ONWARD TRANSFORMATION: Transformation "remains a necessity and a priority," new Defense Secretary Robert Gates said moments after being sworn in as the 22nd such cabinet member Dec. 18. Gates praised predecessor Donald Rumsfeld for his service and especially his emphasis on military transformation. He said that much had been accomplished in making the Defense Department more agile and expeditionary in warfighting, but "much" is left to do.
L-3 Communications was forced to lower its 2007 sales guidance by $500 million on Dec. 18 after the surprise loss of a multibillion-dollar contract to provide linguists to the U.S. government.
The first production Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II flew Dec. 15, initiating a six-year, 12,000-hour flight test program involving 15-20 airplanes. Company officials say the 32-minute flight, which originated and ended at Lockheed Martin facilities at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, went as planned (DAILY, Dec. 18).
PAKISTANI FALCONS: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. $161 million for F-16 A/B Mid-Life updates for Pakistan's F-16 Block 15 aircraft. The procurement of 34 modernization kits for F-16A Block 15 aircraft will occur under the firm-fixed price portion of the contract. The award, announced Dec. 14, runs through November 2010.
Astronauts Robert Curbeam and Crister Fuglesang were carefully poking, pulling and shaking a balky solar array on the International Space Station late Dec. 18, but at press time had not been able to finish retracting it.
MISSILE RANGE SUPPORT: Computer Sciences Corp. announced Dec. 18 that New Mexico Technology Group (NewTec) has been awarded a contract to provide mission support services to the White Sands Missile Range and the 46th Test Group High Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. NewTec is a joint venture owned by CSC, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Trax International. CSC said the value of the contract, which has a two-year base period and four two-year options, could be $422 million if fully exercised.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is slipping the next Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system test from this month to no earlier than April. MDA Director USAF Lt. Gen. Henry Obering says a pulse code modulator must be redesigned in the GMD interceptor before the next test can take place (DAILY, Dec. 11). Although the hardware did not cause specific problems during the last test in September, officials found a 20-percent chance it could fail in future trials and cut off all telemetry without a redesign. This fix will be added only to test assets.
SDB TESTING: Boeing's McDonnell Douglas Corp. was awarded a $13 million contract modification covering test assets in support of the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) I program's integration on threshold and follow-on aircraft, the Defense Department said Dec. 15. This test hardware will support SDB integration of F-16 Block 30, F-16 Block 40/50 and F-22A, while maintaining interoperability on the F-15E. It also goes toward testing of the universal armament interface for the SDB II program.
COUNTERDRUG OPS: The U.S. Air Force has awarded DynCorp International LLC a $14 million contract modification to perform Forward Operation Location-Base Operating Support (FOL-BOS) services for the U.S. Southern Command's aerial counter-drug surveillance mission at Reina Beatrix IAP Aruba, HATO IAP Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and Eloy Alfaro IAP Manta, Ecuador. U.S.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $45,541,459 firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for F-22 Program Support/Annual Sustaining (PSAS) Period J, January 2007 through December 2007. At this time, total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete December 2007. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-97-C-0031/P00082). NAVY
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $9,600,000 firm-fixed-price contract modification. This action provides for foreign military peculiar support equipment for the Greek F16 new aircraft program. This effort supports foreign military sales to Greece. At this time, $4,790,400 has been obligated. This work will be complete by February 2009. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8615-06-C-6003/P00005). NAVY
Loral Space & Communications and Bell Canada affiliate BCE have agreed to combine their satcom holdings into a new company. The CAD3.4 billion ($2.95 billion) agreement includes the assumption of CAD172 million worth of debt. Under the deal, to be financed through a combination of debt and equity, Loral and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSB Investments) of Canada will jointly acquire Telesat Canada and fold it, along with Loral's Loral Skynet operating affiliate, into a new company to be called Telesat.
FOREIGN MIDS-LVTS: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command exercised a $5 million delivery order for Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVTs) for Finland and Belgium. The MIDS-LVT provides secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant digital data and voice communications capability for seam, air and ground platforms. The award, announced Dec. 15 by the Defense Department, runs through May 2008.
An Orbital Sciences Minotaur I rocket orbited two government spacecraft Dec. 16 from a new commercial launch facility on Wallops Island, Va. Liftoff of the four-stage solid-fuel rocket came at 7 a.m. EST, and it deployed the U.S. Air Force's TacSat-2 satellite as planned 11 minutes later. Riding piggyback on the Air Force satellite was GeneSat-1, a 10-pound biology experiment fielded by NASA's Ames Research Center.
Developing and fielding the U.S. Navy's planned Extended Range Munition (ERM) and Zumwalt-class destroyer has required more money and time than planned and still may never offer the capabilities originally promised, congressional auditors told lawmakers recently. When these systems began development, they were supposed to be fielded by 2001 and 2008, respectively. Now plans call for fielding to begin in 2011 and 2014, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported to House Armed Services projection forces subcommittee leaders last month.
ATFLIR PODS: The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awarded Raytheon Co. a $156.3 million contract modification for 50 full-rate production Lot 5 Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pods for the F/A-18C/D and F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas (76 percent) and El Segundo, Calif. (24 percent) and is expected to be completed in November 2009.
The eighth spacecraft in Japan's Engineering Test Satellite series (ETS-8) deployed its solar arrays and began tracking the sun following launch early Dec. 18 on an H-IIA rocket from the launch site on Tanegashima Island.
UAV ORBITS: U.S. Air Force unmanned aircraft capability should increase to 21 total orbits by 2010 to meet increased demand for real-time digital full motion video and intelligence analysis, the service's top two officials say. The Air Force already has grown to 10 orbits now. "Orbit" refers to the capability to fly around a desired target for a constant, long-duration period. Air National Guard units flying F-16s with Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System pods bolster these capabilities, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen.
The U.S. Air Force's incremental approach to developing and deploying its Transformational Satellite (TSAT) network is raising questions about the system's ultimate capabilities and cost. Last year, Air Force officials talked of a five-satellite network for TSAT that not only would provide laser links between the spacecraft but also down to the ground as the network grew. The estimated cost for TSAT was about $18 billion.
SMART FIRES: Precision-guided munitions have the potential to deliver far greater precision and lethality in naval surface fire support missions compared with unguided munitions, but the high cost of procurement -- up to $54,500 per round for the Extended Range Munition against $1,633 (2008 prices) for the current five-inch projectile -- could preclude the U.S. Navy from deploying them in the large quantities proposed for high or long-duration volume fires, congressional auditors report.
