United Industrial Corp., said Feb. 1. The contract's total value could be $30.9 million if all options are exercised. AAI will perform repairs, deliver spare parts, and provide material acquisition, storage, and management support, the company said.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) on Feb. 1 again introduced legislation to authorize federal funding for four memorials along Space Shuttle Columbia's recovery corridor in East Texas.
Boeing and Air France Industries recently installed a Northrop Grumman-built Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) kit into the first of four French E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft slated to get the upgrade, the company said Feb. 1. "This is the most significant upgrade to the French AWACS fleet since its delivery in the early 1990s," Nigel Lo, Boeing's RSIP manager, said in a statement. "It also will bring France's surveillance capability up to the same standards as its NATO allies."
Rockwell Collins and the Boeing Co. are working together to support the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate's Manned/Unmanned Common Architecture Program (MCAP), Rockwell Collins said Feb. 1. "This collaborate effort will lead the Army aviation into the future with increased interoperability between manned and unmanned aviation systems and reduced life cycle cost through use of open industry standards," the company said.
NEW NUKES: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged the Energy Department in a Jan. 10 memo to ask Congress for fiscal 2006 and FY '07 funds to finish a study on the feasibility of a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). The Bush Administration plans to send its FY '06 budget request to Capitol Hill on Feb. 7. The Energy Department spent $10.3 million in past funding on RNEP research but was told by Congress to discontinue the project in FY '05. RNEP would modify existing nuclear warheads to destroy hardened and deeply buried targets.
F/A-22 ADVANCES: The F/A-22 Raptor was rated "effective" by a U.S. Air Force test agency, paving the way for the Defense Department's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) to conduct its own evaluation, the Air Force announced late Feb. 2. DOT&E's review could help lead to full-rate production approval of the Lockheed Martin-built jet. During recent tests, the Raptor met or exceeded expectations for altitude, speed, maneuverability and survivability and performed significantly better than the F-15C in all air-to-air mission areas, the Air Force said.
United Defense Industries Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., has been awarded two contracts worth more than $29 million to upgrade armored personnel vehicles and reactivate a decommissioned ship, the company said Feb. 1. United Defense will upgrade 126 M113A1 armored personnel vehicles to the M113A2Mk1 configuration for the Jordanian armed forces under an $18.2 million contract awarded by the U.S. Army, the company. The upgrades will provide an improved suspension system and increased power-to-weight ratio, the company said.
A report on planned "basing modes" for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) will be sent to Congress in mid-March, according to Defense Department officials.
NASA has chosen four teams to develop payload experiments for the New Millennium Programs Space Technology 8 (ST8) Mission, set to launch in 2008. NASA chose the winners from among 10 teams performing concept definition studies. The selected payloads are: * Ultraflex Next Generation Solar Array System (NGU) from AEC-Able Engineering Inc. of Goleta, Calif. The NGU is an ultra-lightweight flexible-blanket solar array providing a significant advancement in performance over existing arrays, according to NASA. Cost: $6.9 million.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy are trying to figure out why Raytheon's GBU-10 Paveway laser-guided bomb did not meet specifications during a recent series of tests, The DAILY has learned.
ATLAS III: International Launch Services plans to launch a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite on the final flight of Lockheed Martin's Atlas III rocket at 2:41 a.m. Eastern time Feb. 3. Liftoff will take place from Launch Complex 36, Pad B at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Designated NROL-23, the satellite is to be deployed 79 minutes after launch. Lockheed Martin is phasing out older Atlas variants in favor of its Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $94,595,328 firm fixed price contract. This action exercises an option for C-130J Logistics Support and Safety Options for the support of FY05 program requirements. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by January 2006. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-0018, P00133).
RAMAGE WORK: United Defense Industries Inc. of Arlington, Va., has received a $2 million fixed-price contract for work on the USS Ramage (DDG-61), the company said Jan. 31. The Ramage is home ported in Norfolk, Va. The contract was awarded by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding and Repair, Portsmouth, Va. The work is scheduled for March 30 through June 1. The work includes various ship alterations, preservation, structural and piping repairs, deck covering and nonskid repairs, the company said.
United Defense Industries Inc. of Arlington, Va., has won a $6 million contract to build seven more Opposing Forces Surrogate Training System Main Battle Tank vehicles for the U.S. Army, the company said Jan. 31. The contract adds to a December 2004 modification to produce 43 MBT vehicles and related Systems Technical Support.
