Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has ordered the Navy and Air Force to add $1.8 billion to their fiscal 2008 budgets for Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs). England told the Air Force and Navy to buy six fighters each in 2008. The Air Force only wanted to buy four JSFs and the Navy didn't want any. But England said both services could buy fewer aircraft than planned between 2009 and 2013. Lockheed Martin has been lobbying to get as much funding as possible for as many F-35s as the Pentagon could afford early, to keep costs down.
The on-time delivery of the Hawaii (SSN 776), the third Virginia-class submarine, to the U.S. Navy on Dec. 22, 2006, will "set a new standard that benchmarks the program for future deliveries," says Capt. David Johnson, Virginia program manager. He used the occasion to tout what he said were savings of $200 million per boat by doubling production plans to two subs annually.
SPACE RADAR COST: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the cost of Space Radar alternatives varies wildly, from as little as $26 billion to as much as $94 billion, according to a newly published report. Space Radar will be a topic of debate next month as the new Congress reviews the Pentagon's fiscal 2008-13 budget request. Space Radar concepts have been crafted, reformed and consistently cut or terminated by Congress in recent years, and the program faces an uphill battle to gain support.
NO TROOPS IN SOMALIA: Despite increasing concerns about unrest in Somalia, it's unlikely that the United States will send troops there to help bring stability soon, said Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, European Command deputy commander. "I don't see it now," said Ward, a former brigade commander in Somalia.
SHIPBUILDING: In February, the U.S. Navy will submit a proposed fiscal 2008 budget that should include a call for acquisition funds for one CVN 21 aircraft carrier - advance procurement funding for which has been approved by Congress every year since FY '01- one SSN attack submarine, two futuristic DDG-1000 destroyers whose procurement was started in FY '07 with partial funding, and three Littoral Combat Ships.
Jan. 9 - 12, 2007 -- 2007 Worldwide Personnel Recovery Conference and Exhibition: Advancing Personnel Recovery Capacity Through Partnerships, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information call (703) 247-2568, www.ndia.org. Jan. 22 - 24 -- Institute for Defense and Government Advancement 5th Annual Conference Image Fusion 2007: Improving Visualization for Better Situational Awareness, Hilton Old Town, Alexandria, Va. For more information call (800) 882-8684 or (973) 256-0211, fax: (973) 256-0205, www.idga.org.
There's still no official approval to start a new separate African command, Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, European Command deputy commander, said Jan. 5. Ward doesn't know if there will be an African command, as has been recommended, he said during a breakfast meeting with reporters. Part of the uncertainty is due to a lack of detail about how such a command would be set up, where it would be located, who would be a part of it and how it would impact other commands that now oversee African operations, he said.
NASA is shooting for a first crewed flight of its Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle in October 2013, according to a just-released draft request for proposals (RFP) for the Ares I rocket's upper stage. President Bush set a deadline of 2014 for the debut of the Orion, which will take over for the space shuttle as America's means of transporting humans to space. The shuttle is scheduled to retire in 2010, and NASA has been trying to accelerate the Orion's debut to minimize the gap.
PARIS -- France has OK'd full-scale development of a naval cruise missile, joining the select ranks of the U.S., Russia and China -- the only other nations with a homegrown naval cruise missile capability. The 1,000 km-plus class Naval Scalp, derived from the Scalp/Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile developed by MBDA for France and the U.K., will equip French Fremm multimission frigates and nuclear-powered Barracuda attack submarines, and could serve as a basis for future enhancements of the airborne weapon as well.
ANTI-IED SUPPORT: VSE Corp. reported Jan. 4 that it was awarded a new $164.8 million contract task order under its Rapid Response Support Contract with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command for technical support services for countermine and counter-improvised explosive devices missions. The task order was received during the fourth quarter of 2006. Work will be performed by VSE's subcontractor, ManTech International Corp., at multiple locations in the United States, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
CHIEF CASEY: The Bush administration is tapping Army Gen. George Casey, currently commander of coalition forces in Iraq, to become the next Army chief of staff. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Jan. 5 that as a former vice chief of staff, "Casey has the unique experience of having served at the highest levels on both the institutional and operational side of the Army."
The best way for Special Operations Forces (SOF) to do their business clandestinely abroad could be to allow them to directly fund and supply foreign operatives, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. SOF do have the legal authority to directly provide funding or arms, the CRS report said.
Democrats took over Congress Jan. 4, declaring increased military readiness and equipment reset to be one of their top 10 legislative priorities across both chambers while also calling for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
EARTH IMAGING: Ball Aerospace will build the second-generation commercial Earth-imaging WorldView 2 satellite for DigitalGlobe, set for launch in late 2008. The Boulder, Colo.-based spacecraft manufacturer is already at work on WorldView 1 for DigitalGlobe, with launch scheduled by the middle of this year, and it also built the company's QuickBird spacecraft currently in orbit.
JLTV BIDDER: AM General and General Dynamics Land Systems announced Jan. 3 that they will form a joint venture to compete for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. General Tactical Vehicles is the first-ever collaborative project for the two U.S. defense companies, both of whom were awarded JLTV "Best Technical Approach" trade studies by the Office of Naval Research in 2006 (DAILY, Aug. 31, 2006). Lockheed Martin Corp. and Armor Holdings Inc. last fall similarly announced a teaming effort for the JLTV (DAILY, Oct. 11, 2006).
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $619 million contract to produce the first two fire units for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, the company announced Jan. 4. The two fire units include 48 interceptors, six launchers and two fire control and communications units. Final assembly, integration and testing of production equipment will take place at Lockheed Martin facilities in Troy, Ala., and Camden, Ark.
The U.S. Air Force says its plan to prevent another terrorist attack using hijacked jets is on track, despite service auditors' comments that the program is over budget and behind schedule. The service plans to award another estimated $47 million in work by February for the Battle Control Systems, a national airspace security network charged with a variety of defense missions, including stopping drug smuggling.
CLOTHING DEAL: ADS Inc. announced Jan. 3 that it was awarded a $220 million contract to manage and procure the U.S. Army's new Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS). The one-year contract includes options for four additional $220 million one-year extensions, bringing it to more than $1.1 billion if fully exercised. As the lead integrator, ADS will lead a team of more than 10 U.S.
JULES VERNE ADVANCES: Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) space tug has completed an 18-day environmental test campaign, moving the new-generation freighter one step closer to qualification. The final step in qualification will involve completion of closed-loop functional tests intended to verify the compatibility of ATV flight software with the overall design.
Astronomers working with the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope believe they have found evidence of the first visible structure in the universe, clumps of patchy infrared light that can be observed when the light of closer stars and galaxies is masked. "We have shut down the lights of the universe to see the outlines of its first fireworks," says Alexander Kashlinsky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the lead author of two reports on the findings to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
MALD RISK: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon Missile Systems $8.4 million more for the current Miniature Air Launched Decoy system development and demonstration for "risk-reduction activities," according to a Dec. 22, 2006, announcement from the Pentagon. The work, slated to wrap up by December 2007, includes additional qualification testing and subsystems life test, as well as supporting additional flight-test planning and post-test analysis. The decoy is a programmable aircraft designed to duplicate the flight profile and radar signature of U.S.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Boeing are joining forces with Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) on a five-year hypersonic test program to be flown over the Woomera range in southern Australia.
