LONG BEACH, Calif. - NASA should take advantage of its impending gap in spaceflight to create a leaner operation for its future space program, a Boeing executive told attendees at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics space conference.
India's controversial decision to float fresh tenders for 155mm .52-caliber howitzers is ruffling many feathers. While Sweden's BAE Systems AB, Israeli Soltam and South Africa's Denel were short listed for the guns after participating in two trials, Denel was blacklisted following allegations of bribery. Trials were conducted for four years between 2002-2006. An India army official says the decision will set back modernization plans by another five years.
Alliant Techsystems announced Sept. 18 that it, too, has been selected to study the U.S. Air Force's proposed conventional intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) prompt global strike (PGS) effort, which will evaluate options for replacing the Minotaur booster. ATK follows Northrop Grumman and Boeing, which also are studying the details for defense officials eager for a worldwide quick-strike capability (DAILY, July 3).
REFOCUS ON SBIRS: The U.S. Air Force is planning to refocus its near-term efforts for space-based missile warning on the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). Amid growing concerns in recent years that SBIRS would successfully deliver a Defense Support Program replacement, the Pentagon established a backup effort called the Alternate Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS).
ITT BUYING EDO: ITT Corp. said Sept. 17 it will buy EDO Corp., another aerospace and defense company, in a deal valued by ITT at $1.7 billion in stock purchases and debt. ITT said the deal positions it to play an important role on some of the U.S. military's "vital transformational" initiatives, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, counter improvised explosive device programs and the Coast Guard's Deepwater programs.
WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: Cristina Chaplain, the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) director for acquisition and sourcing management, says there is a world of difference between how the commercial realm holds programs accountable and how the defense realm treats the issue. In commercial, it is "very" clear who is accountable on a program and for what. In defense, it is not always clear who is responsible. In commercial programs, senior officials typically are required to stay with them until they are done.
One of the major questions involving the acquisition of the replacement tankers for the Air Force's aging refueling fleet is just how much the service wants to increase the passenger-carrying capability of the new aircraft. The service has made it clear that it wants to boost that capability to help handle increased troop movements in or out of combat theaters.
TRADE ACCUSATIONS: Federal prosecutors and officials say a Dutch aviation services company, its owner, and two other firms have been charged in a federal criminal complaint with illegally exporting aerospace grade aluminum, aircraft components and other equipment from the United States to Iran and the government of Iran in violation of U.S. embargoes.
GWOT ROBOTS: IRobot's Man Transportable Robotic System indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract now could reach a value of $264 million in robots, spare parts, training and repair services while competitor Foster-Miller's similar IDIQ deal could reach $290 million, according to the companies. Under the six-year IDIQs, the two companies provide their robots to various defense agencies through the MTRS, run by the Naval Sea Systems Command. IRobot on Sept.
The national debate over the need for ground-based midcourse defense has shifted to whether testing is comprehensive enough as the program is being built up. Scott Francher, vice president and program director of ground-based midcourse defense missile defense systems (GMD) at Boeing, recently told Aerospace Daily he feels the company has taken a "methodical, disciplined" approach to testing GMD over the past couple of years.
Boeing's Sea-Based X-Band Radar is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean preparing for its next flight-test as part of its journey toward getting plugged into the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
MILES TO GO: Northrop Grumman says it has successfully demonstrated live common data link (CDL) operations using the Modular Integrated Link Electronics System (MILES) at the Naval Air Warfare Center, Patuxent River, Md. The demonstration was conducted using a prototype version of the phased array antennas destined for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer.
A transformation to make Cyber Command and a number of UAV, fighter and bomber units and squadrons heavily manned is already under way and by design, says Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, the Washington-based National Guard bureau chief. Those affected include long-endurance UAV units, F-22 fighter, B-2 bomber and Joint Cargo Aircraft airlift squadrons and, quite likely, the next generation bombers due on the ramp in 2018. In some cases, they will be commanded by Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Army National Guard personnel.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), expects Congress to finalize almost three-quarters of the Pentagon's fiscal 2008 request toward European antimissile radar and interceptors and with only a slight delay in the Defense Department's construction effort there.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said Sept. 19 that the service cannot afford to split the acquisition of its next fleet of aerial refueling tankers between Boeing and Northrop Grumman bids because of expected annual orders. "We still think we can't afford it," Wynne told a briefing organized by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments on Capitol Hill. "If we have to buy seven-and-a-half [annually] from each company, we're in trouble."
DOMESTIC SOURCE: The U.S. Air Force is awarding L-3 Communications Electron Technologies of Torrance, Calif., a $5.3 million technology investment agreement to establish a domestic source to develop a manufacturing capability for K-band traveling wave-tube amplifiers for commercial and military satellite applications. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting agency.
The U.S. military needs to focus on the battleground of virtual space and developing more precise intelligence, the former head of U.S. Central Command says. "The virtual domain is a domain of war," Gen. John Abizaid (USA Ret.) told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Sept. 17.
UT AWARD: Hamilton Sundstrand, a United Technologies Corp. subsidiary, said it received a potential $400 million award to supply integrated secondary power systems for the U.S. Marines' fleet of CH-53K heavy lift helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft, another United Technologies subsidiary. Hamilton will provide the environmental control system, auxiliary power unit and main engine start system. Design and development will begin immediately with first hardware deliveries scheduled for 2009, the company said Sept. 17.
