Russia’s recent actions in Georgia could “adversely affect” U.S.-Russian relations for years to come, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, but he doesn’t see “any prospect for use of military force by the U.S. in this situation.” Russia’s aggressive actions in Georgia have “called into question the entire premise” of its long-term strategic dialogue with the U.S., Gates told reporters at the Pentagon Aug. 14.
Lockheed Martin shipbuilding officials would feel comfortable splitting the embattled Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program with competitor General Dynamics if the U.S. Navy would order five or six ships per year, according to Fred Moosally, president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors.
INTELLIGENT RFP: The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has released a draft request for proposals (RFP) for its Solutions for the Information Technology Enterprise (SITE) program covering information technology (IT) requirements across defense and other related federal intelligence groups. The program, capped at $6.6 billion over five years, will consolidate several existing DIA IT service contracts and incorporate at least one major service contract for operation of the defense agency’s intelligence IT infrastructure.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A blue-ribbon panel of national security space experts is calling for a number of “bold steps” – including abolishing the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) as they exist now – to shake up ineffective national security space procurement and operations structures and provide cohesive governance of this increasingly vulnerable area for the Pentagon.
The U.K. Defense Ministry is for the moment shelving the purchase of up to 212 all terrain armored vehicles intended to replace its Hagglunds BV206 while it reviews the overall requirement. The program is valued at up to £250 million ($468 million). The ministry had been planning to issue an invitation to tender in December for its All Terrain Vehicle Support (ATVS) requirement. But the program is being put on hold pending the outcome of “internal reviews.”
ARIANE SUCCESS: Engineers at Japan’s Space Communications Corp. and SES Americom are checking out two new communications satellites after Arianespace’s fifth flight of the year orbited their birds in a flawless launch Aug. 14. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:44 p.m. EDT – the beginning of its launch window – with the Japanese Superbird-7 and the SES Americom AMC-21 onboard. Superbird-7 separated 25 minutes later, and AMC-21 followed 5 minutes after that.
ROBOTIC ARM: Alliance Spacesystems LLC has delivered a prototype robotic arm to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) that could be used to repair satellites on orbit or tow them to new orbits.
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – Serving as the pipelines for digital warfare, datalinks are the future, but with them come opportunities for command misbehavior, unanticipated technology problems and information-sharing challenges. Since the U.S. is determined to fight in coalitions, knowing how to exchange information quickly and accurately is crucial, according to Korean-based planners who are revitalizing the peninsula’s collection of and reactions to intelligence. But digital pitfalls abound.
TACTICAL LASER: Boeing completed the first ground test of the entire weapon system integrated aboard the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) aircraft Aug. 7 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The ATL aircraft, a C-130H, fired its high-energy chemical laser through its beam control system. The beam control system acquired a ground target and guided the laser beam to it, as directed by ATL’s battle management system. The laser passes through a rotating turret on the aircraft’s belly.
NOT BRAIN SURGERY: A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) highlights neuroscience research that analysts should focus on and how advances in these areas could affect national security. The Aug. 13 report also presents a framework that its authors say the intelligence community (IC) should use in the future when assessing which areas of neuroscience research warrant continued tracking.
Paradise Point Resort & Spa San Diego, CA November 12-14, 2008 A new U.S. President – what it means to the A&D industry Just one week after the 2008 Presidential Election, AVIATION WEEK will provide insight into the new administration and what it means to the A&D industry – from impact on research programs to shifts in priorities. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call +1.212.904.4483.
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has invested $3.5 million for 2008 and 2009 in the U.S. Army and Air Force’s Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) program, in the hopes of applying the results of the endeavor to a smaller aircraft for the Navy.
NEW YORK – The U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are working together to develop a joint program office for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the Coast Guard’s commandant. Adm. Thad Allen told Aviation Week that the Coast Guard and CBP – both uniformed agencies within the Homeland Security Department – are working together on land-based unmanned aerial surveillance.
The U.S. Air Force has now used its B-1B fitted with an advanced targeting pod in combat operations for the first time. The service reports that a B-1B fitted with the Sniper laser targeting pod delivered a GBU-38 during a mission in Afghanistan Aug. 4. The bomber belonged to the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and is currently detached to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.
AIRCREW TRAINING: Boeing was awarded a U.S. Air Force contract to provide a C-17 Aircrew Training System (ATS) to Dover Air Force Base, Del. The system will provide training to Air Mobility Command and Air Force Reserve Command C-17 crew members. Financial terms were not released. Boeing already operates and supports nine continental U.S. C-17 ATS sites and expects to expand to three more within and outside the U.S. by 2010. The Weapons Systems Trainer at Dover will be the 20th to be delivered to the Air Force.
Early reports contend that pipelines running through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi from the Caspian Sea oil fields were unsuccessfully targeted by the Russian air force, which employed front-line Tu-22M3 bombers in the conflict. Intercepting or damaging the Georgian’s pipelines would be a heavy blow, but even just the insecurity to oil supplies that fighting in the region has brought could do even greater harm both to Georgia and the West. Meanwhile, French President Sarkozy has been trying to broker a cease-fire.
Ball Aerospace & Technology says it’s on track to complete final integration and testing this month of a key instrument for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project.
NEW WATCHKEEPER: VT Halter Marine laid the keel for the U.S. Navy’s new missile range instrumentation ship (T-AGM 25) on Aug. 13 in Pascagoula, Miss. The to-be-named T-AGM 25, slated for delivery in 2010, will collect ballistic missile data for international treaty verification using the Cobra Judy Replacement radar developed by Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. T-AGM 25 will replace the USNS Observation Island, a 50-year-old Mariner-class ship converted for the missile-data mission in 1980. VT Halter beat Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co.
STATE OF THE UNION: Ahead of November’s elections for control of the White House and Congress, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is running TV ads in battleground electoral states – Virginia, Wisconsin, Alabama, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana – questioning how foreign government-controlled investment funds, known as sovereign wealth funds, are partnering with private equity funds to invest in U.S. companies providing national defense, energy and homeland security.
BUSINESS REVIEW: The U.S. Defense Department said Aug. 12 that an “independent advisory panel,” the Defense Business Board, will review the overall performance of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). It follows scathing letters from lawmakers and a critical Government Accountability Office report July 23 that found lower-level DCAA auditors were hindered in some investigations of defense contractors (Aerospace DAILY, July 28).
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Bush administration still is hoping to enact export control reforms designed to ease the burden of selling technology abroad in the six months remaining before a new president takes office, says John Rood, acting under secretary of State for arms control and international security. Rood, appearing at the 2008 Space and Missile Defense Conference here, promoted executive-branch policy changes announced at the start of the year and declared that progress had been achieved against a backlog of export licenses.
Intelsat reported strong revenue growth for the second quarter of 2008, but an overall net loss due to financing charges associated with the February acquisition of Intelsat’s parent company, as well as a glitch that crippled the Galaxy 26 spacecraft.
LINK 16: Under a $12.2 million contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defense, Data Link Solutions (DLS) – a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems – will provide support services for Link 16 products installed on several platforms, including the Royal Air Force E-3, Tornado and Typhoon; Royal Navy Sea King helicopter and Type 42 destroyers; and the U.K. Air Defense Ground Environment.
Launch of the MEASAT 3A satellite has been pushed back indefinitely while manufacturer Orbital Sciences assesses the damage done after a crane struck the spacecraft on Aug. 9 local time at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Launch provider Land Launch was preparing the Malaysian communications satellite for a planned Aug. 21 liftoff on a Zenit-3SLB rocket. The accident occurred when a crane operator was moving a piece of ground equipment after the spacecraft was mated with the rocket’s upper stage, according to Land Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn.
