Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), worried about a shortfall in the number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) available to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote the chairmen of the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations committees April 17 seeking to increase funding.
SUB SUPPORT: Alion Science and Technology announced April 17 that it received a five-year, $25 million contract from the U.S. Navy's submarine combat system program office to provide engineering services to help modernize the electronic combat system onboard submarines. The combat system is used to support critical submarine combat operations such as threat detection and tracking, communications, navigation and weapon launch capabilities.
Boeing may still have an eye on U.K. acquisitions, but it is trying to address baseline British government stipulations on national presence through organic growth. The company officially opened a systems engineering and integration office in Bristol, England, April 16. Boeing also will open a modeling and simulation laboratory in the third quarter, under a joint initiative with U.K. defense technology company Qinetiq.
MERCURY C2: The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command is awarding Rockwell Collins almost $45 million to an existing contract for the E-6B Block I modification program, including the design, development, installation and testing of a fully integrated airborne command and control communication system, the Pentagon said April 13. Most of the work will occur in Waco, Texas, and the rest in Richardson, Texas, and should be finished by December 2009. Boeing delivered the final upgraded E6-B Mercury aircraft, a Boeing 707 variant, to the Navy in Jacksonville, Fla., in December.
PATRIOT: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command has awarded Raytheon two contract modifications totaling $13 million to provide technical and material support of the Patriot Missile Field Surveillance program in the U.S. and overseas, the company announced April 13. The modifications, which include options for up to $12 million, are for technical personnel and material to support the processing of Patriot missile rounds and the operation of Patriot missile facilities, missile assembly/disassembly facilities and the Patriot missile transmitter facility.
President Bush and Democratic congressional leaders will meet April 18 concerning the second fiscal 2007 supplemental measure, but it is unclear what they may resolve although Democrats ap-pear to be crafting multiple bills for presidential consideration. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said April 15 on Fox News that Democrats could highlight so-called benchmarks for the Iraqi government as part of a follow-on bill if Bush vetoes a congressional measure containing U.S. withdrawal provisions (DAILY, April 11).
Boeing's team submitted its final proposal for NASA's Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle upper stage production contract on April 13, the company announced. Boeing already submitted two earlier bid volumes: one on past performance on March 16 and another on mission suitability and plans on April 2. The company's partners in the bid include United Technologies subsidiary Hamilton Sundstrand, Moog Inc., Northrop Grumman, Orion Propulsion Inc., SUMMA Technology Inc., United Space Alliance and United Launch Alliance.
TRIDENT: The U.S. Navy is awarding Lockheed Martin a one-year, $14.2-million contract for continued work on the U.K.'s Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) program, the company announced April 16. The Royal Navy's Lockheed-built Trident II D5 missiles are deployed aboard British-built Vanguard-class Trident ballistic missile submarines. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide program management and planning support as well as technical support related to integration and operations for U.K. re-entry systems, missiles and support systems.
The commander of the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force says his top transformational priority is replacing his security force's fleet of aging Bell UH-1N helicopters. "All I want," Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Deppe told a National Defense University Foundation audience April 13, is "something that's faster, can carry more and could be armed."
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is kicking off an effort to develop a new system for detecting and engaging snipers before they have the chance to attack U.S. troops. Dubbed C-Sniper, the system must be capable of operating day or night from a moving vehicle, according to DARPA. When the system detects a sniper, it will point an onboard weapon system at the target and wait for operator approval to fire.
CREW SYSTEMS: The Defense Department said April 13 that Impact Science & Technology is being awarded a $56.9 million contract for production and support of 1,100 Vehicle Mounted Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare (CREW) systems for immediate needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vehicle Mounted CREW systems are one element of the DOD's Joint Counter-RCIED EW program. Spiral 2.1 CREW systems are vehicle-mounted electronic jammers designed to prevent the initiation of RCIEDs.
Fallout from Lockheed Martin's loss of a second Littoral Combat Ship comes after the company was spotlighted for problems with the VH-71 presidential replacement helicopter fleet and has raised some analysts' attention over the U.S. Navy's recent disfavor for lead systems integrators. But the potential for fixed-price (FP) development contracts has Wall Street even more on edge.
As the U.S. Marine Corps gets ready to deploy the MV-22 Osprey into combat - the aircraft is slated for duty in Iraq starting in September, the service announced April 13 - Congress still has some concerns, according to a March Congressional Research Service Report. The report acknowledges the Osprey has a great deal of support within the Defense Department as an advanced replacement for aging helicopter fleets that provides greater capability than the older aircraft.
NASA's Constellation program will pay Orbital Sciences Corp. between $35 million and $57 million for as many as four test boosters based on Air Force Peacekeeper ICBM solid-rocket motors for tests of the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system. The competed award came through the Air Force's Sounding Rockets Program. The Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., will conduct the launch abort tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
Russian controllers have tentatively decided to delay by one day the planned April 20 landing of the Soyuz capsule carrying two members of Expedition 14 to the International Space Station and space tourist Charles Simonyi because of wet ground conditions at the landing site.
URBAN TRAINING: Allied Container Systems Inc. has been awarded a $461.6 million contract to produce, test, install and deliver the Combined Arms Military Operations in Urban Terrain training system at the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The work will be done in Twentynine Palms and Pleasant Hill, Calif., and is expected to be finished in April 2010.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Pentagon should rethink the ability of the Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) to bypass normal procedures through "limited acquisition authority" (LAA) to buy certain warfighting equipment more quickly.
April 16 - 19 -- Science & Engineering Technology Conference, DOD/Tech Exposition, Charleston, S.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org. April 17 - 18 -- AVIATIONWEEK MRO Military 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga. For more information call Lydia Janow at (212) 904-3225, fax: (212) 904-3334, email: [email protected], http://www.aviationweek.com/conferences.
