The Army should reassess the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program's cost, schedule, and performance goals before submitting its next fiscal year budget, the General Accounting Office wrote in a new report released June 12 by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), a Comanche critic. Defense Department and Army officials agreed that the current cost and schedule goals aren't achievable and should be revised, but they said the planned January 2003 review for the Comanche program is the appropriate time to address such changes.
NASA has licensed a new radar mapping technology that can generate high-resolution, three-dimensional maps, even beneath heavy foliage. The space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has licensed the Geographic Synthetic Aperture Radar (GeoSAR) mapping system to EarthData International, Inc., of Fresno, Calif. NASA said this will be the first system that can map above, through and below vegetation canopies, providing data about things like landslides that are overgrown with vegetation.
The Defense Morale and Quality of Life (QOL) study, chartered as one of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's reviews, recommends numerous changes that will make the working conditions of the military more closely mirror the civilian sector. However, the changes don't come cheap.
A joint venture by Boeing, American, Delta and United to offer broadband Internet connections, which one airline executive described as "one of the most exciting innovations that has come to air travel in a long time," was announced June 13 in Washington. The three airlines are to kick off the venture by installing broadband communications and data services on 500 aircraft each, or about 10 percent of the world's fleet, providing a huge impetus to the venture at an early stage.
Officials from Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Naval Electronics&Surveillance Systems division and the Ingalls Shipbuilding unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. announced a joint partnership June 13 to provide engineering solutions for the Coast Guard's Deepwater Capability Replacement Project. Under the joint venture, called Integrated Coast Guard Systems, the two companies will submit a proposed "best value" solution for the Deepwater Program.
Astronautics Corp. of America has received contracts worth $20 million for work on advanced avionics for the Israeli and Singapore F-16 production programs, the Milwaukee-based company announced. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, of Fort Worth, and the U.S. Air Force contracted with the company for its four-inch multifunction color displays, aft seat HUD (heads-up display) monitors and air data computers. The contracts also call for primary flight instruments, including three-axis attitude indicators and horizontal situation indicators (HSI).
AAR Corp. said it has signed an exclusive agreement with Delta to be the single source non-OEM supplier of engine, bare engine accessories and APU (auxiliary power unit) surplus parts, Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported. The pact represents renewal and expansion of a previous three-year agreement. Delta engine overhaul facilities service over 600 engines and 335 APUs a year for the carrier's fleet of 580 aircraft. Engine types include the CFM56, GE CF6-80 and Pratt&Whitney JT8D-200, PW2037, PW4060 and PW4460.
NASA has selected the 10 most promising Mars mission proposals out of 43 submitted for possible launch in 2007, and will give each money for six more months of study, the space agency announced June 13. Included in the proposals for missions are concepts for returning samples of martian atmospheric dust and gas; networks of small landers; orbiting constellations of small satellites; and a rover that would attempt to establish the surface ages of soil and rocks.
NASA is installing a new mirror-coating facility at its Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., for use on its planned airborne telescope, the space agency announced June 12. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) must have the high-precision coating on its primary mirror replaced annually. That job will be handled by the new facility, which NASA described as resembling a "huge pressure cooker" - it's 14 feet in diameter, stands 16 feet high and weighs 22,000 lbs.
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said June 13 he has received indications from military officials that they are exploring whether boosting funding for the Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would allow the system to be fielded a year or two earlier than the planned date of 2007. The examination is believed to be part of the Bush Administration's broad review of defense programs.
The trend of using aircraft parts made with composite materials is leading some aircraft manufacturers to develop composite manufacturing centers to fill the demand. Last week, Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth, Texas, opened its Composite Center of Excellence. The facility, which encompasses 339,000 square feet, consolidates the company's design, manufacturing and fabrication operations for composite materials in one location.
Changes in the acquisition process of the Pentagon could mean more stability and a brighter future for the U.S. defense industry, which had fallen out of investment favor in recent years but appears to be on the rebound in the last year. "If you talk to people on Wall Street, the last place they want to invest their money is in the aerospace industry," the Pentagon's new acquisition chief, Edward "Pete" Aldridge, said at a recent acquisition reform conference. "I think that's a problem for the Department of Defense."
Congress has officially been notified of a possible foreign military sale of 10 F-16 fighter jets and two KC-135s to Chile. The estimated cost of the F-16s is $636 million, and cost of the KC-135s is approximately $78 million. Congress now has 30 days in which to review the proposed FMS, and if there are no objections, the proposal can go forward as an offer.
The House Republican Policy Committee plans to issue a statement June 13 reaffirming GOP support for the deployment of missile defenses, committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) said June 12. Cox revealed his committee's plans the same day several members of Congress, including House Armed Services Committee member Tom Allen (D-Maine), held an outdoor press conference on Capitol Hill urging opposition to the Bush Administration's push to deploy a missile shield.
Despite an industry slowdown, satellite applications still hold promise for certain market segments, industry analysts said at the Satellite Internet Applications&Opportunities conference in Arlington, Va. Christopher Baugh, principal analyst with Northern Sky Research, LLC, said those segments include online homes without terrestrial service options, transitioning direct broadcast service subscribers to broadband services, and mobile and airline customers.
The U.S. Navy is asking industry for technical and cost proposals on sensors that can be rolled on and off of transport or cargo type aircraft. The idea is to use a suite of sensors in one plane, remove it at the end of a mission, returning the plane to its original condition, then use the same or a similar suite in another plane for a different mission. Flexibility of aircraft and sensors would be increased and costs would be reduced, according to the Navy.
Interstate Electronics Corp. of Anaheim, Calif., has been awarded a $30 million contract by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and GM Defense to provide intelligent displays for the U.S. Army's new Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) program, IEC parent company L-3 Communications announced June 11. The 10.4 inch intelligent display has a high resolution, infrared, error- free touch screen that can operate in full sunlight or total darkness due to its automatic ambient light adjustment.
French- and German-led plans to form a European rapid reaction force were strongly criticized June 12 by six former senior French military and naval commanders and five British counterparts. In a joint letter to London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, they said that "the actions of federalist politicians and technocrats playing at armchair generals, building a fictitious paper army, will only serve to weaken even further our national capabilities, to the detriment of our own security and world stability. They should beware: paper tigers burn."
Congress should charter a blue-ribbon commission to study the national security impact of overhauling export controls for dual-use goods and technology, Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) said June 12. Thompson testified before the House International Relations Committee that no such objective analysis has been done and that one is needed before Congress revises the Export Administration Act (EAA), which regulates the export of items that can have both military and civilian uses.
A $145 million NASA mission scheduled for launch at the end of this month could help scientists determine the content, shape and history of the universe - and even its ultimate fate. The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is designed to capture the afterglow of the "Big Bang," the universe's fiery beginning - or, in the words of NASA scientist Alan Bunner, to "take the ultimate baby picture, an image of the infant universe."
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and General Dynamics have formed a joint venture company, called American Powder Co., to jointly develop and produce munitions propellant for the U.S. Department of Defense. The company will operate the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Radford, Va., the U.S. Army's only munitions propellant manufacturing facility, the companies announced June 12. American Powder Co. will be co-managed by ATK Ammunition and Powder Co., of Radford, and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, of St. Petersburg, Fla.
The House Appropriations Committee has rejected a $30 million cut for unspecified B-52 bomber modifications that the Bush Administration had proposed in the fiscal 2001 supplemental appropriations bill, a committee spokesman said June 12. The committee has been drafting its version of the bill in preparation for a June 14 markup. The $6.5 billion bill includes $5.6 billion in new defense spending.
Providers of high-speed Internet services via satellite are mulling over strategies for capturing more of the market from their highly successful direct subscriber line (DSL) and cable competitors. Although no one disputes the growing consumer hunger for broadband Internet, analysts agree that the satellite industry faces an uphill battle.
Legislation authorizing $338 million to begin implementing the Coast Guard's Deepwater aircraft and ship modernization program has received House approval. The funding is contained in the fiscal 2002 Coast Guard authorization bill, passed by the House June 7. The Senate has not yet considered its version of the Coast Guard bill. The Deepwater project is expected to cost about $10 billion over 20 years. Three industry teams are competing for the contract to carry out the program. The Coast Guard plans to award the contract in March 2002.
While Geoff Hoon continues in his pre-election post as United Kingdom defense secretary, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Adam Ingram has been appointed minister of state for the armed services. He replaces John Spillar, who has taken over as minister for transport. The parliamentary under secretary of state and minister for defense procurement is now Lord Bach, who replaces Baroness Elizabeth Symons, now minister for trade.
