KEYS' 'MELTDOWN': The F-22 Raptor's "embarrassing success" has created a need for rapid modification of the fighter, says Air Force Gen. Ronald Keys, chief of Air Combat Command. ACC wants a stealthy "tactical target network" data link that can quickly pass key parameters on enemy targets without giving away its position. In initial exercises, the F-22 "was much better at [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] and absorbing signals than we had anticipated," Keys says. "There is capacity in there that we hadn't dreamed of.
WEIGHT WATCHERS: NASA will get its next comprehensive weight estimates on the Ares I rocket and Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle this spring after the system completes its ongoing system of systems requirements review. The Orion, which the Ares I will boost to orbit, is running about 3,000 pounds over its target of 50,231 pounds. The Ares I will be capable of delivering 58,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit for a lunar mission, which includes 8,102 pounds marked off as performance reserve.
NUMBERS SUFFICIENT: Senators opposed to the Bush administration plan to send an additional 21,500 U.S. troops into Iraq say it won't be enough based on the metrics of the new Army-Marine Corps counterinsurgency field manual. The revised manual, overseen by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the new commander in Iraq, calls for a ratio of one soldier for every 20 residents of a municipality. That formula calls for 120,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops to secure the 6 million residents of Baghdad - far more than the anticipated 85,000 troops going there. But retired Gen.
BETTER RADAR: Air Force Gen. Ronald Keys, chief of Air Combat Command, also wants to equip a core of the Air Force's least-old older aircraft with even better radar capabilities than the F-22's, but not including multisensor fusion. He looks to active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, with a predicted range up to 250 miles and jamming capability, first on 220 F-15E Strike Eagles, next on 178 F-15C Eagles and, perhaps, "some of the F-16C super Block 50s." The F-16s "might make sense," he says.
EVALUATION CONTINUES: The Active Denial System, the Defense Department's first nonlethal directed-energy weapon, has been assigned to the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., for an "extended-user evaluation phase" of the advanced concept technology demonstration. The 820th will incorporate the ADS into its training and exercise plan until mid-2007, officials said as they unveiled the potential weapon last week.
The Expedition 14 crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is preparing to perform three spacewalks in quick succession that will upgrade the Destiny Laboratory's cooling system and prepare the orbital outpost for further construction. All three of the upcoming extravehicular activities (EVAs) will be conducted from the U.S. Quest airlock in U.S. spacesuits. Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams will perform a six and a half hour EVA on Jan. 31, another on Feb. 4 and another on Feb. 8.
CASEY CLEAR: U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, the outgoing commander of coalition forces in Iraq, should receive Senate blessings to become the service's next chief of staff, according to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). He told reporters Jan. 26 that he knew of no opposition that would block Casey, whom President Bush nominated earlier this month to succeed retiring Gen. Peter Schoomaker (DAILY, Jan. 8). Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who leads Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, raised doubt about Casey's nomination Jan.
Iran has converted a powerful ballistic missile into a satellite launch vehicle, according to Alaoddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. Aviation Week & Space Technology reports in its Jan. 29 issue that the 25-30 ton rocket could be a wolf in sheep's clothing to test longer range Iranian missile technologies during satellite launches. Aviation Week broke the story on its Web site Aviationweek.com Jan. 25.
TURKISH JSF: U.S. and Turkish officials have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin cooperation in the production, sustainment, and follow-on development of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Similar memos previously were struck with the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, but still await signatures from Italy, Denmark and Norway. U.S. officials said Jan. 26 that they should be finalized by the end of February.
TANKER RFP: The U.S. Air Force is set to release the formal request for proposals (RFP) for the $200 billion KC-X aerial refueler competition on Jan. 30. The final RFP defines an integrated, capability-based, best-value approach, an Air Force statement said. "Along with cost and assessments of past performance and proposal risk, these factors provide the source selection authority with means to determine the best value between proposals of significantly differing capabilities and cost," the service said Jan. 26.
MORE ADVICE: There's more advice to the Pentagon to slow its plans to spend roughly $16 billion for the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) (MPF(F)) program. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Defense Department has not developed a comprehensive management approach to guide and assess joint seabasing. In a report issued Jan.
Air Force officials say there are reports the Chinese have stood up a dedicated facility in Shanghai for anti-satellite operations. Loren Thompson, military space expert for The Lexington Institute, said the Chinese would need and possibly could build such a facility for laser anti-satellite operations. But no dedicated facility would be needed to launch anti-satellite weapons that are meant to destroy spacecraft by blowing up near the targeted satellites.
Northrop Grumman Corp. should work through issues with the F-16 Block 60 development and the Hellenic Air Force's Advanced Self-Protection Integrated Suite (ASPIS) II electronic warfare equipment program this year, but resolution of the Mesa radar issue for Australia will go into next year, a top executive says.
Recently released Defense Department Program Budget Decision (PBD) memos show the Pentagon's desire to invest in future capabilities for the Army and Air Force while keeping the services primed to fight current conflicts. The Army's fiscal year 2008 baseline budget is about $123 billion, or about $2 billion more than had been expected. The Air Force top line budget of $135 billion in fiscal 2008 represents a modest 4 percent increase.
DIPLOMACY FIRST: President Bush says diplomacy remains the primary avenue for solving problems between the United States and Iran - although U.S. troops will defend themselves against any elements that threaten their security in Iraq. After meeting Jan. 26 with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, and Joint Chiefs Chairman and Army Lt. Gen.
AMP GROWING: The Air Force's C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) development, managed by Boeing, is "experiencing significant cost and schedule growth," according to Pentagon budget documents. The Air Force plans to strip $168.4 million from procurement funding, decreasing the number of kits bought, to backfill development. The program has never been far from controversy.
U.S. Navy acquisition officials say they will start a full and open competition in coming months for a small, tactical unmanned aerial system (STUAS) for both the Navy and Marine Corps, based on experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. The desired system would provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for tactical-level commanders and unit-level defense needs, as well as protection for Navy ships and Marine landing forces, the Navy said Jan. 25.
Scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will get to analyze two different sets of samples from space following the Jan. 22 retrieval by India's navy and coast guard of the Space-capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) from the Bay of Bengal. The 550-kilogram spacecraft was launched Jan. 9 on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island in the Bay of Bengal, and returned to a nominal splashdown and recovery about 140 kilometers east of the launch site.
DIGITAL RADIO DEMO: A team led by the European Space Agency has begun demonstrating an experimental digital audio radio system that offers two potenital advantages over existing hardware used in networks such as XM Radio and Sirius in the U.S. The system, being tested at the Noordwijk Space Expo in the Netherlands, near ESA's Estec engineering center, uses a special mobile conformal antenna that allows signals to be received from Ku-band satellites only, without the need of a costly terrestrial ancillary component (ATC).
EU CONCERN: The European Union is "very concerned" about a Jan. 11 anti-satellite weapons test in which a Chinese missile destroyed a Chinese weather satellite. In a statement, the EU said the test was inconsistent with international efforts to avert an arms race in space and undermines security there.
Forecast International says the world's militaries are likely to spend much more money for electronic warfare (EW) systems over the next 10 years, and a DAILY analysis of Pentagon contracts shows the U.S. Defense Department since 2001 has already more than quintupled its investment in airborne radar systems, a key EW component.
