COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - One of the benefits of a space wargame now underway at Schreiver Air Force Base here will be helping U.S. Strategic Command carry out four missions that previously had not been assigned to any major command, according to Lt. Gen. Thomas B. Goslin jr., STRATCOM's deputy commander. The outputs of the game, called Schreiver II, will "absolutely" feed into all four missions, Goslin said in an interview on Feb. 20, the first day of the week-long event.
SERVICE BUDGETS: The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps soon will provide their first congressional testimony on their fiscal 2004 budget requests. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee are scheduled to appear Feb. 25 before the Senate Armed Services Committee. They will be joined by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who already has testified before the House Armed Services Committee (DAILY, Feb. 13).
Feb. 23 - 25 -- U.K.-U.S. Defense Industry Seminar, "Promoting Transatlantic Alliances and Partnerships Between U.K. and U.S. Defense Firms," Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Va., 22182. Contact Ben Stone at [email protected] or register online at http://register.ndia.org/interview/register.ndia~Brochure~3990. Feb. 25 - 28 -- Royal Aeronautical Society's Guided Flight Conference, Boscombe Down, England. Call +44 (207) 670-4345 or go to www.aerocsociety.com.
COLUMBIA HEARING: The Columbia shuttle disaster and its implications for NASA's space programs will receive more congressional scrutiny Feb. 27, when the House Science Committee is scheduled to receive testimony from NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on the agency's fiscal 2004 budget request. The hearing will be the second for O'Keefe since the Feb. 1 loss of the shuttle orbiter. The House Science Committee's space subcommittee and the Senate Commerce Committee held a joint hearing about Columbia Feb. 12 (DAILY, Feb. 13).
A $2 billion Air Force contract for the production of Paveway II laser-guided bomb kits, to be shared by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. (DAILY, Feb. 20), includes a base year and six one-year options, each of which will be competitive, Pennsylvania lawmakers said.
The fiscal year 2002 report from the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) strongly criticizes the Army's Shadow 200 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV), calling it "not operationally suitable" and questioning its affordability. During an initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in 2002, two Shadow UAVs crashed and one was damaged during landing after its tailhook missed the arresting gear, according to the report. A prior IOT&E attempt in 2001 was cut short by crashes.
The chairman of the House Transportation Committee's Coast Guard panel plans to push for an increase in the Bush Administration's $500 million fiscal 2004 budget request for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program, a spokesman for the congressman said Feb. 21. While welcoming the Administration's proposal to boost the Coast Guard's overall budget by 10 percent (DAILY, Feb. 5), Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) believes the Deepwater request is too low to keep the program on track, though he is still determining the amount of the shortfall.
TRANSATLANTIC M&A: Budget pressure on defense spending caused by high public indebtedness in Europe will slow transatlantic mergers and acquisitions in the short term, says Teal Group analyst Philip Finnegan. Europe's four largest defense firms - BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and Thales - "will find it difficult" to buy or form an alliance with U.S. companies, he says. However, each company likely will pursue small purchases in the U.S.
NEW DELHI - India plans to launch two new communications satellites, INSAT-4A and 4B, for a cost of about $282 million. The new satellites will mark the beginning of the fourth-generation series of Indian National Satellite System satellites, one of the largest constellations in the Asia Pacific region. The spacecraft will carry 12 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders, according to an official with the Indian Ministry of Space and Technology.
FIRST FLIGHT: The first flight of Boeing's new 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft tentatively is planned for Feb. 24, the company says. The aircraft underwent taxi tests at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., on Feb. 20, which included several low- and high-speed runs, building to a top speed of about 140 miles per hour, Boeing says.
PRAGUE - The Czech Republic has decided to postpone a decision on the protection of its airspace for three months, according to defense minister Jaroslav Tvrdik. Tvrdik had been expected to present options on air defense to the Czech cabinet next month. But he told journalists in Prague Feb. 20 that the coalition government has decided to hold off from a final decision until May because of ongoing Czech presidential elections and "foreign political crises."
NEW DELHI - Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, the head of Pakistan's air force, died in a plane crash Feb. 20 en route to inspect the Kohat air base. Mir, his wife, and 16 others, including senior air force officials, died when their Fokker 27 went down over mountainous terrain near the border with Afghanistan.
The U.S. Air Force has authorized International Launch Services (ILS) to begin work on the company's first military launch on an Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV), ILS announced Feb. 21. The Atlas V will launch the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite-2 (WGS-2) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., no earlier than December 2004. The Air Force authorized ILS this month to begin integrating the Atlas V with the WGS-2.
AWACS DEPLOY: The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force has been ordered to deploy to Turkey with their AWACS aircraft based in Geilenkirchen, Germany, NATO said Feb. 21. The deployment will provide surveillance and early warning "to maintain the integrity of Turkish airspace," NATO said. The aircraft will operate from the Turkish air force base in Konya.
DEBRIS HUNT: The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) Advanced Sightings Team is bringing together data from NASA, the Defense Department, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other sources in an attempt to find debris that may have separated from the shuttle Columbia early in its final path over the western U.S. on Feb. 1, according to NASA.
The Pentagon's acquisition czar came away "encouraged" from a two-hour, mid-term progress report on the V-22 flight test program, ordering few changes to the remaining test schedule, according to government officials. E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, wants more test data on the V-22's flight and maintenance performance in the desert sand environment before the program's critical go-ahead decision in May. In response, V-22 officials are moving up scheduled desert flight tests to early spring.
EELV IN MARCH: The first Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) mission for the Air Force has been rescheduled for March 8, according to Delta IV manufacturer Boeing. The mission will launch a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft, DSCS III A3, from Space Launch Complex 37B at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Originally scheduled for Feb. 10, the launch was postponed as a result of possible contamination in the rocket's main engine gimbal actuator. The next Delta IV military launch, of another DSCS satellite, is scheduled for early July.
MMA WORK: Lockheed Martin has received a $20.5 million Naval Air Systems Command contract for phase two of the component advanced development portion of the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft program. The Boeing Co., the other MMA competitor, got its Phase II CAD contract, also for $20.5 million, earlier this month (DAILY, Feb. 11). Lockheed Martin's contract was announced by the Department of Defense on Feb. 20. Last September, the companies got five-month contracts of $7 million each for phase one CAD work.
President Bush has signed into law an omnibus package containing the fiscal 2003 NASA appropriations bill, 10 other FY '03 non-defense appropriations bills and $10 billion for ongoing military and intelligence activities, the White House announced late Feb. 20.
CONNEXION: British Airways passengers were able to go online in the air when the Connexion by Boeing broadband system went live Feb. 20, Boeing said. The trial is taking place for three months on one British Airways 747-400 operating between New York's JFK and London's Heathrow airports.
OVERHAUL VENTURE: Lufthansa Technik AG and Rolls-Royce plan to form a joint venture specializing in the repair and overhaul of three types of Rolls-Royce Trent engines, the companies said Feb. 20. The venture will be named N3 Engine Overhaul Services and its location will be decided in 2004, depending on which European location offers the most competitive advantage, the companies said. The joint venture plans to begin operations in 2007, overhauling engines for Airbus A330, A340-500/600 and A380 aircraft for customers in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
NASA and its international partners are within days of deciding how they will support the International Space Station (ISS) while the space shuttle remains grounded, according to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. A Russian Progress resupply ship arrived at the station earlier this month, delivering a ton of food, fuel, clothing, and other materials to sustain the current Expedition Six crew - Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, and Science Officer Don Pettit.
JOINT VENTURE: Messier-Bugatti and Tracer Repair and Overhaul have formed the joint venture Messier-Bugatti-Tracer, to provide wheel and brake repair and overhaul services to commercial air carriers in the Americas. The venture has repair stations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Florida and is the third largest provider of wheel and brake services for commercial and military aircraft, Messier-Bugatti said Feb. 20.
