Around the globe, terrorist groups are finding ways to circumvent a host of defensive technologies meant to thwart their actions, according to a recently released RAND report.
China's ability to challenge the U.S. military is no longer just a future concern but actually exists today with the Asian giant's proven ballistic anti-satellite and cyber warfare capabilities, among others, Defense Department officials told lawmakers June 13. "That challenge is already in front of us," said Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia-Pacific affairs.
The U.S. Air Force is shifting about $500 million from other programs into developing and accelerating technologies and capabilities desired for the new Cyberspace Command, said the service general responsible for getting the command up and running. "It's money within current programs, about a half billion dollars, we're moving around," said Lt. Gen. Robert "Bob" Elder, commander, 8th Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., the home of the new cyber command.
If the decision is made to reinstate the climate sensors cut from the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) back onto the second, third or fourth spacecraft, it shouldn't add cost or risk to the program, according to prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The suite of sensors to be carried on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) pathfinder spacecraft in 2009 and on the first NPOESS spacecraft in 2013 already have been finalized, Northrop spokeswoman Sally Koris said, so adding sensors to those would add cost.
TARGET ORDER: The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $25 million contract to purchase 80 BQM-74E aerial targets. The targets are scheduled to be delivered before January 2009. The BQM-74E is a subsonic, subscale, jet-powered aerial target capable of being launched from the air or surface (land or shipboard) and recovered on land or at sea. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Despite recent media reports regarding the level of protection and amounts of body armor available for deployed service members, the U.S. Army and Marines are managing the programs well, according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report. The report says the body armor capabilities and service controls are done according to U.S. regulations and need.
A new set of solar arrays for the International Space Station (ISS) deployed as planned June 12, giving the orbiting facility a symmetrical shape reminiscent of the old Space Station Freedom design.
A new Israeli military imaging reconnaissance satellite is undergoing checkout in space following liftoff from Palmahim Air Force Base June 11 onboard a solid-propellant Shavit rocket. The new Ofek-7 spacecraft will replace the five-year-old Ofek-5 satellite and also bring the Israeli space-based reconnaissance program back to full strength following the loss of the Ofek-6 satellite in a 2004 launch failure. The 660-pound satellite was placed into a 193 x 372-mile orbit.
Democrats on the House Science Committee shouldn't be so eager to kill funding for a troubled $63 million vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft program that has yet to fly, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said June 12.
The current strong emphasis on financial and technical program management should continue with key Defense Department acquisitions despite the changing of many guards near the top of the Pentagon hierarchy, defense analysts say. Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his vice chairman, Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, who is also chairman of the Pentagon's Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), are both leaving (DAILY, June 11).
The U.S. Air Force exercised an option June 11 on its Alternate Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS) contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. to prove the engineering and analysis needed to take AIRSS to System Design Review (SDR) for an estimated $8 million.
Shuttle mission STS-117 will be extended for two days to enable repair of a tear in a thermal blanket on its left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod. Johnson Space Center managers and engineers were to decide late June 12 when and how the repair would take place. A significant question raised by the repair decision, however, is whether at least two and as many as seven previous shuttle crews were placed at significantly greater re-entry risk than believed at the time their flights landed.
The U.S. Coast Guard will cap task orders at 18 months under its latest Deepwater contract with Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) so the service - which is racing to regrow its in-house acquisition capabilities - can boost contracting oversight, the commandant told lawmakers June 12. Adm. Thad Allen outlined the task order limit as part of the "acquisition blueprint" and other Deepwater changes being implemented in light of program problems like shipbuilding and technology.
RESTRUCTURING: Northrop Grumman Corp. and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) on June 12 announced a plan to restructure their joint venture, AMSEC LLC, by dividing the company along customer and product lines. AMSEC is a full-service supplier that provides engineering, logistics and technical support services primarily to U.S. Navy ship and aviation programs.
The Defense Department spends too many of its resources on fighting current conflicts, while the services are too centered on themselves, a recently released RAND study says.
British Defense Minister Des Browne reiterated June 12 that Iran is providing military assistance to insurgents inside Iraq, in particular help with sophisticated improvised explosive devices. Browne says there are "specific kinds of improvised explosive devices (IED) that our intelligence tells us can only be manufactured in Iran, not in Iraq."
Mary Armstrong has been named vice president of Environment, Health and Safety, a new organization designed to integrate and expand the focus of the separate environmental groups and initiatives that currently exist within the company. Armstrong had previously been president of Boeing's Shared Services Group (SSG). Vivek Lall has been appointed vice president of business development for the company's Integrated Defense System (IDS) business in India. Lall has been managing director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in India for the past four years.
Guy Norris has joined the editorial staff as Senior Editor. He will cover technology developments across the industry. Previously he worked for Flight International, first as Technical Editor based in the U.K. and most recently as U.S. West Coast Editor.
