The Defense Department's office of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) hopes to convince senior leaders that greater investment in programs' research and development (R&D) phase will provide greater returns on life-cycle support costs.
General Dynamics announced a $188.8 million work order from Force Protection Inc. to produce 401 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for the Marine Corps. The companies have teamed up on the vehicles, sharing in production and program management of the contract. Force Protection earlier won a $376.6 million contract to produce 800 MRAPs.
ACQUISITION REFORM: A Senate bill promoted by moderate politicians seeking federal acquisition reform could lead to $70 million in additional discretionary outlays and $180 million in additional direct spending over 2008-2012, but it also could lower federal procurement costs for goods and services, according to congressional scorekeepers.
BUSY DAB: The Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) is scheduled to convene four times during the week of Oct. 29. The meetings are an Oct. 29 review of the Single Integrated Air Picture (SIAP) effort, an Oct. 30 meeting on the restructuring of the U.S. Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program (DAILY, Oct. 11), a Nov. 1 milestone III review for the Stryker Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBC RV), and a review of the restructuring of the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter program Nov. 2.
GLOBALSTAR: Globalstar will orbit a final batch of four replenishment satellites for its first-generation network on Oct. 21 aboard a Starsem Soyuz Fregat launch vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Together with four other spares launched on May 30, the new spacecraft will augment the existing 40-satellite network, built by a consortium led by Space Systems/Loral.
Among the objectives of the next scheduled test of the space shuttle's reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) is gathering further data on vibration loads that will be experienced by the RSRM-derived Ares I rocket's first stage, according to ATK ATK is both the prime for the RSRM and the first stage of the Ares I, which NASA will use to boost the Orion crew exploration vehicle to orbit. The Ares I first stage will be a five-segment version of the four-segment RSRM. The test is scheduled for Nov. 1. The last test was held in May (DAILY, May 29).
Oct. 22 - 25 - National Defense Industry Assn.'s 12th Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference. "Fighting Today and Preparing for Future Challenges." Marriott Bay Point Resort Village & Spa, Panama City, Fla. For more information call 703-247-2596 or go to www.ndia.org/meetings Oct. 23 - 25 - Precision Strike Technology Symposium (PSTS-07), "Required Precision Strike Capabilities and Technologies for the Long War," Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Kossiakoff Center, Laurel, Md. For more information go to www.precisionstrike.org.
EUMETSAT: Canada has agreed to reinforce its collaboration with European weather satellite operator Eumetsat. The new agreement, which builds on a previous accord signed in 2002, will cover participation in Eumetsat Satellite Application Facilities, acquisition and exchange of satellite data and training.
UPGRADING JSTARS: Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Air Force and Congress have put their collective heads together with the goal of updating the E-8C Joint Stars ground attack radar with Raytheon's MP-RTIP active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. A 22-foot by 4-foot version was designed for the E-10 that would have given the now cancelled aircraft the ability to detect small, stealthy cruise missiles at long range and shoot them down with bursts of high-power microwaves. The capability was also to protect the large aircraft from air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles.
In a strongly worded Oct. 16 letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee ask the service to consider a recompetition of the combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program. The service needs to restore confidence in its acquisition process, according to the letter from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), ranking member, and Joseph Lieberman, (I-Conn.), chairman.
POSTPONED: The U.S. Air Force has cancelled this week's scheduled meetings with competitors for the combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter program (DAILY, Oct. 19) because the service could not resolve issues with the companies over how much information could be shared about previous bids, sources familiar with the program say.
NRO DIRECTOR: Scott Large will serve as the next director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Large, previously NRO's principal deputy director, also recently was the director of source operations and management in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He rose through several technical ranks at the Central Intelligence Agency starting in 1986, culminating as the associate deputy director for science and technology. NRO is staffed by Defense Department and CIA personnel. His appointment comes with the blessing of the director of national intelligence.
LAST RESORT: U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he has "very, very real" concerns over Iranian actions and intentions but stresses dealing with Iran diplomatically over military options. "I'm not one to take options off the table and wouldn't do that," he told reporters at the Pentagon. "However, I really do consider [the military option] one of last resort, and, I guess, would only reemphasize that the concern is there...." Despite prolonged combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mullen claims the whole U.S.
SAUDI SALE: The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of light-armored vehicles (LAVs) and Humvees, as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $631 million. The Bush administration has undertaken plans to arm Middle Eastern allies with tens of billions of dollars in military equipment.
RELIABLE PROGRAMS: The Department of Defense's DOT&E (director of operational test and evaluation) and AT&L (acquisitions, technology and logistics) offices plan to partner on ensuring programs and systems demonstrate reliability up-front, resulting in demonstrable cost-savings as they go operational. Next week, DOT&E Director Charles McQueary will present his findings on the topic with the deputy undersecretary of defense for AT&L, James Finley, at a systems engineering conference.
ARMY ACCIDENTS: The U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (USACRC) will be dealing with issues involving increases in non-hostile accident losses in Iraq. USACRC will collect, analyze and communicate accident information at the request of the commanding general of the multi-national corps-Iraq (MNC-I), and hopes to stem the growing numbers by raising awareness and addressing safety issues. As of Sept. 24, Army forces in Iraq experienced 41 fatalities due to ground accidents during fiscal 2007, of which 16 occurred between Oct. 1, 2006 and Mar.
The U.S. State and Defense departments need to work out their differences over what exports qualify for exemptions from the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR), a congressional report says. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says "a lack of common understanding of regulatory exemption use could result in inconsistent application of the regulations."
It's unclear how the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) safety recommendations to FAA on how to improve unmanned air vehicle operations in the wake of a Predator accident may affect long-term planning on how to increase unmanned air vehicle (UAV) access to civil airspace, according to the co-chairman of the RTCA Special Committee on UAVs.
The U.S. Air Force has failed to properly compete C-130 blade equipment and needs to change the acquisition process for that area, according to a recent DOD Inspector General (IG) Report. The audit was initiated in response to a Defense Hotline allegation that SMR Technologies, Inc. was not given a fair opportunity to compete for the C-130 aircraft propeller blade heater requirement, despite receiving source approval from the Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia and the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center.
Research and development (R&D) spending is rising at a double-digit pace in Asia, driven by growing activity in China and India, according to an annual survey just released by Battelle, a $3.8 billion R&D group in Columbus, Ohio. R&D spending is expected to rise 24 percent in China to $175 billion in 2007 - up from $141 billion in 2006 - as overall spending in Asia grows nearly 13 percent from to $436 from $387 billion.
