The Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) is experiencing huge cost overruns that suggest Congress should consider slowing down the program, according to a Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). A preliminary report by the General Accounting Office has found that the ABL has had about $1 billion in overruns since 1996 and that another $1 billion or so in extra costs could arise before the system is ready for testing, said Akaka. He is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which held a March 11 hearing on missile defense.
Lockheed Martin is preparing to introduce a system of electronic technical manuals for the worldwide F-16 fleet that should help save hundreds of millions of dollars, the company said March 10. The F-16 International Technical Order Digitization program also will pave the way for electronic manual support of advanced fighters such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F/A-22 Raptor, the company said.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engineers will conquer the aircraft's weight problem, U.S. Navy Secretary Gordon R. England told Senate Appropriations Committee lawmakers March 10. England told the panel that the Navy wants to ensure the aircraft's developmental problems are resolved early, one reason the program has seen delays. Its critical design review has been pushed from April to sometime in 2005, and the start of aircraft procurement has been moved from fiscal 2006 to FY '07 (DAILY, March 1).
NASA and Northrop Grumman have collected the largest set of sonic boom data recorded in 20 years as part of an effort to develop quieter supersonic aircraft, NASA announced March 9. The 21 data collection flights used a modified F-5E aircraft flying at speeds from Mach 1.35 to 1.4, and altitudes from 32,000 to 34,000 feet. The flights took place in January and February, according to NASA spokesman Gray Creech.
A panel of non-government witnesses was divided on the value of the International Space Station (ISS) to NASA's new exploration initiative during a House Science Committee hearing in Washington March 10, with one questioning whether the expense of completing assembly will be worth it.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, which has combined seven companies, has increased efficiency and profit by fully integrating its acquisitions, according to a company official. Formed in 1999, Crane Aerospace & Electronics has acquired aerospace companies Eldec, Hydro-Aire, Lear Romec and Resistoflex and electronics companies General Technology, Interpoint and Signal Technology.
U.S. Air Force Secretary James Roche has ended his bid to lead the Army, avoiding what would have been a tough confirmation fight in the Senate. In another Pentagon leadership development, President Bush has decided to nominate FBI official Tina Jonas to replace Dov Zakheim as the Defense Department's budget chief.
STRYKER ORDER: The U.S. Army has ordered vehicles for a fourth Stryker brigade, General Dynamics Land Systems said March 10. The order, for 212 of 300 vehicles, is worth $282.4 million. Deliveries are scheduled between February 2005 and January 2006. The Army is expected to order 88 more vehicles within 120 days to equip the fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team, the company said.
The U.S. Defense Department plans to begin a broad review of its transportation requirements in June, an effort that could pave the way for the purchase of dozens more Boeing C-17 transport aircraft. A previous mobility requirements study, completed in 2000, determined that DOD needed to have enough airlift to move 54.5 million ton miles (MTM) of cargo a day. That figure translated into 180 C-17s, 113 of which have been delivered so far to the Air Force. But the war on terrorism has greatly increased demand for transports, stirring calls for a new study.
The U.S. Army has implemented a rapid fielding initiative to ensure that troops deploy with "off-the-shelf" or near-term developmental items that can be made available quickly, top service officials told House Appropriations Committee lawmakers March 10.
Metal Storm Ltd. said it has achieved several milestones on its way to firing an electronic grenade launcher from a small unmanned helicopter. The company, based in Australia, said March 10 that it has conducted several firings of a 40mm grenade launcher from a suspended helicopter airframe; tested an integrated recoil system; and used lightweight, non-metallic material in a multi-shot cartridge.
EDO MBM Technology Ltd., a unit of New York-based EDO Corp., will supply scanning motors and drive electronics for the Eurofighter Typhoon's Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment (PIRATE) search-and-track system, EDO said March 10. The company will do the work at its United Kingdom facility under a 1.2 million pound ($2.2 million) contract from Thales Optronics Ltd. Follow-on options could add $5.5 million to the contract's value.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee's NASA subcommittee, plans to raise the issue of the future of the Hubble Space Telescope when NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe appears before the panel March 11. Mikulski joined astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore March 9 for the unveiling of new Hubble images, which NASA said may reveal the first galaxies to emerge after the Big Bang.
Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) has received the go-ahead from the U.S. Air Force to enter full-rate production, according to a company spokeswoman. Maj. Gen. Robert Chedister, Air Force program executive officer for weapons and commander of the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., made the Milestone III decision March 9, the Lockheed Martin spokeswoman told The DAILY. Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur had delegated the authority to Chedister.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A tender to supply 243 armored wheeled transports for the Czech army, due to be launched at the end of February, has been delayed by up to six weeks, according to Defense Minister Miroslav Kostelka. The delay follows a decision by the ministry to incorporate testing of the vehicles in tender documentation for the order, worth nearly $1 billion. Officials told The DAILY that testing would involve "technical tactical data," particularly on the chassis of the products offered in the competitive process.
To draw attention to its systems integration work and distinguish itself from higher profile competitors such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Raytheon is touting itself as a "platform agnostic" integrator of network-centric warfare systems. Because Raytheon is not in the business of building and marketing military vehicles such as aircraft, it can "step back" to take a broader view of systems integration, according to Jay Humphlett, director of strategy and business development for Raytheon's Unmanned and Reconnaissance Systems division.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) criticized the Deepwater program in a March 9 report, saying that the Coast Guard has not properly managed prime contractor Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) or established measures to promote effective competition among subcontractors. "More than a year and a half into the Deepwater contract, the key components needed to manage the program and oversee the system integrator's performance have not been effectively implemented," the report says.
Titan Corp. is expected to get a U.S. Navy contract award soon to continue work on the Affordable Weapon System (AWS). Pat Dolan, spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), said March 8 that a contract announcement for the cruise missile likely will be made within the next few weeks. "It's in the near future," Dolan told The DAILY.
MOSCOW - The Russian aviation and space agency Rosaviakosmos has been renamed the Federal Space Agency as part of a government shake-up here in advance of the March 14 presidential election. What this means for Yuri Koptev, Rosaviakosmos' director, is not clear, as no changes for him were announced March 9. Responsibility for space-related legislative functions has been shifted to the new ministry of industry and energy headed by Viktor Khristenko, the former vice premier, which also takes over civilian nuclear program oversight.
