Northrop Grumman Ship Systems sector said April 2 it has received several contracts, worth a total of nearly $129 million, to execute the detailed design and procurement of long-lead items for the Coast Guard's first National Security Cutter.
The U.S. Air Force plans to formally ask Congress in about a year for "relief" from the production cost cap for the F/A-22 Raptor, a service official said April 2. If the F/A-22's testing and production efforts stay on track, the Air Force intends to seek that relief as part of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill, which Congress likely will begin writing about a year from now, said Lt. Gen. John Corley, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control said April 2 it has received a $40 million contract from United Defense Industries to develop a long-range projectile for the Navy's DD(X) destroyer. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin and its team members will develop a tactical baseline design for a long-range guided projectile for the ship's Advanced Gun System.
A version of the Hellfire missile equipped with a thermobaric warhead has been tested and is ready for operational use, according to Ronald Sega, director of defense research and engineering (DDR&E) at the Department of Defense. The new weapon was part of a rapid development program undertaken with funds provided by Congress in fiscal year 2002, according to Sega.
In testimony before a Senate subcommittee April 2, former NASA historian Alex Roland recommended NASA phase out the space shuttle, calling it "unsustainable as a safe, reliable, and economical launch vehicle." Testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee's subcommittee on science, technology, and space, Roland said NASA made two crucial mistakes in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it began developing the shuttle.
The U.S. Air Force is competing a contract to demonstrate a semi-autonomous search and attack munition after rival bids emerged to challenge a sole-source award to Lockheed Martin.
HIMARS: Lockheed Martin has received a $96.4 million contract to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, the company said April 2. During LRIP, the Army plans to buy 89 HIMARS launchers and the Marines will buy four. First unit equipped status is planned for calendar year 2005, the company said. Total joint procurement of the system is expected to be more than 900 launchers.
Several members of the House and Senate are pursuing a coordinated effort to provide seed money for equipping commercial airliners with anti-missile systems.
General Dynamics Corp. has completed an acquisition company officials say likely will improve the company's chances of receiving additional information technology contracts from the intelligence community. General Dynamics announced March 31 it had acquired Creative Technology Inc. (CTI), of Herndon, Va. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CTI provides network engineering services and software systems for digital imagery analysis, data integration, information assurance and protection, and information management.
An $8 million cut in the HyFly hypersonic missile demonstrator program mandated by Congress last fall has caused the test flight schedule to slip several months and to lose one of its originally planned 11 flights. Congress cut HyFly's $27 million request for fiscal year 2003 by $8 million, over DOD's protests that such a cut would delay the program's flight tests, which had been scheduled for FY '04, to FY '06 (DAILY, Oct. 17, 2002).
Funding for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization program has fallen below targeted levels, resulting in the delayed delivery of some key assets, a senior General Accounting Office (GAO) official told House lawmakers April 1. The funding increase requested by the Coast Guard in its fiscal year 2004 budget won't help matters much, said JayEtta Hecker, director of the GAO's physical infrastructure team.
The Stryker combat vehicle's growing weight threatens its ability to deploy on a C-130, but it remains the "right way to go" for the U.S. Army, E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told a House panel April 1. The Army sold lawmakers on the Stryker program by saying it could deploy within 96 hours on C-130s, said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "You've got to be a little bit dismayed," Hunter said.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has approved a $197 million budget for three operational Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) flights in the next five years. The Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) began the GSLV program in 1990 to gain the capability to launch geosynchronous satellites. In the first developmental test flight, in 2001, a GSLV placed a 1,540 kilogram (3,400 pound) experimental satellite in orbit (DAILY, April 19, 2001). The second developmental flight is scheduled for May.
Loral Space & Communications reported net losses for the fourth quarter and year of 2002. Net loss for the fourth quarter totaled $501.6 million, compared with a net loss of $30.5 million a year ago. Net loss for 2002 totaled about $1.47 billion, compared with a net loss of about $196.5 million in 2001.
FIRE SCOUT TEST: Northrop Grumman and Schweizer Aircraft Corp. successfully tested a four-blade rotor that will improve the performance of the RQ-8A Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle, Northrop Grumman said April 1. The Fire Scout UAV currently uses a three-blade rotor.
E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, has announced plans to retire on May 23 after what analysts describe as a uniquely effective two-year tenure. A permanent successor has not been named, but a smooth transition is expected after the Pentagon tapped Aldridge's principal deputy, Michael W. Wynne, to serve during the transition as acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
Aided by a significant boost in its fiscal year 2004 budget request, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is preparing to take a lead role in future operations and transition from a "supporting" to a "supported" command, according to Marshall Billingslea, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low intensity conflict.
A "carrier panel" may have separated from the Space Shuttle Columbia's wing during its second day of flight, according to members of a panel investigating the Feb. 1 loss of the shuttle. Testing of components at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, indicates that a carrier panel "looks like our best candidate so far" for a piece of the shuttle that apparently came loose, Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) member Gen. John Barry said April 1 at a press conference in Houston.
NEW DELHI - The Indian air force has decided to a take another look at a proposal from Poland's Cenrex Trading Co. to upgrade its Pechora air defense systems. A team from the air force will visit Poland in May to re-evaluate the equipment the state-owned import/export company is offering, according to a defense ministry official.
Seeking to avoid another friendly fire incident involving the Patriot missile system, U.S. Air Force pilots hunting for Iraqi missile batteries are now performing an additional procedure before pulling the trigger, Air Force Secretary James Roche said April 1. Strike planes flying suppression of enemy air defense missions routinely lock on to potential targets by tracing signals from their radar systems. In Iraq, pilots are now instructed to shift to a second, more discriminatory system to confirm the enemy target, Roche said.
The chief of naval operations said April 1 that he is looking at ways to remedy a shortage of Tomahawk missiles. The task has been made more urgent by the Iraq war, which has depleted the Navy's inventory of Tomahawk missiles. "Clearly, we're going to need more Tomahawk," Navy Adm. Vern Clark testified before the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee during a hearing on the service's fiscal 2004 budget request.
The House Appropriations Committee is urging the Defense Department to consider using money from the fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations bill to replace Special Operations MH-47 helicopters and Marine Corps CH-46 helicopters lost in recent military operations.
A new research project led by the U.S. Air Force seeks to develop an integrated solution to the cockpit problem of spatial disorientation, cited as the leading cause of serious accidents for both military and general aviation pilots.
