SHIPBUILDING FAVORABLE: Defense shipbuilding increasingly looks favorable as changes in control of the Pentagon and Capitol Hill align with a growing consensus across Washington that the Navy's and Coast Guard's fleets should be built up and modernized. Top Northrop Grumman Corp. executives pointed investors last week to growing agreement in Congress to spend more each year under the Navy's 30-year shipbuilding plan. Meanwhile, Congress has repeatedly boosted funding toward the Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program.
Claims that ground-based radars have discredited the theory that water ice is hidden in cold traps at the moon's poles are "overwrought," says noted lunar scientist Paul Spudis, and not borne out by the "preponderance of evidence."
BALLISTIC COSTS: According to an annual October report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that looks at military spending between now and 2024, total investment costs for missile defense are expected to hit their highest point in 2016: $15 billion ($18 billion, if cost risks are included). The spending peak is three years later than the CBO had anticipated a year ago, largely due to delays in a few of the programs.
The House Armed Services Committee, for now under Republican control and led by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), will host a Nov. 14 hearing to receive testimony on the national security implications of the proposed Lucent/Alcatel merger.
FIXED PRICE: The Defense Department is proposing to amend Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations to add an exception to the requirement for a written determination before using a fixed-price type contract for a development program, according to a Nov. 9 announcement in the Federal Register. The exception would apply to contracts for systems integration of commercial, off-the-shelf information technology under the DOD Enterprise Software Initiative. Comments on the proposed rule should be submitted by Jan. 8, ahead of an expected final rule.
BUOYING BOEING: Boeing may get a shot in the arm as ascendant Democrats play musical committee chairs in the weeks ahead. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) was expected to take over the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, but he has decided to seek the House majority leader's post. Even though Murtha is an outspoken defense advocate, his decision isn't necessarily bad news for defense contractors -- and especially not Boeing. Next in seniority among Democrats on the subcommittee is Rep.
MEET THE NEW BOSS: Buried in the consensus belief that defense appropriations won't change much is the notion that a few old school, earmark-friendly Democratic appropriators are set to take the reins. Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), already the top Democratic defense appropriator, wants to become House majority leader. But some Capitol Hill observers think Democratic whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) will win, leaving Murtha to appropriations. And if Murtha did win, defense spending hawk Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.) likely would lead defense appropriations.
The departure of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and new Democratic control of the House and Senate could change the acquisition and makeup of the tactical air fleet for the U.S. military, analysts say. The key change, they say, will be the Air Force's attempt "and probable success" in securing more stealthy F-22 Raptors beyond the 181 ceiling set by Rumsfeld's Pentagon.
The Indian Space Research Organization hopes to develop a human-rated spacecraft that can be orbited by upgrades of one of its existing launch vehicles, and is rounding up the necessary paperwork for government clearance of a $2.2-billion manned orbital mission in 2014.
MORE FOR ARMY: The Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) is calling on Congress to provide "full, timely and predictable funding" for the Army, and boost the service's share of the defense budget from 24 percent to 28 percent. AUSA's 2007 resolutions also recommend increasing overall defense spending from its current level of less than 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.
RUMSFELD RUMINATIONS: Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the realities of the so-called global war on terror do not correspond to the yearly federal budgetary process. It takes a year to craft a budget, another to get it approved by Congress and a third to execute that then somewhat stale program, he said. "The department is currently drawing up proposed legislation to reform existing regulations and authorities ... that still hamper effective U.S. action," he said.
TEEING UP: After performing "extensive analysis," International Space Station (ISS) prime contractor Boeing concluded that the golf balls which Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin plans to drive away from the ISS during his Nov. 22 spacewalk will not do any damage if they somehow strike the station, according to Joy Bryant, Boeing's ISS Program Manager. Boeing was instrumental in convincing the Russian organizers of the commercially sponsored event to switch from 15-gram (0.5-ounce) balls to 3-gram (0.1-ounce) balls, she says.
The U.S. Army has ordered 34 additional UH-145 Light Utility Helicopters, bringing the total number of aircraft purchased to 42, contractor EADS North America announced Nov. 9. The LUH requirement is for up to 322 helicopters with a potential total program life-cycle value of more than $2 billion. EADS North America, the prime contractor for the UH-145, was selected by the Army to provide the UH-145 for the Light Utility Helicopter mission requirement on June 30. The value of the new order is $170 million.
BLUE TO GREEN: Only 172 U.S. airmen and sailors transferred into the Army in fiscal 2006, short of the "Blue to Green" program's goal of 200, according to defense officials. The interservice transfers - offered to airmen and sailors identified for discharges - follow efforts to boost ground ranks while air and naval forces are cut to help pay costs. Officials claim a "pretty good jump-start" this fiscal year, with 88 officers and enlisted personnel already approved and another 65 pending.
Nov. 13 - 15 -- Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Programs, Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. For information call Lydia Janow at 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 or go to http://www.aviationweek.com/conferences. Nov. 14 - 15 -- AAS National Conference and 53rd Annual Meeting: "The Human + Machine Equation," Pasadena Hilton, Pasadena, Calif. For more information call (703) 866-0020 or go to www.astronautical.org.
PROCESS TENSION: While immediate defense appropriations are not expected to change much, if at all, under Democratic congressional control and after Donald Rumsfeld's departure, tension between Capitol Hill and the White House is set to rise as the two government branches battle about budget making. In particular, supplemental spending will come under intensified scrutiny just as the largest-yet supplemental request could travel down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The official word from the Pentagon is that major acquisition programs - based largely on the transformation and jointness concepts championed by outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - will continue without interruption despite the secretary's resignation.
NASA and Lockheed Martin are trying to regain full communications with the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter, which appears to have entered a pre-programmed safe mode after having difficulty moving one of its solar arrays.
The Navy is focusing on how to use directed energy and unmanned aerial vehicles for electronic warfare, according to Bryan Fox of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. DE programs are of particular concern, Fox said Nov. 8 in his briefing, "Enhanced Surface Electronic Capabilities for the Navy," during the 43rd Annual AOC (Association of Old Crows) International Symposium and Convention in Washington. "It's going to change the way we fight," Fox said.
NAVAL RESEARCH: The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory has chosen Telephonics Corp. for a $17.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to select commercial, off-the-shelf hardware for a prototype system to "evaluate the performance and effectiveness of discriminator algorithms in a more vigorous airborne environment." Two demonstration systems will collect data, one of which collects flight data and the other shore data, according to a Nov. 8 contract announcement.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has joined the Rocketplane Kistler team developing the K-1 two-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle under NASA's Commercial Orbital Space Transportation (COTS) seed-money effort, which is also helping fund the Space X Falcon 9 development. The Utah-based company will oversee final development of the K-1; its assembly at the government-owned Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans; construction of an initial launch site in Woomera, Australia, and eventually handle launch operations.
