The U.S. Army plans to start soliciting bids to develop the Joint Common Missile (JCM) in mid-August, or about five months behind schedule, a senior officer said June 25. The procurement schedule for the missile - a ground- and air-launched weapon planned for the Army, U.S. Marine Corps and United Kingdom - was sidetracked by an unexpectedly intensive review by the Joint Staff's Force Structure, Resources and Assessment Directorate (J-8), which started in February, said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, program executive officer for tactical missiles.
A joint review of the Pentagon's mobility needs could help justify the U.S. Transportation Command's (TRANSCOM's) plan to buy at least 42 more C-17s and phase out the C-5A fleet, Gen. John W. Handy said June 25. "I'm right in the middle of discussions [with the joint staff] on how quickly it should be initiated," Handy, commander of TRANSCOM and the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, said at a Defense Writer's Group breakfast.
MISSILE WORK: Herley Industries Inc., of Lancaster, Pa., will design and develop hardware for Low Cost Test Missile Kits (LCTMKs) under a $1.5 million contract from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., the company said June 24. LCMTKs are used for the Trident II D5 missile flight test program. The kits, used by the U.S. Navy to convert operational missiles into test missiles, monitor flights and transmit data to ground stations for tracking and performance evaluation.
CORRECTION: An article in The DAILY of June 25 misstated the maximum range of the block I Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System. Its maximum range is about eight kilometers (five miles). The APKWS must fly at least 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) before its boosters fire.
The U.S. Air Force soon will begin the third in a series of major live exercises to test the vulnerability of GPS-dependent military systems to jamming, according to Charles South, vulnerabilities test manager with the 746th Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Because of the low power of the GPS signal, a one- or two-watt jammer can jam an "unsophisticated" GPS receiver within a few hundred feet, South said. According to press reports, several attempts to jam GPS took place during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
SPECTRUM ASTRO's design for NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) successfully completed the preliminary design review (PDR), the Gilbert, Ariz.-based company said. The design for the spacecraft and flight software met GLAST requirements and is ready to proceed to the detailed design phase, the company said. GLAST, scheduled for launch in 2006, is intended to study powerful gamma ray sources (DAILY, Aug. 27, 2002).
NEW DELHI - A $3 billion U.S. aid package to Pakistan won't include F-16 Fighting Falcons, which the country has been seeking. President Bush said June 24 that the package, half of which is for military equipment, won't include Lockheed Martin F-16s, although Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf "has been a strong advocate for the sale of F-16s to Pakistan." At a Camp David briefing, Bush said despite the absence of F-16s, "we want to work closely with our friend to make sure that the package meets the needs of the Pakistan people."
Disagreements and equipment problems have prevented the military services from implementing an effective doctrine of close air support, an Air Force official said June 24. In reviewing survey, test and demonstration data from the services, the Joint Close Air Support (JCAS)/Joint Test & Evaluation (JT&E) section of the Office of the Secretary of Defense have found three problem areas, according to Col. David Brown, joint test director for the JCAS/JT&E office.
NEW DELHI - India has approved a plan for launching seven more Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) at a cost of $141 million, according to an official with the Indian Planning Commission. The official said flights C7 to C13 have been approved by the government and money will be provided by the Indian Ministry of Finance.
Australia's defense industry on June 24 kicked off a long-term effort to secure a share of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and announced its first contract for work on the program. GKN Aerospace Services was selected by Northrop Grumman, one of Lockheed Martin's partners on JSF, to design and build metal and composite center fuselage components, Australia's Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced June 24.
The House Appropriations Committee plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the Bush Administration's fiscal 2004 budget request for the Space Based Radar, the Advanced Wideband System, missile defense and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to documents obtained by The DAILY.
Any move to punish the Boeing Co. for an alleged pattern of ethical lapses in a 1998 launch vehicle competition must be "strong," yet stop short of barring the company from the space launch business, Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets said June 24. "If there's been wrongdoing, I need to find a way to send a strong signal that wrongdoing will not be tolerated," Teets told reporters at the Pentagon. "We [would] need to take action, and I'd like to try to do so in a way that didn't set our national security space program back."
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - Congress soon will hear details about the shootdown of two friendly jets by Patriot missiles during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano, head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Army Space Command. The testimony apparently will be given by Gen. Tommy R. Franks, who is slated to retire this summer as chief of U.S. Central Command.
Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems announced June 24 that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities for partnering on missile defense programs in the U.S., the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The two companies initially will focus their discussions on sea-based systems; systems integration; command and control, battle management and communications; early warning and sensor networking; interceptor concepts and systems; and targets and countermeasures.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) final report will contain a section in which board members will express "a sense of urgency" over NASA's need to develop a replacement for the space shuttle, according to CAIB Chairman Adm. Hal Gehman. "We have a section which we are writing right now, and I think the board is near agreement on this, in which we will express some concern about the stop/start, stop/start [nature] of replacement vehicles in the past," Gehman told The DAILY.
The U.S. Army plans to further develop the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) to incorporate more advanced warheads and propulsion systems, according to a program official. The APKWS, a successor to the Hydra 70mm rocket, has 10 variants depending on the type of warhead used. The block I variant of the APKWS incorporates a semi-active laser seeker with a 10-pound M151 high-explosive warhead.
An article in June 24 issue of The DAILY incorrectly described the role of two Boeing executives overseeing the Future Combat Systems program. While Boeing's Roger Krone and Jim Albaugh are privy to some administrative details on the subcontracting competition, neither is participating in the source selection process or developing Boeing's proposals for subcontracting work.
LAUNCH CHANGE: NASA has rescheduled the launch of the second Mars Exploration Rover, "Opportunity," for no earlier than June 28 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. NASA and Boeing postponed the launch two days while technicians replace bands of cork insulation on the first stage of the rocket.
NEW DELHI - India followed a successful June 22 test of its Trishul missile with another successful test on June 24. As in the earlier test (DAILY, June 24), the missile was fired from a test range at Chandipur, hit its target, according to an official with the Indian defense ministry. However, because of earlier test failures, the supersonic Trishul now is being tested only for research purposes and won't be inducted into the armed forces to combat aircraft and other missiles.
The winner of a pending U.S. Air Force contract to install satellite receivers in B-2 Spirit cockpits must start delivering products within three months of receiving a contract, according to an acquisition notice posted June 20. The Tactical Data Links System Program Office at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., plans to award a roughly $3 million contract for the B-2 Beyond Line of Sight program in August.
