UAV SUMMIT: U.S. Northern Command will host a national summit for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) stakeholders March 23-24. U.S. Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart Jr., NORTHCOM’s commander, told the Senate Armed Services Committee March 17 that the gathering was being called to help determine “the best way forward on employing UAS capabilities in the National Air Space.” He added that NORTHCOM was eager to team with the Homeland Security Department as it expands UAS operational capabilities “to achieve synergy with our homeland defense and homeland security efforts.”
ST. LOUIS – Boeing unveiled the prototype of a new variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle aimed at the Asian and Middle East markets that will incorporate stealthy coatings and structure here on March 17.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston – The space shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station March 17, delivering power and life support hardware needed to support a full-size crew of six later this year. Mission Commander Lee Archambault and pilot Tony Antonelli maneuvered the orbiter to a soft dock at the front of the station’s Harmony node at 5:19 p.m. EDT.
The U.S. Navy’s Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS) Mark 2 sensor and weapons package is still far from being shipshape, says a recent report by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). Indeed, the Navy has failed to make the SSDS meet the DOT&E grade for the past two years, according to the organization’s 2008 annual report, released last month. “The Navy has not completed any of the (fiscal year) 2006 or FY07 recommendations,” the DOT&E said.
The European Space Agency’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite was launched March 17 aboard a Russian Rockot launch vehicle from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, following a 24-hour hold. The hold on the previous day – with seven seconds left on the clock – was due to an issue with an element of the launch platform. The overall GOCE program is well behind the original schedule.
C-17 BOOST: President Barack Obama’s reluctance to personally put a stamp of approval on specific defense programs has not gone unnoticed, analyst Loren Thompson says in a recent Lexington Institute briefing paper. “That makes any direct endorsement of a weapons program by the president unusual, and worthy of mention.
Two years after its purchase by Sikorsky, PZL Mielec rolled out the first of 200 Black Hawk cabins it expects to make as it takes the lead in international sales of the multimission helicopter. The initial cabin, the first produced outside the U.S., will be used by PZL on the S-70i International Black Hawk program, a multimission 10-ton class variant of the H-60 developed with mission specific requirements in mind for international customers.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a staunch advocate of closing the gap in U.S. human spaceflight between the space shuttle and the follow-on Ares I/Orion vehicles, said here March 15 that he expects President Barack Obama to pick his NASA administrator “in the next few days.”
PARIS – Arianespace has postponed launch of the European Space Agency’s Herschel-Planck science mission because of the need to carry out additional checks on the mission’s ground segment following recent software updates. The delay in the mission – Arianespace’s second of the year – is expected to be “a couple of weeks.” A new date for the launch, which had been set for April 16, is to be announced at the end of this month.
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The business side of the Pentagon lacks the same sense of “urgency and focus and clarity” as the warfighting side, the head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified to Congress last week. Change can only come from “the top level, dedicated leadership,” said Gene Dodaro, who also serves as acting comptroller general of the U.S., at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee.
While the U.S. Army has made strides in developing its Future Combat Systems (FCS), some major technological doubts remain, according to the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). “Armor upgrades for the MGVs (Manned Ground Vehicles) are a technical challenge on the FCS program and are critical to the fielding of operationally effective, suitable, and survivable MGVs,” says the most recent annual DOT&E report, released last month.
WIDER APPEAL: Europe is pushing for U.S. participation in development of a 35-ton heavy-lift helicopter to enter service around 2020, if the project gets off the ground. France and Germany are expected to bring the Future Transport Helicopter program to the European Defence Agency (EDA) later this year in a bid to involve other nations in research, development and procurement. Citing the potential for trans-Atlantic cooperation, EDA head Javier Solana says “The market for such an expensive heavy transport helicopter is simply too small in Europe alone.”
A March 4 story on the upcoming launch of the second Wideband Global Satcom spacecraft gave the impression that the flight was delayed because of a prior Atlas V launch anomaly. According to the U.S. Air Force, the mission was pushed back from its original December 2008 target because the service wanted to perform additional environmental testing on the spacecraft.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND ITT Corp. of Roanoke, Va., is being awarded a $11,422,775 firm-fixed-price contract for image intensifier assemblies, 18 MM microchannel wafer high performance tubes, and MX-10160 GS in support of the U.S. Special Operations Command Procurement Division. The work will be performed in Roanoke and is expected to be completed by May 26, 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was awarded on a competitive basis. The contract number is H92222-09-C-0025.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is modifying a fixed price incentive firm contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. of San Diego, Calif., for an amount not to exceed $107,575,999. The action will provide for long lead items associated with LRIP Lot 8 Global Hawk Block 40 air vehicles. At this time, $25,999,999 has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3001, P00007). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
AIR FORCE The Air Force is modifying a cost plus award fee contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. of San Diego, Calif., for $59,608,897. This action will provide engineering, manufacturing and development infrastructure activities in support of the Global Hawk program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600, P00295).
NAVY Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $30,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-5303) for fiscal year 2009 engineering and technical services in support of STANDARD Missile – 2 (SM-2) for Foreign Military Sales requirements. The work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by March 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery spent March 16 using a 50-foot-long boom to inspect the belly, nose and wing leading edges of their orbiter for any of the sort of damage that doomed the shuttle Columbia.
Despite orders from Congress to evaluate the costs, testing and performance progress in developing a ballistic missile defense system, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says it still can’t assess the system’s overall performance. In a report to Congress released March 16, GAO said the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has had problems establishing baselines for total costs or unit costs – making it nearly impossible for the auditing agency to determine MDA’s actual costs for the sixth straight year. Money spent
