The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard should become far more integrated, their ship acquisition plans scrutinized for affordability and interoperability, and Congress should oversee their collaboration, according to an analyst writing for the Heritage Foundation. "Despite great commonality in how both services conduct maritime security operations, the Navy and Coast Guard are headed in different directions to provide this capability," said Bruce B. Stubbs, a retired Coast Guard officer and Reagan Administration National Security Council staff member.
MINING SONAR: The Defense Department said May 19 that Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems/Oceanic and Naval Systems, Annapolis, Md., was awarded a $7.4 million contract to develop sonar for high-resolution bottom mine detection and classification for use in unmanned undersea vehicle applications. The work will be done in Annapolis and should be finished by February 2007.
A chart on major programs from the fiscal year 2006 defense authorization bill, in the May 20 issue of The DAILY, contained mistakes due to errors in the original.
NASA conducted a second fueling test of the shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 20, once again encountering an anomaly with a pressurization relief valve that opens and closes to ensure that the shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel remains at the right temperature. During both the prior test on April 14 and the May 20 test, the valve cycled 13 times, compared with a more normal eight or nine times. Thirteen cycles does not violate the shuttle's launch commit criteria, but it is "out of family," according to shuttle officials.
After several delays, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-N satellite was launched May 20 on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Following a 65-minute flight, the spacecraft was placed in a circular orbit, Boeing said.
GMD OVERSIGHT: Although a similar effort failed last week during the House Armed Services Committee's markup of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee has written language into its version to give the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation more authority over the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. It also would call for the director's "characterization" of operational effectiveness. Rep.
ORBITAL EXPRESS: NASA expects to fill in any gaps in its experience left by last month's early abort of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) mission when it flies Orbital Express in 2006, according to Associate Administrator for Exploration Rear Adm. Craig Steidle. A joint effort with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Orbital Express will launch two spacecraft mated together that will separate in orbit before beginning their mission (DAILY, July 15, 2004).
May 24 - 25 -- Military Satellites, "Ensuring Optimal Secure Satellite Communications," Hilton Silver Spring, Silver Spring, Md. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. May 24 - 25 -- McGraw-Hill's Homeland Security Summit, Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to http://www.aviationnow.com.conferences.
A self-appointed industry task force is recommending that federal acquisition rules be changed so that outsourced services are placed on an equal footing with item procurement such as weapons systems, as well as tweaking government-wide contracts and multiagency schedules to better reflect the growing importance of services contracting.
HIGH-TECH DEMS: Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.) are leading a group of 20 other Senate Democrats under the self-named High-Tech Working Group to push for federal investments, accelerating widespread deployment of "affordable" broadband networks, meeting industry's education and training needs, increasing exports and moving from a paper-based to an electronic health care system. Caucus members include Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.), the Senate minority leader, and Democratic Whip Sen. Richard Durbin (Ill.).
Starting May 25 in New York, the Office of Naval Research's "Afloat Lab" will show off the Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle (RST-V). The RST-V is designed to be a highly mobile, survivable, long-range ground reconnaissance vehicle that can be transported in a V-22 Osprey for the Marine Corps. It will be displayed at the South Street Seaport during Fleet Week.
STATION ARTS: The European Space Agency has tapped London-based independent arts organization Arts Catalyst to study future "cultural utilization" of the International Space Station (ISS), particularly the station's European components. The ISS is a cutting-edge research facility, but ESA "believes strongly that the cultural world too should have a say in the future of space exploration," says Daniel Sacotte, ESA's director of human spaceflight, microgravity and exploration.
India is expected to formally launch a fighter jet competition within months, according to a U.S. general who closely follows the process. "We believe that they are going to issue a firm request for proposals [RFP] in the next few months," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). "Whether that's two months or four months, I don't know."
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is calling on the U.S. government to verify his calculation that a recently discovered asteroid has a remote chance of striking the Pacific Ocean in 2036 and creating a tidal wave that could devastate the California coast.
HEADS UP: A new visual warning system that uses red and green lights to alert pilots that they are flying in restricted airspace was to become operational May 21 around Washington. Pilots targeted by the lights are to immediately contact air traffic control and exit the airspace. The system is being fielded by U.S. North American Aerospace Command, the FAA and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.
MDA OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Defense Department's proposal to move most of the Missile Defense Agency from Washington, D.C.-area office buildings to Redstone Arsenal, Ala., (DAILY, May 16) is raising concerns in some congressional quarters that it could become a bit harder to oversee an agency that would no longer be a short drive from Capitol Hill. The oversight challenge is seen as an unintentional result of a broader DOD effort to move thousands of northern Virginia defense workers to more secure locations.
The international market for self-propelled artillery is dominated by South Korea's Samsung Techwin, and it is likely to remain the leader for most of the next decade, according to a new report. The company's production of the K9 Thunder for the Republic of Korea Army, as well as licensed production of another system for Turkey, gives it about 25% of the world's production and 33% of the value of the market, said Dean Lockwood, a weapons systems analyst at Forecast International of Newtown, Conn.
SUB WORK: General Dynamics Electric Boat will build and procure long-lead material for converting the USS Georgia (SSBN-729) Trident ballistic missile submarine to a Trident SSGN, a multimission sub optimized for tactical strike and special operations support. The work will be done under a $14.7 million U.S. Navy contract modification, the company said May 20.
SINGAPORE FIGHTERS: Singapore is expected to make a decision in mid-to-late summer on whether to buy the U.S. Boeing F-15 or the French Dassault-built Rafael, according to U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). While Singaporean officials still are discussing Boeing's bid with the company, the U.S. government has completed its own portion of the information-dissemination process, Kohler says. "We believe that the United States government has answered all their questions," he says.
U.S. officials have begun talks with Afghanistan about the possibility of providing the Southwest Asian nation's military with transport planes and helicopters. "It's a big country; they need some transportation capability," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). "They've got kind of a hodgepodge of aircraft now, most of them leftover Soviet transports that are getting hard to maintain [and are] old. So we're looking at what options might be out there."
A Boeing Co. mobile simulator for the Super Hornet fighter gives the company a competitive advantage by letting customers have a convenient hands-on experience and provide immediate feedback, a Boeing official says. A demonstration of the simulator, for the F/A-18E/F and future variant EA-18G, was held for the media at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on May 19.
MOVING ON: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says HASC Staff Director Robert Rangel will be moving in early June to the Pentagon to work for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bob Simmons, currently deputy staff director for oversight, will become HASC staff director. Hunter praises both Rangel and Simmons, a former chief executive officer with 24 years of experience in the defense and aerospace industry, who joined the committee staff in 2003.
