The U.S. Navy expects to complete an internal design readiness review of its Multimission Aircraft (MMA) by May 2007, about seven months ahead of deadline, which would clear procurement of four P-8As from the Boeing Co. for operational testing, program officials told The DAILY.
FINDING IEDs: Marine Corps officials say the service is having "great success" using its Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle to find and counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Pioneer has been spotting insurgents in the act of emplacing IEDs, as well as locating suspicious objects, disturbed earth, and hot or cold spots along roadsides. In the last six months Pioneer has flown 1,106 hours, more than a third of its flying time, focusing on IEDs.
Members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) say they have witnessed a slight de-emphasis of safety within NASA's Exploration Systems organization as it firms up plans to develop the agency's next generation of manned spacecraft. During a meeting at NASA headquarters in Washington April 7, ASAP panelist and former Stafford-Covey member Dan Crippen said he feels that NASA's exploration directorate has "lost a little of the focus on safety as being one of the most important criteria in the design process."
TOTAL LOSS: Russian Satellite Communications Co. will boost its failed Express-AM11 satellite into a graveyard orbit to prevent its destruction from making the orbital slot at 96.5 degrees East Longitude. RSCC declared AM11, a 2 kW, 30-transponder satellite launched in April 2004, a total loss. Prime contractor NPO PM blamed an orbital debris or meteoroid impact for the failure, which knocked out the thermal control system and caused the spacecraft to veer out of control.
April 11 - 12 -- Military Robotics, "Advancing Autonomy to Reduce Human Casualties," Georgetown University Conference Center and Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or go to www.idga.org. April 17 - 20 -- 22nd Annual National Logistics Conference & Exhibition, "Dynamic Logistics to Meet Evolving Threats," Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami, Fla. For more information go to www.india.org.
CONFIRMED: Dorrance Smith was confirmed by the Senate April 7 as assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. He is a former ABC News producer. The vote was 59-34. Smith was opposed by Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.), the ranking SASC Democrat, who criticized an editorial column in which Smith implied a relationship between insurgents and terrorists and U.S. broadcasting outlets. Bush used a recess appointment to install Smith in January.
The U.S. Air Force is shifting funds from other efforts to pay for the launch of the TacSat-2 small satellite, and hopes to have all the money in place by the end of this fiscal year, according to Undersecretary Ronald Sega. "We do have a reprogramming activity to fully fund the launch of TacSat-2," Sega told lawmakers during a hearing on the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee in Washington April 7. The TacSat series is intended to demonstrate the military's ability to launch small, "responsive" satellites quickly and at low cost.
Senate appropriators are demanding more details from the Bush administration regarding its military supplemental spending requests, and warn they will be less conciliatory than before.
UAV ENVY: Not to be outdone by the Air Force's performance using unmanned aerial vehicles to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy is considering sending its first Global Hawk, delivered from the factory only last month, to the Middle East for duty. N-1 would carry its integrated sensor suite and specialized maritime surveillance software to the theater and collect data on targets in and around the Persian Gulf. The Navy has long been worried about asymmetric maritime threats, such as a swarming boat attack.
DEFENSE OUTLAYS: Defense outlays grew by 6.5 percent on an adjusted basis through March relative to the same period last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Spending for operations and maintenance increased by about 10 percent, while payments for military personnel rose by 4.6 percent and spending for research and development grew by only 2 percent.
U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Corp. officials responsible for aircraft carrier programs are asserting that they can trim construction costs on successive flattops under the CVN-21 program and are asking lawmakers to lock in authorization for one aircraft carrier every four years. Briefing reporters April 6 at the Navy League's SeaAirSpace Symposium in Washington, the officials said it will cost less to build CVN-21 ships compared with the current Nimitz class. Another Nimitz would cost $7.5 billion if started in fiscal 2008.
Defense Department programs are experiencing recurring problems with cost overruns, missed deadlines and performance shortfalls because the Pentagon has trouble distinguishing wants from needs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress April 5. "Poor performance and cost overruns will likely persist until DOD provides a better foundation for executing its weapons programs," U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
With leading lawmakers looking to speed up the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program, Coast Guard leaders are indicating that aircraft like refurbished HH-65C helicopters, EADS CASA HC-235A-300M medium-range maritime patrol aircraft and Bell Helicopter Textron's tiltrotor Eagle Eye unmanned aircraft could benefit.
PRIME MOVERS: Lockheed Martin said April 6 that it has been awarded a $2.1 million contract to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with Lightweight Prime Mover trucks to tow the new M777 155mm lightweight artillery howitzer. The Low-Rate Initial Production contract covers four vehicles. The Marines also have an option for full-rate production of 120 of the vehicles, with a potential contract value of $30 million.
Because of budget limitations, the U.S. Marine Corps is not producing V-22 Osprey aircraft at a fast enough rate to meet its desired goal of transitioning two squadrons of aging CH-46 and CH-53E helicopters into V-22 squadrons each year, according to Assistant Commandant Gen. Robert Magnus. The Marines plan to buy 360 V-22s total. "I've seen nothing to indicate that the number 360 is wrong," Magnus said. "What I can tell you is the rate at which we are buying them in the FYDP [five-year defense plan] is wrong. It's low."
Sean P. Hennessy has been named to the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee. Hennessy has been chief financial officer of The Sherwin Williams Co. since 2001.
French space officials are worried that U.S. ground-safety concerns related to the design of the Proteus satellite bus could delay deployment of the U.S.-European Jason-2 oceanography satellite, possibly jeopardizing continuity with Jason-1.
