TRIDENT SUPPORT: L-3's Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim, Calif., is receiving a $59.6 million cost- plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for specialized technical engineering services to operate, maintain and repair Trident II D5 Test Instrumentation subsystems, spares and related support equipment. Work will be performed in Anaheim, Calif., and should be completed in May 2009.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) feels enough confidence from last week's successful test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System to shift focus for the next flight-test to include countermeasures.
Daniel Gillian has been named director of enterprise sourcing for India. He will be based in New Delhi. Edward M. Liddy has been elected to the board of directors.
COMMERCIAL REFUELING: The Senate's fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, passed late Oct. 1, includes a provision for an Air Force pilot program to study the feasibility and advisability of commercial fee-for-services air refueling. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) members said they were concerned about the military's ability to meet air refueling requirements in the immediate future. "At a time of historically low readiness levels, the Air Force cannot afford further degradation in air refueling capacity," the panel said in its report accompanying the bill.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the next phase of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) system, which it is co-funding with the European Commission. Confirming the enthusiasm they showed when GMES was kicked off in late 2005, the ESA member states pledged 500 million euros ($700 million) - 16 percent more than requested - for the so-called Phase 2 Segment 1 phase, which covers development of the first three dedicated Sentinel GMES spacecraft and their related ground segment.
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle is finally nearing its weight targets, with the design team taking a bottoms up approach to trimming weight, informed by new thinking about redundancy in safety and mission-critical systems, according to NASA Project Manager Skip Hatfield. Going into its most recent round of redesigns, the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft was still about 5,000 pounds over its target weight of 25 tons. That target provides a 25 percent margin for growth allowances and management reserve (DAILY, May 21).
German industry officials say the German air force is looking at a data relay satellite capability to permit operational electronic intelligence (elint) to be quickly downloaded from its planned fleet of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles. The capability could be provided either by a dedicated small satellite or a shared system like that proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
DEFENSE BILLS: The Senate late Oct. 1 passed it fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill and on Oct. 2 started debating its related appropriations bill. The progress allows the chamber to go to congressional conference with the House over the policy bill and move closer to providing regular funding for the military. Meanwhile, the Defense Department and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere remain funded by the recently passed continuing resolution through at least Nov. 16.
U.S. Air Force laboratories lack adequate control over certain contracting steps and oversight, according to the DOD Office of the Inspector General (IG). The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) plans and executes the service's science and technology program budget, which was $2.4 billion in fiscal 2006. The IG reviewed 20 contracts valued at more than $828 million.
Terrorists obtaining weapons of mass destruction represent the greatest challenge facing the United States, but "attacks impacting our freedom to operate in space and cyberspace also pose serious strategic threats," according to the next head of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM).
Rivalry between the armed services - increasingly stoked by fiscal restraints - and not technology is the greatest challenge to network-enabled joint control of precision strike weaponry, according to Navy Capt. Mat Winter, program manager for precision strike weapons.
NASA has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from industry for a new spacesuit system for the Constellation program, in anticipation of awarding a contract in June 2008.
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted on its external tank and solid rocket boosters for the STS-120 mission, was rolled to Launch Complex 39A Sept. 30. This preserved the schedule for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as Oct. 23. There are still two days of margin to make that date, says Stephanie Stilson, Kennedy Space Center processing manager for Discovery. The rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building was delayed by about 12 hours due to rain and wind at Kennedy.
NMT AFFIRMED: Raytheon said Oct. 1 that the U.S. Navy has directed it to proceed with development of the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) after competitor Harris Corp. apparently challenged and lost an award protest over the almost $1 billion program. "The direction to proceed with the NMT contract comes after the U.S. government reviewed a protest by the Harris Corp. and reaffirmed the original award decision that Raytheon offered the best value solution to the customer," Raytheon announced.
Trade association representatives in Washington continue to press lawmakers and even defense acquisition officials to slow down or rethink a slew of potential changes to Defense Department and other federal regulatory regimes.
