Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) said he plans to work with the incoming Bush Administration to implement organizational changes recommended last week by the congressionally chartered Space Commission. Warner, who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee when George W. Bush becomes president Saturday, said the commission's recommendations would strengthen national security space management.
The U.S. should aggressively develop a National Missile Defense even if North Korea agrees to stop developing long-range missiles and cease exporting missile technology to Iran and other countries, Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing yesterday.
Northwest Airlines is splitting its order to replace DC-10s between 24 Airbus A330-300s and 20 Boeing 757-300s, and plans to add two Boeing 747-400s and six Airbus A319s to its inventory. The order, augmented by a separate order for 45 Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, will increase the Northwest fleet from 469 aircraft to 565 by the end of 2004. The A330s will replace DC-10-30s operating in Atlantic service, while the 757s will replace DC-10-40s flying in the U.S. All DC-10-40s will be retired starting next year through 2004.
BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS will begin production of the 11th UHF Follow-On (UFO) satellite under a new U.S. Navy contract. The service modified an existing contract worth $1.9 billion for the new satellite, scheduled for launch in 2003. Like earlier satellites in the series, the UFO F-11 will be based on Boeing's 601 bus, with a UHF payload for narrowband two-way communication and a high-capacity EHF payload that uses advanced signals processing for antijam telemetry and command, broadcast and fleet interconnectivity communications.
The United States and United Kingdom jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the next phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program at the Pentagon yesterday, with the U.K. committing an additional $2 billion to allow it to weigh in on the down-select decision between Boeing and Lockheed Martin this fall.
TMI COMMUNICATIONS and EMS TECHNOLOGIES are marketing a new packet data terminal for transportation applications in the U.S., following FCC approval of a modification of TMI's license to provide mobile satellite services in the U.S. Under the change the company can operate the EMS PDT-100 packet data terminal, which will enable two-way data communications for truck fleets and other mobile assets. The companies persuaded the FCC that the half-duplex system would not interfere with emergency communications services, according to EMS.
DCH TECHNOLOGY INC. of Valencia, Calif., has been picked to develop a new hydrogen sensor for the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet and X-33 suborbital testbed, working through a contract between NASA and Shape Change Technologies LLC. The company's patented "Robust Hydrogen Sensor" will be used to detect leaks in new seal systems developed by Shape Change. The sensor combines thin-film technology and an integrated circuit to detect data and communicate it to control devices or human operators.
SPAIN'S FLEET of five P-3B aircraft will be updated by EADS/CASA under a 109 million euro contract. The first updated Orion is slated for delivery by the end of September 2003, EADS said. The contract represents the culmination of the EADS/CASA effort, underway since 1995, to develop the Mission System for the P-3B. It is also a step in the consolidation of this line of business for CASA, which leads maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare programs within EADS. The Military Transport Aircraft Div. will head this program.
The U.S. Air Force is set to begin a series of developmental tests of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) following successful completion of control tests that wrapped up Nov. 17 at Eglin AFB, Fla. (DAILY, Nov. 21). The developmental test (DT) series are slated to begin today with DT-1, an inert drop for accuracy, scheduled to take place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test will mark the first of eight scheduled tests in which the missiles are fitted with infrared seekers in place of flight test booms used on the control tests.
A Clinton Administration push to streamline and modernize the military will continue to transform U.S. forces for years to come, outgoing Secretary of Defense William Cohen predicted in his last annual report to the president and Congress. Pentagon plans have beefed up recent spending projections by $227 billion, Cohen said, money aimed at not only bolstering military readiness but also at modernizing and transforming the services to rely on new communications and weapons technologies.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Ft. Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $28,856,087 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 79 Air-to-Air Interrogator (AAI) retrofit kits. Diminishing Manufacturing Sources (DMS) coverage, and other related effort in support of the Common Configuration Implementation Program for the F-117 aircraft. The AAI system is an Identify Friend of For (IFF) system upgrade that integrates the functions of the IFF transponder, interrogator, and secure mode computers into a single unit. The work is expected to be completed December 2005.
Intense speculation has been aroused in U.K. defense and industry circles over an announcement promised for today by Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon on a government decision concerning future participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program. At the moment, the U.K. is the biggest foreign partner in the U.S. program, with a current partnership interest of almost 10%, based on a $200 million investment in the concept demonstration program.
(Editor's note: Following is the text of responses by Defense Secretary-designee Donald H. Rumsfeld to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.)
The DD 21 Alliance, comprised of Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine and Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $7,000,000 firm-fixed-price advance agreement modification for the acceleration of the DD 21/CVN 77 radar suite development. Bath Iron Works Corp. has been selected by the DD 21 Alliance to lead and execute this modification. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and Moorestown, N.J. (50%); and Pascagoula, Miss. And Falls Church, Va. (50%), and is expected to be completed by March 2001.
The Defense Dept. apparently has no plans to decide this week whether to move the F-22 into low-rate initial production (LRIP), according to Pentagon sources, leaving a ruling on the program's fate to the Bush Administration which takes office Saturday. The F-22 decision had been expected late last month, but delays in finishing required testing have repeatedly pushed back the date (DAILY, Jan. 5).
FedEx ordered Airbus A380-800F aircraft, becoming the launch customer for the freighter version of the European superjumbo airliner. The U.S. package-hauler ordered 10 of the planes for an undisclosed amount, with deliveries slated to begin in 2008. If the deal is finalized, the European consortium would have another big win over rival Boeing. Engine selection is slated for March or April.
Lockheed Martin Launch Services, Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a $6,400,000 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for East Coast launch operations in support of a December 2001 Atlas IIAS launch mission in support of the National Reconnaissance Office. The work is expected to be completed December 2001. The work will be performed at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. At this time, $3,200,000 of the contract funds have been obligated. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
CHINA'S second unmanned spacecraft, Shenzou 2, landed in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia yesterday after a seven-day mission in which the capsule orbited Earth 108 times, state television reported.
The Air Force has told Congress that it needs $499.1 million in fiscal 2001 supplemental funding for various aircraft and other weapons, including $49 million for the C-17, $30 million for C-130 avionics modernization and $52 million for engine work on KC-135 air refuelers, according to a one-page summary obtained by The DAILY.
Sen. Fred Thompson is joining the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the new 107th Congress, the Tennessee Republican announced late last week.
Raytheon Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $9,825,527 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for software upgrade and test in support of 2,244 AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles. The work is expected to be completed July 2003. This effort supports foreign military sales to Finland, Israel, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Norway. Aeronautical Systems Center, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity (F08626-98/C-0018, P00039).
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. said yesterday that, in order to give the U.S. government time to review its pending acquisition of Litton Industries, it has voluntarily withdrawn its Jan. 4 Hart-Scott-Rodino notification of the deal. The company said it expects to "refile the notification in a timely manner." It also said that it plans to provide the European Union with the required filings before the end of the month.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems-Baltimore, Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $19,187,824 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract N00024-00-C-5486 for engineering services in support of the MK 41 Vertical Launching System. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md., and is expected to be completed by December 2001. Contract funds in the amount of $45,778 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Allied Research Corp., Vienna, Va., announced the appointment of a new management team headed by Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III (USA-ret.). Peay, a current Allied Research director, was named chairman, president and CEO. He replaces W. Glenn Yarborough who retired as president and CEO.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded an $18,648,976 modification to firm-fixed-price contract DAAJ09-97-C-0005, for 13 CH-60S Sea Hawk aircraft for the U.S. Navy. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 4, 2000. The U.S. ARMY Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
