Space shuttle Discovery, scheduled to conduct the return-to-flight mission next year, had its robotic manipulator arm installed Oct. 15, according to NASA. Meanwhile, Atlantis continues to receive wiring and electrical modifications throughout its structure, including the wiring for the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) that will be used to inspect the vehicle for damage to its thermal protection system in orbit.
INDUSTRY DAY: The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is hosting an industry day Nov. 3 on Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mission module integration and has posted a notice on the FebBizOpps Web site, Landay says. NAVSEA also is seeking information from firms capable of providing LCS mission module development, integration and test capability. Mission package capabilities currently are focused on mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare. Responses are due Oct. 18.
JSF REVIEW: A high-level Pentagon panel met Oct. 14 to formally review the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The panel is expected to announce within a few weeks that it has approved design changes and other adjustments aimed at solving weight problems with the stealthy jet, especially the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) version.
The U.S. government may become more cautious about exporting weapons to Europe if the European Union ends its arms embargo with China, American officials said Oct. 15. Robert Maggi, managing director of the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, said lifting the weapons ban could create concerns in the United States that technology it transferred to the EU could be diverted to China.
SMALL SUBS: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will hold a conference in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 8 to kick off the Tango Bravo program, a joint effort with the Navy to demonstrate technologies for future small submarines. The intent of the program is "to overcome selected technological barriers that are judged to have a significant impact on submarine platform infrastructure and cost," DARPA says.
Lockheed Martin is upgrading the MH-60S Sierra helicopter with airborne mine countermeasure (AMCM) capabilities and will equip it for combat search and rescue, and is developing combat mission capabilities for the MH-60R Romeo, according to a company official. The company is under contract with the U.S. Navy to develop the common cockpit for the Sikorksy MH-60R and MH-60S.
Boeing has begun mission flight-tests on the first of 17 NATO airborne warning and control (AWACS) aircraft upgraded under the $1.3 billion Mid-Term Modernization program, the company said Oct. 14. The tests will demonstrate the upgraded capabilities of the NATO aircraft and are scheduled to be completed in March 2005, Boeing said. The modernization includes enhancements to the fleet's computers, displays, communications systems and navigation and target identification systems. Photo courtesy the Boeing Co.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Coast Guard is looking at a range of technologies to help it get a better handle on the thousands of vessels that routinely operate near the U.S. coastline, according to Jeffrey High, director of the Coast Guard's Maritime Domain Awareness Program Integration Office.
Industry should start thinking about new applications for the extra data bandwidth that will be available to military aircraft in the coming years, according to Maj. Gen. Charles Croom (USAF), director of C4ISR infostructure at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration.
A fiscal 2005 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) includes the House's push to have the U.S. Coast Guard submit a new Deepwater baseline as part of the fiscal 2006 budget, which is scheduled for release early next year. The Coast Guard already has created a revised mission needs statement to guide the new baselining, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter, chief of media relations for the Coast Guard. It has been approved by the Joint Requirements Council and will be briefed to the DHS Investment Review Board on Nov. 3.
The U.S. Navy intends to release a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year to procure Shipboard Protection Systems to allow Navy vessels to identify, warn and attack potential surface threats, Rear Adm. William Landay, program executive officer for Navy Littoral and Mine Warfare, told reporters Oct. 14. The Shipboard Protection Systems are scheduled to begin deployment in 2005, Landay said.
EXPEDITION 10: The Expedition 10 crew for the International Space Station (ISS) launched into space on a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 13. Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov will arrive at the station Oct. 15 for a six-month stay. They are accompanied by Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, who will return to Earth Oct. 23 with the current ISS crew.
The U.S. Defense Department probably will be ready to deploy the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system within about six to 12 weeks, a Missile Defense Agency official said Oct. 14. GMD, designed to destroy long-range ballistic missiles, is undergoing a "shakedown" to identify things that need to be tweaked. That effort is expected to take at least six weeks to finish, and "in the absence of a compelling threat," DOD is unlikely to deploy the system until it finishes the shakedown, said Army Maj. Gen. John Holly, GMD's program director.
General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $15.5 million contract modification by the U.S. Navy for life-cycle and engineering support work on ships and submarines, the company said Oct. 14. The award modifies an October 2002 contract for reactor-plant planning work that was worth $13.4 million.
NUCLEAR PROPULSION: Schenectady, N.Y.-based Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc. has been awarded a $228.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components. Fifty-five percent of the work will be performed in Schenectady, N.Y., and 45 percent in Pittsburgh, Pa. The work completion date and other additional information are not provided on nuclear propulsion contracts. The contract was not competitively procured, and contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has placed a $180 million follow-on order for the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin anti-tank weapon system, Raytheon Co. said Oct. 14. The Javelin purchase will provide a medium-range anti-tank missile for the British army's Armored Ground Component (AGC) program. Javelin's selection for AGC comes after a 2003 competitive win by the Javelin Joint Venture and its U.K. partners for the U.K. Light Forces Anti-tank Guided Weapon program.
Aura, the Northrop Grumman-built Earth Observing system (EOS) satellite, has been declared operational, the company said. In an Oct. 14 ceremony at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Northrop Grumman turned over the symbolic key to the spacecraft, the company said. Aura was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on July 15, and NASA began instrument activation shortly after that (DAILY, Aug. 5).
U.S. defense representatives plan to consult with Congress in 2005 about whether Pakistan should be allowed to buy F-16s or upgrade existing ones, an American official said Oct. 14. Navy Rear Adm. Craig McDonald, chief of the U.S. government's Office of Defense Representative Pakistan, said Islamabad has expressed interest in acquiring new Lockheed Martin-built F-16s, but Capitol Hill would have to approve. Upgrades to Pakistan's existing F-16s also have surfaced as a possibility.
London-based BAE Systems has won a contract to provide support to the U.S. Air Force for four F-16 flight line programs, the company said Oct. 13. The Department of Defense awarded the Support Equipment Sustainment contract on Sept. 8. It will support the Flight Line Stores Management System testers, Viper Memory Loader Verifier, Enhanced Diagnostic Aid and F-16 Stores System Testers, the company said. BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems in Nashua, N.H., produces them all, the company said.
Representatives of the Bush and Kerry campaigns held a proxy debate in Washington Oct. 14, focusing largely on the implementation of the nation's vision for space exploration. Representing Sen. John Kerry's position was Lori Garver, vice president in charge of space program development at DFI International and former NASA associate administrator for policy and plans. Frank Sietzen, journalist and author of a recent book on the creation of NASA's new exploration vision, represented President Bush.
Goodrich Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., has won a contract from Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services to produce torpedo launch components for the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarines, Goodrich said Oct. 13. The lightweight structures help control water pressure used to eject torpedoes from the nuclear-powered, fast-attack subs, the company said in a statement. Production will start immediately at the company's Jacksonville, Fla., site. The first set of hardware will be delivered in early 2005.
NASA has begun a series of rehearsals for the space shuttle's return to flight, the agency announced Oct. 13. The rehearsals involve flight controllers, the astronaut crew, support engineers and training instructors simulating key portions of the mission. NASA plans roughly 200 hours of rehearsals, which will continue until just a few days before launch.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) has selected MAN ERF for a 1.1 billion pound ($1.79 billion) contract to modernize the British military's fleet of military trucks and recovery vehicles. The Swindon, U.K.-based company, a subsidiary of Munich, Germany-based MAN has been named preferred bidder for the work, which the MOD said would create and support hundreds of jobs across the U.K.
