NEW FUZE: A warhead and fuze for the U.S. Army's Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) designed to strike four classes of ground targets is the focus of a $3 million new research effort. The Army is seeking contractors interested in the early design work for a new warhead and fuze that can defeat infantry fighting vehicles, man-portable air defense systems, trucks and field fortifications and support military operations in urban areas, says an acquisition notice posted Aug. 14. Responses are due Sept.
RADAR BASING: The Missile Defense Agency announced Aug. 15 that Adak, Alaska, will host the primary support base for the Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) radar. Adak was one of six sites under consideration (DAILY, Aug. 15). The radar, which will support the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, is being installed on a self-propelled, modified oil-drilling platform.
NASA should consider two shuttle servicing missions to the aging Hubble Space Telescope to extend its life and maximize its scientific achievements, an independent panel of astronomers said in a report delivered to the aerospace agency this week. NASA had planned to bring the Hubble back to Earth in the shuttle, but in the wake of the Columbia loss, now plans to de-orbit it into the ocean, possibly by attaching a propulsion device.
Raytheon last week unveiled the first development model of its SeaRAM anti-ship missile defense system. SeaRAM, which combines the technology used in the Phalanx Block 1B Close-in Weapons System (CIWS-1B) with the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), is designed to replace the 20mm M61A1 Gatling Gun. The system can be operated in both anti-surface and anti-air modes. Its footprint is virtually the same as the Phalanx 1B with slightly more weight, said John Eagles, spokesman for Raytheon Missiles Systems.
The U.S. Navy has offered several incentives to Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics as part of block-buy agreement to build six Virginia-class submarines between 2003 and 2007. The $8.7 billion agreement, announced Aug. 14, calls for the production of one submarine a year from 2003 to 2006 and two submarines in 2007 (DAILY, Aug. 15). General Dynamics' subsidiary Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman's Newport News Shipbuilding sector will have an equal workshare in the 30-ship construction program.
One proposal to protect airliners from shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles relies on the synchronization of relatively inexpensive infrared sources on an aircraft to fool a missile's guidance system, according to the president of a company advancing the idea. "What we have is a system that typically would have an infrared source on the wingtips and the tailtip," said Al Hastbacka, president of Sanders Design International Inc. of Wilton, N.H.
NEW DESIGNATION: The U.S. Air Force is reshaping its navigator training to produce airmen equally proficient at operating manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to Air Force Secretary James Roche. "They will be known as Combat Systems Operators," Roche says.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a staunch defender of the Pentagon's controversial plans to conduct research on new and modified nuclear weapons. But the congressman may be breaking that alliance.
COAST GUARD INFLUENCE: Coast Guard officials participated in the selection of the three industry teams that are providing preliminary designs for the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), according to Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton, the Navy's program executive officer for ships. That doesn't mean the Coast Guard and Navy will be buying the same LCS model. "I would say that the National Security Cutter, [which the Coast Guard] is working through the detail design and construction process on, will be influenced but will not be fundamentally altered by LCS," Hamilton says.
ADDITIONAL COSTS: Incorporating S-band radar technology into the Navy's DD(X) next-generation destroyer will increase the price of the ship by about $15 million, Hamilton says. Navy officials say S-band rather than L-Band radar technology will be incorporated into the DD(X). An additional $42 million non-recurring charge will be added to cover developmental costs. With the add-on costs, the average price per ship will be $1.2-1.4 billion. "As that design matures ... those prices will fluctuate.
A previously-awarded $689 million contract for Boeing-built Lot 7 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) is being adjusted to call for 4,900 500-pound bombs instead of one-ton bombs, a U.S. Air Force official said Aug. 15. The move reflects the Air Force's growing confidence in an ongoing developmental effort to configure the B-2 fleet with 80 GBU-82 500-pound smart bombs, said Brian Rutledge, JDAM program director at the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
MR. PRESIDENT: Former NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will become president of Boston University on Nov. 1, BU says. The longtime NASA chief will succeed longtime BU President John Silber. "My ultimate goal is to develop a shared vision for the university that will take all of us to new levels of knowledge and accomplishment through the power of education," Goldin says.
GPS JAMMING: Although attempts by Iraqi forces to jam the Global Positioning System (GPS) during Operation Iraqi Freedom were unsuccessful, the U.S. should not assume it has the threat of jamming completely under control, according to Navy Capt. Roy Rogers, director of the Joint Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Program Office. "We did well against seven GPS jammers that they employed in a pretty stupid fashion," Rogers says. "There's a lot of folks running around saying we've got the GPS [jamming] thing whipped.
JTRS FALLS SHORT: The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), which is costing the Pentagon at least $14 billion to develop and produce, falls short of satisfying the military's long-term radio communications needs, according a new report by the Defense Science Board. JTRS, a family of 250,000 interoperable radios for troops and mobile systems, is "but a first step" toward a growing need for an agile network of wideband systems, says the report, released Aug. 14.
August 19 - 20 -- Space and Air Protection Conference, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif. Call (888) OLD-CROW or go to www.crows.org. August 25 - 27 -- Defense Supply Center Columbus Conference and Exhibition, "Transforming the DSCC Supplier Relationship," Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio. For more information email Phyllis Edmonson at [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org.
A joint industry-government team working to launch a regional service hub operation in Australia for the future F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) fleet will be led by BAE Systems Australia. The Regional Support Capability Task Force is developing a "globally competitive and sound" business case for prime contractor Lockheed Martin to select Australia as a service hub for JSF aircraft operating in or near the South Pacific, Defense Minister Robert Hill said in an Aug. 14 statement.
Goodrich Corp.will supply Full Authority Digital Engine Control Systems (FADECs) for U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks, the company said Aug. 14. The work will be done under several Army contracts expected to generate up to $50 million in revenue by the end of 2004, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company said. Goodrich's Engine Control Systems facility in West Hartford, Conn., is the prime supplier of fielded FADEC systems to the Army, the company said.
The U.S. Army could take several steps to reduce risk as it moves ahead with the Future Combat Systems program, the General Accounting Office (GAO) says in correspondence sent to lawmakers and military officials. The correspondence, based on a briefing provided earlier this year to House staff and Army and Defense Department officials, lays out three options the Army could take, along with potential consequences (see chart).
A software glitch has caused a one-day delay in the launch of a proposed new interceptor booster for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, according to the Missile Defense Agency. The test, known as Booster Verification-6 (BV-6), is now scheduled for Aug. 16 instead of the previously announced date of Aug. 15 (DAILY, Aug. 8, Aug. 11). The booster, developed by Orbital Sciences Corp., is expected to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., sometime between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. East Coast time.
Navy officials on Aug. 14 announced that Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics have been awarded an $8.7 billion block-buy contract for the construction of six Virginia-class submarines between 2003 and 2007.
NORFOLK, Va. - Use of the Litening II advanced targeting pod on the Marine Corps' AV-8 Harrier jets was highly successful during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Marine Corps officials attending the National Training Systems Association's Fighter Training symposium here Aug. 14. The Northrop Grumman-built pod contains a high-resolution, forward-looking infrared sensor (FLIR) that displays an infrared image of the target to the pilot, as well as a laser designator. It originally was designed for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard F-16s.
