The U.S. military has undertaken numerous efforts to tackle recruiting and retention issues, but a dramatic overhaul of compensation and personnel management systems may be the only way to effect true change, according to a recent report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).
The U.S. Navy is considering deploying its first Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to an air base near Iraq to experiment with its ability to conduct maritime surveillance, according to defense officials. Navy officials declined to discuss the exact location for a deployment. “Longer-term options for the system may include additional deployment situations – allowing the system to demonstrate its unique persistent maritime ISR capabilities in various overseas environments,” says Chuck Wagner, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command.
Saab will lay off more personnel in an effort to expand its cost savings program to counter several negative trends in its commercial and military business. The Swedish aerospace and defense company had already set a 1 billion Swedish kronor cost savings program through 2010. Now it has said it will cut its work force by another 500 to reach 1.5 billion Swedish kronor at that time. The cuts are to come mainly through attrition.
LONDON – Top managers of Europe’s aerospace companies have written in concert to their respective governments warning of the risks to the commercial aerospace sector from the current economic upheaval. Finance and industry ministers of Europe’s leading aerospace nations, including France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K., are all understood to have been sent letters last week. Senior managers of European aerospace companies discussed the issues facing the sector earlier this month, agreeing on key points to be made to their respective governments.
SMALL STUFF: Iridium Satellite says its new Iridium 9555 handset introduces a smaller size, brighter display, a speaker phone, programmable international codes for dialing and improved short messaging services and e-mail capabilities. Prior Iridium handsets have been far larger than the best cell phones on terrestrial networks. The update to the current 9505A handset is 27 percent lighter, 30 percent smaller and includes an internally retractable antenna. Talk time is 4 hours. The 9555 was displayed Oct. 20 at Iridium’s annual partner conference in Miami.
SUFFOLK CENTER: Boeing opened a new experimentation center in Suffolk, Va., Oct. 20, to help government customers with simulation services. Customers will be able to examine new concepts of operations, explore options, analyze performance, refine requirements, enable rapid development and testing of capabilities and cut risk, Boeing said. The company’s Advanced Systems’ Analysis, Modeling, Simulation and Experimentation organization built and will operate the center.
TSAT TOPPLED: An acquisition decision memorandum terminating the existing Transformational Satellite competition – after more than $1 billion of technology maturation funding went into the effort – is awaiting signature by Pentagon acquisition czar John Young. But a Pentagon spokesman says the program isn’t quite dead yet. “We have seen the news reports about TSAT, however, as of right now, no final decision has been made on program status...
NEW DELHI – The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch its Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter on an upgraded polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) in the early hours of Oct. 22. Some 700 scientists and technologists are working around the clock to send India’s first spacecraft mission beyond Earth orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Center spaceport, known as SHAR (Sriharikota Range), located on an island in the Bay of Bengal about 80 kilometers north of Chennai.
Eurocopter has signed a contract with Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergencies for the acquisition of two EC145 helicopters for rescue, emergency medical evacuation and firefighting. The aircraft, to be delivered in 2009, will be based around the Kiev where the Ukrainian “Ministry of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of Chernobyl Catastrophe” says it will be able to react quickly and efficiently to emergency situations that require the use of helicopters.
The U.S. Defense Department’s cancellation of the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program has set off a flurry of activity within the service. The Army’s operations director, Lt. Gen. James Thurman, told reporters early Oct. 17 that he will do everything he can to push new requirements back to DOD’s high-level Joint Requirements Oversight Council by January 2009 and re-open competition for an aircraft.
RE-ALLIED: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and South Korean counterpart Lee Sang-hee say the United States will continue to provide “U.S.-unique capabilities” to the countries’ combined defense against North Korea, according to a new joint communiqué. Gates also reaffirmed South Korea’s protection under the so-called nuclear “umbrella” that the United States affords Pacific allies so that they do not have to develop their own nuclear weapons. The defense ministers Oct. 17 further praised legislation in Congress that would “elevate” South Korea’s status for U.S.
NAVAL FIRES: The National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) Strike, Land Attack & Air Defense Division will study approaches to joint naval fires for around 2020 at the request of the U.S. Navy. The study, commissioned by the Director of Surface Forces (OPNAV N86), will assess the effectiveness of a variety of ship-based weapon systems, especially in the littorals and against moving targets. Other conditions include their performance in adverse weather and their ability to minimize collateral damage within the overall mission.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) Oct. 20 - 23 — 13th Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, 21st Century Expeditionary Warfare Challenges, Opportunities and the New Maritime Strategy, Marriott Baypoint Resort, Panama City, Fla. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/9700
CRYPTIC PURCHASE: Thales has completed the acquisition of nCipher, a U.K. company specialized in encryption productions. The purchase, for £50.7 million ($88 million), will further reinforce Thales’ position in the information and communications system security business, building on previous acquisitions such as the security activities of Alcatel-Lucent. nCipher is active in application security, payment authentication/identity systems, network security and secure telephony.
LONDON — Boeing is continuing to examine wing pod-related buffet and boundary layer separation concerns on its KC-767A tanker aircraft for the Italian air force, with further revisions of the refueling pod and pylon configuration also being explored. Buffet issues first emerged on the aircraft’s wing airborne refueling pod (WARP) design during the flight-test program in mid-2005, resulting in the redesign of the pod pylon. Further buffet flight testing was carried out in mid-2007.
FIRM COMMITMENT: Arianespace announced Oct. 17 that SES has committed to three new launches with the European launch provider under the Multi Launch Agreement signed in June 2007. The commitment covers three new satellites for the SES group, including Astra 3B for SES Astra plus two other satellites that have not yet been identified. The spacecraft are slated for launch between 2009 and 2012 using Ariane 5 rockets from the company’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
SCIF-EQUIPPED: For the first time, the U.S. Coast Guard will equip one of its ships with a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), a top acquisition official says. The 418-foot USCGC Bertholf, the first National Security Cutter, will get the SCIF for processing classified information next summer, says Michael Tangora, Coast Guard director of Acquisition Services. Once installed with the SCIF, plans call for deploying 12 cryptologists aboard the Bertholf tasked with intelligence gathering.
NEW BRITAIN: Following the recent revamp of top civilian posts in the British Defense Ministry, it’s now the turn of the uniformed personnel. Army Gen. David Richards is to succeed Gen. Richard Dannatt as chief of the general staff, Adm. Jonathan Band will be replaced by Adm. Mark Stanhope as chief of naval staff, and Air Chief Marshal Glenn Torpy will be succeeded by Air Marshal Stephen Dalton as chief of the air staff. Richards takes up post in August 2009, with Stanhope and Dalton taking over during July 2009.
FALSE START: NASA will roll back the space shuttle Atlantis from Launch Pad 39A and return it to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Oct. 20. Rollback will begin at 7 a.m. EDT, with the shuttle being carried atop its massive crawler, and it should arrive at the VAB by 2 p.m. Atlantis was to have launched on the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, but that flight has been delayed into next year due to problems with the telescope (See p. 3).
UAV RADAR: France, the U.K. and Sweden have agreed to study a lightweight, compact radar suitable to be carried on tactical unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles. The 4-year study is expected to cost 21 million euros, and will be jointly funded by industry and government. It will be carried out under a contract to be awarded by the European Defense Agency (EDA).
WGS DELAY: Launch of the Defense Dept.’s second Boeing Wideband Global Satcom spacecraft is still officially listed as Dec. 4 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, but it will not occur before Jan. 14.
ACS AMBIGUITY: The U.S. Army’s Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program to produce a new aircraft for signals and communications interception just can’t seem to get going. A joint Army-Navy effort was cancelled. Now the Army has just sent out a update to its latest ACS solicitation with three basic messages: 1) The service is open to discussion new acquisition strategies; 2) Officials favor a two-phase downselect that includes a risk-reduction technology demonstration; and 3) The program is slowing down.
CHINESE GEOSAT: A Long March 3A launch vehicle will put China’s third geostationary meteorological satellite into orbit in late December. The Fengyun 2-06 spacecraft will replace Fengyun 2C and operate in concert with Fengyun 2D. The first of the Fengyun 4 successor series of geostationary satellites is due to be launched around 2013, according to China’s meteorological administration.
