DEFENSE AUDIT: In another sign Congress is taking a more hands-on approach to how the Pentagon spends its money, the House Armed Services Committee announced July 12 that it had formed a bipartisan panel to explore the fiscal management practices of the Pentagon. Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) will lead the group.
AEGIS WORK: The U.S. Navy issued a request for proposals (RFP) on July 12 for the Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent, which will oversee the design, development, and integration of future Aegis capabilities for the CG-47 and DDG-51 ship classes, and other future ships that include an updated Aegis Combat System. With the upgrades, the Navy is looking to incorporate as much open architecture as possible into the Aegis system, which has now become a linchpin technology for maritime ballistic missile defense. Responses to the RFP are due Nov. 3.
Senate Armed Services Committee leaders say they are still waiting for more details about long-term budget proposals, including one from Senate Democrats to snip $886 billion from security accounts over 10 years.
The U.S. Navy is looking to make greater use of composite shipbuilding materials to better fight off corrosion, top service brass told Congress. “This is one of those things that gets an open door to my office,” said Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, during a House Armed Services readiness subcommittee hearing on July 12.
NO GO: NASA does not have a strong history of canceling contracts, but that may change in a big way soon, congressional auditors warn in a new report. “NASA contract terminations — the complete or partial cancellation of work under a contract before the contract’s period of performance ends — are rare but could become more common in the future,” Government Accountability Office auditors tell key science authorizers in Congress. Federal spending pressures will force difficult choices, but there is scant evidence the space and aeronautics agency can do so.
BEIJING — China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile is still in development, the chief of the Chinese general staff says, despite U.S. assessments that the potentially revolutionary weapon is operational. The missile has a range of 2,700 km (1,680 mi.), the China Daily says in its report carrying the comments of Gen. Chen Bingde. The range figure seems well in excess of U.S. estimates, most recently stated as more than 1,500 km. The program has encountered a lot of trouble, says Chen, who also acknowledges China’s aircraft carrier program.
SAUDI SALES: Saudi Arabia plans to boost its U.S. arms purchases to $90 billion from the $60 billion announced last year, as the kingdom seeks to upgrade it navy, diplomats in the Persian Gulf told Reuters last week. “There is a plan for Saudi to spend an extra $30 billion to upgrade its navy fleet,” one unidentified Western diplomat reportedly said. “This extra amount also includes maintenance and training for the forces,” another Gulf-based diplomat said. A Saudi government adviser said he expected the deal to upgrade the navy fleet would be completed soon.
NEW DELHI — As India prepares to spend nearly $100 billion over the next decade on the modernization of its armed forces, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony is warning suppliers and vendors of stringent action against corruption in defense deals. “The government will not hesitate to take extreme steps if it detects corruption in an acquisition process, even if the process is at its last stage of completion,” Antony says. The Indian defense industry has been plagued by allegations of corruption and mismanagement for years.
NASA and the White House are taking their time to select the best reference design for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) that will be the next launcher of U.S. astronauts after the space shuttle, but the agency wants to use it as early as 2017 to launch a test flight of the multi-purpose crew vehicle (MPCV) already under development.
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — Earlier this year, the U.S. Army deployed rucksack-packable hydrogen fuel cell generators to Afghanistan, which have drastically reduced the number of heavy, bulky batteries soldiers have to carry on dismounted missions. The fuel cells — powered by a reform methanol base, meaning that it is slightly watered down — “gets lighter and lighter as time goes on,” Maj. Mark Owens says, “and the case weighs almost nothing.” Still, the generator itself weighs 36 lb., according to Army documents.
HOUSTON — Astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan bounced between the International Space Station and the payload bay of the shuttle Atlantis during a demanding July 12 spacewalk in which they exchanged a failed thermal control system coolant pump from the orbiting science laboratory for a robotic satellite refueling demonstrator.
Regulation, accountability and restraint in the international small-arms trade has not kept up with the rapid growth of the private security industry in recent years, which could pose threats to the industry and allow the illicit arms trade to continue undetected, according to new analysis of international small-arms trade and armed violence.
With so much at stake in the competition for the U.S. Navy’s multibillion-dollar Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) program, each of the top three American military radar makers — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon — is shining a spotlight on their maritime or ballistic missile defense (BMD) experience thus far.
Leading Pentagon Radar Contractors For 2010 (Excluding Airborne) Leading Pentagon Radar Contractors For 2010 (Excluding Airborne) No. Contractor Number of Contracts orModifications Total AmountObligated ForTransactions Amount Per Transaction 1
While the withdrawal from Iraq has cut down on the number of private security forces being employed by the Pentagon in that country, the use of those contractors in Afghanistan has risen to its highest level, despite concerns that those forces could be impairing U.S. military counterinsurgency efforts, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
It has been out with the old and in with the new this month for the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command’s (Navsea) submarine community. The USS California (SSN 781) – the Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarine – successfully completed its initial, or Alpha, sea trials July 5, which included diving to test depth, conducting an emergency surfacing and testing the submarine’s propulsion plant. These trials are designed to evaluate the ship’s seaworthiness and operational performance.
BEIJING — Korea Aerospace Industries will move ahead with preliminary development of South Korea’s proposed light attack helicopter, following the Defense Ministry’s decision to contract with the company for concept definition.
ARMY BAE Systems, York, Pa., was awarded a $165,460,979 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the production of 43 heavy equipment recovery combat utility life evacuation system recovery vehicles. The work will be performed in York, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-C-0408). AIR FORCE
Astrium Satellites, a division of European aerospace giant EADS, won a €149.2 million ($210 million) contract with the European Space Agency to develop and implement two high-precision instruments for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program.
ARMY Science, Engineering and Technology Associates, Arlington, Va., was awarded a $48,200,000 firm-fixed-price cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the procurement of the counter-bomber system to provided detection capability of suicide bombers approaching a controlled access site. The work will be performed in Arlington, with an estimated completion date of June 20, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Natick, Mass., is the contracting activity (W911QY-11-D-0012).
MANAGING LCS: The U.S. Navy has established a program executive office for the Littoral Combat Ship (PEO LCS), providing a single program executive responsible for acquiring and maintaining the littoral mission capabilities of the LCS class from procurement to sustainment. Previously, acquisition and maintenance of the seaframe and mission modules were conducted by two different PEOs – PEO Ships and PEO Littoral and Mine Warfare. Defense analysts had questioned the separation, saying that a single vessel PEO would be more logical.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, Mesa, Ariz., was awarded a $75,204,865 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract for the procurement of 23 remanufactured aircraft for the Army National Guard along with spares and one Longbow Crew Trainer. The work will be performed in Mesa, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2013. One bid was solicited and one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-06-C-0093).
