The U.S. Army needs to get better financial control of its acquisition of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. FMTVs include trucks between 2.5 and 5 tons, as well as complementary trailers. The approved presidential budget for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 provided about $956 million for 7,071 FMTVs, while Congress provided another $797 million to the program. The supplemental budgets for fiscal 2005 and 2006 provided funding to procure an additional 3,970 FMTVs.
iRobot has settled its lawsuits against competitor Robotic FX, whose founder has been forbidden from competitive activities in the robotics industry for five years. Robotic FX will be dissolved and certain "residual assets" retained by iRobot. iRobot's cumulative legal and related expenses are expected to total roughly $2.9 million. In August 2007, iRobot filed two lawsuits against Robotic FX and its founder, former iRobot employee Jameel Ahed, alleging that Ahed stole proprietary information and used it in the creation of his Negotiator robot.
PORTUGUESE P-3: Lockheed Martin said Jan. 3 that the Portuguese Ministry of Defense awarded it a direct commercial sale contract worth $141 million to upgrade the mission system avionics on five P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft. Upgrades include electronic support measures, acoustics, communications, electro-optic and infrared systems, data management software and hardware, controls, displays and mission computers. After installation and checkout at Lockheed's Greenville, S.C., center, the first modernized P-3C will be delivered in late 2009.
A 20 percent rise in arms export cases, longer processing times and a 50 percent increase in the number of unresolved cases are straining the State Department's arms export licensing process, a Government Accountability Office report (GAO) found Jan. 3. The GAO review found procedural inefficiencies, shortcomings in electronic processing and challenges in retaining a skilled work force are all behind problems at the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking information on the possibility of hosting government weather sensors on commercial satellites. On Jan. 28 at the Commerce Department in Washington, NOAA will host an industry day to discuss "commercial solutions to meet space-based Earth and space weather observation requirements" of the U.S. government.
Northrop Grumman has passed two milestones in its quest to integrate its high-energy chemical laser (HEL) onto Boeing's Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft, a highly modified 747-400F.
Raytheon, teamed with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, has won a $232 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop the XM 1111 Mid-Range Munition for the U.S. Army Future Combat Systems' (FCS) Mounted Combat System (MCS).
WORLDSPACE FINANCING: WorldSpace Satellite Radio has secured $40 million in additional financing from Yenure Pte. Ltd. The funds, in the form of five-year, 8 percent subordinated convertible notes, are intended to help support the launch of a European digital audio radio service and attempts to establish DARS beachheads in other selective markets, notably India and China. Yenure is controlled by Worldspace Chairman/CEO Noah Samara. However, $10 million of the proceeds will go toward prepaying secured note holders.
NEW DELHI - India's ministry of defense cites a host of accomplishments in 2007, including the launch of the Interceptor Missile being developed for a ballistic missile defense system, as well as numerous other milestones. India took a step toward a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, joining the U.S., Russia and Israel, when an interceptor missile successfully targeted a 'hostile' missile off the Orissa coast in east India twice in early December.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) late last week sustained, in part, a protest filed by the former Pemco Aeroplex challenging the U.S. Air Force's awarding of a $1.1 billion KC-135 programmed depot maintenance contract to Boeing Aerospace Operations. The PDM contract was awarded to Boeing over Pemco Aeroplex on Sept. 11 and Pemco, now operating as Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. (AAII), filed a protest with GAO eight days later (DAILY, Sept. 12, 2007).
TOKYO - Japan's Selene moon probe formally began its 10-month observation phase Dec. 21. The satellite had entered a 100-kilometer (60-mile) circular orbit Oct.18 (DAILY, Oct. 8, 2007), and underwent a two-month checkout to verify all systems. Although all instruments are basically functioning, minor problems have been found on two sensors, the X-ray Spectrometer (XRS) and Charged Particle Spectrometer (CPS).
FLYING PARABOLAS: NASA has awarded a $4.7 million contract to Zero Gravity Corporation of Las Vegas to perform reduced gravity parabolic flights while carrying NASA-operated experiments and personnel, the agency announced Jan. 2. The contract has a one-year base period and four one-year options that could add just over $5 million per year, bringing the total potential value to $25.4 million.
The U.S. Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) is operationally effective and suitable but has "limitations," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a Dec. 21 report on the program's status. Although EFSS met all of its key performance parameters, the system experienced "several safety, performance and reliability problems" during testing, GAO wrote in its assessment for the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
A new international task force met in Washington just before the New Year's holiday to lay the groundwork for a Mars sample return mission. The task force, dubbed the International Mars Architecture for Return of Samples (IMARS) group, is a committee of the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), which was formed in 1993. It includes NASA and the European Space Agency, which have led the sample return effort up to now, as well as the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and a half dozen other space faring nations.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Dec. 21, 2007, a $1,509,862,172 firm-fixed-price contract for UH/HH//MH-60 helicopters. The work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Oct. 20, 2005, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity W58RGZ-08-C-0003.
Assuming Congress and the White House remain in agreement over the rest of the defense authorization measure crafted for fiscal 2008, outside of one provision over Iraqi funds, a major defense trade group has warned industry that the bill could affect the way business is done in the defense realm. Among other acquisition policy changes, the bill would allow competitors to protest the award of a task or delivery order valued at more than $10 million, the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) said in a member alert.
Congress may have provided $137 million less than the U.S. Coast Guard's request for its embattled Deepwater recapitalization program this fiscal year, but a leading appropriator nonetheless is touting some new Deepwater equipment as proof that Democratic-led lawmakers supported homeland security efforts above President Bush's request. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) late last month highlighted $170 million for four additional Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPAs) and $166 million for the National Security Cutter under the enacted quasi-omnibus spending bill.
ARMY BAE Systems Land and Armaments, York, Pa., was awarded on Dec. 21, 2007, a $240,027,278.64 cost-reimbursable contract for purchasing long lead materials to support the national level reset of Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The work will be performed in York, Pa., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one bid solicited on Aug. 14, 2007, and one bid was received. TACOM-WARREN, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-05-G-0005).
NASA managers will review prospects for launching space shuttle Atlantis this month at a teleconference Jan. 3, as analysis continues on the electrical connector that is believed to be responsible for the intermittent problems that postponed a launch attempt in December.
The U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics are touting lessons learned on the Virginia-class submarine program as the to-be-commissioned North Carolina (SSN 777) sails toward final delivery this month. The program has been under pressure from senior Navy officials and budget-minded lawmakers - all of whom are desperate to shore up shipbuilding - to rein in costs to roughly $2 billion per boat in fiscal 2005 dollars.
FLYING BY WIRE: The first H-92 helicopter to feature fly-by-wire (FBW) technology has completed its first flight, Sikorsky announced. The flight took place at 9 a.m. Dec. 20 from the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The FBW system electronically links controls inside the cockpit with exterior actuators. Designed to significantly improve aircraft maneuverability and safety, FBW technology is part of the company's X-2 Technology demonstrator and UH-60M Black Hawk.
