U.S. Army Gen. William Kernan, commander in chief of Joint Forces Command, said July 17 that he is trying to set up a special fund to pay for the development of breakthrough technology.
The money allocated for weapons procurement after fiscal year 2002 will decline considerably in the face of budgetary pressures for other priorities, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments said July 17. Speaking during a conference on "Walking the Budgetary Tightrope," Steven Kosiak said the Department of Defense would need an average of $80 billion dollars per year over the next 15 years to pay for the current weapons modernization plan.
Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi have successfully completed a critical initial test of the Electro-Mechanical Actuator (EMA) technology built for the former X-33 program's Linear Aerospike RS-2200 flight engine set, NASA officials said July 16. The July 12 test was a "start-sequence" test and went the full scheduled duration of 5.32 seconds, Aerospace Daily affiliate AviationNow.com reported.
Despite its history of technical problems, Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano Jr., commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), would like to see the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system ramped up. "We're always interested in moving forward with the THAAD program," said Cosumano at a media briefing here July 16. "If there were opportunities to move forward with THAAD ... an acceleration, we'd like to do that." Starting in August 1999, THAAD failed six straight intercept tests.
Congressional supporters of missile defense said they were pleased with the success of the July 14 missile defense system test, but said they would not have been discouraged even if the test had failed, since even earlier tests that have failed have been informative.
With a vertical landing from wingborne flight, the Lockheed Martin team's X-35B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator completed all U.S. government requirements on July 16, company officials said. The next step, they said, is to gather additional information by conducting another eight to 12 flights. The next flight, to be flown by a government test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is expected as early as July 17.
Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company, Nashua, N.H., is being awarded a $6,000,000 delivery order amount as part of firm-fixed-price contract DAAB07-99-D-B605 for the procurement of 300 maintenance work order kits for the installation and conversion of 300 U.S. Navy basic AN/ALQ-144 infrared countermeasure sets, (IRCM) transmitters into the AN/ALQ-144A, transmitter T-1360A/ALQ-144A baseline configuration, a system engineering and manufacturing development program as a result of cost growths and schedule slips on the program.
The U.S. and Russia should begin talks on building an "international missile shield" to counter the ballistic missile threat from so-called rogue states, according to a report released July 16 by the EastWest Institute. The report, entitled "Toward the Common Good: Building a New U.S.-Russian Relationship," recommends that "Russia ... be made part of the research and development effort on ballistic missile defense, ensuring that Moscow derives real benefits from any alteration to the ABM Treaty."
British defense officials and industry leaders have derided published reports that the Ministry of Defence had abandoned long-term plans to develop piloted aircraft in order to save $1.77 billion during the next decade. London's Daily Telegraph reported that U.K. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon decided last March to drop the Future Offensive Aircraft Capability (FOAC) study program, which supposedly would have involved missiles and piloted and unpiloted aircraft.
The first U.S. Army Apache 64D Longbow combat helicopter equipped with lot six enhancements has completed its first flight, the Boeing Co. announced. A pre-production Apache Longbow flew for 23 minutes July 12 at Boeing's Mesa, Ariz., facility. The Apache was equipped with system updates, incorporating commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, which will be introduced on the sixth lot of Apaches. Those are scheduled to come off the production line in early 2002.
Marianna Airmotive Corp., Cantonment, Fla., is being awarded a $12,000,000 (estimated) firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for an eight-month extension of repair/overhaul support for structural components of the C-5 aircraft. At this time, zero funds have been obligated. This work is expected to be completed March 2002. The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (F41608-95-D-1280-P00033).
Logicon Technology Solutions, Herndon, Va., is being awarded a $19,600,000 ceiling-priced-letter contract for the development of the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) Combat One. Also included in this letter contract is the integration of the JMPS Combat One into the U.S. Air Force's Block 30 F-16 aircraft and in various Navy weapons systems, including the F/A-18E/F, F-14 and E-2C, which currently utilize the Tactical Automated Mission Planning Systems (TAMPS). Work will be performed in San Pedro, Calif. (61%); San Diego, Calif. (24%); Wichita, Kan. (5%); Berkeley, Mo.
British Airways said one of its Concorde supersonic transports will take off July 17 on a verification flight to assess the operational impact of modifications it has undergone as a result of the fatal crash of an Air France aircraft. The nearly four-hour flight will be conducted with British Airways and Airbus U.K. officials aboard, Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported. It will fly at twice the speed of sound and at an altitude of up to 60,000 feet.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga. is being awarded a $19,383,997 cost-plus-award-fee contract modification to provide for design of a modification to incorporate the Aeronautical Flight Control System into the Avionics Modernization Program for the C-5 aircraft. At this time, $7,598,208 has been obligated. This work is expected to be completed May 2004. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-98-C-006-P00025).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $5,700,000 firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for trade studies and engineering services in support of modification of Coast Guard C-130J aircraft into the HC-130J (search and rescue) configuration. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work is expected to be completed March 2002. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-0018-P00005).
Astronauts are preparing to use the International Space Station's new airlock for the first time on July 19, when mission specialists Michael Gernhardt and Jim Reilly will use it for a spacewalk. The Joint Airlock, dubbed Quest, was installed on the station on July 15. It will permit spacewalks from the station even when a shuttle isn't docked.
Orbital Sciences Corp. announced July 16 it has reduced its total debt by about $200 million since the beginning of 2001. The announcement follows the sale of its Magellan Corp. subsidiary, completed July 16, and 60 percent of its interest in Navigation Solutions LLC (NavSol) to the Thales Group for about $70 million in cash. The sales are part of the company's plans to refocus on its core space technology products.
Two companies are expected to receive contracts this week to proceed to the next phase of the Navy-Marine Corps Dragon Eye unmanned aerial vehicle program. AeroVironment of Monrovia, Calif., and BAI Aerosystems of Easton, Md. - chosen from a field of about half a dozen competitors in a runoff that began in April - received pre-award notifications July 10 from the Naval Research Laboratory.
NASA's solar-powered flying wing, Helios, had a successful functional check flight over the weekend, an 18-hour marathon that took the aircraft to about 76,200 feet. The aircraft, which is being funded and managed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology project (ERAST), is slated to make a record-setting flight in August intended to take it to 100,000 feet.
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, urged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld July 16 to buy the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle for the U.S. Air Force. At a subcommittee hearing on the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 defense budget, Cunningham said the military would be well-served by buying the Predator B, especially since it could be years before the high-altitude Global Hawk UAV is ready to come online.
BAE Systems will develop prototypes for a new mid-air collision avoidance (MCAS) systems for the U.S. Navy under a $1.8 million contract modification, the company announced July 16. The work will be done by the company's Advanced Systems business unit in Greenlawn, N.Y. BAE Systems will provide flight-worthy prototype systems for flight testing by mid 2002.
Boeing Aerospace Operations Inc., Midwest City, Okla., is being awarded an $8,224,986 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for courseware development and aircrew training in support of the F-15/16 aircraft. At this time, $757,350 of funds have been obligated. Solicitation was advertised on the Electronic Posting System (therefore, the number of solicited is unknown), and two proposals were submitted. The work will be performed at various locations worldwide. This work is expected to be completed September 2002.
Arianespace has appointed an independent review board to investigate the July 12 Ariane 5 launch that left two satellites in a low orbit (DAILY, July 16). The inquiry board includes representatives of the European Space Agency - its telecommunications and technology demonstrator satellite, Artemis, was one of the payloads stranded - the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), French aerospace company Snecma and the space agencies of Germany and France.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,747,000 (not-to-exceed) firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for Electronic Warfare Displays in support of the F-16D aircraft. This effort supports foreign military sales to Israel. At this time, $2,698,800 (FMS funds) have been obligated. This work is expected to be completed April 2004. Negotiations were completed June 2002. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F333657-99-C-2048-P00012).
The July 15 test of a missile defense kill vehicle over the Pacific Ocean could be the last test under the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization as it is currently structured. The next test, now being planned for fall, could come after a reorganization of BMDO to reflect the Bush Administration's new emphasis on the overall concept of missile defense, as opposed to the separate approaches of theater and national missile defense taken by the Clinton Administration.
