JOINT OVERSIGHT: U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) leaders late Dec. 16 said they remain “deeply concerned about the growing costs and apparent delays” in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the panel’s ranking Republican, issued the statement after a closed-door hearing on the JSF. “Today’s briefing is one step in continuing close oversight of the program, which is not only the largest acquisition program underway, but probably the most complicated and challenging.
GOP OUTCRY: Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are decrying an expected maneuver by leading Democrats to attach congressional approval for raising the nation’s debt limit to popular — and must-pass — defense appropriations. According to GOP leadership, 174 House Republicans wrote House Democrats on Dec. 14 urging them to produce a “clean” congressional conference agreement over House and Senate defense spending bills.
The V-22 Osprey has been plagued with mission readiness rates hovering at 62 percent, but operations in Afghanistan have seen those rates rising steadily through the 70 and 80 percent range, according to U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway. Conway said he would like to see the tiltrotor “climb the ladder to the 90 percent” range. “It’s on that trajectory,” he said, adding that any problems that have arisen so far do not involve the aircraft’s major systems.
PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled a plan for a multibillion euro bond issue that will benefit a range of key European aeronautics and space projects. Destined to benefit from the bond issue are a new launcher to replace the Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket and new satellite designs, including a spacecraft constellation to monitor carbon dioxide emissions.
The U.S. Army has begun fielding 500,000 of a projected 7 million new 5.56mm 30-round Improved Magazines for the service’s fleet of M16 and M4 weapons that PEO Soldier says will deliver “a significant increase in reliability for the battle-tested M16 and M4 weapons systems.” The office says “the Improved Magazine effectively reduces the risk of magazine-related stoppages by more than 50 percent compared to the older magazine variants.”
LONDON — Squadron cuts, a base closure, early withdrawal from service, and slowing the pace of a replacement all form key elements of a U.K. Defense Ministry package aimed at freeing up funding from a budget that is under serious pressure. The ministry is cutting one squadron of Harrier strike aircraft, with a second squadron likely to follow. A Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 squadron is also in line to be cut.
BATTLE OVER: The historic USS Wisconsin (BB 64) will come to rest in the harbor of Norfolk, Va., U.S. Navy officials have announced. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), a leading Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, tried unsuccessfully years ago to get Congress to maintain the World War II-vintage battleships Wisconsin and USS Iowa instead of retiring them in favor of so-called extended-range fire support programs — at least one of which was later canceled (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 12, 2006). But following direction in the 2006 defense authorization act, Vice Adm.
The most alarming revelation about the Oct. 21 commercial Northwest Airlines flight that overshot its scheduled Minneapolis destination and was out of contact with FAA for 77 minutes is that during that time the FAA failed to contact officials at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to tell them about the errant jet.
ATK Launch Systems, Inc., will get $64.6 million to deliver the last two Reusable Solid Rocket Motors (RSRMs) of the space shuttle program under a contact modification announced Dec. 15. The two solid-fuel space shuttle boosters are intended to provide the launch-on-need rescue capability in place on every shuttle launch since the Columbia accident, and may never fly at all. The last scheduled mission of the space shuttle program will be STS-133 on the shuttle Discovery, now set for launch in September 2010.
VIETNAMESE SALES: If granted their wishes, the Vietnamese defense minister and the Pentagon will avoid any headlines surrounding the visit this week by Senior Lt. Gen. Phung Quang Thanh to Washington, think tank analysts in the capital say. But the business of future alliance could still be on the agenda. “Quiet and practical progress will be the goal of both countries during this visit,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a staunch backer of the NASA rocket development work done at Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, Ala., wants NASA’s inspector general (IG) to probe alleged ties between staffers on the human-spaceflight review panel that found NASA’s Ares I crew launch vehicle too expensive and the commercial spaceflight industry that produces launch vehicles the panel proposed as alternatives.
NASA Presolicitations NASA Presolicitations Date of Posting Response Date Opportunity Segment Procurement Office Solicitation Code Contact E-Mail 11-Dec-09 28-Jan-10 Rapid Response Space Works And Modular Space Vehicles RRSW-MSV Research & Developm
UAV SUB: Newcomers to the unmanned aerial system (UAS) market are not likely to find the going as easy as entrenched competitors like Northrop Grumman, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and others, according to a new report from consultancy Frost & Sullivan. Companies that could provide an 80 percent UAS solution a decade ago dominate the market now across all key platform categories, and market domination by well-established companies has already driven some participants out and forced others to diversify their offerings. “By focusing on UAS subsystems, the U.S.
The U.S. Marines are in active talks with industry for a lightweight vehicle that may supplant the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), according to Commandant Gen. James Conway. Conway told reporters at the Pentagon Dec. 15 that the JLTV is not only five years away, but is weighing in at 22,000 pounds, which he believes is too heavy for Marine Corps needs. Spearheaded by the U.S. Army and the Marines, the JLTV is intended as a Humvee replacement.
SECOND STOVL: The second F-35 short takeoff and vertical landing test aircraft, BF-2, returned to flight on Dec. 13 after prolonged modification. Following an extended “ferry confidence” test flight with tanker support, the aircraft is expected to head for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. It will join aircraft BF-1, which has been in maintenance and ground test since arriving at Pax last month. BF-1 could return to flight late this week.
PARIS — Arianespace has set Dec. 17 as the new launch date for France’s Helios IIB imaging intelligence satellite. Liftoff of the satellite, intended to improve coverage and revisit time of day/night optical imagery, in particular for forces in Afghanistan and other overseas theaters, had initially been set for Dec. 9, but was pushed back because of a leaking liquid helium valve on the cryogenic main stage (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 14).
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $550,432,272 contract which will provide for the F-22 weapons system during the CY2010. At this time, $312,067,896 has been obligated. 478 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897, P00036).
Congressional appropriators want a formal request from the White House on any changes in NASA’s human exploration plans, and specifically prohibit program cancellations under the Fiscal 2010 omnibus spending bill sent to President Barack Obama after a rare Sunday vote in the Senate.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is unable to properly account for a large portion of the nontactical vehicles (NTVs) it buys, leases or maintains in support of operations in Iraq, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. “We estimate General Services Administration (GSA) NTVs cost about $70 million to purchase and all 9,793 NTVs in the fleet cost about $109.8 million annually to lease and maintain,” the IG said in its report, “Management of Nontactical Vehicles in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom,” released late last month.
NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission is under way after a spectacular predawn launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., early Dec. 14.
