SERIOUS STUFF: President Bush is paying close personal attention to U.S. Strategic Command, says Owen Wormser, principal director for spectrum, space, sensors and C3 in the office of the assistant secretary of defense for C3I. Wormser says his boss, John Stenbit, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Bush himself "are directly involved" in making sure everything is done right with the new command. "This is serious stuff." But there are some "massive problems" and industry can help, Wormser says.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - President Bush's fiscal year 2004 budget includes "a significant plus-up" for space programs, an Air Force Space Command general said. Brig. Gen. William L. Shelton, the command's director of operations, said that "... in the president's budget, there was a significant plus-up to the space business, and you'll see that rolled out here shortly."
CHINOOKS: The Boeing Co. has received the first low-rate initial production contract from the U.S. Army for remanufacturing seven CH-47 Chinooks to the new CH-47F and MH-47G special operations configurations, the company said Jan. 31. The contract is valued at $140 million, including options, and covers the first production lot of a modernization program expected to include at least 300 Chinooks over 13 years, Boeing said.
The Army and its defense contractors face challenges in designing a command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system (C4ISR) system to meet the needs of the Objective Force, according to a consultant working on the Army Intelligence Transformation Campaign plan. The first challenge is designing a system that provides battlefield commanders with the data they need for their mission, said Collin Agee, an associate with Booz Allen Hamilton who is working with the industry team on the program.
LINGERING CONCERNS: Fitch Ratings says it still may lower the credit ratings for BAE Systems despite the 2.9 billion pound ($4.7 billion) award last week to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. "Although Fitch considers the contact award to be positive for BAE over the long term, the agency continues to have concerns about the cost overruns on the Nimrod [maritime patrol aircraft] and Astute [attack submarine] contracts announced in December 2002 and the impact that these will have on the company's cash flow generation capacity," agency credit analysts say.
ORBITAL WINS: For a 10-year period beginning next year, Orbital Sciences will provide the Air Force with space launch and missile defense target vehicles using deactivated Peacekeeper missile rocket motors as part of the Orbital/Suborbital Program-2 (OSP-2). The Air Force announced the contract award Jan. 29. The company also will provide space and target launch vehicles using deactivated Minuteman missile motors, similar to the work the company has been performing for the Air Force under the OSP-1 contract.
NEW DELHI - India's coast guard wants to acquire medium-range surveillance aircraft on the international market instead of buying more shorter-range Dornier 228s built by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., according to the agency's head. Coast Guard Director General Rear Adm. Sureesh Mehta told The Daily Jan. 31 that the decision was made because of the extension of India's sea borders from 2.1 million square kilometers (1.3 million square miles) to 2.6 million square kilometers (1.6 million square miles).
NASA has requested $15.5 billion for fiscal year 2004, an increase of 3.1 percent over fiscal 2003. The aerospace agency plans to add $2 billion over five years to its $1 billion initiative to develop nuclear power for space propulsion and onboard systems.
A six-year spending plan launched by the Defense Department's fiscal 2004 budget request is aimed at tackling the so-called "bow wave" of heavy procurement and administrative bills expected to come due by the end of the decade, DOD comptroller Dov Zakheim said in an interview. Based on the DOD's latest budget guidance, the Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that the Pentagon needed $430 billion a year for the next decade to maintain its current force structure and procurement plan.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - President Bush has signed a directive authorizing U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) to assume responsibility for four new missions, according to the command's deputy commander, Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas B. Goslin, Jr.
Boeing expects its military businesses to continue growing, company Chairman and CEO Phil Condit said Jan. 30 in a conference call with analysts and investors. "In particular, our defense, intelligence and non-commercial space markets will remain very strong," he said in reporting the company's fourth-quarter 2002 financial results. "We believe we are very well positioned in these markets as a leading provider of existing capabilities and emerging network-centric systems."
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said late Jan. 29 that he supports the idea of forming a homeland security subcommittee but wants more time to think through the details involved in creating such a panel. Stevens issued his statement after Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced earlier on Jan. 29 that he was forming a House Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security as part of a committee reorganization for the new 108th Congress (DAILY, Jan. 30).
In contrast to a senior Defense Department official's remarks earlier this month, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is not planning to consider accelerating CV-22 production until all operational tests are completed in two years, AFSOC's chief said Jan. 30.
Joint experimentation will get significant funding increases in the fiscal 2004 defense budget that the Bush Administration plans to release Feb. 3, according to documents submitted to Congress.
Wavestream Corporation of West Covina, Calif., plans to introduce a line of new high-power solid-state amplifiers for communications and radar systems by mid-year that the company hopes could reach a multi-billion dollar market within the next few years. The amplifiers are intended for commercial and military communications as well as radar and imaging systems operating at millimeter-wave frequencies, roughly 20 GHz and up.
Harris Corp. will supply telemetry modules for the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) under a $12 million contract, the company said Jan. 30. The Air Force contract is a follow-on to the original contract awarded in 1991, the Melbourne, Fla.-based company said.
LONDON - The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's (MOD) selection of lead contractors for its two new CVF aircraft carriers could represent a groundbreaking change in U.K. defense procurement procedures. As had been predicted (DAILY, Jan. 29), Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon presented a proposal to the House of Commons on Jan. 30 for rivals BAE Systems and Thales to work together to design and build the Royal Navy's new carriers, scheduled to enter service in 2012 and 2015.
AMNS: Raytheon Co. was awarded an $18 million contract to demonstrate and develop the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS), a U.S. Navy airborne mine countermeasure program, the Department of Defense said Jan. 30. The system will be integrated into the MH-60 helicopter. Work is expected to be completed by September 2006.
If history is any judge, the Defense Department's budget request for 2004 is unlikely to reflect the goals of military transformation spelled out in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), according to a senior defense analyst. Much of the funding requested is likely to be for programs started long before the new QDR defense strategy was created, according to Michael Vickers, director of strategic studies for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis.
JSF HARDWARE: Lockheed Martin installed LM-STAR avionics test equipment at QM Systems in Worcester, England, and at Raytheon in McKinney, Texas, marking the first support hardware deliveries for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. All avionics builders for the JSF will use a common test system, the company said Jan. 30.
The House Appropriations Committee announced major organizational changes on Jan. 29, including several new appointments to the defense and NASA subcommittees and the creation of a subcommittee to fund the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Committee Chairman C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.) said Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) will replace retired Rep. Joe Skeen (R-N.M.) on the defense panel. Wicker's congressional district includes Columbus Air Force Base, which trains pilots.
Goodrich Corp. announced Jan. 29 it was selling its Avionics Systems business to L-3 Communications Corp. for $188 million cash. The sale is part of the company's push to become "a systems supplier, not a component supplier," a Goodrich spokesman said. "We want to focus on markets where we can be either number one or number two."
