House supporters of the Administration's plan to award the lead New Attack Submarine to General Dynamics Electric Boat won't challenge the National Security Committee's position that EB and Newport News Shipbuilding should compete for a new class of sub. The decision became apparent yesterday when the House Rules Committee released the list of amendments to the $267.3 billion fiscal 1996 national security authorization, which the House will begin considering next week (see page 382). The deadline for submitting amendments was Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The House Science space subcommittee yesterday approved multi-year funding for the International Space Station, authorizing $2.121 billion a year for the project through fiscal 2002 as long as it remains on budget and within schedule. Panel members rejected by a vote of 18-3 an amendment that would have canceled the Station program outright, but action on the multi-year funding bill advanced by the Republican majority was not without opposition from senior Democrats.
TITAN CORP., San Diego, has received a $5.7 million subcontract from Tracor Aerospace for work on the Explosive Standoff Minefield Breacher (ESMB) demonstration/validation program sponsored by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The program is aimed at development of the ability to neutralize mines from a position outside their lethal distance. Titan said it is demonstrating and producing miniature explosive shaped charged for a rocket-deployed, wide area net array system that will be developed by Tracor.
EFW INC., Fort Worth, Tex., a subsidiary of Israel's Elbit Ltd., has received a contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the Bradley A3 Turret/Hull Processor Unit (T/HPU). Elbit said the initial contract, for $2.8 million, was awarded April 25 by United Defense LP, and calls for 12 pre-production units to be delivered beginning next April as part of the Bradley modernization program. It said an award for low rate initial production (LRIP) is scheduled in 1997 and could lead to a total production quantity of 3,200 processor units.
GENERAL DYNAMICS Land System, Tallahassee, Fla., has received a $7.5 million modification to a contract for the Single Channel Ground and Airborne System (SINCGARS) System Improvement Program (SIP). The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.
A German research center bought a ride on a Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile late Tuesday, flying a gravity-research module from a submarine in the Barents Sea across the Russian Federation to a soft landing on the Kamchatka peninsula. The experiment, built by the Space Technology and Microgravitation Center (ZARM) in Bremen, Germany, was launched on an SS-N-18 which was slated for dismantling as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), according to Christoph Egberts, ZARM's project manager.
FMC-ARABIA LTD., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, received a $23.3 million modification to a contract for Saudi contractor logistics support for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems. The Dept. of Defense said May 31 that the contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command.
Unshaken by House-proposed funding restraints, the U.S. Navy intends to accelerate the Stand-off Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response program in order to upgrade SLAM missiles a year or more earlier than expected, according to Navy program director Capt. Rob Freedman. The main problem associated with shrinking development and production schedules has been identifying an additional $3 million to buy two more flight test missiles and to run an extra flight test. The baseline program calls for 12 missile flight tests.
UNITED DEFENSE LP, Santa Clara, Calif., on May 31 was awarded a $13.3 million contract by U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command for systems technical support (STS) for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems (BFVS). The Dept. of Defense said the work includes technical data package (TDP) maintenance, engineering, quality and logistics effort, and contractor field service for the BFVS, Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) carrier and derivative vehicles.
U.S. ARMY Communications-Electronics Command is considering issuing a request for proposals for procurement of AN/PVS-7B, AN/AVS-6(V) and AN/PVS-XX (Monocular Night Vision Device) Systems and associated spare parts including 18mm and 25mm Third Generation image intensifier tubes.
HARRIS CORP., Rochester, N.Y., announced development of an electronics van capable of performing a variety of military missions, including C4I and remote electronic surveillance. The Mobile Air- transportable System Van (MAS-VAN) is a modified Chevrolet Kodiak medium- duty truck that can be airlifted.
The first of five test stands to verify transmissions and gearboxes in the V-22 aircraft is about to become operational, the Bell-Boeing team developing the tilt-rotor plane said yesterday.
RAYTHEON CO.'s Electronic Systems unit has received an $11.5 million contract under a $19.7 million award to provide one Air Traffic Navigation, Integration and Coordination System (ATNAVICS) and one fixed- base Precision Approach Radar (PAR) to the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command at St. Louis, Mo. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.
The U.S. Army will pay closer attention to artificial intelligence, the use of space assets and information warfare as it tries to adopt advanced technologies and reengineer itself for the 21st century, a senior Army official said. The service has to get a lot smarter on artificial intelligence, said Lt. Gen. Otto Guenther, the Army's command, control, communications, computers (C4) information systems director. Although he didn't expand on how the Army should use AI, he identified it as an area that should be closely looked at in the next five years.
Selected amendments submitted by House members to the National Security Committee's fiscal year 1996 defense authorization are listed in the following tabulation. John Baldacci (D-Maine) -- Seeks to fund the full-time operation of the Over-the Horizon-Backscatter Radar for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) and Howard McKeon (R-Calif.) -- Authorizes $12 million for procurement of the advanced Doppler radar system. Berman -- Removes a new loan export program for weapon's exports.
Understanding what the Defense Dept. means by information warfare is as simple-and as difficult-as perceiving "virtual" battle space and considering the microchip as a target, DOD information warfare experts said Tuesday. "You've got something forming here that's a new frontier," U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Ken Minihan said at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's TechNet '95 conference in Washington. "It's another dimension we're going to operate in," said Minihan, AF assistant chief of staff for intelligence.
ALLIED RESEARCH CORP., Vienna, Va., said its Mecar S.A. subsidiary has received a $17 million order for advanced infantry weapon ammunition and large caliber ammunition from a Middle Eastern country. It didn't identify the country, but said the order is for products previously manufactured by Mecar for the customer.
McDonnell Douglas Corp. believes the worldwide airline industry will need 13,272 new passenger aircraft valued at $1.024 trillion through 2013 to accommodate traffic growth and replace older aircraft. The long-term outlook, to be published this summer, sees fewer aircraft than Boeing's 15,462 through 2014, but it projects about the same dollar volume (DAILY, June 6, page 364).
When it comes to information warfare, what the Defense Dept. wants more than anything from industry is cooperative solutions that lead to interoperable systems, defense officials said Tuesday at a symposium on information warfare. "What we most want is absolute cooperation among yourselves," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Ken Minihan, assistant chief of staff for intelligence. "No sole-source solutions."
McDonnell Douglas yesterday rolled out the first F-18 Hornet for the Finnish Air Force during a ceremony at its St. Louis plant. The aircraft is the first of 64 Hornets that Finland is purchasing from the U.S. The first four will arrive in Finland in November.
General Electric Aircraft Engines said yesterday that tests uncovered an "imbalance" in the GE90 engine which will require a "minor modification" to the aluminum fan platform. The modification will temporarily halt flight testing of GE90-powered Boeing 777 airliners, but a spokeswoman said the company is "still working toward" a September delivery date of the first GE90-powered 777 to British Airways.
Aerospatiale of France, Alenia of Italy and British Aerospace concluded talks to set up a joint company to market regional transport aircraft, Aerospatiale said yesterday. The new company, as yet unnamed, is expected to begin operations in January and market the ATR 42 and 72, the Jetstream 41 and the Avro RJ aircraft series. It will be based in Toulouse, as is Airbus and ATR. It will also have a logistics facility at Weybridge in England and a pilot training center in Naples, Italy.
VITRO CORP., Rockville, Md., said it has won a $35 million U.S. Navy contract for systems engineering and technical services to the Standard Missile and Vertical Launching Systems Program Office in the Program Executive Office for Theater Air Defense. Vitro, a subsidiary of Tracor Inc., said it will be the systems integration agent for the Standard, the Mk. 41 VLS, and the Desert Ship fire control system. Desert Ship, it said, is a land-based facility for Standard test firings.
Defense Secretary William Perry said yesterday that the information infrastructure to be supplied by the U.S. to the international rapid reaction force being prepared for service in Bosnia "will provide the corps commanders with the kind of situational awareness that will greatly enhance their capability to carry out the protective mission."
Seeking to turn back a Republican tidal wave that threatens to roll over NASA in the massive effort to balance the federal budget, Administrator Daniel Goldin gave an impassioned defense of the space agency's relevance to America's competitive future. Appearing with three local members of Congress at a "Rally for Space" at a California State University campus in this Los Angeles suburb last Friday, Goldin said NASA has already done its part to help in deficit reduction.
