LAV OPS: General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $24 million contract for 10 Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs), three LAV logistics vehicles and vehicle components for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) to meet anticipated war-loss requirements. The LAV-A2 is an eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle equipped with enhanced armor protection and an automatic fire-suppression system for crew protection, as well as a robust suspension for mobility.
F2AST CONTRACTORS: The U.S. Air Force’s Warner Robins Air Logistics Center has culled a dozen prime contractors that will now be eligible to compete for up to $6.9 billion under the new 10-year Future Flexible Acquisition & Sustainment Tool (F2AST) program. F2AST is a follow-up to the existing Flexible Acquisition & Sustainment Tool and Integrated Weapon System Support Programs contracts to support all Air Force-managed weapons systems and special missions programs.
INTELLIGENT PLAY: Qinetiq Group’s declared $104.5 million acquisition of suburban Washington’s Dominion Technology Resources, Inc. “is a pure intelligence community play,” according to Input analyst Ashlea Higgs. Qinetiq gets a young company – DTRI was founded in 2002 – with more than 100 employees and a strong success record, the federal IT analyst says. And given the intelligence contracts involved, the price (a multiple around two times revenue) is not unusual. “Very importantly, DTRI brings new customer relationships from within the U.S.
HIGH INTEGRITY: Boeing has been awarded a $153.5 million U.S. Naval Research Lab contract to demonstrate High Integrity Global Positioning System (GPS) technology concepts. The contract will run through 2010. The High Integrity GPS effort combines satellite signals from the Iridium Low Earth Orbit telecommunications system and GPS Mid Earth Orbit navigational satellites to enhance navigation availability, integrity, accuracy and jam-resistance capabilities.
NEW DELHI – India is awaiting designs for the structural modifications on the Su-30MKI so it can start tests of the BrahMos cruise missile by the end of 2009. But first the missile and the aircraft have to be fitted. The delay is the result of the Sukhoi design bureau’s preoccupation with the fifth-generation aircraft, so “we have to wait for the availability and complete the design for trials from the aircraft,” said A. Sivathanu Pillai, chief executive of MD BrahMos Aerospace.
NEW DELHI – The indigenously developed Nag missile, with an anti-tank tandem warhead and 4-kilometer range, was successfully fired on stationary and moving targets Aug. 5-6 at the Pokhran Range in the desert of Rajasthan in Western India. Both targets were hit, confirming system capabilities, according to the Indian Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO). DRDO’s chief controller told Aerospace DAILY that the tests were the last developmental trials of the short-range surface-to-surface Nag, which will go through user trials next month.
The Pentagon plans to take extra capabilities – including added fuel offload capacity – into account when it scores revised proposals from Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS that could lead to $35 billion in work replacing aging KC-135 tankers. The Defense Department will consider “value over threshold” when reviewing the revised offers, said Shay Assad, director of defense procurement and acquisitions policy, during an Aug. 6 briefing at the Pentagon.
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SAY CHEESE: Boeing, Goodrich and Insitu have flight-tested a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft equipped for the first time with a shortwave infrared (SWIR) camera. The camera enables ScanEagle operators to see objects more clearly in fog, rain or when little or no heat is radiated. During the July 17 test at Ft. Leonard Wood test range in Missouri, the camera recorded clear streaming video during daytime, twilight and nighttime operations. The Boeing-led team, which integrated the camera in less than 14 weeks, plans additional flight-tests later this year.
A U.S. effort in Africa to stop terrorists from gaining ground ahead of the nascent African Command (AFRICOM) has had difficulty due in part to legacy disagreements between the State and Defense departments, according to a new report from congressional auditors. The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) operates in nine partner countries: Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger in the Sahel region; Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in the Maghreb region; and Nigeria and Senegal in the sub-Saharan region.
IRAQI ISR: The Iraqi air force is expanding its ability to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, says Steve Bond, director of the Intelligence Transition Team in the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq. “We’re also looking at adding small, ‘throw-and-go’ unmanned aerial vehicles and some increased analytical capabilities,” Bond said Aug. 1. Meanwhile, to augment their heavy reliance on human intelligence and produce better information feeds, the Iraqi army and Defense Ministry are developing a signals intelligence capability, he said.
A brief in the Aug. 6 Aerospace DAILY contained incorrect information about the fate of the spacecraft, AMC-14, that was aboard a Proton M rocket that failed in March. The satellite was stranded in the wrong orbit.
BEIJING – Chinese engineers have made 36 improvements to the Long March 2F rocket for the launch of the Shenzhou 7 manned capsule scheduled for October. The design changes improve reliability and safety, says China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. One has tackled a vibration problem while others introduce monitoring functions. The rocket earmarked for the launch of Shenzhou 7 has arrived at the launch site at Jiuquan for mating with its boosters and payload, as well as system checks.
BREAKING ICE: Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has called on the Bush administration to issue its long-awaited Arctic Policy update and reiterated her call for construction of more U.S. icebreakers under the Coast Guard. “I strongly agree with Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, that ‘we are watching our ice-breaking capabilities decline and we are losing ground in the global competition,’” she said Aug. 6.
The Pentagon has notified the U.S. Congress of further potential exports of Predator-B/Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles to Europe. Italy and the United Kingdom are already using the General Atomics medium-altitude long-endurance vehicle. Now, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says Italy has expressed interest in four more of the drones, along with three ground control stations. The deal, with a five-year maintenance package, would cost around $330 million.
The U.S. Coast Guard has not properly implemented Mission Action Plans (MAPs), which are used to correct internal control deficiencies, resulting in an incomplete audit, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General’s (IG) audit.
Two key House Democrats are concerned with the Bush administration’s agreement to allow foreign aid to Pakistan to be used to upgrade the country’s F-16 fleet and moved last week to at least withhold the more than $225 million requested.
SURREY SPREADS: Surrey Space Technology Ltd. has established a subsidiary in the U.S. to take advantage of growing demand among U.S. government and other international customers for economical but advanced responsive satellites and payloads. To be based in Colorado with facilities to be established later in California and Washington, D.C., SSTL U.S. will eventually become a self-contained design, production and operating entity. Commercial Director John Paffet will head the new company. SSTL has already built several satellites for U.S.
INMARSAT DELAYED: International Launch Services says the Aug. 14 launch of the third Inmarsat 4 satellite aboard a Proton M Breeze M has been delayed because of a problem with a vendor-supplied onboard computer. A new date will be set once a new unit has been installed and tested. The launch will be the Proton M’s first since a failure in March destroyed an SES satellite. The new spacecraft will enable Inmarsat to expand its Broadband Global Area Network over the Asia Pacific, giving the high-speed mobile satellite network worldwide coverage.
FLOATING SHIPS: The future USS Green Bay (LPD 20) is scheduled for commissioning in Long Beach, Calif., next January, the U.S. Navy said after acceptance trials ended Aug. 1. The ship will then join USS New Orleans (LPD 18) as the second of the LPD 17 class to be homeported in San Diego. The New York (LPD 21) is preparing for sea trials next year. The San Diego (LPD 22), Anchorage (LPD 23) and Arlington (LPD 24) are all under construction at Northrop Grumman Gulf Coast shipyards.
SBIRS HANDOVER: The U.S. Air Force has officially taken delivery of the first of a series of new missile warning sensors in the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation. This first sensor, HEO-1, was launched June 27, 2006 into highly elliptical orbit on a classified National Reconnaissance Office host satellite. Launch of the first dedicated SBIRS satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit is now set for December 2009.
While the actual purchasing of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks has slowed down in 2008, MRAP contracts and modifications still remained strong enough to push vehicle acquisitions to top positions for Pentagon expenses through the midyear mark.
AERO DEPUTY: NASA has appointed Thomas Irvine as the new deputy associate administrator for the agency’s aeronautics directorate. He will report to Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Jaiwon Shin. Since May 2005, Irvine has been the director of the Mission Support Office for the aeronautics directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington. “Tom has been instrumental in the restructuring and management of NASA’s aeronautics research programs,” Shin said in a statement.
In a campaign speech Aug. 2 in Titusville, Fla., near Kennedy Space Center (KSC), presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) expressed support for an extra space shuttle mission beyond the currently planned shuttle phaseout in 2010.
