Britain is signing up for the U.S. Trident D5 life extension program as part of its overall effort to sustain its nuclear deterrent. Prime Minister Tony Blair also told the British Parliament on Dec. 4 that the government intends to purchase new ballistic missile submarines to replace the existing Trident-class by the mid 2020s. Blair is also raising the possibility the U.K. could reduce its fleet of ballistic missile submarines from four to three.
CAMBONE QUITS: Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone has resigned effective Dec. 31, the Defense Department has announced. Cambone was confirmed for the post in March 2003. Before that, he served as director, program analysis and evaluation, in the Office of Secretary of Defense; principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy; and special assistant to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense.
PAVEWAY DISPUTE: Lockheed Martin Corp. said it is a fully qualified provider of Paveway II laser-guided bomb (LGB) kits and is delivering these systems to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. The statement came in response to Raytheon Co.'s assertion Nov. 30 that it was the sole provider of the Paveway family of precision-guided weapons (DAILY, Dec. 1). Raytheon had announced it was awarded a $2 million contract for its Paveway II LGB kits in a winner-take-all Air Force competition.
Stung by recent criticism from the U.S. air warfare old guard about the touted F-22 Raptor's inherent maneuvering and dogfighting capabilities, Air Force leaders are going on the offensive. Air Combat Command has invited Raptor detractors - former Air Force and other combat jet experts who say the F-22 is a step backward for fighters - to visit Langley Air Force Base, Va., in December to see the fighter in action, talk to pilots and address their concerns.
Top EADS officials vow to keep a keep a close watch on the A400M military airlifter program to ensure planned course corrections are implemented to deliver the aircraft on time in about three years. The A400M was subject to an extensive review by EADS to ensure it wasn't suffering hidden problems. The review was launched after problems were unearthed on the Airbus A380 passenger aircraft, which has forced EADS to restate earnings and take a serious financial hit.
NASA has unveiled early plans for establishing a lunar base at either the south or north poles of the moon that would be home to future astronauts staying up to 180 days following NASA's return to the moon before the end of the next decade. The polar regions are considered desirable because of the large amount of sunlight they receive, their relative lack of temperature variation, and the fact that little is known about them scientifically. Right now the agency is leaning toward the south pole.
NO RFP UPDATE: The U.S. Air Force's promised update to a Sept. 25 draft request for proposals for the KC-X future refueling tanker was not released on Dec. 4 as planned. Sue Payton, the service's acquisition chief, said Nov. 30 "when you read the language ... it will make things much clearer" on controversial issues surrounding the program, including the Air Force's request for information from bidders - Boeing vs. a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team - on whether a ruling on an ongoing trade dispute before the World Trade Organization could affect pricing.
Defense Department contracting and program personnel did not comply with acquisition rules and regulations when using non-DOD acquisition contracts, the Pentagon's inspector general's office found in a Nov. 13 report on a review of DOD contracting through NASA.
POGO PLEA: The Project on Government Oversight is urging Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) to look into an alleged "upsurge" in no-bid commercial items contracts. The friendly request -- the lawmakers are vocal supporters of acquisition reform and oversight -- stems from a Sept.
GUARDED GROWTH: Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, still opposes cuts to Air National Guard personnel levels and continues to call for even increasing the ranks beyond 106,000 - a countermove to active Air Force and Air Force Reserve reduction plans. Blum admits he's doing "a very delicate kabuki dance" with Air Force, Pentagon and congressional leaders as he tries to determine exactly what size the Air Guard should be.
F-18 ATFLIRS: The U.S. Navy has ordered $28 million worth of repairs from Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems for Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared Radar (ATFLIR) Systems on the F/A-18 aircraft, especially the Electro-Optical Sensor Unit. The work will be performed in El Segundo, Calif., and is expected to be completed by December 2007.
DISPOSABLE EW: Top BAE Systems officials who are mapping the company's future technology investments say there may be transmitters in a few years so small they can be spray-painted onto a surface, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) one-tenth the size and cost -- but several times the capability -- of current designs and disposable electronic warfare (EW) systems that are cheaper to replace than repair.
RETIREMENT ISSUE: U.S. Air Force leaders are pushing the aircraft retirement issue again, claiming they will have to retire an additional 654 aging aircraft over the latest five-year defense budget plan, according to a slick new brochure being passed around Washington. Congress is letting them retire 302 of 354 aircraft they requested during fiscal 2007 under the recent defense authorization act, although 108 were "further restricted" by lawmakers as to the condition or timing of retirement (DAILY, Oct. 4).
IRAQ OPTIONS: The rumors about what the military's study group is looking at for future Iraq plans are probably all true, says Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Bits and pieces somehow are leaking out," he says. "When somebody hears one end of the spectrum or the other," that get reported as the primary plan. "It's part of the whole spectrum we're looking at, whether it's...beefing up or ...skinnying down.
GRINCH TIME: As the holidays near -- and even though Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has resigned -- wary program officials in the Pentagon and industry are preparing for a third annual surprise budget slashing. The White House and Pentagon are finalizing the second fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriation request, which is expected to come in between $130-$160 billion.
HEZBOLLAH PSYOPS: Hezbollah is incapable of penetrating and exploiting the Israeli army's tactical radio systems as it claimed it did during the recent fighting in Lebanon, say senior U.S. electronics industry officials. Even so, the militant Islamic organization is parlaying the results of a relatively common signals intelligence capability, analyzing communications traffic and intercepting cell phone calls into a major psychological warfare victory, say U.S. officials. The success has been so complete that both Israel Defense Force and U.S.
Dec. 5 - 6 -- SMi: NATO Defence Procurement: Objectives, Programs and Opportunities; Brussels. For more information call +44 (0) 20 7827 6000, fax: +44 (0) 20 7827 6001; email: [email protected]. Dec. 5 - 6 -- Aerospace & Defense Finance Conference, CSFB Headquarters, New York City, N.Y. For information call Lydia Janow at (212) 904-3225 or (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 or go to http://www.aviationweek.com/ conferences.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) formally opened for business Dec. 1, embarking on a two-year plan to consolidate Atlas and Delta rocket operations primarily in Denver, Colo., and Decatur, Ala. ULA is a 50-50 joint venture between Atlas builder Lockheed Martin and Delta manufacturer Boeing that will have just under $2 billion in annual sales at startup. The company begins life with 3,800 employees total - 1,500 from the Atlas program and 2,300 from Delta.
PAD RESTRICTION: For safety reasons, NASA will be placing additional restrictions on access to the launch pad in the final days leading up to the planned Dec. 7 liftoff of shuttle Discovery on mission STS-116. The agency's concern is over composite tanks, known as over-wrap pressure vessels, which are used to pressurize systems on the orbiter. Evidence suggests that the tanks, developed 25 years ago, could fail over time. "We have an aggressive test program under way to try to understand how that affects us," Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale says.
The U.S. Navy has funded an $860.6 million contract modification to a previously awarded contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. for continued work on the futuristic CVN 21 aircraft carrier program. The base contract modification is valued at roughly $754 million with an additional $106.7 million in options. This expected additional work brings the total value of the contract to $2.2 billion, according to the company.
