IRAQI CONTROL: The Iraqi government will assume control of some of its soldiers, sailors and airmen starting early next month, according to U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq. "The majority of Iraqi (army) divisions will remain under coalition forces initially," Caldwell explained at a news briefing Aug.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Co., Ft. Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,324,425 firm fixed price contract modification. The contract provides for provisioned items order modification, which will procure the spare parts for the Greece Peace Xenia IV F-16C/D aircraft. At this time $6,324,425 has been obligated. The work will be complete in June 2007. Headquarters 84th Combat Sustainment Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. (FA8212-06-C-0012/PM0017)
Officials from the U.S. Air Force Future Concepts Division have been meeting with national experts involved in space-based solar power to discuss the feasibility of developing such a capability. The division - which sets up future war-gaming scenarios for the service and helps design road maps for Air Force technology and interests - has been talking with the experts to determine what equipment, legislation and other changes would be needed to make space-based solar power possible.
SHORTAGE DENIED: The United Kingdom's defense ministry has denied a British newspaper report that said U.K. soldiers in Afghanistan have a shortage of ammunition and other equipment. "British soldiers in Afghanistan have not been left without ammunition or other core equipment," a spokesman said Aug. 28. "As with any other operation, some equipment is used more quickly than other types of equipment.
DEMO PHASE: Now that the Boeing and Lockheed Martin teams vying for the contract to build the U.S. Air Force's Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) network have demonstrated their systems' ability to handle basic waveform manipulation, the companies are about to face more stringent tests. Demonstrations running through next spring will focus on the teams' systems ability to truly create an orbital Internet protocol with laser links - the keys to making TSAT work.
Aug. 29 - 31 -- AUSVI's Unmanned Systems North America 2006, Orlando, Fla. For more information call (703) 845-9671 or go to www.ausvi.org. Sept. 4 - 6 -- Maritime Systems and Technology Conference for Defense, Security and Safety, Acropolis Convention & Exhibition Center, Nice, France. For more information go to www.mastconfex.com.
TAKING IN TEXAS: The U.S. Navy is commissioning the USS Texas, the second Virginia-class attack submarine, on Sept. 9, with First Lady Laura Bush as the ship's sponsor. The boat sports a nuclear reactor plant that will not require refueling during the planned life of the ship, cutting lifecycle costs while increasing sailing time. Troubles during production forced the Bush administration to request $136 million for further cost growth in the Texas next fiscal year, raising the ire of some lawmakers (DAILY, June 21).
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Space Command on Aug. 25 issued new common federal launch safety standards that they said were designed to create consistent, integrated space launch rules. "The consistent government approach will make expendable commercial rocket launch operations safer, more efficient and less costly," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said.
The Defense Department said Aug. 24 that the Air Force awarded both Aerojet General Corp. and ATK Thiokol $49 million contracts apiece to help kick off "major" efforts to develop new or enhanced technologies in missile propulsion and related inspection systems and service-life assessment tools. The work follows the Pentagon's priority to transition new technologies into propulsion systems for a prompt global strike capability, a land-based strategic deterrent and an operationally responsive space lift system, according to the DOD.
The U.S. Navy's master plan for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) should be published for industry's digestion by the end of the year, according to Capt. Paul Ims in the Program Executive Office for Littoral and Mine Warfare. Ims said Aug. 24 at a USV industry briefing in Arlington, Va., that the master plan should be out within the next four months, although he did not have a specific date for release.
SUB TEST: The Virginia-class attack submarine North Carolina is scheduled to be hull pressurized and tested Aug. 31 - a key milestone for the vessel. The nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines are the replacements for the Los Angeles-class fleet.
For the U.S. Army aviation community, the current fiscal year has yielded fewer fatalities but chalked up a greater number of serious accidents - one of the worst records in the service's recorded history - according to Army statistics and an Aerospace Daily computer analysis of the service's aviation accident records. Army aviation accidents lead to 31 deaths, the lowest number in the past couple of years and below the three-year average of 26 fatalities, according to service accident statistics released Aug. 23, near the end of the 2006 fiscal year.
The U.S. Air Force says its planned satellite launches over the next three years should be enough to fill any gaps created by development problems with Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft. "The Air Force has seven IIR-M satellites that will launch in the next three years to ensure the GPS constellation is sustained," the service said Aug. 23 in a statement. The Pentagon's recent Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) from Aug. 11 shows why the Air Force will need to do more to sustain the GPS service.
HELO HELP: The Aerospace Industries Association's Rotor Wing Revitalization Project Working Group will wrap up its work next month, and its recommendations will be presented to Ken Krieg, the Pentagon's acquisition chief. At the May 18 meeting at AIA headquarters in Arlington, Va., the working group shared ideas on ways to reduce the loss of helicopters in combat. The discussion focused on both crew-related and enemy actions. Since November, the group has held three in-person meetings.
AFGHAN AIR: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center awarded Readiness Management Support LC a roughly $29.8 million contract for air traffic control (ATC) and other related services for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, according to an Aug. 24 announcement from the Pentagon.
C-5 AMP: The spotlight will now be a bit brighter on the Air Force's Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). The Defense Department submitted an initial Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) for the program, included with the Pentagon SAR report on Aug. 11. The C-5 AMP has a current estimated cost of about $859 million. The SAR will track and report its increases, decreases and other program changes.
COMM WORK: CACI International Inc. said Aug. 24 that it has been awarded a $96.4 million recompete contract to continue its work for the Special Communications Requirements Division of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division in St. Inigoes, Md. CACI said it will design, build, test, and integrate mobile communications systems for homeland security and the war on terrorism.
The Kennedy Space Center countdown for the planned launch of Atlantis began 6 hours early on Aug. 24 to provide an extra margin for the loading of electrical fuel cell cryogenics as thunderstorms were a threat at the launch site. The liftoff of STS-115 is planned for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Aug. 27 to reinitiate assembly of the International Space Station with a $372 million, 7.5-ton solar array truss.
