The Sea Fighter, the catamaran-hulled experimental craft serving as a concept test bed for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and other futuristic Navy ideas, will become an operationally deployable asset - but first the U.S. Navy apparently has to repair some major damage, according to the fiscal 2007 defense authorization act.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., part of United Technologies Corp., announced Nov. 3 that it has signed an agreement to provide Turkey with 17 new S-70B Seahawk helicopters. First deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2009. The contract is for Lot 2, which adds to seven S-70Bs already in the Turkish navy.
AIR FORCE Symetrics Industries, Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $67,352,765 firm-fixed-price contract. This action provides for production of ALE-47 countermeasures dispensing system Line Replacement Units (LRUs) and shop replaceable units managed by Combat Electronic Systems Directorate at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. At this time, no funds have been obligated. Headquarters Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8540-06-D-0002).
As it prepares to resume night launches next month, NASA is confident that it still will be able to gather useful imagery of the space shuttle during ascent, according to Program Manager Wayne Hale. "At this point, we're as confident as we're likely to get that it's safe to return" to night operations, Hale said during a news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston Nov. 6.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Simulation Training and Support, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $25,583,326 firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable no fee and cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification. This action will exercise/fund option for FY 2007 in support of the C-130 Aircrew Training Systems. At this time, total funds have been obligated. The work will be completed by September 2007. Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-99-C-0195/P00188). ARMY
Vice Adm. Terry Cross (USN Ret.) has been named director of homeland security programs. David J. Schramm has been appointed president and chief executive officer of EADS North America Defense Test and Services.
MODELING & SIMULATION: Modeling and simulation (M&S) software and analytical techniques played a large role in the recent Joint Futures Lab urban operations experiment at U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. Officials there believe M&S shows "great potential" to shorten decision-making time in complex city environments. "The biggest surprise was the power of some of the anticipatory analysis tools," said Dave Ozolek, the lab's executive director.
GLOBAL WARMING PROBE: Inspectors general overseeing NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will probe whether the Bush White House suppressed government-funded research linking greenhouse gases to global warming, and global warming to more intense hurricanes. The issue has simmered since James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, charged he was being censored on the issue by political appointees in NASA's public affairs apparatus.
F-35 ENERGY: After discovering Navy and Air Force plans to cut and delay their portions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England called in senior leaders, including the service secretaries, to "re-energize" the military's dedication to the program and reassure international partners. Although the Navy never made public its proposal to delay production, the move had become known around the Pentagon well in advance of a meeting, planned in about four weeks, of the Defense Acquisition Working Group to discuss JSF.
SPECIAL OPSSPEAK: A gunship without guns? Maybe, the way Air Force Special Operations Command sees it. The command wants a replacement for the AC-130 gunship, which it has internally dubbed the Next-Generation Gunship, or NGG. But answering a reporter's query on the subject, AFSOC officials make clear that it's not that simple. It seems no one wants to offend the non-gun-toting gunships of the world.
India has successfully tested a domestic cryogenic stage for 50 seconds at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, becoming the sixth country to develop a cryogenic rocket stage. The engine, which had been static tested alone for more than 6,000 sec., generated a thrust of 7.5 tons when mounted in its full-up stage. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, says India plans to fly the stage in its Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) flight next year.
F-22 CONTRACT: The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.2 billion firm-fixed-price contract modification on Nov. 1 for long-lead items for F-22 Lot 7. The modification is an extension of a contract initially awarded in December 2005 which was also extended in May, Lockheed spokesman Joseph Quimby said. The money will be used to buy materials and parts needed at the front end of the 30-month process to build the plane. At this time, $403,207,999 has been obligated, the Air Force said. The work will be completed by October 2009.
IRAQI LOGISTICS: Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee, who could take control of the panel if Democrats gain enough seats in the Nov. 7 congressional election, are highlighting concern over the ability of the Iraqi Defense Ministry to assume responsibility for all logistics operations by the end of 2007. A Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction audit released Oct. 28 found that "significant challenges" remain for Iraqi forces to sustain and maintain their own logistics before 2008.
Boeing and Northrop Grumman have been awarded contracts by the U.S. Air Force to enter the second phase of an effort to define the next-generation of polar military communications satellite payloads. Boeing Satellite Systems and Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems both received roughly $8.4 million to continue with the Enhanced Polar System (EPS) payload study. Work on Phase II will be complete by December 2007.
Boeing's proposed PICA heat shield material is considered the leading candidate for protecting NASA's Orion spacecraft during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, although the agency is moving forward with an alternative technology development program in case the PICA material runs into problems.
