BUY AMERICAN: Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says a proposed compromise does not go far enough to address his concerns about the Buy American provisions in the House fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill. In a letter to the U.S. trade representative and other Bush Administration officials, Warner writes that the suggested language still has provisions that would significantly restrict the Defense Department's ability to buy foreign products.
DIRECTED ENERGY: Directed energy weapons could be a "primary weapon" in the U.S. Navy's arsenal, according to secretary-nominee Gordon England. "The Navy has unique platforms to utilize this technology," England says in a statement submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Specifically, many Navy ships have large power generation capability and sufficient space and volume to ease design constraints," he says. "That said, directed energy weapons still require large R&D efforts to field effective weapons for the Navy."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is almost finished with a plan to modernize the aging air and marine assets of its Air and Marine Interdiction (AMI) program, according to a congressional document. A statement explaining the recently completed fiscal 2004 homeland security appropriations conference report calls on DHS to give Congress a report by Nov. 14 on the modernization plan, including projected funding levels.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Gordon England, who has been renominated to be secretary of the Navy, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. England testified Sept. 23.) Q: What do you view as the major readiness challenges that remain to be addressed and, if confirmed, how will you approach these issues?
NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has awarded a contract to Ensco, Inc. of Cocoa Beach, Fla., to continue work on micron-scale airborne probes that would take atmospheric measurements while floating in the air like dandelion seeds. The $500,000 Phase II contract is a follow-on to a $75,000 Phase I contract for proof-of-concept work awarded to Ensco last May. Nineteen groups have been working on various advanced systems and architectures for the NIAC under Phase I grants.
Engineered Support Systems Inc. (ESSI) has completed the acquisition of Engineered Environments of Cincinnati for $15.5 million, the military electronics company said Sept. 25. Engineered Environments designs and builds environmental control units and heat-transfer systems for defense and industrial markets.
BAE Systems North America will sell its Ocean Systems business to Ultra Electronics Holdings of the United Kingdom as part of its effort to focus on systems integration rather than providing components, the company said Sept. 25. Ocean Systems, located in Braintree, Mass., produces acoustic and radio frequency devices and systems for submarines, surface ships and acoustic test ranges. The $10 million sale is expected to close within 45 days, subject to regulatory approval, according to BAE Systems North America.
Testing of the Army's Line-of-Sight Anti-tank (LOSAT) weapon is moving along as planned, with two successful test shots completed over the past month, according to officials with Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control. LOSAT consists of four kinetic-energy missiles and a second-generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR) video sensor mounted on a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The missiles, equipped with tungsten-alloy penetrators, can travel one mile per second.
Armed with the new data provided by the loss of the shuttle Columbia, the FAA plans to collaborate with NASA and the U.S. Air Force on an effort to improve the analytical tools used to predict injuries and damage on the ground resulting from spacecraft re-entry debris.
The U.S. Navy's Tactical Control System (TCS) for unmanned aerial vehicles has survived a congressional attempt to kill it, as a House-Senate conference committee has decided to restructure the program rather than accept a House proposal for termination. The TCS was saved by the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations conference report, which the full House approved Sept. 24 and the Senate endorsed Sept. 25. TCS is designed to provide command and control for several types of UAVs from a single ground station.
Naval shipbuilders DCN of France and Izar of Spain may be able to bid on more international shipbuilding programs if plans for additional joint ventures are successful, according to senior naval analyst Stuart Slade of Forecast International/DMS. French and Spanish defense officials in Geneva on Sept. 24 said a strategy committee had been formed to explore potential areas of cooperation in shipboard systems, surface ship programs and submarines.
QUIETER PLANES: Pratt & Whitney and Japanese aerospace companies have completed a series of tests aimed at developing noise reduction technology for supersonic aircraft, P&W said Sept. 25. The Environmentally Compatible Propulsion System for Next Generation Supersonic Transport (ESPR) program is aiming to reduce noise by 3 dB below international standards and 18 dB below the level of the Concorde.
A new congressional push to jump start development of a next-generation long-range bomber could have implications for existing aircraft as well. The recently completed fiscal 2004 defense appropriations conference report, which reflects the thinking of a House-Senate conference committee, says many technologies needed for the new bomber "can also be demonstrated and incorporated in the existing bomber fleet."
The U.S. Defense Department's shift to a two-year budgeting cycle is receiving new scrutiny as it begins to confront its first off-year budget planning process, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. Peter Pace said Sept. 24. The Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process was amended last year to replace an annual system with a two-year cycle. A two-year baseline is created during the first year, and only "exceptions" can be inserted into the second year of the plan.
PRAGUE - Eurocopter will supply eight EC-135 helicopters to the Czech police air service in a deal worth $41 million. The Franco-German Eurocopter consortium said Sept. 24 that the first of the helicopters should be delivered before the end of this year and the order should be completed by 2008. Eurocopter won the tender in December 2002 but details were not released until now. According to the Czech press, Eurocopter bested competition from Italy's Agusta and the Netherland's McDonnell Helicopters to secure the order.
A new facility opened by GKN Aerospace Services Structures Corp. for work on the Joint Strike Fighter is likely to attract additional aerospace business, company president and CEO Tony Cacace said Sept. 25. GKN Aerospace Services Structures Corp., an independent subsidiary of GKN of London, opened a new 29,000-square foot facility on Sept. 22 in Cromwell, Conn., to manufacture engine vanes and air inlets for the Pratt & Whitney F135 engines in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
U.S. Air Force researchers are close to naming a team to develop a common data link for bombs and missiles that is modeled on a miniature version of the Link 16 Tactical Data Link, a spokesman said Sept. 24. The Advanced Guidance office at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is in source selection for a demonstration program that sources close to the program say could be worth as much as $30 million.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has urged Navy Secretary-nominee Gordon England to make cruise missile defenses one of his "top priorities." During a Sept. 23 committee hearing on England's nomination, Warner expressed concern that carrier task forces could be vulnerable to cruise missiles launched from shore or from small vessels.
