BETTER GUIDANCE: The new guidance system for the Minuteman III is performing well after experiencing some problems last year, according to a senior military official. "We've had some successful shots," with the new system, the official says. The system is being installed as part of a package of upgrades intended to extend the ICBMs' life to at least 2020. The new system will be "as good" as the one it's replacing, the official says, and should be more reliable.
MISSILE TARGETS: The Navy will need to procure more surrogate targets to test a terminal sea-based missile defense system when and if the program is revived, according to the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation. The Navy will need targets "to represent supersonic, sea-skimming maneuvering [anti-ship cruise missile] ASCM threats, ..." says Thomas Christie in the 2001 Operational Test and Evaluation report. "Currently, very few of these surrogates are available," he says.
KEEPING IT LETHAL: Although he sees a growing future for non-lethal weapons such as Active Denial Technology (ADT) (DAILY, March 19), there always will be a need for lethal systems, according to Col. Mark Stephen, deputy director of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. "There is a lot of emphasis now ... on developing options to deter people from coming to you without having to kill them," Stephen says.
BMD FUNDING: The House Armed Services Committee is unlikely to make major changes to the Bush Administration's $7.8 billion fiscal 2003 budget request for missile defense, according to Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.), a member of the panel. That's because "a lot of the changes that many [on the committee] were hoping to take place, especially with regard to an aggressive, robust testing regimen, [are] in the works with the Administration," Hostettler says.
ACC AND HOMELAND DEFENSE: Air Combat Command's new Homeland Security Division will provide forces on standby to several new task forces under Joint Forces Command. The purpose of Joint Task Force Civil Support, Joint Task Force Consequence Management, and Joint Task Force Consequence Management-East is to help offset the effects of a terrorist attack by weapons of mass destruction. The task forces would concentrate on cities other than New York and Washington.
RESTRUCTURING: The U.S. Air Force announced March 22 its new structure for its active duty, reserve and guard forces for fiscal 2003. Among the more significant changes, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona will lose six EC-130E Airborne Battlefield Command&Control Center aircraft. A full list of the force structure changes can be found at: http://www.defenselink.mil/ news/Mar2002/b03222002_bt 143-02.html.
Military avionics technology could be the key to a future decentralized air traffic control system, according to John Douglass, president, CEO, and general manager of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). However, this technology won't transfer into the civil sector until America's outdated air traffic management (ATM) system is updated, Douglass said at an AIA press luncheon March 21.
CCS-C PROGRAM: Integral Systems Inc., winner of an Air Force competition to provide the Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C), says new satellite programs being considered for addition to the contract by the Air Force's Milsatcom Program Office include Advanced Polar EHF and Advanced Wideband. The basic CCS-C contract calls for the Lanham, Md., company to replace the portion of the Air Force Satellite Control Network that supports military communications satellites and advanced satellites.
Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) is working on a plan to get the company's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-I) to its operational geosynchronous orbit, after detecting a problem with one of the spacecraft's four propellant tanks. Although there is enough propellant in the other tanks to raise the orbit, if the problem isn't solved it could jeopardize the operational life of the satellite, according to Boeing spokesman George Torres.
SPACE SPLIT: Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) will formally split off from U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on April 19, according to Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart. Eberhart has been in charge of all three commands, which are based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., but he is giving up the AFSPC post to Air Force Gen. Lance Lord. The congressionally mandated Space Commission recommended giving AFSPC its own leader to ease the demands on the commander in chief of USSPACECOM and NORAD (DAILY, Jan. 12, 2001).
CREW RETURN: NASA's X-38 experimental vehicle, once intended to lead to the development of the Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station, could be taken off life support, says station program manager Tommy Holloway. "There are some limited funds in this budget to allow the orderly continuation of the X-38 at this point, and, in a sense, the orderly termination if that turns out to be the direction that the agency chooses to go," Holloway says.
NATO Secretary General George Robertson has launched a stinging attack on NATO member governments for not spending enough on defense. During a brief visit to Prague March 21 ahead of the alliance's November summit, he warned that more has to be done to modernize Europe's armed forces. "Too many NATO governments spend too little on defense. And too many governments waste what they do spend on capabilities that contribute nothing to their own security, the security of Europe or our wider collective interests," he said.
MORE SHADOWS: AAI Corp. has received $22.3 million to build five more Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (TUAVs) for the Army, the company announced March 21. The award brings the total value of the TUAV program to $135 million.
The latest operational test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system resulted in the successful destruction of both targets over White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 21. The test involved two PAC-3 missiles fired against a Hera missile target, as well as the "shoot-look-shoot" intercept of an MQM-107 subscale drone aircraft using PAC-2 missiles. Shoot-look-shoot involves firing one missile, then firing another if the first doesn't hit its target.
Lawmakers from two states that host Boeing Co. facilities are putting renewed pressure on the Air Force to lease new wide-body aerial refuelers from the U.S.-based aircraft firm in the wake of recent indications that the service is considering a competing proposal from the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (EADS).
NASA virtual reality technology, developed to help plan Mars explorations, is being used by a petrochemical company to build and plan operations for a complex industrial facility. The Mars Map software, developed by NASA's Ames Research Center in California, helped plan the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. NASA granted Reality Capture Technologies of San Jose, Calif., a license to further develop the platform (DAILY, Nov. 2, 2001), and RCT is now using the tool at a Shell Chemicals plant under construction in Geismar, La. "What makes this software ...
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S CONSOLIDATED SPACE OPERATIONS CONTRACT (CSOC) has subcontracted with Arcata Associates Ltd. of Nevada to provide teleconferencing capabilities to NASA. Arcata is one of CSOC's small or disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) that participates in NASA's Mentor-ProtEgE program, which fosters the development of SDBs qualified to participate as subcontractors or suppliers for major space contracts. The subcontract is worth up to $55 million over seven years, and is expected to save NASA about $1.8 million a year, according to CSOC.
LOCKHEED MARTIN COMMERCIAL SPACE SYSTEM'S NSS-7 telecommunications satellite, built for New Skies Satellites N.V., has been shipped from production facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif., to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will be prepared for its scheduled mid-April launch. NSS-7 is a hybrid Ku-band and C-band satellite which can provide video distribution, Internet access, telephony and data services. It has 72 transponders and will operate at 338.5 east longitude over the Atlantic Ocean, to provide coverage to Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Long-awaited changes to the list of defense items subject to export controls should be announced within a few weeks, according to a senior Pentagon official. Some items will be removed from the list of controlled exports, but there also could be new restrictions in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Defense Department has completed its assessment of several categories of the U.S. Munitions List, said the senior official, who was involved in the interagency review process.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS (ATK) provided a composite structure that serves as a high-precision truss for the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) that was recently installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (DAILY, March 8). More than 600 components were fabricated and bonded to form the composite bench for the ACS. The bench is about seven feet long, three feet wide and three feet high. The work was done by ATK Aerospace Composite Structure's Space Structures Division for Hubble contractor Ball Aerospace.
The FAA's Operational Evolution Plan (OEP) to increase air traffic capacity in the U.S. doesn't go far enough, according to the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. Recent studies have documented the annual loss associated with flight delays at over $8 billion, according to the Commission's latest interim report (DAILY, March 21).
The president of Boeing's Czech operation, Tom Stringer, is set to continue the company's offensive against media reports attacking Boeing Ceska's record as a shareholder of Aero Vodochody. Hours after releasing a statement condemning recent news stories questioning its performance, Boeing Ceska announced Stringer would answer questions at a press conference March 25.
The U.S. should "resurrect" efforts to develop the Space Based Laser missile defense system, which had its funding slashed late last year by Congress, according to the head of U.S. Space Command. Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart testified before the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee March 20 that he is "very disappointed" with what has happened to the program, which offers the potential of a global defense against ballistic missiles. He said the funding cut will "set back the space capability for quite some time."
The Bush Administration announced late March 21 it is asking Congress to approve a $14 billion fiscal 2002 defense supplemental appropriations measure that includes about $500 million to buy precision guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and "unique special operations weapons."
GLOBALSTAR and AEROASTRO are developing a new, low-cost simplex data modem to allow remote sensing and asset tracking using satellites. The companies plan an initial demonstration of the capability this summer. The modems will be part of a system combining Globalstar's satellite communications network with AeroAstro's Sensor Enabled Notification System (SENS) technology, which allows sensing or tracking data to be sent from remote locations via satellite and the Internet.
