TOMCAT ARREST: Jilani Humayun of Long Island, N.Y., was arrested early July 19 and charged with 11 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with an alleged scheme to illegally export F-5 and F-14 fighter jet parts. Federal officials, who announced the moves later that day, alleged Humayun illegally exported the fighter parts to a company in Malaysia - but that the F-14 parts were almost certainly headed for Iran.
BLUEPRINT BATTLE: House Armed Services Committee leaders are pushing the Pentagon to buy the blueprints for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, but defense leaders are resisting for now since the program's demise could come almost as quickly as it blossomed. Reps. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) and Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), HASC subcommittee chairmen, want the Defense Department to be able to hand blueprints to a new manufacturer - like a major U.S. automotive company - for a potential production surge.
WorldSpace Italia and Fiat have agreed to install and distribute digital audio radio systems (DARS) on Fiat automobiles. It is the first auto agreement signed by the WorldSpace affiliate, which wants to introduce satellite radio service in Europe by late 2008 using WorldSpace's existing Afristar satellite. The radios will be factory installed on some Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia models, and offered through aftermarket distribution channels as well.
COUNTER-IED REPORT: Analytical methods that quantitatively assess the effectiveness of improvised explosive device (IED) countermeasures are needed as counter-IED attention focuses on detonation, according to a new National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on research opportunities for counter-IED measures. There are some studies about the evaluation of counter-suicide-bombing measures in Israel, and the effectiveness of airline-passenger screening, but to the group's knowledge there is nothing in the scientific literature regarding the evaluation of IED countermeasures.
NUCLEAR DETERRENCE: While the concept of strategic conventional strike may be growing in importance, that doesn't mean nuclear deterrence isn't still crucial, says Thomas P. D'Agostino, acting under secretary of energy for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. "My view is that we're talking many decades before the nuclear stockpile goes away," he says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] July 30 - Aug. 2 -- 2007 Naval S&T Partnership Conference, "The Navy After Next... Powered by Naval Research II -- Power & Energy for the Fleet and Force," Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/7200. Aug. 6 - 9 -- AUVSI's Unmmaned Systems North America 2007, Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.auvsi.org.
PASSED THROUGH: The Professional Services Council is arguing that defense regulators have laid down a new rule that does not conservatively interpret a congressional mandate to ensure that pass-through charges on Defense Department contracts and subcontracts are not excessive compared to the cost of work.
ARMED SEALION: U.S. Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 4 operators are looking to test the SEAL Insertion, Observation and Neutralization (SEALION) II craft as a potential platform for weapons systems and intelligence collection. The high-speed, low observable/low radar signature craft is being operated by NSWG 4 as a clandestine insertion and extraction platform for special forces.
A400M DELAY: EADS CEO Louis Gallois says delays with the TP400 turboprop that powers the Airbus A400M airlifter are likely to lead to a deferral of the first flight, scheduled for late March 2008. Test problems already have delayed the initial flight of the engine on a C-130 testbed from the first to the third or fourth quarter of this year. However, initial deliveries to A400M customers should still take place by late 2009 as planned, Gallois says.
Danger to the twin Mars Exploration Rovers from ongoing dust storms is increasing, especially for Opportunity, perched on the edge of Victoria crater 130 million miles from Earth. A possible outcome of the storms is that one or both rovers could be damaged permanently or even disabled, NASA managers say. Engineers will assess the capability of each rover after the storms clear.
AMCOM CHIEF: U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James Myles has become the sixth commander of the Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, taking over from Maj. Gen. Jim Pillsbury. Myles had led the Test and Evaluation Command in Alexandria, Va., since May 2004. Pillsbury, who led AMCOM for 44 months, leaves to become the deputy chief of staff for operations and logistics at Army Materiel Command.
The U. S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., now says it was a hydrogen propellant valve in the Pratt & Whitney RL10 Centaur upper-stage engine that caused the placement of two classified National Reconnaissance Office ocean surveillance spacecraft into the wrong orbit after launch from Cape Canaveral June 15. The Air Force had earlier put the blame on the Centaur, which is Lockheed Martin's responsibility, as opposed to specifically the engine, which is Pratt & Whitney's responsibility (DAILY, July 3).
CHINA BASHING: Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), a candidate to be the Republican presidential nominee and the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that China's rapid economic growth, its devaluation of the yuan and its military modernization efforts are "gouging" the American defense industrial base but being paid for by the U.S. trade deficit with the country. And the situation is getting worse, according to his July 13 remarks.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are postponing until at least September the scheduled Aug. 16 launch of their moon explorer mission, Selene, due to improperly installed condensers on two piggy-back satellites.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command officials here say their requirement for CV-22 Ospreys could increase well into the 70s, and the need for more C-130s for transport also could grow, according to Col. Billy Montgomery, AFSOC's top planner. The command's requirement for the Bell/Boeing tilt-rotors now stands at 50. The boost is expected to come in a study of global posture and mobility needs now being conducted by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The Defense Department is now looking to buy as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as can be built, but industry's capacity is still in question, according to lawmakers and defense leaders at a recent House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing.
GOOGLE EARTH: U.S. strike pilots have been using Google Earth to practice missions in places where they can't fly. Now BAE Systems has come up with a new version of its image analysis and mapping software that enables analysts to better evaluate and share data by integrating Google Earth with the Environmental Systems Research Institute's geodatabase to produce a 3-D, color image in real time. Connection with the database allows users to work with data over secure networks.
Northrop Grumman has started work to integrate a new 30,000-pound class penetrator weapon on the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber, the company announced. With the new weapon, a B-2 would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
SHORT-RANGE: Raytheon announced July 19 it has delivered the first Near Term Sea-Based Terminal weapon to the U.S. Navy for use in defending against short-range ballistic missile threats. Raytheon, the Navy and Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab partnered on the program to update the Standard Missile 2 Block IV, which will be deployed on Aegis-class warships. The delivery follows the Pacific Phoenix sea trial, where a Near Term Sea-Based Terminal missile successfully intercepted a Lance target in May 2006.
Driven largely by its space business, Orbital Sciences Corp.'s second quarter revenues increased 39 percent to $273.3 million, compared to $197 million last year, the company said July 19.
