The first delivery of the future Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), the new Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW), will have full-up capability in the fourth quarter of 2006, said Col. Steven MacLaird, the U.S. Army's program director for JTRS.
The Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group is engaged in "considerable debate" about what standard to hold NASA to as the agency attempts to develop a means of inspecting and repairing the shuttle's thermal protection system in orbit, according to Task Group co-chair Richard Covey.
NIGHT VISION CAMERAS: Thales Group of France will equip the French army, air force and navy with more than 600 new-generation Sophie night vision cameras under a contract awarded by the French defence procurement agency, the company said Jan. 27. Financial terms were not disclosed. The latest version of the camera provides 25% greater range than the older version and built-in image stabilization, the company said. Thales has sold more than 6,000 of the cameras in 45 countries for surveillance, combat and peacekeeping missions.
BRACING FOR BRAC: On top of planned cutbacks to major current and future weapon systems and programs, U.S. lawmakers this year also will confront another round of decisions on the defense base realignment and closure (BRAC) process. But don't look for savings from BRAC to buttress targeted weapon systems, a Senate Armed Services Committee staff member says. BRAC savings come years later, because there are upfront costs to restructure forces and clean up military sites.
France's Alcatel and Italy's Finmeccanica have signed the final agreement to merge their space activities into two new joint ventures, the companies announced Jan. 28. The first new company, Alcatel Alenia Space, will combine the activities of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio. To be two-thirds owned by Alcatel and one-third by Finmeccanica, the company will concentrate on space systems, satellites, payloads, instruments, and associated ground systems. It will be headquartered in France and employ 7,200 people.
Jan. 31 - Feb. 1 -- Space Exploration Conference, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Orlando, Fla. For more information go to www.aiaa.org. Feb. 2 - 4 -- 16th Annual NDIA SO/LIC Symposium & Exhibition, "Coordinated SO/LIC Operations Within A Coalition Environment," Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org. Feb. 6 - 8 -- HELI-Expo, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif. For more information go to www.heliexpo.com.
Australia is moving ahead with a program to acquire a new air-to-surface standoff missile. The Australian defense department issued a solicitation for proposals shortly before Christmas, according to industry sources. The proposals are due April 19.
Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, announced a reorganization of the committee on Jan. 27. The reorganization includes the creation of an Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). Among its priorities will be proposals to reform U.S. participation in the United Nations. Hyde also named Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) as chairman of the Europe Subcommittee, with an expanded jurisdiction that includes tracking emerging threats in the world.
SPACE RADAR: The U.S. Air Force has formed a new Space Radar Program Office "to increase collaboration with stakeholders from both the Department of Defense and intelligence communities on a future Space Radar program," the service says. Brig. Gen. John "Tom" Sheridan will lead the office. "The new program structure will improve stakeholder interaction, allowing us to better meet the needs of both the warfighter and intelligence communities," says Peter Teets, acting secretary of the Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
PAPER DAB: A planned Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting to review the LHA Replacement ship, or LHA(R), has been replaced by a virtual equivalent, a defense official tells The DAILY. The Feb. 1 meeting on the USS Tarawa-class amphibious ship replacement now is a "paper DAB," the official says. Meeting members will receive paperwork for their review, but no acquisition decision memorandum is necessarily produced afterward, and there is no time line for a reaction by participants.
RAPTOR CUT? The U.S. Air Force could make do with as few as 150 F/A-22 Raptors, less than half the 381 jets the service says it needs, according to Brookings Institution analyst Michael O'Hanlon. While the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft might be needed to ensure U.S. air superiority in a war with China and possibly Iran, the F-15, which the Raptor is designed to replace, would be adequate to dominate North Korea or Syria in the air, O'Hanlon says.
Lockheed Martin Corp. scored an upset Jan. 28 as Defense Department officials awarded its team a relatively small but prestigious contract to provide the next fleet of helicopters to serve the U.S. president.
TROOPS: Capitol Hill attention is expected to focus this year on making sure that troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have enough supplies and services, regardless of possible cuts to major weapon programs. House and Senate defense legislators from both parties have repeatedly said that equipping the troops is their top priority as they prepare to consider the Defense Department's fiscal 2006 budget, due in early February, and the Bush Administration's $80 billion warfighting supplemental request.
Alcatel will build the Star One C2 satellite for Brazil's Embratel under a $150 million contract, the company said Jan. 26. Based on Alcatel Space's Spacebus 3000B3 platform, the satellite is to be delivered in 24 months. The Star One C2 - the second satellite Alcatel will build for Embratel - will carry 28 C-band, 16 Ku-band and one X-band transponders. It will be used for direct TV broadcasting over South America, Mexico and Florida.
SUCCESS STORIES: The Office of Naval Research released its publication of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), which highlights 36 companies that have "successfully" demonstrated the ability to transition research and development into products, tools, or services that help Navy acquisition. Each of the companies has transitioned its technology to a Phase III development or production effort.
GLOBAL FLYER: Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer Pilot Steve Fossett will attempt to become the first person to fly around the globe solo without stopping or refueling on Feb. 6. Originally scheduled for Feb. 2, the aircraft flight was postponed to wait for more favorable jet stream patterns over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A final flight-test is scheduled for Feb. 3. Designed and built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif., the Global Flyer will take off from Salina Municipal Airport in Kansas.
Zeus Holdings Limited completed its acquisition of Intelsat on Jan. 28, paying approximately $3 billion for the satellite operator and assuming $2 billion in pre-existing debt. The sale went through despite recent failures onboard two of Intelsat's spacecraft, which contractually gave Zeus the right to back out of the deal (DAILY, Jan. 24). Zeus was formed by a consortium of private equity firms Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners and Permira.
DISAPPOINTED: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said it was "disappointed" in the results of the VXX presidential helicopter competition, which went to a team led by Lockheed Martin. Sikorsky President Stephen N. Finger said the company wants to double its business by 2008, and anticipates "achieving this goal even absent the VXX."
RNEP REVIVAL? U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, says he will push to revive the Energy Department's Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program in the coming year. He says new efforts to educate lawmakers about the need for the bunker-buster, as well as a recent increase in the number of Senate Republicans, should help improve the program's prospects.
INTEL EQUIPMENT: DRS Technologies Inc. of Parsippany, N.J., has received $44 million in orders to provide advanced intelligence equipment used to collect communications intelligence and signal intelligence signals, the company said Jan. 28. Various intelligence agencies, U.S. government organizations, and domestic and international defense contractors awarded the contracts. DRS will provide high-performance tuners, receivers, demodulators and direction-finding equipment. The company's DRS Signal Solutions unit in Gaithersburg, Md., will do the work.
Raytheon Co.'s Complementary Low Altitude Weapon System (CLAWS) completed its development testing by scoring a direct hit on a surrogate cruise missile target, the company said Jan. 27. A series of flight-tests culminating in the direct hit were conducted at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and demonstrated a "family of systems" weapons architecture, including the use of a Thales Raytheon Systems MPQ-64 Sentinel Radar, which provided a close air picture and tracking data, Raytheon said. CLAWS had its first flight test in September (DAILY, Sept. 2, 2004).
R&D SPENDING: South Korea plans to more than double its defense spending on research and development by 2015 to introduce high-tech weapons into its armed forces, the Korean Information Service says. The ministry of national defense says it will hike annual R&D funding from the current 4.5% of total defense spending to 5.3% in 2006, 7.8% in 2010, and 10% by 2015. The 4.5% of R&D defense spending represents 929 billion won ($904 million) out of a total annual defense budget of 20.8 trillion won ($20 billion).
A panel studying whether the Air Force should sustain or retire its aging fleet of more than 500 KC-135 tankers is expected to complete its review by summer, a service spokeswoman said Jan. 28. The assessment, begun in mid-October 2004 by the Air Force Fleet Viability Board, already has prompted the Air Force to ground 29 KC-135Es (DAILY, Sept. 17, 2004). The Air Force determined that struts that hold the engines on those aircraft need major repairs for corrosion.
