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.
SAVING SCIENCE: NASA scientists are continuing to assess the status of data received during Space Shuttle Columbia's ill-fated STS-107 mission, according to the aerospace agency. Columbia carried more than 80 experiments. For those that received downlinked data during the flight, 50-90 percent of the data was acquired, says David Liskowsky, the STS-107 program scientist for NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research.
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.
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.
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.
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.
COMET SHOW: Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) has become the brightest comet ever observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO) instrument onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, a joint NASA/European Space Agency mission. The comet is becoming brighter as it swings nearer the sun, ESA says. On Feb. 18, the sun released a coronal mass ejection, or a storm of charged particles. Astronomers are trying to determine whether there was a head-on collision with the comet, ESA says. SOHO was launched in 1995.
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.
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.
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.
LASER COMM: Industry's first view of the acquisition strategy for the Pentagon's proposed satellite-based laser communications system is set for March 5-7 in El Segundo, Calif. The Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Joint Program Office will host the first industry day on the transformational communications system, says an acquisition notice. A market survey of space and airborne laser communications will be conducted during the event. Also, military planners will solicit contractors' input on potential acquisition strategies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, is questioning the Defense Department's proposal to begin deploying ballistic missile defenses without conducting operational testing.
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.
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).
Although the Pentagon's new six-year spending plan supports all three tactical aircraft programs, critical deficiencies and risk areas remain unresolved for the F/A-18E/F, F/A-22 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to a new Defense Department report. Thomas P. Christie, director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E), on Feb. 20 released his office's fiscal year 2002 annual report, which is forwarded to Congress. The report covers most major unclassified DOD acquisition programs, including the tactical aircraft fleet.
SUPERSONIC: The T-50 Golden Eagle trainer achieved supersonic flight for the first time on Feb. 19, Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries said. "I was able to hold the target speed of Mach 1.05 with plenty of excess power available, so I have no doubt this aircraft will be able to achieve its maximum design Mach of Mach 1.5," Maj. Choong Hwan Lee of the Republic of Korea air force said in a statement. The one-hour flight occurred from the air base at Sachon, South Korea.
Testing programs for the Airborne Laser (ABL) and the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system made progress in the past year or so, according to a new report by the Pentagon's chief weapons tester.
NEW DELHI - George Fernandes, India's defense minister, told parliament on Feb. 20 that no deadline has been set for completing a procurement contract for advanced jet trainers (AJTs). However, Fernandes told lawmakers that India wants to buy the aircraft as soon as possible. India has been negotiating with the United Kingdom's BAE Systems for 66 Hawk 100 trainers for six years, although the deal has gotten bogged down over a price dispute.
