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.
The U.S. Navy's H-1 helicopter upgrade program is strengthening the tail booms on its five test aircraft to protect them against the hotter exhaust coming from their upgraded engines, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
The U.S. Navy has begun testing a software update to the Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) that will give the air-launched weapon the ability to destroy moving land targets. The Navy already has conducted flight tests of the moving target capability with SLAM-ER attached to an aircraft. Launches of the missile are expected to begin in the fall, said Capt. Dave Dunaway, who heads the Navy's Conventional Strike Weapons Program office.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The partner countries developing the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) have extended the program's risk reduction phase to provide more time for their governments to work through related budgetary and bureaucratic procedures, according to prime contractor MEADS International (MI) Inc.
On March 5 the White House sent Congress an amendment to the Army's fiscal year 2005 budget request that would redirect the $1.2 billion the service had planned to spend on the cancelled RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program.
The U.S. Army is at about the halfway mark in securing its requirements of up-armored Humvees this year, a U.S. Central Command spokeswoman told The DAILY, but some lawmakers and industry officials are concerned the service won't have enough money to meet new requirements. "The total requirement by the end of 2004 is 4,398 new vehicles. The balance to be produced is 2,154," CENTCOM spokeswoman Maj. Linda Haseloff said. "The Army is having them up-armored at a rate of 148 a month, which will increase to 220 a month starting in May."
NEW DELHI - India and the United States have worked out a framework for exchanging information on defense research and development, including missile defense programs. The framework was approved at the March 4-5 meeting here of the Indo-U.S. Joint Technical Group (JTG), and will pave the way for cooperation on sensitive defense technology between the two countries, said a U.S. Embassy official.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is indicating it is pleased with the progress of its Mission Integration and Development (MIND) system, the ground portion of the classified Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program. The Lexington Institute recently revealed that the MIND system began operations last December (DAILY, March 2).
NEW DELHI - India and Israel signed a $1.1 billion deal for three Phalcon radars on March 6, marking the largest single contract between the two countries since they restored diplomatic ties a decade ago. Under the deal, signed here by officials from Israel Aircraft Industries and the Indian defense ministry, Israel will mount the radars on Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft and deliver them to India. All of the aircraft and radars are due within five years.
Recent developments show the strengths of the three teams competing in the Department of Homeland Security's program to develop missile protection systems for airliners. New military contracts for missile protection devices have been announced by Northrop Grumman, which leads one team, and Alliant Techsystems (ATK), a member of a team headed by United Airlines. BAE Systems, leading a team that includes Honeywell and Delta Airlines, may be in line for new military contracts of its own.
A March 16 Titan Corp. shareholders' meeting to vote on a merger with Lockheed Martin is on track, a company official told The DAILY March 8, although Lockheed Martin said late last week that allegations of improper behavior could scuttle the deal. Lockheed Martin said March 5 that it "has learned of allegations that improper payments were made, or items of value were provided, by consultants for the Titan Corp. or its subsidiaries to foreign officials."
The Senate Budget Committee's decision to cut $7 billion from the Department of Defense fiscal year 2005 budget request is an early indication that lawmakers are walking a political and economic tightrope as the presidential election nears and the federal deficit continues to rise.
CUTTER DELIVERY: Integrated Coast Guard Systems delivered the cutter Matagorda March 5, the consortium said March 8. Matagorda is a 123-foot Island Class patrol boat, the first of 49 such patrol boats to be refurbished under the Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization program.
