LCS WORK: A Lockheed Martin-led team will begin detail design and construction of the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) under a $188.2 million contract option awarded by the Navy Dec. 15. Construction work will begin in the first quarter of next year, and the ship is to be delivered in late 2006. A General Dynamics-led team will build the second LCS.
MOVING: Bell Helicopter is moving its V-22 Program Office from Fort Worth to Amarillo, Texas, "in anticipation of the eventual need to ramp up for full-rate production on the V-22," company CEO Michael Redenbaugh said in a statement Dec. 13. Bell wants to move its program engineers and managers to where the aircraft are built. The Amarillo facility also will be responsible for Marine Corps' AH-1Z/UH-1Y helicopter upgrades, the Bell Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle and the Bell 407 ARH, which has been proposed for the Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.
Although 20 percent of Army Humvees currently are unarmored, service officials said Dec. 15 that by March 2005, all Humvees and heavy trucks in Iraq and Afghanistan will be up-armored. In addition, the Army is "now using up-armored Humvees in all high-threat areas," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, Army director of force development.
Ronald C. Marcotte has been appointed vice president of Air Force Airlift and Tanker programs and site executive for the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems units in Long Beach, Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Richard D. Nanula, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Amgen Inc., has been elected to the board of directors effective Jan. 1. John B. Sams Jr. has been named vice president of the Air Force Systems business unit within Integrated Defense Systems.
Stuart Boulton has been appointed managing director, DRS Tactical Systems Ltd., a unit of the C4I Group, and head of United Kingdom and European operations.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., a $29.7 million contract to provide 10 AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) systems for its MH-60R multimission helicopter, the company said Dec. 15. The ALFS is an undersea warfare sensor for the MH-60R. It detects submarines and provides tracking, localization, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection, the company said.
The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) charged with developing a plan to modernize America's air transportation system delivered its report to Congress this week. The JPDO includes the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the FAA, NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Commerce and Homeland Security departments. Congress chartered the office to draw up a plan for moving to a next-generation air transportation system by 2025 (DAILY, April 28).
BLACK HAWK MODS: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. will provide eight Army Black Hawk helicopters under a $245 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Dec. 13.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing a repackaged Space Based Radar (SBR) program for its fiscal year 2006 budget submittal that should address concerns that prompted lawmakers to slash the program's budget, according to Maj. Gen. Craig Cooning, director of space acquisition for the undersecretary of the Air Force for space.
The French army will receive 72 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers under a 300 million euro ($402 million) contract awarded to France-based tank and weapons systems manufacturer GIAT Industries, the company said Dec. 13. GIAT also will supply and manage spare parts and provide maintenance and operational support. Eight nine-gun batteries will be ready for use by 2011.
New York City-based L-3 Communications Spar Aerospace has been awarded a $226 million contract to upgrade New Zealand's C-130 Hercules aircraft fleet, the company said Dec. 15. The upgrade of the five aircraft will extend their lives by 15 years.
Eurocopter subsidiary Australian Aerospace delivered the first two Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters to the Australian army on Dec. 15, the company and Australian defense ministry said. The ARH1 and ARH2 Tigers were built in France and delivered to Australian Aerospace on Nov. 23. The company then reassembled them and conducted flight-tests before delivering them to the army.
Gen. Larry R. Ellis (USA-Ret.) has been named to the board of directors. Ellis most recently was commanding general, United States Army Forces Command, Atlanta.
GPS, GLONASS: Government officials will continue talks aimed at making sure the U.S. Global Positioning System and Russian Glonass navigation system don't conflict, the U.S. State Department said Dec. 14. They will seek to "maintain compatibility and promote interoperability" of the systems for civil users, and begin "preliminary discussions" on a GSP-Glonass cooperative agreement.
NASA eventually will have to restructure its Discovery program in light of budget overruns that have plagued several missions, according to Andrew Dantzler, acting director of the solar system division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Discovery program competitively selects low-cost science mission proposals from industry, small businesses, government laboratories and universities. Each mission is led by a principal investigator and must be kept within a budget cap.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The classified space war game that has been held for the past two years at Schriever Air Force Base here will be held early next year at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, according to an Air Force Space Command spokeswoman. Nellis "fits our needs to practice what we need to," Capt. Angie Blair said in response to a question. "Our goal is to integrate space into the fight. That's what we'll be exercising."
ITT Industries Inc. said it expects to extend its double-digit earnings growth into next year, and foresees earnings per share in 2005 of $5 to $5.15. "We're certainly pleased with the double-digit organic revenue and earnings growth we've realized so far in 2004, reflecting the strength of our portfolio and the soundness of the ITT management system," Chairman, President and CEO Steve Loranger said in a statement.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program held off conducting Integrated Flight Test 13C (IFT-13C) late Dec. 13 because a battery in the target missile failed before the rocket was launched, an MDA spokesman said Dec. 14. The program was expected to replace or recharge the battery so the test could take place as early as late Dec. 14. The test previously was delayed several days by bad weather and a broken piece of test-range equipment (DAILY, Dec. 10, Dec. 14).
