MDA APL: The Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency has turned to Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory for a $164 million contract for scientific and engineering research and development in ballistic missile defense and related technology; intelligence; and battle management command, control and communication. The sole-source work will be performed in Laurel, Md., and is expected to be complete by December 2011, the Defense Department said Dec. 14.
RADAR REPAIR: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a potentially eight-year, $120.7 million performance-based logistics contract for repair of the P3C Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Aircraft's APS-137 radar system units. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be complete by December 2016, the Defense Department said Dec. 14. The contract was not competitively procured.
NEW GUIDELINES: The European Commission has issued new guidelines for when EU countries should open defense procurements to competitive bidding. The rules are part of a larger European effort to reduce national bidding restrictions, Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy says. "The next step is to propose new legislation that will increase competition, deliver better value for money to taxpayers in the procurement of defense equipment, and give the European defense industry a much-needed boost," he says.
LIGHTNING FLIES: Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) completed its first flight at company facilities in Ft. Worth Texas Dec. 15. The stealth fighter took off at 1:44 p.m. Eastern Time and flew for approximately 35 minutes. After takeoff, pilot Jon Beesley climbed to 15,000 feet and performed a series of maneuvers to test handling and engine performance, with two F-16s and an F/A-18 serving as chase aircraft. The flight formally kicks off the aircraft's flight test program.
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she wants to overhaul the way Congress oversees the intelligence budget. As one of the Democrats' first acts when they take control of the House in January, Pelosi says, they'll create a new oversight panel to check on the administration's intelligence budget.
ASV AWARD: The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command on Dec. 7 awarded Textron Marine & Land Systems Division of New Orleans a $7 million contract modification for Phase I of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort for the Armored Security Vehicle Program. Work will be performed in New Orleans, La., and is expected to be completed in June 2009, the Defense Department said Dec. 14.
AERO GAP: The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) working on America's next-generation air transportation system (NGATS) is conducting an analysis to determine what impact the NASA aeronautics directorate's shift toward fundamental research and away from demonstration projects may have on NGATS development. "This raises the question of what entity will do the developmental work that will be important to NGATS," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a recent report.
USV SENSOR: The U.S. Navy has awarded a four-year, $24 million contract to Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. for development and integration of a multipurpose sensor system, associated technologies, engineering and technical support for the Autonomous Maritime Navigation program to be used on unmanned surface vehicles. Teammates include Technology Solutions Inc., West Virginia Institute of Technology, Marshall University and Technology, Research, Development and Education Institution.
NEW TORPEDOES: The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command says the first Warshot MK 48 Mod 7 Advanced Capability Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System Heavyweight Torpedoes were delivered to the U.S. fleet and loaded aboard the USS Pasadena in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7. The torpedo is the result of a joint project between the United States and Australia and will be the primary weapon aboard both countries' submarines. Coupled with the AN/BYG-1 Combat Control System, also cooperatively developed, the torpedo is optimized for shallow water operations.
NASA'S GLOBAL HAWKS: NASA and the U.S. Air Force are working out the final details of the anticipated transfer of two Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, which is expected to take place by summer 2007. Since the aircraft are in the older ACTD (advanced concept technology demonstration) configuration, NASA must make sure it can still buy replacement parts for the vehicles before it takes ownership.
CARRIER CONSTRUCTION: To remove France's new PA2 aircraft carrier from uncertainties that might result from presidential elections in mid-2007, French defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie says she intends to launch construction and place orders for long-lead components such as deck catapults early next year. A final bid based on the British CVF design is expected to be submitted by the end of this month. As for the existing Charles de Gaulle, the catapults will be designed and built in the U.S.
The contract selection and award schedule for the U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) is starting to firm up, industry sources say. The "phase two discussions" for the small intratheater-lift aircraft are scheduled to end Dec. 29. The final proposals are due Jan. 25. Raytheon/EADS is offering the C-295 and L-3 Communications/Alenia North America/Boeing is offering the C-27J for JCA.
A B-52 Stratofortress took off from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Dec. 15 on a flight test using a blend of synthetic fuel and JP-8 in all eight engines -- the first one flown using a "synfuel-blend" as the only fuel on board, Air Force officials said. In September, the Air Force successfully flew a B-52 with two-engines using the synfuel-blend (DAILY, Sept. 22). Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Air Force flight test commander, flew the aircraft to assess how well it performs using the new fuel.
CRYPTOGRAPHIC CORE: The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center has awarded Harris Corp. a potentially $12 million contract to develop the cryptographic core used in a variety of ground-based satellite terminals in support of the higher data rates and increased information security demands imposed by modern waveforms and increased security guidelines.
DOD SBIR: RAND Corp. researchers have found that Defense Department Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program research topics align well with the Pentagon's priorities while remaining flexible enough to focus in areas that are more appropriate for small businesses. But they also discovered other trends during the course of their research that might be cause for concern, they write in a December report to Congress. For example, the DOD SBIR program is managed in a manner that may be too lean.
Dec. 19 -- The European Aviation Club's Christmas reception at EUROCONTROL Headquarters featuring Victor Aguado, Director General of EUROCONTROL and Daniel Calleja, European Commission, Director DG TREN. For information call +322 3730913, email: mia.wouters@ lafili-law.be 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.
RAPTOR RANKS: A total of 31 pilots will end up flying the F-22 Raptor at Langley Air Force Base, Va., as an associate unit, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley. Currently, there are seven pilots trained and flying at Langley and two in training at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Three more pilots begin training at the end of January while 19 more will train in fiscal 2008. Eventually, a total of 410-435 maintainers will end up trained and working on the ramp at Langley.
Although the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) does not discuss ongoing appeals of contract awards, the public releases announcing the award of the Air Force CSAR-X helicopter contract to Boeing could hold clues into what GAO might review. The Air Force said it had selected a medium-lift aircraft for the new CSAR (combat search and rescue) helicopter. But Boeing's own literature calls the selected platform, the HH-47, a heavy-lift aircraft. Air Force officials have played down the wording, calling it essentially a matter of semantics.
KC-X UPDATE: The U.S. Air Force has released an update to the draft request for proposals (RFP) for the $200 billion KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition. The update incorporates changes expected after a Dec. 6 announcement that they were forthcoming. Included is a revision that passes off to the companies any costs incurred by competitors Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS North American stemming from an adverse ruling from the World Trade Organization. The U.S. and Europe are in a dispute regarding aircraft subsidies (DAILY, Dec. 7).
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Orbital Sciences Corporation $27 million for two Minotaur IV rockets that will boost Hypersonic Test Vehicles being developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) FALCON program.
GALILEO SAT SYSTEM: The Galileo Joint Undertaking, the public/private partnership managing development of Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system and negotiating with a concessionaire to operate it, says terms for the concession agreement will be signed before Christmas, and a final contract will come sometime next year. The GJU also says the EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) wide-area GPS augmentation system that will precede Galileo will enter full operation in March 2007.
NMCI SHORTFALL: The Government Accountability Office reports that after six years and $3.7 billion spent, the Navy Marine Corps Intranet program has yet to achieve expectations and may never do so. The project's goal is to provide information superiority and foster innovation in interoperability and shared services, but a plan to monitor how these goals were being met has never been implemented. The Navy has met only 3 of 20 performance targets. The 10-year, $9.3-billion contract was awarded to Electronic Data Systems in 2000.
