Officials: OIF showed gaps in logistics, communications

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 07, 2004
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) showed that improvements have been made in joint operations, but it also showed that challenges remain in areas such as logistics, damage assessment and coalition communications, U.S. service officials said April 6 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo in Washington.

MH-60R schedule slips 10 months as team addresses problems

Jefferson Morris Apr 07, 2004
The testing schedule for the U.S. Navy's MH-60R helicopter slipped about 10 months while engineers grappled with technical and training-related issues discovered during testing last summer, according to prime systems integrator Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin JCM completes inert munitions testing

Jefferson Morris Apr 07, 2004
Lockheed Martin's proposed Joint Common Missile (JCM) rocket motor has completed a series of company-funded tests designed to ensure it won't detonate when subjected to fire or struck by debris. The company completed the tests April 3 at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) in Socorro, N.M., in conjunction with rocket motor supplier Aerojet and propellant supplier Roxell U.K.

BAE Systems to buy STI Government Systems assets

Staff Apr 07, 2004
BAE Systems North America will buy the assets of STI Government Systems of Honolulu, Hawaii, for $27 million in cash, the company said April 5. STI Government Systems provides photonics, information technologies and systems integration services to U.S. government customers. "STI Government Systems scientists and engineers are well respected throughout government and industry for their innovative technology solutions," Galen Ho, president of BAE Systems North America's Information and Electronic Systems Integration Sector said in a statement.

In Brief: Boeing to develop fire control station for SLAMRAAM

Staff Apr 07, 2004
FIRE CONTROL: Boeing will design and develop the Integrated Fire Control Station for Raytheon's Surface Launched AMRAAM (SLAMRAAM) under an $18.9 million contract, the company said April 6. SLAMRAAM pairs up to six U.S. Air Force AIM 120 AMRAAMs with a turreted Humvee. The work will be done at Boeing's facility in Huntsville, Ala.

In Brief: General Atomics awarded EMALS SDD work

Staff Apr 06, 2004
EMALS: General Atomics was awarded a $145.6 million contract for the system development and demonstration of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the Defense Department said April 5. The SDD phase includes the design, delivery, test and support of a full-scale EMALS at Naval Air Systems Command facilities in New Jersey, the DOD said.

HASC members seek to limit DOD ship leases

Kathy Gambrell Apr 06, 2004
Members of the House Armed Services Committee are asking their leaders to include an amendment in the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would limit the leasing of foreign-built ships by the U.S. Department of Defense to 12 months, including contract optionss.

Lockheed Martin says JSF maturing despite weight struggles

Staff Apr 06, 2004
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is showing signs of maturity even as the aircraft continues to battle a weight problem, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. "A lot of stuff is coming together right now," said Tom Burbage, who heads Lockheed Martin's work on JSF.

New GPS Operations Center shifts focus from operators to users

Rich Tuttle Apr 06, 2004
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. Air Force officials say a new GPS Operations Center at Schreiver Air Force Base here shifts the focus from those who operate the navigation satellites to warfighters and civil users, giving them real-time information to help offset problems that may crop up with ground stations, receivers or the satellites themselves.

Cabin pressure monitor picked for NASA invention award

Staff Apr 06, 2004
A cabin pressure monitor (CPM) developed by NASA engineer Jan Zysko was named NASA's top commercial and government invention for 2003, the agency said. The CPM, patented by NASA, is a hand-held device that senses local environmental pressure while operating separately from other aircraft or spacecraft systems, NASA said. The device is being used in the Kennedy Space Center's Mars Simulation Chamber to protect workers from an accidental pressure reduction, a NASA official told The DAILY, and it also is being sold for use in commercial aircraft.

Contracts: Selected aerospace and defense contracts for the week of March 29 - April 2

Staff Apr 06, 2004
March 29, 2004 NAVY

Chart: Army Budget Request Amendment

U.S. Army Apr 06, 2004
XYZ

Missile Defense Agency says GMD silo door test was successful

Marc Selinger Apr 06, 2004
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system has successfully demonstrated the ability of an Alaska-based interceptor silo to open its doors while buried under a massive pile of snow, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. During a February test at Fotr Greely, Alaska, where much of the GMD system is being built, an interceptor silo opened its doors in 1.12 seconds despite being blanketed by a 29-foot-high heap of compacted snow, MDA said April 2. The goal was an opening time of 1.75 seconds or less.

Army TARDEC contracts for hydrogen refueler

Kathy Gambrell Apr 06, 2004
The U.S. Army Research, Development and En-gineering Center (TARDEC) has has asked Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies of Irvin, Calif., to develop transportable hydrogen refuelers to support its fuel cell vehicles. The technology comes as the armed services have been seeking more portable and lightweight power sources for equipment for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The $1 million agreement is an expansion of a contract for light-duty off-road vehicles also currently under development.

VSI to deliver cueing systems under $62.6M contract

Staff Apr 06, 2004
Vision Systems International (VSI), a joint venture between EFW Inc. and Rockwell Collins' Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics, is delivering more than 400 additional Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) under a $62.6 million contract from the Boeing Co.

BAE Systems forms team to bolster mine warfare capabilities

Lee Ewing Apr 06, 2004
As the U.S. Navy moves from being primarily a blue water navy and places new emphasis on fighting in the littorals, BAE Systems officials say they and their European partners are ready to offer their experience in developing mine warfare systems.

DD(X) critical technologies on schedule, official says

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 06, 2004
Engineering development models (EDMs) of eight of the DD(X) next-generation destroyer's 10 technology areas have passed preliminary design review (PDR), and three have gone through critical design review, a program official said April 5. The DD(X) hull form is scheduled for a PDR this week, and the dual-band radar will go through its PDR in May, according to Brian Cuccias, DD(X) program manager at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

LM planning littoral ship with reconfigurable hull

Lisa Troshinsky Apr 06, 2004
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2) is planning an innovative small, high-speed littoral ship that would be able to engage small attack boats at five nautical miles, George Root, director of advanced programs at Lockheed Martin MS2, said April 5 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo. Lockheed Martin envisions the Covert, High-Speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC) deploying from a larger combatant, which could include a version of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) - a program for which Lockheed Martin is competing - Root said.

What's Ahead in Aerospace: Indian air force chief in France to discuss aircraft buys

Staff Apr 05, 2004
SHOPPING: Air Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, head of the Indian air force, is in France through April 7 to discuss India's possible acquisition of more Mirage fighters. India is seeking multirole aircraft from international markets to replace its aging MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-25 aircraft. The Indian defense ministry also is considering a proposal from Dassault Aviation to build Mirage 2000-5 aircraft in India under license (DAILY, Jan. 29). Indian defense planners favor the idea, but a final decision has been postponed under after upcoming elections.

What's Ahead in Aerospace: Navy, Marines, JFCOM activity prompt creation of new Boeing office

Staff Apr 05, 2004
ON TARGET: "Increased activity" by the U.S. Navy, Marines and Joint Forces Command in the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Suffolk, Va., area prompted the Boeing Co. to open an Integrated Defense Systems field office in Norfolk last week, the head of the new office says. Capt. Louis Lalli (USN, ret.) says Boeing is taking to heart the Pentagon's mandate for transformation and joint warfighting.

Perminov supports moon/Mars plans, international cooperation

Dmitry Pieson Apr 05, 2004
MOSCOW - Anatoly Perminov, the new head of Russia's Federal Space Agency, said he supports President Bush's proposed expeditions to the moon and Mars, and said both Russia and the European Space Agency (ESA) should participate in it. Perminov, who was named to the post last month (DAILY, March 12), spoke at a meeting here with ESA officials. His predecessor, Yuri Koptev, who headed the agency when it was named the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, had been skeptical of U.S. space exploration plans.

V-22 to begin flight tests April 5 to verify glitch fix

Marc Selinger Apr 05, 2004
The V-22 Osprey is scheduled to begin flight-testing April 5 to verify a potential hardware fix for a glitch that surfaced a few months ago.

What's Ahead in Aerospace: Lockheed Martin evaluating at least two firms to power airship

Staff Apr 05, 2004
AIRSHIP POWER: At least two companies - Uni-Solar Ovonic, of Auburn Hills, Mich., and Iowa Thin Film Technologies, of Boone, Iowa - have announced they are under consideration to supply the solar energy panels that would power the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's High Altitude Airship (HAA). The HAA is scheduled for a critical design review in mid-June that will help MDA decide whether to give prime contractor Lockheed Martin a $50 million contract to build a prototype flight vehicle. MDA is interested in the HAA mainly as a surveillance and communications relay vehicle.

What's Ahead in Aerospace: SpaceDev to conduct microsatellite experiment for MDA

Staff Apr 05, 2004
MDA MICROSATS: SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., will conduct a distributed sensing experiment for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) using three microsatellites flying in formation under a $43 million, five-year contract awarded April 1. The contract also contains options for a laser communications experiment and other microsatellite studies, according to the company. The satellites will be based on the company's Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer satellite (CHIPSat), a microsatellite built for NASA and launched last year.

What's Ahead in Aerospace: AIA wants space funding to be bipartisan

Staff Apr 05, 2004
BIPARTISAN FUNDING: Aerospace industry representatives would like federal funding for space programs to be dealt with in a bipartisan fashion, as is the defense budget, says Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President John Douglass. In other words, space programs should continue to be funded even when the White House changes hands, he says. In both space and defense, programs take a long time to complete, involve lots of engineering support and need the sustained financial support of the federal government, he says.