The Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) is looking into whether procedures for transporting Humvees were followed when three Humvee fires erupted aboard two ships and a transport plane, one of which caused more than $1 million in damage (DAILY, Feb. 17). Lt. Col. Kevin Peterson, program manager of TACOM's light tactical vehicles division, told The DAILY that his office is not certain what caused the fires but suspects the vehicles may not have been prepared properly for transit.
NASA plans to have a rescue mission prepared and standing by during the next space shuttle flight, STS-114, in case damage is discovered in orbit that makes it impossible for the shuttle to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
The U.S. Department of Defense's future Global Information Grid-Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) program is on track to achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in September, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). 100 locations In September, 10 locations will be up and running. By September 2005, all 100 worldwide locations will be activated, Raduege said Feb. 19 at a National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) luncheon in Falls Church, Va.
NEW DELHI - India's Kaveri engine for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is entering the final stages of testing in Russia, although India already has ordered 17 F404-GE-IN20 engines from GE Aircraft Engines for the first batch of aircraft. Air force Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy said Feb. 19 that altitude tests on the Kaveri are progressing well and that it soon would be integrated with the LCA.
NASA will begin launching a series of "Mars testbed" missions in 2011 to pave the way for the eventual human exploration of the planet, according to Orlando Figueroa, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program Office. NASA's new Office of Exploration Systems will drive the requirements for the missions, Figueroa said. The missions are planned to head for Mars during every launch opportunity, which occurs roughly every two years.
A Marine Corps spokesman said Feb. 18 that the service welcomes the U.S. Air Force's recent expressions of interest in buying the Marines' short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
ALION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, McLean, Va. Vice Adm. Scott Fry (USN, ret.) has been hired as senior strategist for Department of Defense programs. ANALEX, Alexandria, Va.
NASA must improve how it identifies, selects and prioritizes space shuttle upgrades, according to a recent report from the General Accounting Office (GAO). In March 2003, NASA instituted the Shuttle Life Extension Program (SLEP) to better organize shuttle upgrade efforts. At the time, the agency expected that the shuttle might remain in service through 2020, although now it is scheduled for retirement in 2010 in accordance with President Bush's new space exploration agenda (DAILY, Jan. 15).
Lockheed Martin announced late Feb. 18 that it is challenging the Army's recent decision to pick Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to develop the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM). Lockheed Martin said in a statement that it filed a protest Feb. 17 with the General Accounting Office. "Lockheed Martin believes the Army's evaluation process was flawed and is requesting, among other things, that the GAO perform a re-evaluation of the Army's best value determination."
The scheduled launch of STS-114 is likely to slip to January 2005 as engineers continue to grapple with issues related to the shuttle's external tank and the boom being developed to inspect the orbiter in space, according to a NASA official.
The warfighter increasingly is influencing U.S. Defense Department acquisition decisions, according to DOD officials. "From the combatant commander perspective, the warfighter has more to say about what weapons should be acquired," said Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, deputy commander, Joint Forces Command. According to Ken Krieg, special assistant to the secretary of defense and director, Program Analysis & Evaluation, the warfighter and combatant commander have three tools to help influence the DOD acquisition process.
U.S. Air Force officials are awaiting the final report on tests of the Automatic Air Collision Avoidance System, or Auto ACAS, which is expected to be completed by the end of March. Auto ACAS is a computer program that detects a potential mid-air collision and takes control of the aircraft's autopilot system to avoid it. Final in-air testing wrapped up in August in Lockheed Martin F-16s. The Swedish government and the U.S. Air Force worked jointly on the project.
MOTOR SUPPLY: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will supply first-, second- and third-stage Orion motors to Orbital Sciences Corp. under contracts totaling more than $97 million, the company said Feb. 18. ATK is to deliver 23 Orion flight sets in 2004 and 2005, along with additional tooling to support the higher production rate, which is needed to support the Bush Administration's goal for accelerated missile defense deployment.
SAN DIEGO - Small, highly specialized companies that provide essential, highly advanced technology products in small quantities are finding a growing domestic and international market, according to the head of one such business. Eric Wogsberg, president and co-founder of Jupiter Systems, told The DAILY that sales for his company are expected to increase by 50 percent this year.
The State Department plans to fully implement its new D-Trade licensing system for defense exports by September, according to a department official. The electronic system, which has been running since Jan. 15 (DAILY, Feb. 18) and was formally unveiled at a "roll-out" ceremony Feb. 18, currently can process license applications for the permanent export of unclassified defense articles and for the furnishing of defense services.
SIGNED: EADS CASA and Lockheed Martin signed an $87.4 million deal in Madrid Feb. 18 for EADS CASA's delivery of two CN-235 aircraft for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program. EADS' Spanish arm said the deal "formalizes" its participation in Deepwater. Selection of the CN-235 was announced last year (DAILY, May 12, 2003).
Boeing Co. officials and researchers from Cornell University recently demonstrated leading-edge software and autonomy technologies aboard ScanEagle, a long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the company said Feb. 18. ScanEagle's 2.5-hour demonstration flight showed a UAV can be reconfigured rapidly and its mission capabilities updated without modifying and revalidating the flight control software, using Open Control Platform (OCP) software technology developed by Boeing Phantom Works, the company said.
FUZE FUNDING: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) will continue production of the Multi-Option Fuze for Artillery (MOFA) under two funding increments worth $34 million, the company said Feb. 17. MOFA is the U.S. Army's next-generation, all-purpose artillery fuze, ATK said, and is operable with all 105mm and 155mm systems.
Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems sector, Thales and Australian shipbuilder ADI have signed a memorandum of understanding to offer an integrated combat-management system solution (ICMS) to include naval combat management, command and control, command support and integration for amphibious ships, Northrop Grumman announced Feb. 16.
NASA has decided to delay the next flight attempt of the X-43A hypersonic demonstrator until late March or early April while engineers recalculate the vehicle's flight profile and replace a rudder actuator that may have been damaged in a recent accident.
A tethered aerostat fitted with surveillance sensors is set for use by the U.S. Army in Iraq, according to Lockheed Martin, which has received a contract for the work. A $1.6 million contract awarded on Jan. 22 calls for the company to deliver the system in 120 days or less, said Steve Kostek of the Army's Robotic Unmanned Sensors (RUS) office at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s new Eagle Eyes dual-mode infrared/millimeter-wave (IR/MMW) seeker for the U.S. Army successfully detected, acquired, tracked and struck a moving multiple rocket launcher during a Jan. 11 engineering flight test, the company said Feb. 17.
