The reported 12-to-14-month acquisition delay in U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) proposed in the long-range Navy budget plan would help extend the F-22 production line and could lead to the purchase of even more F-22s than those approved by the Pentagon, analysts say. Officials from the Navy, Air Force, Marines and Lockheed Martin - the prime contractor for both the JSF and F-22 - would not comment about proposed long-term military budgets and their ramifications.
NASA has named its planned Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) "Orion" after the ancient Greek god of the hunt, continuing the practice started in the 1960s with the Apollo lunar-exploration spacecraft. Administrator Michael Griffin has called the Orion vehicle - essentially an Apollo-like capsule/service module arrangement - and its recently named Ares I launch vehicle "Apollo on steroids." At 5 meters in diameter, Orion will have much more volume inside than the 3.9-meter-diameter Apollo, and be able to carry as many as six crew instead of only three.
HERCULES WORK: BAE Systems said Aug. 22 that it has been awarded a contract modification worth $5.1 million to rebuild and upgrade two M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicles for the Marine Corps. The work will start immediately at the company's York, Pa. facility. Delivery is set for December 2007. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. The Marines have purchased a total of 66 Hercules.
While the Army and Air Force prepare to put Team JCA's C-295 and Global Military Aircraft Systems' (GMAS) C-27J Spartan through the operational ringer over the next couple of months to see which aircraft will make up the future Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) fleet, the services and contractors have another equally important battle: getting Congress to put money back in the budget for the plane. "It's a parallel effort, and it's just as important," Howard W. Yellen, GMAS general manager and a retired Army brigadier general, said Aug. 22.
LEBANESE NEEDS: The U.S. Defense Department is studying Lebanese requests for fuel, radios and other equipment that can be used for command, control and logistical needs. Lebanon has requested equipment used by the U.S. military, but it is uncertain whether the Defense Department, NATO countries or a combination of nations would meet the needs, a Pentagon spokesman said Aug. 22. No formal request had been made to the Defense Department as of late Aug. 22.
The U.S. mix of traditional military force and potential nuclear firepower is what best deters other countries from going into large-scale war with the United States, a Congressional Research Service report says.
AIR FORCE Civil Air Patrol Inc., Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., is being awarded a $6,870,000 cooperative agreement contract modification. This modification will increase funding for FY 2006 Civil Air Patrol operation and maintenance for the purchase of land mobile radio requirements as authorized by the FY 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, Section 8025. At this time, total funds have been obligated. The work will be completed by September 2006. The contracting activity is 42d Air Base Wing, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. (F41689-00-2-0001/A00094).
ARMY First Choice Armor and Equipment, Brockton, Mass., was awarded on Aug. 11, 2006, a $38,272,500 firm-fixed-price contract for individual body armor. The work will be performed in Brockton, Mass., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 25, 2006. The Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan, Baghdad, Iraq, is the contracting activity (W91GY0-06-F-0058).
A serendipitous collision between two galaxy clusters at an angle that presents its profile to Earth has given astronomers what they believe is the first clear evidence that dark matter - the most likely explanation for much of the extra gravity in the universe - actually exists.
A reported proposed delay in purchasing Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps would increase the program's cost in the short term, said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group. While prime contractor Lockheed Martin could make up costs over the term of the JSF production line, slated for the next few decades, any such delay would lead to cost increases - and that could make it a target for congressional budget cutters, he said.
Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for a new national security strategy on Aug. 21 in response to President Bush's reiteration to continue heavy U.S. involvement in Iraq.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hamel, the Air Force's program executive officer for space, says that with proper support, he's prepared to deliver on promises to fix problems in satellite acquisition and development.
FIRE CONTROL: The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a contract worth up to $43 million to continue as design agent for the MK92 Fire Control System for the Navy, Coast Guard and international customers, the company said Aug. 21. The MK92 provides integrated X-band radar surveillance, target tracking and weapon fire control capability for naval gun and missile applications. More than 125 shipboard systems have been produced, and the system is deployed in nine different navies. The contract continues three decades of MK92 support to the U.S. Navy, the company said.
EDO UK: EDO Corp. said Aug. 21 that it received a long-term support contract worth $20-$30 million from the U.K. Defense Ministry for technical support, repair and procurement services for all air force and navy aircraft stores carriage-and-release systems and associated ancillary equipment. The five-year Pillar 3 contract is EDO's first major service-related contract in Britain and represents a significant growth area with future expansion opportunity, said James Smith, EDO's chief executive.
AIR FORCE EDO Technical Services Operations, Lancaster, Calif., is being awarded an $18,744,201 firm-fixed price contract. This action provides for the purchase of 267 PLM-4 Radar Signal Simulators used to generate pulse and scan modulated Radio Frequency signals on approximately 25 aircraft platforms. Solicitations began June 2006 and negotiations were complete July 2006. The work will be complete in July 2007. Headquarters Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8523-06-C-0035). NAVY
VEHICLE MAINTENANCE: DRS Test and Energy Management Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., has received a $6.8 million delivery order to provide the U.S. Army with condition-based maintenance and software and hardware development for the Bradley A3, Abrams, Paladin, and possibly M113 vehicles, the Defense Department said Aug. 21. The work will be done in Huntsville and is expected to be finished by Aug. 31, 2007. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Rock Island, Ill.
ATK Missile Systems Company's Clearwater, Fla.-based Integrated Systems Division has been awarded a $21.1 million contract to provide the United States, U.K, and Norway militaries with AAR-47(V)2 Missile Approach Warning Set hardware weapons replacement assemblies, the Defense Department said Aug. 21. Under the contract, 1,196 optical sensor converters with laser warning capabilities; 203 control indicators; and 322 computer processor upgrade kits will be provided.
European Space Agency planners expect the Smart-1 lunar orbiter to crash into the "Lake of Excellence" in the mid-southern latitudes at 1:41 a.m. Eastern time Sept. 3, giving large telescopes in the Americas a good view of the impact. Controllers have spent the past month adjusting the experimental spacecraft's perilune for the controlled touchdown, which otherwise would have come on Aug. 17 on the far side of the moon.
The upgraded A-10c Thunderbolt will be able strike enemy targets at night and take out rooftop snipers with pinpoint precision, a U.S. Air Force official said Aug. 18. Lt. Col. Kevin Campbell recounted how as an A-10 pilot in Afghanistan in 2003, the aircraft was unable to detect enemy movement at night. "Our enemy exploited that," Campbell said during a press briefing on the A-10c upgrades. Now, with the C model targeting pods, the pilots will be able to detect, target and fire on enemies at night.
