Industry’s progress in demonstrating high-power, solid-state laser technology is focusing service interest in weapon applications, according to Northrop Grumman. U.S. Army interest is in a counter-rocket/artillery weapon, while the Air Force focus is precision strike, but the Navy could be first to use technology from the Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) program, says Dan Wildt, vice president of directed energy systems for Northrop Grumman’s Space Technology sector.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN: Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 3 it demonstrated its Intelligent Control and Autonomous Replanning of Unmanned Systems (ICARUS) suite of technologies as part of an exercise conducted Aug. 12-14. During the Edge Command and Control/Hybrid Operations (ECC/HO) exercises, a Tactical Operations Center operator worked in conjunction with a mobile Command and Control (C2) unit and soldiers on the ground.
International Space Station (ISS) crewmates have been making lots of trips to the dump this week, transferring trash and junk into two automated cargo capsules to burn up during re-entry over the Pacific. Russia’s Progress M-64/29P undocked from the nadir port of the Zarya module on Sept. 1, and Europe’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is scheduled to follow on Sept. 5. Both vehicles will remain in orbit for a time before being commanded to re-enter.
Pacific-realm activity, Iranian behavior, resurgent major powers like China and the prevalence of low-intensity conflict (LIC) will drive U.S. Navy investments in the region, according to Marshall Billingslea, deputy under secretary of the Navy.
NORTHERN COMFORT: Two Canadian C-130 aircraft were deployed by Canada Command to Pensacola, Fla., to support search and rescue efforts in the U.S. Gulf region for Hurricane Gustav. Previously, Canada Command deployed a CC-177 Globemaster aircraft from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario, to Lakefront Airport in New Orleans to conduct evacuation operations ahead of the hurricane. This is the first time that U.S.
PROWLER RECOVERY: The U.S. Navy’s deep-diving Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) “Deep Drone” performed an aircraft search and recovery of an EA-6B Prowler on Aug. 17-20 near Guam. Based off the USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52), the operation was carried out to help the crash investigation in determining the accident cause and possible implication on the rest of the EA-6B inventory. The EA-6B crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 6,500 feet of water Feb. 12 while conducting night landing qualifications. Both engines and assorted other components were recovered.
MATURED TEST: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) declared Sept. 2 that the High Speed Anti-radiation Demonstration (HSAD) Project successfully showed the “maturity” of an integral rocket ramjet propulsion system. The Aug. 15 test incorporated nozzleless booster and variable-flow, ducted rocket ramjet technologies in a controlled test vehicle (CTV) that was air-launched from an QF-4 drone at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. “Initial data analysis and post-test visual inspection of the hardware indicates that the vehicle’s systems performed as designed,” NAVAIR said.
Hurricane Hanna’s expected arrival off the east coast of Florida is delaying the planned launch of the GeoEye-1 remote sensing spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., until no earlier than Sept. 7.
WE SEA YOU: The U.S. Navy this month will deploy its Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) strategy to its newly established Caribbean-based 4th Fleet. The Navy achieved initial operating capability (IOC) of its MDA strategy Aug. 28 after nearly two years of work and extensive investment, Deputy Navy Undersecretary Marshall Billingslea told a group at ComDef 2008 Sept. 3. Billingslea said the service now has the ability to track hundreds of vessel types and properly apportion response to data streaming from the ships. The system is in use in U.S.
USAF BUSINESS: The U.S. Air Force’s recent internal turmoil could provide business opportunities to federal information technology vendors, according to consultancy Input. For vendors, it means a return to an emphasis on strong business processes, and a commitment to provide systems that will create future cost savings for the armed service. Input says to look for business process opportunities in supply chain management, supply rationalization and stategic sourcing, logistics management business process engineering, asset tracking and visibility and overall cost savings.
The Defense Department Inspector General (IG) says the Army has misstated its military equipment baseline values by several billion dollars. The IG assessed the effectiveness of the Property and Equipment Policy Office and Army internal controls over the valuation, rights and obligations, and the completeness of military equipment programs contained in the Army military equipment baseline. (See charts pp. 6-8.)
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said Sept. 2 that the United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Boeing alleging that the giant defense contractor unlawfully inflated the price it charged the U.S. Air Force to manufacture the Towed Decoy System for the B-1 bomber.
The company that developed and produced the multipurpose 88mm (anti-aircraft and anti-tank) gun during World War II is now working on a multifunctional gun to equip armored vehicles operating in urban environments. But Rheinmetall cannot fund the gun entirely on its own and is seeking partners to develop it.
AIR FORCE The Air Force is modifying a contract with SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. This action will provide Desert Owl Phase Two. The contractor will complete a turn-key effort to deploy the PenRad 7 radar systems and modified King Air 200T aircraft for a 90-day deployment. The location of performance is Iraq. The contract modification is not to exceed $6,999,875. At this time, $3,429,939 has been obligated. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-08-C-3008).
LONDON – Following its signing of the “Cluster Munitions Convention” earlier this year, the United Kingdom is now looking for someone to dispose of 56,000 Extended Range Bomblet Shells (ERBS). The ERBS L20A1 shells were purchased for use primarily with the AS90 self-propelled howitzer, with a number of orders placed with Israel Military Industries since 1992. A total of 59,364 were purchased. The aim is for disposal to be carried out over a two-year period.
Discussions are under way to ensure the Spanish navy’s new S-80 submarine will be able to fire Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, which manages the Tomahawk program, is in talks with Lockheed Martin to perform a requirements study to ensure nothing is designed into the S-80 to stop it from using the Raytheon cruise missile. Lockheed Martin is the supplier of the combat management system for the S-80.
Space shuttle program managers have postponed the rollout of Atlantis to Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida as they eye Tropical Storm Hanna. The move had been scheduled for Sept. 2. KSC is under Hurricane Condition Four, the lowest hurricane alert level. Atlantis could be rolled to the pad as early as Sept. 4, depending on the path and strength of Hanna. NASA and U.S. Air Force weather officials also are watching Tropical Storm Ike. Hubble mission
U.S. Coast Guard has unveiled its Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Information Technology (C4&IT) strategic plan for 2008 through 2012, which the service acknowledged “charts an ambitious course.”
Rheinmetall Land Systeme (RLS) and Krauss Maffei-Wegmann (KMW) have formed the Armored Multi Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) consortium to develop a vehicle in the 4-to-9.5 ton class. The 50-50 joint venture was formed following the failure of RLS’ 5.3-ton Gavial and 6-to-8 ton Caracal and KMW’s 5.3-5.4 ton Mungo to meet the requirements of the German Bundeswehr’s 5-to-10 ton Geschützte Führungsund Funktionsfahrzeuge Two (GFF-2) multipurpose vehicle program, won by General Dynamics’ Mowag’s Eagle IV, which weighs up to 9 tons.
Northrop Grumman has begun flying its company-owned MQ-8B Fire Scout demonstrator, aircraft P6, which will be used to test new payloads for the vertical-take-off-and-landing unmanned air system. P6 made a 20-minute autonomous first flight in late August at Webster Field, part of the U.S. Navy test center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Initially, P6 is flying with a FLIR Systems Star Safire electro-optical sensor and Telephonics RDR-1700B maritime surveillance radar. The Navy’s baseline MQ-8B carries a FLIR Brite Star II EO/IR sensor.
The chairman of a House subcommittee wants the inspector general (IG) of the top U.S. intelligence office to investigate reported problems with a program designed to upgrade the nation’s terrorist watch list database. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), chair of the Science and Technology Committee’s investigations and oversight panel, also wants the IG to issue an unclassified report with lessons learned for other federal agencies.
ARMY ROBOTS: The U.S. Army has awarded iRobot Corp. a contract for up to $200 million in military robots, spare parts, training and repair services over the next five years. The contract comes out of the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), and replaces a previous contract that expired in May 2008. Previous contracts awarded to the company were specifically for purchases of iRobot PackBots. This contract, however, allows the Army to request additional products and services from iRobot as needed.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded on Aug. 26, 2008, a $722,713,876 firm fixed price contract. The CH-47 multiyear contract is for five years, 109 each CH-47F new build aircraft, 72 each CH-47F remanufactured aircraft, and priced options for 34 each CH-47F new build aircraft. The work will be performed in Ridley Park, Calif., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2013. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0098).
