The selection of two contractors for the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF) cluster of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) has been delayed about a month, to July.
Italy, one of the biggest international contributors to the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, is nearing a decision about how many JSFs it plans to buy, according to an Italian official. Italy, which has indicated only that it wants "more than 100" F-35s, is expected to pick a more precise figure "within months," said Italian air force Col. Aurelio Colagrande, who represents his government at the JSF program office in Crystal City, Va.
Industry officials said June 1 they expect a draft request for proposals for the network segment of the Transformational Communications MilSatcom (TCM) system to be issued in June or July. Three companies on May 28 received additional funding to refine the requirements for the network. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon each got about $6 million from the Air Force for the effort.
Boeing has begun final assembly of the first F-15K Strike Eagle fighter aircraft for South Korea at facilities in St. Louis, the company announced June 1. During final assembly, the F-15K forward, center, and aft fuselage assemblies are joined, followed by the wing assemblies. Once the structural splice is completed, mechanical and electrical subsystems will be installed and checked out.
DRS Technologies, Inc. received a new contract to develop a prototype high-speed, permanent magnet generator to be installed in naval vessels, the company announced June 1. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) awarded the $5.9 million contract for an engineering demonstration model. Delivery of the initial system is expected in mid-2005. The generator would be capable of supporting the Navy's next-generation electric drive and mechanical drive ships, as well as the retrofit of existing ships, the company said.
The U.S. Army is considering using hybrid electric drive for its future manned ground vehicles (MGV) as part of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, according to Bob Sorge, FCS director for General Dynamics Land Systems. General Dynamics' FCS contract runs through 2009 to develop and design the common components for a series of eight varieties of a "system of systems" of new ground vehicles. The Army hopes the vehicles eventually will replace its tanks, infantry carriers and other vehicles.
CHRISTENING: The Jimmy Carter (SSN-23), the U.S. Navy's newest nuclear attack submarine, will be christened June 5, General Dynamics Electric Boat said June 1. The ceremony will be conducted at the company's Groton, Conn., shipyard. The submarine features the Multi-Mission Platform, including a 100-foot hull extension that will enable it to develop and test a new generation of weapons, sensors and undersea vehicles, the company said.
NASA released a request for proposals (RFP) for a robotic servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope June 1, which agency leadership continues to favor heavily over a shuttle servicing mission. During a presentation to the National Academies' Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board in Washington June 1, Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science, said the release of the RFP does not constitute a decision to proceed with a robotic servicing, but is necessary to keep the option open.
As the U.S. Air Force begins assessing a bevy of ideas for improving its global strike capabilities, a new congressional report is raising questions about an aircraft concept that already has generated interest among service leaders. The Air Force recently issued a request for information (RFI) on interim steps the service could take to enhance its global attack capabilities before a next-generation platform becomes available. Responses, which were due at the end of May, are expected to total as many as 200 (DAILY, May 20).
MOSCOW - Yamal and Express satellites will be supported by the government for its civil communications needs, but competitors, including Khrunichev's Dialog and NPO Mashinostroeniya's Ruslan satellites, will have to compete in the open market, a Russian space official said May 31. Yamal satellites are built by RSC Energia and Express satellites are built by NPO PM.
NEW DELHI - Defense deals signed by India's former government could be investigated, according to the country's new defense minister, Pranab Mukherjee. While affirming that the new government supports the fast-track procurement of weapons systems, Mukherjee said that all deals, some of which are in the final stages of approval, would be examined again. He said the new government wants to ensure arms procurement is made transparent.
F/A-22 WORK: Lockheed Martin is being awarded a $492 million contract for the advanced procurement of 24 low-rate initial production Lot 5 F/A-22 Raptors, the U.S. Department of Defense said June 1. The work is to be completed by October 2004, and will be performed at company facilities in Marietta, Ga., Seattle and Fort Worth, Texas, the DOD said.
MISSION MANAGEMENT: Boeing's advanced unmanned systems division is developing new mission management software for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that will allow for different types of vehicles to be controlled from the same ground station, according to division director Kim Michel. The software will use the SOSCOE (System of Systems Common Operating Environment) information layer being developed for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, which allows for the network-centric sharing of information between different platforms, Michel says.
The U.S. Army is waiting for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to decide which passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to use before it invests hundreds of millions of dollars on tags and readers, said Brig. Gen. Charles Fletcher, assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics. Fletcher spoke last week at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's Tactical Ground Vehicles conference in Arlington, Va.
EXPANDING: The expansion of its Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) facility in Alabama will enable Lockheed Martin to increase production rates of the weapon to 40 missiles a month, the company says. The revamped Troy, Ala., facility also will enable the company to produce JASSM-Extended Range (ER) and JASSM preplanned product improvement versions without affecting regular JASSM production, according to Lockheed Martin. The 43,176-square-foot expansion doubles the current building size and quadruples its capacity.
THAAD MISSILE: Lockheed Martin is starting to manufacture the missile for the Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Activation of the missile production plant in Troy, Ala., took place May 26. The first flight test of the missile is scheduled for the October-December quarter of 2004, and the first attempt to intercept a target is slated for mid- to late-2005.
BACKLOG: The U.S. Department of Defense should develop an integrated plan to reduce backlogs in granting security clearances, which contractors say delays filling positions and beginning work on government contracts, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office. As of the end of March, the DOD's security clearance backlog was about 188,000 applications, GAO says.
HOBBLED: The European defense industry is in trouble and won't be much of a player in the global defense market, according to a recent report from the RAND Corp. "The European defense industry is hobbled by accessible home markets that are mostly stagnant, with no harmonized procurement, making it a painfully slow and risky process to launch large new projects," says the report.
NO CHANGES: A recent report from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concludes that no changes are needed in existing laws that govern the use of military aircraft to fight forest fires, although some of the administrative procedures used by firefighting agencies to obtain them should be clarified to ensure efficient and quick response. "Existing authorities and policies for using military resources to fight wildland fires have generally worked well and continue to be appropriate," the report says.
PROGRESS: A new Russian Progress resupply vehicle has docked with the International Space Station, bringing equipment and supplies for station residents, including fuel for maintaining the station's altitude. The previous Progress has been undocked from the station, but will remain in orbit as late as June 3 to examine the feasibility for using spent cargo spacecraft as free-flying, unmanned research platforms.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) predicted May 28 that it will be reaffirmed as the prime contractor for the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM), despite the U.S. Army's recent decision to reopen the competition for the laser-guided weapon. "I remain fully confident in the superiority of ATK's PGMM proposal," said ATK CEO Dan Murphy. "I expect ATK will be awarded the contract upon completion of this process."
CONTRACTORS IN THEATER: Contractor support on the battlefield is "the most economical way to keep up the operational readiness rate [ORR], and it's even cost-efficient in peacetime," says a spokesman for General Dynamics Land Systems, which builds the Army Stryker vehicles deployed in Iraq and has 56 contractors currently in theater. Lt. Col.
