UPGRADE: Rockwell Collins will upgrade the communications of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles to allow the fighters to "engage more actively" in homeland security activities, the company said. Rockwell Collins will replace one of the F-15's military single-band radios with a multi-band radio capable of providing Very High Frequency communications with civil air traffic control authorities and civil aircraft. "The addition of this new Rockwell Collins radio is a critical improvement for the U.S.
TANKER REPORTS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to be briefed during the week of May 3-7 on two reports he requested on the Air Force's controversial proposal to lease 20 Boeing KC-767 refueling aircraft and buy 80 more. The report by the Defense Science Board (DSB) is to examine whether new tankers are needed now, while the report by the National Defense University (NDU) is expected to examine the cost effectiveness of the Air Force proposal. Early this year, Rumsfeld put the potential deal on hold so DOD could finish several reviews of the matter.
MTHEL TEST: The test bed for the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) successfully tracked a large-caliber rocket for the first time April 29 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., but no shoot-down was attempted because of bad weather, time constraints and problems with test-range equipment, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army. The test bed, developed jointly by the United States and Israel, shot down artillery shells and smaller-caliber Katyusha rockets in earlier tests.
Despite the passage of the Safety Act of 2002, companies wishing to offer products to combat terrorism still are too vulnerable to third-party liability claims, according to Ron Sugar, chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman.
Small businesses are being recruited to bid for contracts at the new National Interagency Biodefense Campus at the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick, Md. The goal is to establish a "one-stop shop to provide better access for businesses that don't have the in-house staff or resources to investigate all the available contracts, and run the traps of the regular, complex procurement process," a representative from Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's (R-Md.) office told The DAILY.
MISSILE COUNTERMEASURES: Several factors make current military anti-missile systems a poor fit for commercial airlines, according to Ronald Robinson of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The failure rates that are quite acceptable for military operations are up to 30 times more frequent than the standard that we've set for commercial [airlines], which is about 10,000 hours of operation on the airplane between failures," he says. False alarms on anti-missile systems also could pose a significant problem for the commercial air traffic system, according to Robinson.
One of three companies receiving contracts for the Innovative Space Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT) program will be chosen in 2006 to build a 100-meter demonstration antenna that would fly in 2010, according to an Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) official.
WORKSHOP: NASA's Centennial Challenges program will conduct its first industry workshop June 15-16 in Washington. Modeled on successful 19th century navigation prizes and early 20th century aviation prizes, Centennial Challenges is establishing a series of annual prizes for technical breakthroughs that advance space exploration and other NASA goals. "Centennial Challenges is a small but potentially high-leverage investment by NASA to help address some of our most difficult hurdles in research and exploration," says NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
JOINT FORCIBLE ENTRY: The U.S. Marine Corps is planning to conduct Sea Viking 04, a concept development and experimentation campaign to assess future Marine Corps and naval capabilities for joint forcible entry, the Navy says in its Naval Transformation Roadmap (DAILY, April 23). The U.S. Department of Defense is studying forcible entry to address the anti-access problem.
WAITING: Textron Inc. officials are waiting for results of the U.S. Army's Strategic Priorities Board review of an Operational Needs Statement (ONS) for 28 Armored Security Vehicles. Textron has a contract for 104 of the vehicles, which are used by military police forces. Of those, 99 are part of an earlier multi-year contract and four were added in the fiscal 2004 budget. Sixty-three of the vehicles are in Iraq and performing well," says Jay Johnson, director of ground systems at Textron's Marine and Land Systems division.
May 3 - 6 -- 2004 U.S. Coast Guard Innovation Expo, Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, Savannah, Ga. For information go to www.ndia.org. May 6 -- NASA Contractor Open Forum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Robert R. Gilruth Center, Houston, Texas. For more information call (281) 483-4512 or email [email protected].
U.S. Air Force officials are declaring victory in their battle to fix a major technical problem with the F/A-22 Raptor: avionics software instability. "Software stability [is] no longer an issue," the Air Force said in a graphic displayed at an April 30 press briefing.
House and Senate defense authorization bills are scheduled to be marked up this week. The Pentagon is seeking $401.7 billion for the Department of Defense, a 7 percent increase over fiscal year 2004 funding levels, although it does not include funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MP-RTIP: Northrop Grumman was awarded an $888 million contract for the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program's (MP-RTIP) system development and demonstration phase, the U.S. Department of Defense announced late April 30. The contract includes the development of an MP-RTIP radar for the Multi-Sensor Command and Control aircraft and the delivery of three MP-RTIP radars for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, as well as other equipment and support, according to the DOD. Work is to be completed by May 2010.
WICHITA, Kan. - While waiting to learn whether the U.S. Air Force will get the go-ahead to proceed with its controversial proposal to lease and buy 100 Boeing 767 refueling aircraft, the manufacturer quietly is proceeding with work on international orders for the wide-body tanker.
The U.S. Department of Defense's need to deploy robots, or unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), has increased dramatically since Sept. 11 and their missions are expanding, according to industry and government officials. "Post 9/11, the urgency for UGVs has ratcheted up. The customer [DOD] wants more of them and wants them right away," Mack Barber, president of Northrop Grumman's REMOTEC, said at a press briefing April 29. "The design and technology requirements have changed, there is an increased focus on research and development."
RAPTOR IOT&E: The U.S. Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor began its formal initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the Air Force said April 29. The service expects to complete IOT&E in September. Initial operational capability is scheduled for December 2005 at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency needs to do a better job integrating its many modeling and simulation (M&S) systems, according to a Defense Science Board task force. While MDA is connecting multiple anti-missile platforms to form a single ballistic missile defense system (BMDS), it is lagging in linking its M&S software, the task force says in a new report. "The linkages that currently exist between models do not provide the needed insight to support system-level development, deployment and testing," the report says.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $32 million order for 24 Sniper XR (Extended Range) advanced targeting pods and associated equipment, the company announced April 29. The order, which also includes spares and training, marks the fourth buy (Lot IV) of Sniper XR pods by the Air Force, according to Lockheed Martin. The new order brings the total number of Sniper pods bought by the service to 80, according to Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Jennifer Allen. A second increment of the Lot IV buy is expected this year.
MOSCOW - The European Space Agency is looking for "institutional relationships" with Russia, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain told reporters here. Dordain, along with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and Russian Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov, are here to greet an international crew returning from the International Space Station. He said Russia and ESA will form a working group by the end of May to investigate integrating Russia with ESA.
A House panel approved legislation April 29 urging President Bush to use diplomatic measures to deter the proliferation of shoulder-fired missiles. The Commercial Aviation MANPADS (man portable air defense systems) Defense Act of 2004 was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation subcommittee. Introduced by subcommittee chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), it calls for taking an aggressive stance to counter the threat of shoulder-fired missiles to civil aircraft.
The GQM-163A Supersonic Sea Skimming Target (SSST) represents the U.S. Navy's latest attempt to develop a low-altitude target that accurately simulates the threat cruise missiles pose to surface ships.
The U.S. Army Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate has contracted Raytheon and Boeing to each conduct an 18-month study of the High Capacity Communications Capability (HC3) program. Final award selection will follow completion of the study phase.
