A public administration panel has made recommendations aimed at improving the embattled Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP), which the White House has targeted for budget cuts. The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) said in a report released earlier this week that the MEP program could help create an infrastructure for supporting small manufacturing firms as the U.S. economy undergoes enormous economic transition.
The General Accounting Office has written a harshly worded critique of the recent competition for the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM), saying the U.S. Army knowingly misinformed the losing bidder and improperly credited the winner for technology that was not formally proposed.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 defense authorization bill that would bar the U.S. Defense Department from leasing Boeing 767 aircraft, along with other amendments that would set requirements for the U.S. Air Force's procurement of aerial tankers.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is straining the Marine Corps' helicopter fleet, Lt. Gen. Robert Magnus, the service's deputy commandant for programs and resources, said June 8. "We are about topped out on Marine aviation - for tactical helicopters and heavy lift helicopters. OIF is putting stress on aviation planning for next spring," Magnus told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast. "The nation hasn't been in a prolonged combat like this since Vietnam. We don't have enough rotary wing for prolonged combat."
UGS, a Texas-based product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services company, whose products are used by the aerospace and defense industry, is acquiring D-Cubed Ltd., a Cambridge, England-based supplier of embedded technology used by computer-aided design (CAD) application developers, UGS announced June 8. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close within 45 days.
On June 18, NASA plans to release an announcement of opportunity (AO) to solicit proposals from industry for the science instruments to be carried on the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which is scheduled to launch in 2008 as a prelude to human landings. The LRO would map the lunar surface in unprecedented detail and gather information about natural resources such as possible ice deposits (DAILY, Feb. 5).
Lockheed Martin said it has delivered to the U.S. Army a tethered aerostat that will be used beginning this summer to monitor the area around Baghdad. "The aerostat, equipped with various sensors, will provide a persistent surveillance capability in the defense of ground forces and high-value assets," Lockheed Martin said June 8. It said the Army will test the system at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona before transporting it to Iraq.
The U.S. government has created a standard set of information about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to present to potential foreign buyers, according to an American defense official. The briefing package is intended to ensure possible purchasers of JSF receive accurate, consistent information about the stealthy aircraft, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Tome Walters, the head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees U.S. foreign military sales.
The U.S. Air Force is moving ahead with the Rapid Attack Identification, Detection and Reporting System (RAIDRS), a program to help it detect hostile interference with satellites. A pre-solicitation conference for Spiral 1 of is planned for July 20-22 at Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, Calif., according to a June 8 FedBizOpps notice.
FINAL REPORT: The release of the final report of the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, known as the "Moon, Mars and Beyond" commission, has been rescheduled for June 16. Commission Chairman E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr. and NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe plan to deliver the 60-page report to the White House, and it will be posted to the commission website (www.moontomars.org) at noon. Originally scheduled for release June 10, the report was delayed by the White House in response to the death of former President Ronald Reagan.
A NASA-developed system for automatically alerting pilots to potentially dangerous turbulence will make its first evaluation flights on a commercial airliner this summer, NASA announced June 8. The Turbulence Prediction and Warning System (TPAWS) airborne radar is designed to give flight crews enough advance warning to avoid turbulence or advise passengers to sit down and buckle up to avoid injury.
Titan Corp. shareholders voted in favor of the proposed acquisition by Lockheed Martin Corp. June 7, which was one of the conditions of the merger. "The votes in favor were 98.4 percent, which represents 65.8 percent of the Titan's outstanding shares," a Titan spokesman told The DAILY.
A communications network between platforms will be the most important requirement for U.S Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) as it begins to assess what it will need when the Navy's long-term vision of sea basing becomes a reality, according to a command official. "Because the concept is being driven by the reality in the world, we are trying to figure out now ... what kind of interfaces are going to be required," Rear Adm. Marc L. Purcell, director of strategy, plans, policy, and programs for USTRANSCOM, told The DAILY.
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) and the Army's Communications Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) are engaged in an initiative to improve combat identification for vehicles, infantry and close-air support. The commands are testing the battlefield target identification device (BTID) and radio based combat ID (RBCI) in a joint exercise from June 5 - 10 at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The U.S. Defense Department has given the Navy the go-ahead to develop the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), clearing the way for the selection of a prime contractor as early as this week.
Argon Engineering Associates and Sensytech Inc. have agreed to merge, the companies said June 7. The merger will create a "unique" command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) company, Sensytech said in a statement. The board of directors for both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close in September. Argon Engineering's shareholders will own about 66 percent of the company, and will receive two shares of Sensytech stock for each existing share of Argon stock.
The U.S. Department of Defense should develop a database that identifies available training resources and capabilities and limitations caused by encroachment as a way to address congressional reporting requirements, according to a report by the General Accounting Office. The GAO criticized a Pentagon report on the implementation of the Department of Defense Training Range Comprehensive Plan. The GAO said that while the report addresses some of the mandatory requirements, it does not fully assess current and future training range requirements.
Two Boeing X-45A unmanned aircraft performed coordinated maneuvers on the runway at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California May 27, in preparation for multi-vehicle flights this summer, Boeing announced June 7. A single operator directed both of the X-45A air vehicles through a series of maneuvers, including 90-degree turns and turnarounds at speeds of up to 20 knots. The two aircraft autonomously maintained their positions relative to each other through an inter-vehicle communication link.
POSTPONED: Due to the death of former President Ronald Reagan, the White House is postponing the release of the "Moon, Mars and Beyond" commission's final report until next week. The report, which cannot be released to the public until it's delivered to the president, was due for release June 10.
The U.S. Air Force will expand a review of its aerial refueling modernization options to include the possibility of hiring private firms to perform refueling, according to the Defense Department. DOD revealed plans to widen the scope of the study, or analysis of alternatives (AOA), in response to a draft report by the General Accounting Office, which recommended that the AOA consider whether contractor-provided refueling could meet some of the Air Force's needs. The GAO's final report came out June 4.
