GMD OVERSIGHT: Although a similar effort failed last week during the House Armed Services Committee's markup of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee has written language into its version to give the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation more authority over the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. It also would call for the director's "characterization" of operational effectiveness. Rep.
After several delays, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-N satellite was launched May 20 on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Following a 65-minute flight, the spacecraft was placed in a circular orbit, Boeing said.
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is calling on the U.S. government to verify his calculation that a recently discovered asteroid has a remote chance of striking the Pacific Ocean in 2036 and creating a tidal wave that could devastate the California coast.
May 24 - 25 -- Military Satellites, "Ensuring Optimal Secure Satellite Communications," Hilton Silver Spring, Silver Spring, Md. For more information call 1-800-882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. May 24 - 25 -- McGraw-Hill's Homeland Security Summit, Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to http://www.aviationnow.com.conferences.
SINGAPORE FIGHTERS: Singapore is expected to make a decision in mid-to-late summer on whether to buy the U.S. Boeing F-15 or the French Dassault-built Rafael, according to U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). While Singaporean officials still are discussing Boeing's bid with the company, the U.S. government has completed its own portion of the information-dissemination process, Kohler says. "We believe that the United States government has answered all their questions," he says.
India is expected to formally launch a fighter jet competition within months, according to a U.S. general who closely follows the process. "We believe that they are going to issue a firm request for proposals [RFP] in the next few months," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). "Whether that's two months or four months, I don't know."
Starting May 25 in New York, the Office of Naval Research's "Afloat Lab" will show off the Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle (RST-V). The RST-V is designed to be a highly mobile, survivable, long-range ground reconnaissance vehicle that can be transported in a V-22 Osprey for the Marine Corps. It will be displayed at the South Street Seaport during Fleet Week.
MDA OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Defense Department's proposal to move most of the Missile Defense Agency from Washington, D.C.-area office buildings to Redstone Arsenal, Ala., (DAILY, May 16) is raising concerns in some congressional quarters that it could become a bit harder to oversee an agency that would no longer be a short drive from Capitol Hill. The oversight challenge is seen as an unintentional result of a broader DOD effort to move thousands of northern Virginia defense workers to more secure locations.
MINING SONAR: The Defense Department said May 19 that Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems/Oceanic and Naval Systems, Annapolis, Md., was awarded a $7.4 million contract to develop sonar for high-resolution bottom mine detection and classification for use in unmanned undersea vehicle applications. The work will be done in Annapolis and should be finished by February 2007.
NASA conducted a second fueling test of the shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 20, once again encountering an anomaly with a pressurization relief valve that opens and closes to ensure that the shuttle's liquid hydrogen fuel remains at the right temperature. During both the prior test on April 14 and the May 20 test, the valve cycled 13 times, compared with a more normal eight or nine times. Thirteen cycles does not violate the shuttle's launch commit criteria, but it is "out of family," according to shuttle officials.
MOVING ON: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says HASC Staff Director Robert Rangel will be moving in early June to the Pentagon to work for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bob Simmons, currently deputy staff director for oversight, will become HASC staff director. Hunter praises both Rangel and Simmons, a former chief executive officer with 24 years of experience in the defense and aerospace industry, who joined the committee staff in 2003.
SUB WORK: General Dynamics Electric Boat will build and procure long-lead material for converting the USS Georgia (SSBN-729) Trident ballistic missile submarine to a Trident SSGN, a multimission sub optimized for tactical strike and special operations support. The work will be done under a $14.7 million U.S. Navy contract modification, the company said May 20.
A Boeing Co. mobile simulator for the Super Hornet fighter gives the company a competitive advantage by letting customers have a convenient hands-on experience and provide immediate feedback, a Boeing official says. A demonstration of the simulator, for the F/A-18E/F and future variant EA-18G, was held for the media at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on May 19.
STATION ARTS: The European Space Agency has tapped London-based independent arts organization Arts Catalyst to study future "cultural utilization" of the International Space Station (ISS), particularly the station's European components. The ISS is a cutting-edge research facility, but ESA "believes strongly that the cultural world too should have a say in the future of space exploration," says Daniel Sacotte, ESA's director of human spaceflight, microgravity and exploration.
A maximum range test of the SLAM-ER missile - more than 170 miles - demonstrates the missile's ability to meet or exceed Navy requirements, Boeing Co. said May 19. The test was conducted about two weeks ago, said Chris Haddox, a Boeing spokesman. The Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response flew farther than a SLAM-ER has ever flown, scoring a direct hit on a mobile ship target, Boeing said.
NASA and the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) announced a new Centennial Challenges prize competition on May 19, which would award $250,000 to the first team that can extract breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil. The prize for the MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) competition expires June 1, 2008, said NASA and FSRI, a statewide center for space research.
Finmeccanica, Italy's largest defense contractor, has created a new Defence Electronics division, making it Europe's second-largest company in the field, it said May 18. The new division will have revenues of more than 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) and will employ 19,000 people, Finmeccanica said.
EADS Defence Electronics will supply the Missile Launch Detection System (MILDS), or AN/AAR-60, for the Australian military's Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the company said May 18. The work will be done under a contract worth more than 10 million euros ($13 million), EADS said. The MILDS will be integrated with the helicopters' self-protection suites under the "Echidna" project.
A May 18 DAILY article incorrectly said that Boeing's Unmanned Little Bird helicopter will be deployed to Iraq next year. Although Boeing believes the Army is interested in using the system as a communications relay platform for ground troops in the field, deployment would depend on the continued success in the testing program, the company said. If approved, the earliest such a deployment could take place would be February 2006.
Orbit International Corp. said it has received orders worth more than $630,000 for the development of new software applications and enhancements to its Control Display Unit (CDU), which will be used on U.S. Army vehicles. The production award, from Honeywell International Defense and Space Electronic Systems, will give the Army's ground system vehicles additional battlefield information, the Hauppage, N.Y.-based company said May 19.
WCMD: Lockheed Martin will produce 1,655 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) tail kits and 100 WCMD-Extended Range wing kits for the U.S. Air Force, the company said May 19. The work will be done under a $52.9 million contract, which signals the start of production for the WCMD-ER system.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is fueling significant interest among foreign countries that do not take part in the current development program but might be declared eligible to buy the jet, according to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
The House Armed Services Committee has warned the Pentagon that it is concerned about the cost growth and acceleration of several major acquisition programs, such as the Navy's presidential helicopter program and the Army's Future Combat Systems.
