More defense companies are selling off their noncore, nondefense businesses, and this makes good business sense, company officials and industry analysts say.
NOMINATED: President Bush will nominate Raymond F. DuBois to be deputy undersecretary of defense for logistics and material readiness, the White House said July 27. He currently is deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment. Bush also will name Kenneth Rapuano to be deputy assistant to the president for homeland security, the White House said July 26. Rapuano currently serves as deputy undersecretary of energy for counterterrorism.
Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee's VA/HUD and independent agencies subcommittee, said he agrees with the Bush Administration's stance that the panel's cuts in NASA funding should be reconsidered. "The vision reduction and cuts to NASA are detrimental to space exploration, and I will continue to persuade my colleagues to bring funding to a level that is necessary to carry out the president's vision," Weldon told The DAILY in a statement July 26.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is looking to industry for new ideas that can reduce the weight of FCS ground vehicles, which must grapple with the challenging requirement of weighing less than 20 tons and fitting inside a C-130 transport aircraft.
SIMULATORS: Cubic Defense Applications has been chosen to produce and develop a Turret Simulator and Driver Simulator for the Marine Corp's new Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, Cubic Corp. said. The subcontract, valued at $6.2 million, was awarded by General Dynamics Amphibious Systems. Cubic Defense Applications is a segment of Cubic Corp. Cubic's Simulation Systems Division will deliver and design high fidelity system components for training on the weapons platform.
AAR CARGO SYTEMS has been selected by Alenia Aeronautica to supply tow play systems and cargo handling systems for the C-27J Medium Tactical Transport Aircraft, AAR Corp. said July 20. AAR Cargo Systems provided Alenia Aeronautica with three prototype systems that were used on the C-27J for evaluation. AAR Cargo Systems will manufacture and design tow plate systems and cargo handling systems for 16 new C-27J aircraft. AAR's cargo system design includes a heavy-duty locking system to secure pallets and platforms in place during flight.
A U.S. Army effort to develop a more powerful anti-armor missile system has been scuttled by Congress, which was unconvinced of the need for the Humvee-mounted weapon despite a recent test that has been declared a success. The fiscal 2005 defense appropriations conference report, drafted by a House-Senate conference committee, calls for killing the Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank (LOSAT) system and denying $71 million of the Army's $86 million request for the program. The measure leaves $15 million for termination costs.
Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites has scheduled its first competition flight for the $10 million Ansari X Prize for Sept. 29, from the Mojave Airport Civilian Aerospace Test Center in Mojave, Calif. To win the prize, Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne will need to make a second flight by Oct. 13. Rutan developed SpaceShipOne with financial backing from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and the vehicle performed the first private manned suborbital space flight on June 21 (DAILY, June 22).
New Department of Defense (DOD) technology that will offer platforms a better common aerospace picture is scheduled for delivery in September 2005, said Brig. Gen. Rick Dinkins (USAF), director of the Joint Single Integrated Air Picture System Engineering Organization (JSSEO). It will be up to the services to decide on which platforms they will use the new technology, he said.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s second quarter net earnings rose 22 percent as combat aircraft growth fueled a 31 percent increase in net aeronautics sales, the company said July 27. Net earnings in the second quarter were $296 million - 66 cents per share - compared with $242 million - 54 cents per share - for the same quarter last year, the company said. Year-to-date earnings per share rose 20 percent, to $1.31.
SMITHS AEROSPACE has been awarded several contracts for systems on Northrop Grumman's X-47B J-UCAS (Joint Unmanned Combat Air System), the company said July 19. The systems include vehicle management computers (VMC), electrical power generation and distribution, mission computers, remote input/output units, fuel measurement and management through a partnership with Argo-Tech, and a ground-based datalink computer. The VMCs act as the J-UCAS's central nervous system and are the backbone of the vehicle's interfacing electronics, networks, and computers.
BATTELLE's contract to provide mission support for the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN) has been renewed, the company said. The five-year contract is valued at $90 million. The MANSCEN, based at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., supports the Army at war and also is evolving to support Army Future Force transition. Battelle will provide simulation and analysis, general test and evaluation support, battle lab operations, force modernization support, training support, doctrine training and development and general technical and analytical support.
Some defense information technology (IT) contracts would be delayed and possibly curtailed if new contractor language in the fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act is approved, according to industry analysts.
The U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has achieved a significant milestone with the start of testing for the aircraft's alternate engine. The F136 engine, which is being developed by General Electric Aircraft Engines and Rolls-Royce, ran for the first time July 22 at GE facilities in Evendale, Ohio.
DOUBLE STAR: China's space administration launched the satellite Tan Ce 2, part of a scientific collaboration between China and the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 25, ESA said. Tan Ce ("Explorer) 2 is the second of the Double Star science satellites, which will operate alongside ESA's Cluster satellites to study the interaction of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. ESA contributed eight instruments to the mission, the first European experiments to fly on a Chinese satellite.
An effort to re-engine the U.S. Air Force's E-8C Joint STARS aircraft is languishing, apparently because bigger programs are edging it off the table. The battlefield surveillance plane, a modified Boeing 707 with old Pratt & Whitney JT3D engines, "doesn't drop bombs, it's not quite as fun as a fighter, it doesn't shoot missiles," says Barry Watts of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
C-130H UPGRADE: Sweden has requested an Avionics Modernization Program upgrade for eight C-130H aircraft, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $120 million, DSCA said. Boeing would be the prime contractor for the deal, which could involve one or more offset agreements.
A U.S. Air Force national security space strategy document will be released soon, according to Peter Teets, undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force for space, who outlined some key points of the document in a speech in Washington last week.
The U.S. Marine Corps' H-1 helicopter upgrade program temporarily has suspended weapons testing after one of its five test aircraft ingested rocket exhaust into both engines, possibly damaging them.
The United States' defense budget could top $500 billion over the next decade as the Defense Department continues its aggressive push for next-generation technologies and weapon platforms, according to defense budget analysts. "DOD clearly faces a funding problem, or at least a real serious concern," said Steven Kosiak, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment's director of budget studies.
A story in the July 26 issue of The DAILY, headlined "Defense bill fully funds first LCS ship in 2005," incorrectly quoted Congressional Research Service analyst Ronald O'Rourke. The story should have said, "The Senate's position was that since the LCS is such a different ship from past ships, the lead LCS can be funded in the RDT&E account rather than the SCN [shipbuilding and conversion, Navy] account. Nevertheless, the Senate wanted the ship to be fully funded, in accordance with the policy for items that are acquired through the procurement account."
FARNBOROUGH, England - Partners for NATO's airborne ground surveillance program hope within weeks to clear the first of several potential stumbling blocks on the path to signing the formal design and development contract in about a year's time.
