The U.S. Navy has selected General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works and Lockheed Martin for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) final design contracts and option contracts for construction, the service said May 27.
TESTING: The Airborne Stand-off Radar (ASTOR), a ground surveillance aircraft under development for the United Kingdom, has begun flight-testing, prime contractor Raytheon Co. announced May 27. The first modified Bombardier Global Express business jet, which has a Synthetic Aperture imagery/Moving Target Indicator (SAR/MTI) radar mounted on the bottom and a satellite communications link on top, took off from Greenville, Texas, May 26 and flew for more than four hours.
Jane Alexander, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), said May 27 that the pre-solicitation phase for the second round of new technology grants is underway. DHS's science and technology directorate made 66 small business awards to companies in 23 states this year, in response to DHS' and HSARPA's first small business innovation research (SBIR) program solicitation.
The same private equity firms that bid on the purchase of PanAmSat and lost to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) most likely will seek to buy Intelsat Ltd. or make a major investment in the company, according to a space and telecommunications analyst. However, they may not want to bid if they have to go public with the company by a certain date, as is called for in the 2000 ORBIT Act, said Phil McAlister of the Futron Corp. The act was adopted to privatize intergovernmental organizations.
The General Accounting Office has endorsed Lockheed Martin's complaint over its losing bid to be the prime contractor for the M395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM), clearing the way for the U.S. Army to reopen the competition. The GAO "has recommended that the Army reopen discussions" with Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which won the PGMM development contract, and with Lockheed Martin, said David Super, the Army's deputy program manager for mortars. "The Army will evaluate revised final proposal revisions from both offerors."
Finmeccanica's acquisition of the other half of AgustaWestland will pave the way for the company to pursue a more aggressive growth strategy in the U.S. market, according to Finmeccanica Inc. President Stephen Bryen. "As far as Finmeccanica is concerned, it's an opportunity for us, so we're looking at it that way," Bryen told The DAILY. "We're very pleased to be able to have control. It makes it easier to move forward with the company." Some have speculated that the acquisition could go through as early as June, Bryen said.
The U.S. Navy's AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) will be able to download information from sensors, engage targets and provide its own battle damage assessment, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) officials.
To reduce risk, Department of Defense program managers must know more about software developers, especially when using international suppliers to develop weapon system software, the General Accounting Office (GAO) said in a recent report.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A joint training center for air force pilots could be set up in central Europe to help cut training costs. The move was announced after a meeting here May 24 of defense ministers from the Visegrad Four (V4) countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Poland is to lead a working group that will examine the feasibility of such a center, and is to report back to the next scheduled meeting of V4 defense ministers in October. Spreading the burden
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said May 25 that a House-Senate budget resolution approved last week recognizes "the criticality of funding for NASA" and could set the stage to begin President Bush's space exploration plan. The resolution calls for $23.9 billion in budget authority for Function 250, or spending covering General Science, Technology and Space, including NASA's budget request of $16.2 billion. It allows the setting of 302(b) funding allocations for appropriations committee subcommittees, which they use to fund government agencies.
Since its establishment in October 2002, United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has become a "largely untold" success story and a leader in homeland defense training and interagency cooperation, according to Gen. Charles Wilhelm, (USMC-Ret.). Headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, NORTHCOM is the first command to have unified responsibility for the defense of the American homeland (DAILY, April 18, 2002). Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, who also leads North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), commands NORTHCOM.
JSF FACILITIES: Machines to produce major subassemblies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are in the final stages of assembly and testing on the factory floor at company facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, JSF maker Lockheed Martin said May 26. The Fort Worth plant will be the final assembly point for the JSF. "These are the most advanced machines ever applied to fighter aircraft assembly," Tom Burbage, the JSF general manager, said in a statement.
The Defense Department could reopen the competition to modernize Air Force refueling aircraft, once two studies on the service's tanker needs are finished in about six months, a Pentagon spokesman said May 26. "Sure, it could be" reopened, DOD spokesman Larry Di Rita said during a Pentagon press briefing.
General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has formed a multinational consortium of small-caliber ammunition producers to market to the U.S. Army, company parent General Dynamics said May 25. The team, made up of General Dynamics, the Winchester Division of the Olin Corp., Israel Military Industries Ltd. and SNC Technologies Inc. of Canada, will respond to a recent U.S. Army market survey for a small-caliber ammunition systems integrator, the company said.
ACULIGHT, Bothell, Wash. Mark Hatlen has been named chief financial officer. ALCATEL SPACE, Paris Marc Pircher has been appointed senior vice president and chief technical officer. COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP., Falls Church, Va. Tim Sheahan has been named president of the company's new Enforcement, Security and Intelligence Division. CPI AEROSTRUCTURES, Edgewood, N.Y.
A U.S. proposal to make missile defense-related upgrades to an early warning radar in Greenland cleared its last major political hurdle May 26 by receiving the approval of Denmark's parliament. Officials in Greenland, a semi-independent colony of Denmark, endorsed the plan earlier, according to a spokesman for the Danish Embassy in Washington.
Stryker vehicles used by the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) are exceeding Department of Defense expectations, an Army official said May 26. The first SBCT, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was deployed to Iraq in October (DAILY, Oct. 13, 2003). The Strykers have a 95 percent operational readiness rate and on average, 97 percent of their parts are available when needed, said Lt. Col. Bryan McVeigh (USA), product manager for Interim Armored Vehicle - Combat Support. 96-day turnaround
Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense compnay, plans to buy GKN's 50 percent stake in their joint helicopter venture, AgustaWestland, the company said May 26. The company would buy United Kingdom-based GKN's stake for 1.06 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), although that is contingent on the U.K. Ministry of Defence awarding the "Future Lynx" contract to equip the British army and navy with remanufactured Lynx helicopters. If that doesn't happen, the price will be adjusted downward by 35 million pounds ($63.3 million), Finmeccanica said.
The Defense Department announced late May 25 that it will wait until November to decide whether to allow the Air Force to acquire 100 new Boeing-made KC-767A refueling aircraft. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants two more studies to be finished before deciding whether to approve an Air Force proposal to lease 20 KC-767As and buy 80 more, DOD said.
INDUCTED: Engine maker Pratt & Whitney has been inducted into the Blackbird Laurels Society to recognize its contributions to the U.S. Air Force's SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. Two P&W J58 engines, each with a thrust measuring at 32,500 pounds with afterburner, powered the Lockheed Martin SR-71. The induction took place in a ceremony last week at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) Museum at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
