HUEYS FOR KAZAKHSTAN: US Helicopter will provide two Huey II helicopters to Kazakhstan under a U.S. Army contract, with options for six additional aircraft. The helos will be operated by the Kazakhstan Air Mobilization Force to interdict drug and crime operations. The aircraft are set for delivery later this year.
The C-17 cargo aircraft program is at the center of a number of airlift issues that confront policymakers, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says. The issues include, but may not be limited to, airlift needs and requirements, cost and budget, and industrial base issues. Alternatives to the C-17 program must also be weighed, the report says. On the plus side, the report says, the C-17 gives the military needed capabilities.
The commission charged with studying the future of the National Guard and Reserves released a report to Congress March 1 that agrees with some of the provisions of pending legislation that would make sweeping changes to the organizations, but stops short of fully endorsing all its provisions.
CEC AWARD: The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has extended Raytheon's Network Centric Systems a $31.9 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for fiscal 2006 add-on requirements and FY '07 option requirements for the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) program. CEC collects and distributes sensor-derived information to all participating CEC units (DAILY, March 20, 2006). The contract was not competitively procured, according to the Defense Department's announcement Feb. 28.
DELTA II AWARD: Boeing Corp. is being awarded a $49.5 million cost-plus-award fee contract modification from the U.S. Air Force for one Delta II Launch Vehicle in the standard 7925-9.5 configuration used to launch the last Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) IIR on the National Launch Forecast, the Defense Department said Feb. 28. The Delta II booster purchase includes one first stage, one second stage and one payload-attach fitting, one spin table, one third-stage motor, one 9.5-foot payload fairing and 40-inch Graphite Epoxy Motors, as well as all integration activities.
KUWAITI PATRIOT: Raytheon Co. said it received an $18 million operation and maintenance support contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to provide Kuwait with Patriot system technical assistance. Raytheon will provide support to Kuwaiti operational and maintenance personnel at fire unit locations and also at the depot in Kuwait. This program is a four-year follow-on Foreign Military Sale award. Raytheon has provided Patriot support in Kuwait since 1996.
HELO DEMAND GROWING: Scott Crislip, president of Rolls-Royce's helicopter and small gas turbine division, says during the next 10 years demand for turbine-powered helicopters will reach 15,038 aircraft worth $144 billion. Of that amount, engine sales will account for $15 billion. Crislip expects deliveries of 8,943 military and 6,095 commercial rotorcraft worth $120 billion and $24 billion, respectively. The majority of commercial helicopters delivered are forecast to be light- and twin-engine intermediate models.
The Australian government has issued a Defense Industrial Policy to ensure long-term support of its industry while also still cutting procurement costs. The document will be followed by a series of further studies in the coming months that will spell out in greater detail what industries are to be protected and what the military's long-term needs are.
Dramatic cost growths with Littoral Combat Ship hulls appear likely to spur "significant" changes in how the U.S. Navy contracts for its shipbuilding, according to top service officials.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corp.'s top acquisition official said Feb. 28 that all options remain under consideration for the troubled Littoral Combat Ship and Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle programs. She also blamed seemingly systemic procurement problems on poor cost modeling and oversight, as well as overt industry and service enthusiasm for complex acquisitions.
Expanding the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps could force the Air Force to expand its ground support units, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told Congress Feb. 28. At a hearing on the Air Force's $110.77 billion budget request for fiscal 2008, Wynne said he was concerned that the planned Army and Marine Corps expansion could pose problems for his service. "If you increase ground forces, you're increasing (air)lift demands," he said.
Europe's next planetary mission -- with a big role for Japan -- will be the long-planned BepiColombo project to explore Mercury. The European Space Agency's Science Program Committee has formally "adopted" the project, kicking off its industrial phase under prime contractor Astrium GmbH to support a launch in 2013.
Impacts from micrometeoroids and orbital debris represent a "high safety risk" to the International Space Station (ISS) and its crew, according to a report from a congressionally mandated task force. While the ISS is a "robust and sound program" in terms of safety, the risk of a micrometeoroid or orbital debris (MMOD) impact penetrating the outpost during the decade after its completion is 55 percent, with a 9 percent chance of a catastrophic hit, according to the ISS Independent Safety Task Force (IISTF).
PHALANX PBL: Raytheon Co. said Feb. 28 it has been awarded a five-year, $169.9 million performance-based logistics contract to manage the spare parts for the U.S. Navy's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System. Provisions of the contract - in which Raytheon works with United Parcel Service Supply Chain Solutions, which guarantees delivery of spares to drop points within an agreed-to timeframe - apply to both the U.S. and 24 international navies that have Phalanx. Last fall, Raytheon was awarded a $369.1 million modification for systems and associated spares for the U.S.
KOUROU, FRENCH GUIANA -- European and Russian officials this week finalized a data exchange agreement related to moving the Soyuz launch vehicle to the European space port at Kourou, French Guiana. Work on the launch site has been going on for several years, but engineers have had to use workarounds in some technical areas in the absence of the data exchange protocol. Negotiating the details were often tricky due to Russian concerns about loss of technical know-how, according to program officials.
DANISH JSF: Denmark has signed on to the next phase of the Joint Strike Fighter, Pentagon officials announced Feb. 28. The signing ceremony took place in Copenhagen on Feb 27. Danish Defense Minister Soren Gade added his signature to the production, sustainment, and follow-on development agreement already signed by the United States, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Norway and Italy.
Japan plans to start replacing its optical-reconnaissance satellites in 2009 after launching the second of its two radar-reconnaissance satellites into a 400-600 kilometer polar orbit on Feb. 24. The Tanegashima Island launch on an H-IIA rocket completes a four-spacecraft reconnaissance system planned eight years ago.
Pentagon planners will re-examine whether the Defense Department needs more C-17 cargo aircraft, rather than shutting down the production line, due to President Bush's call to grow the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 troops, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told leading Senate defense appropriators Feb. 28. "We will take a look at it based on the increased size of the force," England said.
BRITISH SNIPERS: Lockheed Martin Corp. said Feb. 26 that it won the first "head-to-head" competition in the United Kingdom for an advanced targeting pod for fighter jets, citing a Defense Ministry contract for Sniper pods for Harrier GR9 aircraft. "The U.K. MOD selected Sniper ATP for its proven combat capabilities and low-risk integration benefits," declared Hugh Woods, program manager of Sniper ATP UK at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. Sniper deliveries will begin in March, with a full capability deployment in June.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told Senate lawmakers Feb. 28 that the first launch of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) with astronauts aboard is likely to slip to early 2015 as a result of the budget cut contained in the recently passed fiscal 2007 continuing resolution.
