The U.S. Army and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization yesterday scratched a flight test of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile because of a problem with the target it was intended to intercept. The target, a Hera missile, was fired from a site north of White Sands Missile Range, N.M., but encountered an attitude control problem, sources said. The THAAD missile, located at the range, was never fired.
The Cox Committee yesterday made a series of recommendations on nuclear weapons, satellite launches and high performance computers. The recommendations on satellite launches were as follows: -- Implementation of the fiscal year 1999 defense authorization act. The committee said it expects the Administration to "aggressively implement the [act's] satellite export control provisions."
The Aerospace Industries Association agreed with the Cox Committee that the State Dept. needs extra resources to process satellite export applications. "Legal adjustments must be made to correct the damage done to the commercial satellite industry by subjecting it to tax treatment, export credit availability and sanctions designed for defense articles," John W. Douglass, president of the Washington-based association, said in a statement.
Avcorp Industries of Vancouver, B.C., will accelerate its previously agreed transfer of CRJ-700 intellectual property to Bombardier due to higher than budgeted non-recurring costs on the design and development of components for the aircraft, Avcorp reported in its second quarter financial statement. The $15 million fee will be paid over the next 90 days.
Releasing the long-awaited Cox Committee report, congressional lawmakers yesterday pinned most of the blame for alleged illegal transfer of sensitive technology to China on the U.S. government rather than industry. However, the report recommends a number of new methods for improving security to avoid future incidents, and faults industry, particularly satellite makers, for failed self-policing practices of the past.
The U.S. Air Force has given Boeing $500,000 to speed production of the AGM-130A missile by 30% to 40%, according to Frank Robbins, AF director for precision strike weapons. The money will purchase two test stations used to validate guidance subsystems before they are installed in the rocket-powered standoff weapons. By adding the test stations to the production line, Robbins said, Boeing will be able to run time-intensive tests on several systems at once, speeding deliveries on the entire line.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on May 21, 1999 ... PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SERVICES; CLASSCOD: A-Research and Development; OFFADD: Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, 4301 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92110-3127 ... DRAFT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NOW AVAILABLE FOR INDUSTRY COMMENT; SOL N00039-99-R-XXX3; DUE 061199; POC CDR Rich Mendez (619)537-0487
U.S. State Dept. officials have been meeting with space insurance industry representatives to work out a system of controls to govern distribution of the data the industry uses to determine underwriting risks. In the end, State may write a new set of regulations that would dictate what information is distributed by U.S. companies, to whom it goes and how the data are handled. If the two sides cannot come to workable terms, some industry experts believe that insurance rates for U.S.
Bell Boeing Joint Program Office, Patuxent River, Md., is being awarded a $5,431,393 modification to a previously awarded contract N00019-93-C-0006 for contractor engineering and technical services to support the MV-22 operational evaluation in New River, N.C.; China Lake, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pa. (50%), and Fort Worth, Texas (50%), and is expected to be completed by August 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
IIT Research Institute, Chicago, Ill., is being awarded a $193,185,003 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for establishment and operation of the Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center. One hundred six proposals were solicited, and two were received. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Va.; Orlando, Fla.; Huntsville, Ala.; Lanham, Md.; Rome, N.Y.; and Fairborn, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by June 1, 2002. Funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is putting together a commercial space bill that would combine a renewal of space launch indemnification with a number of other issues of concern to the launch industry. Federal indemnification provisions, which shield the American launch industry from third-party liability claims if they exceed $500 million per launch, are set to expire at the end of this year. The maximum indemnification is $1.5 billion.
As the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia marked its 60th day, a Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. plans in the next two weeks to send more aircraft to augment more than 1,000 already participating in Operation Allied Force.
Raytheon Company, Raytheon Systems Co., Portsmouth, R.I., is being awarded a $26,511,031 fixed-price-incentive contract to fabricate, assemble, test and deliver Mk. 48 Mod 0 guided missile vertical launch systems, spares and technical manuals. This contract combines purchases for the governments of Japan (89.61%); Greece (7.54%); Australia (2.69%); The Netherlands (.11%), and Canada (.05%) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Hoogeveen, Netherlands (27%); Tubize, Belgium (19.5%); Lincoln, Calif.
3/29/1999 NASA GSFC; ... CODE 913 ... SOL RFP5-12497-256 ... Modification 02 - posted on May 20, 1999; General Information Solicitation Number: RFP5- 12497-256 Posted Date: Mar 29, 1999; CBDNet Posted Date: Mar 29, 1999; Response Date: N/A; Classification Code: A - Research&Development; Contracting Office Address: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 219, Greenbelt, MD 20771
Orbital Sciences Corp., Germantown, Md., is being awarded a $16,530,125 firm-fixed-type contract to provide for the following components applicable to the Digital Terrain Equipment on the F-16 aircraft: 1,155 mega-data transfer cartridges with processors and batteries, 134 small computer system interface devices, and 20 upgraded data-transfer units. Less then one percent of this effort supports foreign military sales to Taiwan and the Netherlands. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is Aug. 30, 2001.
Lockheed Martin's private VentureStar unmanned reusable launch vehicle program can't get necessary financing without government loan guarantees, said Peter B. Teets, president and chief operating officer.
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, marking up its fiscal year 2000 defense spending bill, restricted funding for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program and made a number of additions to procurement accounts. The subcommittee cut $83.7 million from THAAD and put it in a pot of money the Pentagon can use for engineering and manufacturing development of the missile only after it completes two successful intercepts.
A Global Positioning System satellite is being checked for possible moisture damage after heavy rain and strong winds buffeted its Delta II booster on the pad May 8 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. The GPS Block IIR-3 satellite, which was removed for inspection, may not be launched this fiscal year.
ISX Corp., Westlake Village, Calif., is being awarded a $28,381,253 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement for research of advanced technologies for human and information system interaction infrastructure.
The Pentagon's major theater ballistic missile defense systems now in development will not work as planned and some need complete overhauls, a Pentagon official has warned the incoming director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. Hans Mark, DOD's director of defense research and engineering, warns in an April 23 letter to incoming BMDO Director Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish that all of the major theater missile defense programs managed my BMDO are in some trouble.
Anadac, Inc., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $5,846,139 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort option exercise for 182,416 man-hours to perform AEGIS ship project directives, material management and cost analysis support for program executive officer theater surface combatants. Work will be performed in Arlington, Va., and is expected to be completed by May 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (N00024-95-C-6443).
Lockheed Martin Federal Systems, Manassas, Va., is being awarded a $30,458,896 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-96-C-6226 to exercise an option for the second shipset of the NSSN class submarine command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) system hardware. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.
The House has passed legislation making it U.S. policy to deploy a na- tional missile defense (NMD) system as soon as technologically possible. The House on Thursday, by a vote of 345-71, adopted the Senate's version of the NMD bill passed in March. The initial House version simply called for deployment of an NMD system.
