Administrator Michael Griffin said during a speech in Washington May 3 that NASA will pick the cheapest option for launching the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) into orbit, but added that he will not discard the space shuttle's launch stack "lightly." "It's my job now to be a responsible steward of the government's money," Griffin said during a breakfast sponsored by Women in Aerospace (WIA). "I will be advocating whatever method of getting Crew Exploration Vehicle to orbit that seems to me to be the cheapest."
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products of Charlotte, N.C., has been awarded a $13.8 million contract modification to produce enhanced-capability reactive armor for Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the company said May 3. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army's TACOM/ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal, Picatinny, N.J. The award modifies a contract first awarded in November 2004. The contract's total value is now $46.75 million for 152 vehicle sets. The armor consists of "tiles" that are fastened to the outside of the vehicles.
RFID COMPETITION: The Defense Department has nearly 50 radio frequency identification (RFID) pilot programs either completed or in progress, and industry providers such as Savi Technology and Bearing Point are involved in many of them, according to consulting company ABI Research.
SPARE PARTS: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Mich., an $8.2 million contract to provide spare parts for the M1A2 Abrams System Enhancement Package tank and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the company said May 3. Twenty-five percent of the work will be done in Killeen, Texas, 10% in Sterling Heights, and 5% in Southwest Asia. The parts will be provided through April 2010, the company said.
TOW MOTORS: Alliant Techsystems Inc. of Minneapolis has been awarded a five-year contract worth up to $20 million to continue manufacturing rocket motors for TOW anti-tank missiles, ATK said May 3. The contract was awarded by Raytheon Co., the prime contractor for the TOW missile. The rocket motors will be delivered to Raytheon for U.S. and allied nations. ATK has manufactured more than 350,000 rocket motors since 1982. ATK also provides launch motors for the TOW system.
The Department of Defense has reduced its domestic infrastructure by about 20% and has saved about $29 billion from previous rounds of base realignment and closure (BRAC), a Government Accountability Office official told the new BRAC commission.
The U.S. Marine Corps is interested in software made by 21st Century Systems Inc. of Omaha, Neb., after the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force used the "Sentinel Net" program in Fallujah, Iraq, last August to cut its force-protection manning requirements in half.
Layoffs are expected among the 3,800 Atlas and Delta rocket workers as manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Boeing merge government launch operations and attempt to eliminate redundancy. The joint venture, known as United Launch Alliance, will begin with 1,500 Lockheed Martin Atlas employees and 2,300 Boeing Delta employees. However, "we're talking consolidation, eliminating redundancies and duplications, so it's inevitable that the size of the work force would constrict," Boeing spokesman Dan Beck told The DAILY.
TRAINING ROUNDS: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $26 million contract to provide laser-guided training rounds to the U.S. Navy in 2006, the company said May 3. The contract includes four one-year options through March 2009, making the contract worth up to $114 million. The work will be done at Lockheed Martin's Archbald, Pa., facility. More than 45,000 LGTRs have been produced in Archbald since 1990 for the U.S. Navy and international customers. Aircrews can be trained more cheaply with LGTRs than with laser-guided bombs, the company said.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are in the barnstorming days, and small businesses are increasingly important in helping guide the Pentagon and Wall Street in developing them, the U.S. Navy program executive officer for strike weapons and UAVs said May 3. Rear Adm. Timothy L. Heely told the 2005 Navy Opportunity Forum in Reston, Va., that defense officials generally are not able to look too far ahead regarding UAVs. With ongoing personnel reductions and budget pressures, forward-looking personnel often are the first to be shown the door, he said.
Aerosonde is developing an un-manned aerial vehicle that will have much more payload room than its existing UAVs. The new aircraft will be able to field three 10-pound sensors at the same time, compared with the single 10-pound payload that Aerosonde's existing Mark 4.1 UAV can carry and the seven-pound payload capacity of the company's Mark 3.1 UAV, said Peter Bale, a business development manager for the Australian firm.
Three government watchdog groups are urging the Pentagon to proceed with initial fiscal 2006 plans to kill the C-130J Super Hercules program despite a recent Senate vote on the issue. The Project On Government Oversight, National Taxpayers Union and Taxpayers for Common Sense also sent letters April 28 to lawmakers in support of the cancellation action. The groups also chided Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) for shielding a parochial interest - Lockheed Martin Corp. builds the airplane in Marietta, Ga.
EA-18G MODS: The Boeing Co. has begun converting an F/A-18F Super Hornet into EA-1, the first flight-test asset for the U.S. Navy's EA-18G electronic attack aircraft program. The year-long conversion process, which will include installing mission equipment and making final structural modifications, began April 28 in St. Louis when the jet was moved from a final assembly site to a modification facility. Photo courtesy the Boeing Co.
MICROWAVE CONTRACTS: Herley Industries Inc. of Lancaster, Pa., has been awarded two contracts worth $3 million to supply microwave technology for two separate U.S. Defense Department programs, the company said May 2. Under a $1.8 million contract, Herley will supply radio beacons for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. Herley also will provide Integrated Microwave Assemblies for a Radar Warning Receiver/Electronic Warfare Management System under a $1.2 million contract, the company said.
U.S. Navy officials plan to meet with Canadian and Italian counterparts in mid-May to discuss a possible role for those two countries in the Navy's P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program.
Greece is showing fresh interest in the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Greek representatives received a briefing on the stealthy jet the week of April 25-29, after they requested such a session, program spokeswoman Kathy Crawford said May 2. The briefing was provided by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch its latest remote sensing satellite, Cartosat-1, and piggyback satellite Hamsat, on May 5. The satellites are to be launched on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center's Sriharikota range in South India. This is the first time a launch vehicle will blast off from the newly built second launch pad at Sriharikota.
SUB WORK: General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $5.2 million contract modification by the U.S. Navy to perform engineering and technical services on the USS Connecticut attack submarine, the company said May 2. The contract covers additional repairs, maintenance work, and alterations on the sub. Initially awarded in March, the contract has a total value of $80.7 million. The work is being done at Electric Boat's shipyard in Groton, Conn. It is expected to be finished by December 2005.
Armor Holdings Inc. will provide additional up-armored Humvees, Gunner Protection Kits and armor component spare parts under contract modifications from the U.S. Army totaling $19.7 million, the company said April 29. The new orders are for the U.S. Army, Air Force and the Iraqi military. The work will be performed by the company's Aerospace & Defense Group at its Fairfield, Ohio, facilities, and deliveries are to be completed this year. The order is the first to include equipment for Iraq's military, the company said.
