DENVER - The upcoming appointment of the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to head a new global network operations task force for U.S. Strategic Command should help simplify the way the government acquires capabilities for network-centric operations, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Shea, USMC. "We need to change" the way such systems are bought, said Shea, director of C4 Systems for the Joint Staff.
The start of a key testing phase for the F/A-22 Raptor was delayed about a month to allow more time for software testing, maintenance planning and training, an Air Force official told a Senate panel March 24. Separately, the Air Force announced it has reached a tentative deal with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of another batch of F/A-22s.
NEW DELHI - A test flight of India's new 14-seat transport aircraft Saras is scheduled to occur within a month, said a scientist with the Bangalore-based National Aerospace Laboratory, which is developing the aircraft. Last-minute ground tests are underway at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment at Bangalore, the scientist added. The aircraft is intended to boost the civilian aircraft industry in India, according to the government, but also will be used by the military.
SAGEM AVIONICS INC. of Paris has acquired the assets of avionics company ARNAV Systems Inc., of Puyallup, Wash. Sagem said the acquisition will complement its existing line of LCD cockpit displays, data processing and communication systems, airborne weather services and satellite phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The U.S. Navy's decision to delay the prime contract award in the VXX presidential helicopter program could threaten the jobs of former Comanche employees that Sikorsky had hoped to reassign to the VXX, according to the company. The Navy announced March 23 that it is delaying the contract award, originally expected in the spring, to allow for more risk reduction work (DAILY, March 23).
GENERAL DYNAMICS C4 SYSTEMS will provide information assurance, systems engineering, payload and ground element support and logistics to the Boeing Co. for the U.S. Air Force's Transformational Communications MILSATCOM (TCM) program, the company said. The work has a potential value of $22.5 million. Boeing and Lockheed Martin each were awarded roughly $470 million contracts earlier this year to begin the 27-month risk reduction and system definition phase of the program (DAILY, Jan. 20).
BAE SYSTEMS, Farnborough, United Kingdom Dick Olver will be appointed a non-executive director on May 17 and will succeed Sir Richard Evans as chairman on July 1. GLOBALSECURE HOLDINGS, Landover, Md. Craig R. Bandes has been named chief executive officer, succeeding C. Thomas McMillen, who has resigned as CEO and from the board of directors to pursue other opportunities. NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY, Washington George T. Whitesides has been appointed executive director. OTPICS1, Westlake Village, Calif.
KAMAN AEROSPACE CORP. has been selected to supply structures and engineering work for the US101 helicopter that Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland have proposed for the VXX presidential helicopter competition. If the team wins, Kaman would perform metallic and composite structural manufacturing work at its Jacksonville, Fla., and Wichita, Kan., facilities, and contribute engineering resources.
KOREA AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES (KAI) and LOCKHEED MARTIN have invited Israel and United Arab Emirates to test-fly the T-50 Golden Eagle trainer later this year. The countries will be the first possible export customers to fly the aircraft. The South Korean air force is test-flying four prototypes and has been asked by KAI to host demonstration flights later this year.
A quote in the Feb. 27 Aerospace Daily article headlined "Industrial base decline is cause for concern" was incorrectly attributed. It should have been attributed to Rear Adm. Rand Fisher, director of naval space technology programs.
BAE SYSTEMS will deliver 54 additional units of its second-generation Advanced Aviation Forward Area Refueling System (AAFARS) to the U.S. Army, the company said. The work will be done under a $54 million contract from the Army's Tank-automotive and Armament Command and is the fifth production order under an eight-year contract. AAFARS is a modular, lightweight, portable combat refueling system designed for rapid refueling of forward-area military helicopters to support deep strikes.
A Lockheed Martin-Raytheon joint venture and the U.S. Army will work out a design review and testing schedule for the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) over the next few months, according to representatives of the industry team. The two companies announced March 22 that their NetFires Limited Liability Co. has been awarded a $1.1 billion contract to develop NLOS-LS, formerly known as NetFires (DAILY, March 23).
RAYTHEON CO. has delivered the first Improved Thermal Sight Systems for installation on U.S. Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles. The Marines will test and evaluate the systems' performance between now and July, the company said. If the evaluations are successful, the Marines could buy as many as 416 units.
A radar scatterometer that studies wind movements over oceans is again sending data, three years after the ERS-2 satellite carrying it began experiencing problems with its stabilizing gyros, the European Space Agency said.
The headquarters of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) has contracted with Savi Technology for a pilot project using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which will be linked with Savi's "SmartChain" platform to manage and track consignments between Europe and Afghanistan. The project, to be evaluated for possible expansion, will help determine whether NATO can leverage Savi's real-time platform and RFID technology to enhance NATO logistics collaboration, Savi said March 23. NATO offer
The U.S. Navy announced March 23 that it is delaying the award of the prime contract for the VXX presidential helicopter program to allow competing contractors Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin-AgustaWestland to perform additional risk reduction work. "The current pace of source selection was determined not to allow for adequate dialogue to transpire between government and industry," the Navy said in a statement. "Specifically, the time allowed for dialogue on the specifications and the industry strategies needed to be extended."
The U.S. Defense Department is asking Congress for permission to reallocate $218 million in previously approved fiscal 2004 funding so the Army could buy satellite communication (SATCOM) equipment, force tracking devices and ground vehicle armor to support current military operations.
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM)'s latest NATO/Partnership for Peace Program (PFP) exercise, Cooperative Nugget 04, is using simulation and modeling to improve the handling of information and legal, medical, and procurement issues, as well as more accurately applying NATO standards, according to U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Thomas Matthews, vice commander, Joint Warfighting Center and exercise director.
DOD's electronic mall (EMALL) and Standard Procurement System (SPS), intended to help streamline the Department of Defense's procurement process, are gaining speed, DOD officials said March 23 at FOSE 2004 in Washington. DOD EMALL, which started in 1998 and "hit its stride" in mid-2001, currently has 18 million line items to choose from, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jack Stem, deputy program manager for business development for the DOD EMALL. In 2002, the services spent $14.7 million on DOD EMALL, which has increased to $233 million, he said.
U.S. Coast Guard equipment is failing at a higher rate than when the Integrated Deepwater System recapitalization project was conceived, forcing the service to keep repairing older, legacy ships, helicopters and cutters while buying new platforms, Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins told senators March 23.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found evidence that the rocks at its landing site formed in a "shallow, salty sea," according to Associate Administrator for Space Science Ed Weiler. "This is a profound discovery," Weiler said in a press conference at NASA headquarters in Washington March 23. "It has profound implications for astrobiology, and I'd like to say if you have an interest in searching for fossils on Mars, this is the first place you want to go."
