PROTECTING EUROPE: A cost estimate of the Obama administration’s phased adaptive approach (PAA) to missile defense was due in March but is not likely to be sent to Congress as required until the summer, according to Madelyn Creedon, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary of defense for global security affairs. Typically, program cost estimates developed by the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation involve individual programs.
The updated version of the Spawar Acquisition Integrated Logistics Online Repository (Sailor) 2.1 is impressing U.S. Navy brass. The U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s (Spawar) Sailor program features a self-help website for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems that provides the fleet with the capability to complete training, troubleshoot software and equipment, and receive technical documentation and support online.
Not everything in the Libyan campaign worked as planned. An emerging issue is the erosion of a fundamental U.S. Air Force skill — targeting — that surfaced in a recent Air Combat Command review.
Lockheed Martin has launched a small precision-guided weapon from an AAI Corp. RQ-7 Shadow 200 tactical unmanned aircraft under a company-funded R&D program. The 11-lb. class, laser-guided Shadow Hawk glide weapon scored a direct hit on the target, the company says. The test was conducted at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The 2.75-in.-dia., 27-in.-long unpowered munition was released from the Shadow at 5,100 ft. altitude and impacted the target at 460 ft./sec.
Efforts to prevent terrestrial contamination of ice-covered solar system bodies with the potential to harbor life or its biological precursors deserve an overhaul, according to a new National Research Council (NRC) assessment of the current contamination odds-making as well as the science and technology gaps.
LOS ANGELES — The Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office is pushing ahead with preparations for three more missions and continuing a key military utility assessment of the ongoing TacSat-4 tactical test spacecraft, despite uncertainty over its future after being zero-funded in the White House’s fiscal 2013 budget.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is pushing for a budget to acquire fixed-wing maritime surveillance aircraft on long-term wet-lease, since its existing agreement with Bombardier for maritime patrol has lapsed. The MMEA also is hoping to renew a customer support pact with Bombardier that lapsed a while ago, according to the agency’s director general, Adm. Amdan bin Kurish. “The Bombardier planes have not been flying for some time,” he says.
If U.S. lawmakers want to put back procurement funds for favored weapons programs, the U.S. Air Force’s top general says, then they should put back the operations and maintenance money too. To do otherwise, says Gen. Norman Schwartz, speaking May 1 at the Stimson Center, is the surest way to hollow the force.
PARIS — French aerospace engine supplier Safran has finalized the merger of two subsidiaries, energy materials specialist SME and solid-propulsion-motor manufacturer Snecma Propulsion Solid (SPS), Paris-based Safran announced April 30.
SINGAPORE — Last year’s devastating floods in Thailand and this year’s renewed fighting in the south by Muslim insurgents are starting to register in some of the country’s military procurements.
As roadside bombs proliferate, the danger to vehicles isn't just on the battlefield, but city streets. Companies are turning to commercial products to respond to the threat. Cassidian, a division of EADS, offers a Convoy Protection Jammer to counter roadside bombs. The device uses Cassidian's Smart Responsive Jamming Technology to detect and disrupt signals commonly used to detonate bombs— those in the 20-mhz-6-ghz frequency range. Once detected, the device transmits jamming signals in real time that match the hostile frequency.
Laser Detect Systems Ltd. (LDS), an Israeli company, is launching two laser-based scanners that reportedly detect all types of explosives, including liquids, in seconds. The LDS 5500D (see photo) is a tabletop device that uses a patented laser spectroscopy system and algorithms to detect explosives accurately and rapidly, the company says. The unit detects materials in liquid, powder or gel form, in sealed glass or plastic containers, or diluted with substances designed to mask their presence. It also detects explosive residue.
The failure of North Korea's much-publicized rocket launch on April 13 occurred as Japan readied its ballistic missile defense force to destroy the rocket if it fell toward its territory.
AIR FORCE ITT Corp., Clifton, N.J., is being awarded a $47,530,000 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 15 AN/ALQ-211(V); four airborne integrated defensive electronic warfare suites; and two sets of antenna couplers for support production. The effort is in support of the Royal Air Force Oman F-16 C/D model production aircraft. The location of the performance is Clifton, The work is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2014. WR-ALC/GRWKB, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8540-12-C-0014).
The rapid growth of operational deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan saw a parallel growth in the training systems procured by U.K. armed forces. The nature of both theaters, including tight rules of engagement and novel challenges, required training avenues to be created and exploited. But as involvement in Iraq is over, and the end of deployment in Afghanistan is in sight, the U.K. is considering which systems and capabilities are to be retained.
Tank: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Location: Washington Profile: Moderately hawkish, well-connected, future-focused Directed-energy weapons (DEW) don't have a good reputation, associated as they are with over-promised and under-delivered programs. It is therefore brave to make a pro-DEW case at a time of budget cuts, but that's what the CSBA's new report does.
NEW DELHI — India plans to launch dedicated communication satellites for the Navy and Air Force between 2012 and 2014, Defense Minister A.K. Antony says. The naval satellite is planned to be launched in 2012-13, while the air force communication satellite is planned to be launched in 2013-14, Antony said in a written reply to a question in parliament on April 30.He also says that the tri-services defense communication network (DCN) is progressing as per India’s defense procurement procedures.
On a local trip, Editor-in-Chief Bill Sweetman stumbled across this relic: one of 25 surviving 15-in. Rodman guns from the Civil War, still on its mounting at Fort Foote, Md., waiting for the goldern rebs to try something. The milk-bottle shape and a new casting method overcame a minor flaw with previous super-heavy guns, to wit, a tendency to explode when fired.
The ScanEagle mini-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), in use by the U.S. Navy, has logged its first flight powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The UAV, developed by Boeing subsidiary Insitu Inc. of Bingen, Wash., flew 2.5 hr. with the propulsion module. The flight test is significant since the U.S. Defense Department expects fuel cells to play an increasingly important role in improving the mission capability of UAVs and other platforms. One benefit of fuel cells for UAVs such as ScanEagle is reduced weight.
