NASA Ames Research Director S. Pete Worden has been named 2009 director of the year by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, a network established in 1974 to develop strategies for linking the technologies and expertise of government laboratories with the marketplace. Worden was cited for supporting Ames’ development of competitive mission proposals, licensing of the center’s intellectual property and coordination of education outreach and internship programs.
INDIAN RADAR: Northrop Grumman is partnering with Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Limited and Dynamatic Technologies Limited to manufacture components of the F-16 APG-68 (V) 9 fire control radar as part of a company initiative to engage Indian industry as business partners. In a comprehensive co-production program, Northrop Grumman will work with engineering teams from Bharat Electronics Limited and Dynamatic Technologies Limited to provide training and support to ensure a smooth transition to production.
PATRIOTIC WORK: Raytheon received a $246 million U.S. contract for Patriot system spares for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as expected after a major foreign military sale (FMS) was announced in December. The company said Feb. 9 that the firm-fixed price contract is initially funded at $123 million and represents the first delivery order awarded under a five-year agreement. Late last year the U.S. government approved the FMS of Patriot 3 capabilities including Patriot GEM-T and Lockheed Martin PAC-3 missiles.
Alaska’s congressional delegation to Washington has written the Pentagon’s chief to register concerns with potential budget cutbacks to the ground-based midcourse interceptor missile defense (GMD) system, in which Alaska plays a key role. Citing potential North Korean and Iranian nuclear capabilities and ambitions, as well as the benefits of increased testing, the bipartisan trio of lawmakers urged Defense Secretary Robert Gates not to target the GMD system.
The U.S. Air Force mismanaged the procurement of its fixed Battle Control System (BCS-F), the command-and-control (C2) program meant to marry NORAD and FAA radars and prevent further 9/11-style terrorist attacks using hijacked airliners, an agency audit report says. The service issued a contract about five years ago for roughly $30 million to complete the task, but the Air Force Audit Agency reported that the service bungled the development and management of the program, hiking costs and delaying completion (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 23, 2008).
Russia launched another Progress resupply vehicle early Feb. 10, setting up a docking with the International Space Station (ISS) early Feb. 13. Liftoff of Progress M-66/32P from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan came at 12:49 a.m. EST. The vehicle reached orbit and deployed its solar arrays nominally, according to Russian press reports. Inside are 2.4 tons of dry cargo and almost another ton of propellant for the space station’s Russian thrusters. The vehicle also carries about 100 pounds of oxygen and pressurized air.
PARIS – France on Feb. 12 plans to orbit two Spirale missile warning satellites, along with a HotBird commercial communications spacecraft, all carried on an Ariane 5 rocket. The Spirale program is the first step for what could eventually be a European equivalent to the U.S. Defense Support Program/Space Based Infrared System constellation. Spirale is merely a demonstration system, but will provide France important infrared data on missile launches that were lacking in Europe.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has stressed several times this winter that DOD must make difficult choices when it comes to cutting or canceling major weapons programs, but he still declines to identify which are most at risk. Gates opened a discussion with Pentagon reporters Feb. 10 with the same warning. “Irrespective of the topline, this department faces difficult choices among competing priorities and programs,” he said. “I believe we must make these choices.”
March 26-27, 2009 Washington, DC What will it take to make NextGen and ADS-B adoption viable and cost-effective for all stakeholders? Takeaways: • Making ADS-B a Reality • The Latest on Airport Infrastructure Re-Design • Making the Business Case for Airline Equipage and Financing Option • Evaluating the Environmental Impact of ADS-B Flight Planning
NEW REALITY: The Rand Corp., a federally funded think tank that the U.S. Defense Department often turns to, says a new trans-Atlantic security paradigm must be created that reflects both global and political “realities,” and that President Barack Obama’s election provides an opportunity to overcome old divisions that have frustrated U.S.-European relations. A new report urges the creation of a “new architecture” revolving around “strong” U.S.
Four defense oversight committees in Congress have approved the U.S. Navy’s reprogramming request in fiscal 2009 for funds to secure purchases of the first Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) designed for aircraft carrier operations, according to defense officials and congressional staff. The reprogramming for roughly $40 million will pay for long lead parts for three Lockheed Martin F-35Cs, according to U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, F-35 program manager.
The U.S. wants to “reset” its rocky relationship with Russia, but intends to continue developing a missile defense shield to counter threats posed by Iran and other rogue states, Vice President Joe Biden says. Speaking at the 45th Munich Security Conference in Germany Feb. 7, Biden said it was time “to press the reset button” on the U.S. relationship with Russia and “revisit the many areas where we can and should work together.” Working together
CUTTING TIES: Tony Tether, controversial director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) since 2001, is leaving the organization before his successor is named. Tether had expected to remain at the agency until replaced, but in an Feb. 9 internal email says the Obama adminstration decided he should leave on Feb. 20. The longest-serving director in DARPA’s history, Tether has attracted criticism for his tight control of project bugets, which opponents say prevents the agency doing blue-sky research.
The U.S. Navy’s Carderock surface warfare center recently reported fatigue-life issues with the first two National Security Cutter (NSC) hulls, forcing the Coast Guard to re-evaluate some of new ships’ design and potential improvements.
Russia and India are negotiating a contract for a fourth Project 1135.6 Krivak IV-class frigate for the Indian Navy, Anatoly Isaikin, the head of Russia’s arms exporting agency, Rosoboronexport, said on Feb. 4. Russia is already building three of the 4,000-ton frigates for India at the Yantar shipyard under a $1.6 billion contract signed in July 2006. The last of the three is scheduled for delivery in 2011-12. All three will be armed with eight BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile systems.
Kaman has flown its first prospective customer for the SH-2G(I) Super Seasprite naval helicopters returned by Australia for resale under the terms of their mutual agreement to terminate the troubled program. All 11 former Royal Australian Navy SH-2G(A)s have been repatriated to Kaman’s Bloomfield, Conn., facility, where the naval attache of an unidentified country was flown in the helicopter last week. Other demonstrations are being scheduled.
STIMULATING STUFF: The U.S. Senate’s expected stimulus spending legislation could entail $1.3 billion total for NASA, according to the Democratic-led appropriations committee there.
DATA LINK: The U.S. Army awarded AeroVironment (AV) a $16.8 million contract for the production of 50 new Raven RQ-11B unmanned aerial systems equipped with AV’s Digital Data Link (DDL). The Army announced the production order Jan. 22, which was issued under an existing contract that includes initial spares packages and DDL retrofit kits for 206 existing Raven systems.
The DOD’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation’s (DOT&E) first annual report on the U.S. Navy’s Mk 54 torpedo finds the program wanting and advises the service to come up with a fix. The Mk 54 has been plagued with problems throughout its history, from major limitations and failures discovered in 2004 tests to a production halt in 2007 due to quality assurance, workmanship and assembly issues at prime contractor Raytheon’s facility. Production restarted in March 2008 after a remediation program was instituted by the Navy and Raytheon.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of International Acquisition recently celebrated its 200th delivery of vessels to 37 nations through its burgeoning Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
FRIEND, FOE: The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $16 million contract for production of five additional AN/UPX-24 (V) interrogator sets for the U.S. and Australian navies. The AN/UPX-24 (V) is a shipboard identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) processor system used to identify aircraft or ships equipped with an IFF transponder. Deliveries for the 22-month fiscal 2008 contract are scheduled to being in February 2010 and consist of five full AN/UPX-24 (V) interrogator sets with remote control indicators and nine retrofit kits for installation on current systems.
AEHF OK: Lockheed Martin said Feb. 9 that the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force is now undergoing thermal vacuum testing at the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facilities. The industry team next will perform environmental test data analysis and the remaining integration and test activities necessary to prepare the satellite for flight. It is planned for delivery to the Air Force in 2011 for launch aboard an Atlas V rocket.
