The first of six volumes in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) final report on the Feb. 1 shuttle disaster will be released Aug. 26. The CAIB already has issued five sets of recommendations to NASA to assist in the agency's return-to-flight effort. NASA has appointed a task force to ensure that all of the CAIB's recommendations are fully implemented (DAILY, May 23). Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (issued April 17):
Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets on Aug. 25 endorsed for the first time a month-long Boeing campaign to emphasize corporate ethics and integrity in three space business units banned from new government work. In a written statement, Teets said he is "pleased with the actions that Boeing has taken thus far to improve how they conduct their launch business."
In a surprise move, the Bush Administration says it plans to renominate Gordon England to be secretary of the Navy, just months after he left that post to join the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as deputy secretary. "He did a fine job as the secretary of the Navy prior to moving to the Department of Homeland Security, and I look forward to working with him again," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in an Aug. 23 Pentagon statement.
The T-50 Golden Eagle jet trainer impressed Republic of Korea air force officials in a 26-flight test period completed almost a month ahead of schedule, although two flights recorded undisclosed "discrepancies," Lockheed Martin announced Aug. 25. The T-50 is being developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries. Korea is expected to order about 100 T-50 trainers.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The revamped Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program is making steady progress as it gears up for its first flight test about a year from now, according to a program official. Speaking here at the recent Sixth Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference, Reba Seals, THAAD's deputy program manager, said all of the system's "critical path activities" are on schedule and the overall program is slightly ahead of schedule and under cost.
The U.S. Air Force is kicking off production Block 30 for its MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a $41.3 million order for 19 new UAVs that could launch Hellfire missiles. Manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of San Diego, Calif., will begin delivering the aircraft to the Air Force in August 2004 and deliver the last one in August 2005, according to company spokeswoman Cyndi Wegerbauer. The order does not include ground control equipment, she said.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Raytheon Co. and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) recently mounted the ground-based Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) on a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) for the first time. The modified vehicle, called LAVRAAM, is designed to help the Army further define its plans for the Future Combat Systems (FCS), said Holt Busbee, a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor for the Army. The vehicle also could guide the Marine Corps as it considers upgrading its LAV fleet.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Missile Defense Agency is trying to determine whether intense heat in the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor's kinetic warhead contributed to the failure of the most recent flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) system, a program official said Aug. 21.
After months of delays, a bidding competition is set to begin in early September to design an air-to-ground missile need to replace the U.S. Army and Marine Corps' aging Hellfire inventory. The Army's Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., plans to issue next month a solicitation for industry to bid on the Joint Common Missile (JCM) contract, although ongoing budget drills continue to reshape the project's original scope and cost, said Col. Jody Maxwell, JCM project manager.
Starting Sept. 4 and going through mid-October, the House Science Committee expects to hold a hearing every week on the findings of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), according to a committee spokeswoman. The first hearing will feature CAIB Chairman Adm. Hal Gehman as the sole witness. Subsequent hearings on Sept. 10 and afterwards will feature testimony from other board members and investigators, according to CAIB spokeswoman Laura Brown.
BOEING RESPONSE: On Aug. 25, the Boeing Co. will begin a process to lift an indefinite contracting suspension on three space units the U.S. Air Force accuses of wrongdoing in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) competition. Boeing's planned response covers Boeing Launch Systems, Boeing Launch Services and Delta programs, each suspended by the Air Force on July 24 for possessing about 25,000 pages of Lockheed Martin documents. Boeing's response is intended to "demonstrate to the Air Force that we are presently a responsible contractor," spokesman Dan Beck says.
BAMS: General Atomics will be offering its Predator B-ER (Extended Range) unmanned aerial vehicle as a candidate for the U.S. Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, according to company spokeswoman Cyndi Wegerbauer. BAMS is the Navy's effort to develop a high-altitude ocean surveillance UAV by fiscal year 2008 (DAILY, Feb. 7). The Predator B-ER has an 86-foot wingspan equivalent to the company's Altair UAV, combined with the fuselage of a standard Predator B.
MTHEL SELECTION: Col. Richard De Fatta, the U.S. Army's project manager for Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD), says he hopes to pick a prime contractor for the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) program by the end of 2003. "We're going through the regular acquisition process of ... selecting a contractor," De Fatta says. "We haven't decided whether it will be sole-sourced or fully competitive." Northrop Grumman, which developed THEL, the fixed-site precursor to MTHEL, announced Aug.
NEW DELHI - India is pushing to buy 12 Mirage 2000-5s from Qatar to keep them from going to Pakistan, according to a defense ministry official. Pakistan's air force does not have a "credible" nuclear weapon delivery system but "things will change dramatically if Pakistan acquires the Mirage 2000-5 from Qatar," the official said.
The federal government should spend more on research and development to help suppliers counter threats from international competitors, officials with the Supplier Management Council (SMC) of the Aerospace Industries Association told U.S. Commerce Department officials last week. The suppliers expressed concern about growing competition from suppliers in developing countries and suppliers that get financial assistance from their governments.
August 25 - 27 -- Defense Supply Center Columbus Conference and Exhibition, "Transforming the DSCC Supplier Relationship," Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio. For more information email Phyllis Edmonson at [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org. Sept. 4 - 5 -- DoD Training Transformation Technologies: Developing, Distributing & Assessing Joint Knowledge, Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, Va. Call (703) 247-9471, fax (703) 243-1659, email [email protected] or go to www.trainingsystems.org/events
BAE Systems said Aug. 22 it had reached an agreement with GKN to buy that company's 29 percent stake in Alvis, one of Europe's leading combat vehicle manufacturers. The price for the shares totaled $73 million pounds ($115 million). GKN obtained the 29 percent stake in Alvis in 1998 as part of a deal in which Alvis agreed to buy GKN's armored vehicle business. BAE Systems spokesman Phil Soucy told The DAILY that the share purchase reinforces the relationship the company has developed with Alvis.
Aiming to counter a constant headache experienced during operations in Iraq, U.S. Army leaders favor a plan to buy beyond-line-of-sight communications and satellite-aided navigation devices for thousands of Army logisticians, a top Army official said Aug. 22. The plan would implement a proposal to equip Army logistics teams with the means to communicate with field units beyond 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) and navigate using the Global Positioning System.
NEW AFGHANISTAN NEEDS: The U.S. Air Force wants to rapidly provide a primitive beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) communications and command and control (C2) capability for military aircraft operating in Afghanistan, an acquisition notice posted Aug. 22 says. Contractors are invited to submit informative proposals by Sept. 15, but the Air Force is pushing to launch the system by January 2004, the notice says. The Air Force's requirements are relatively light: non-secure, single-channel VHF and UHF connectivity between aircraft and C2 functions located in Afghanistan or Qatar.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: Defense contractors are unlikely to sustain the growth rates they generated during the second quarter, says senior aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan of Merrill Lynch. "We do not see most of these growth rates as sustainable long-term rates," he says. One reason is that some of the growth may be attributable to cost increases on aircraft development programs, like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-22 Raptor programs, according to Callan. For other companies, the growth may have been related to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
ANNIVERSARY: The German Space Agency and European Space Agency plan to celebrate 25 years of European space activity on Aug. 30 in Markneukirchen, near the hometown of Germany's first cosmonaut, Sigmund Jahn. Czechoslovakian cosmonaut Vladimir Remek was the first European in space, lifting off on March 2, 1978, followed later that year by Polish cosmonaut Miroslaw Hermaszewski and Jahn. At the invitation-only event, European space officials also will look to future missions, including participation in the International Space Station and other manned space activities.
KEI ASSEMBLY: Lockheed Martin Corp. says it will conduct final assembly of the terrestrial Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) in Courtland, Ala., if it becomes prime contractor for the program. The Missile Defense Agency plans to decide in December whether the prime contractor will be Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman Corp. Each company is doing concept design work on the system, which is intended to intercept ballistic missiles in their boost phase of flight. The system initially will be ground-based and later transitioned to a sea-based configuration.
MOSCOW - The head of Russia's Aviation and Space Agency said he will meet with Iranian officials to try to restart a joint satellite program that Iran wants to convert to a multinational effort. Rosaviakosmos, as the agency is known, had planned to build the Zohre communications satellite, but Iran said it was canceled.
