COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A military exercise slated for next month in South Korea will help take the U.S. Army a step closer to making space capabilities fully available to warfighters, according to Col. Timothy R. Coffin, new commander of the Army's 1st Space Brigade.
L-3 Communications Holding Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. are set to benefit from special rules in the House's recently passed pension bill, Wall Street analysts say. The so-called Pension Protection Act of 2006 would grant those companies a reprieve from having to fund pension deficits over seven years until 2011, as well as exclude them from a new three-segment pension discount rate curve during 2008-2010, Merrill Lynch analysts told clients Aug. 1.
The Euro-Russian Rockot light launcher is back in service after a prolonged shutdown following the failed launch of the European Space Agency's CryoSat Earth Explorer mission late last year
The U.S. Army Tank-automotive Command (TACOM) has awarded General Dynamics a $129 million contract to produce additional reactive armor tile sets for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the company announced July 31. The contract has a total potential value of $245 million if all options are exercised, the company said. Half of the production work will be done by Rafael Armament Development Authority Ordnance Systems of Haifa, Israel. Domestic production will take place at General Dynamics' reactive armor facility in McHenry, Miss.
The planned prototype demonstration flight for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) High Altitude Airship (HAA) has slipped at least another year to 2010, while prime contractor Lockheed Martin lobbies Congress to stave off planned fiscal 2007 budget cuts that are likely to push the demo back even further.
The Justice Department is still looking into a retired Air Force or Air National Guard general-level officer who negotiated employment with the Boeing Co., possibly while still in uniform, despite the resolution of the record $615 million deal between the government and the second-largest defense contractor, according to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has narrowed the focus of its counter-IED work to technologies that stop the devices before they are even placed in the ground, according to Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. William Landay. Last year ONR embarked on a broad effort to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which remain the number one cause of U.S. casualties overseas. Navy officials likened the effort to the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb (DAILY, July 29, 2005).
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command is funding an $18.63 million effort for Northrop Grumman Corp. to try to fix its Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), which was stopped after the first mini-submarine was produced because of reliability concerns. The Defense Department announced late July 31 that Navsea awarded Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems (NGES) unit the cost-plus-award-fee delivery order for the ASDS reliability improvement program.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Raytheon Systems Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems unit a $954 million contract modification for consolidated MK48 and MK54 torpedo kit hardware, with engineering and repair services, for the U.S. Navy and Australia. The contract, which was not competitively procured, is to purchase the necessary quantities of torpedoes and support services necessary for fleet operational requirements for the various torpedo product lines, the Defense Department said July 31. The modification runs through June 2009.
KNIGHT VEHICLE: DRS Sustainment Systems Inc. of St. Louis has been awarded an $8.3 million contract modification for engineering and logistics systems technical support work for the M707 Knight Vehicle system, the Defense Department said Aug. 1. The work will be done in St. Louis and is expected to be finished by July 20, 2007. The contract was awarded by the Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.
The U.S. Navy is looking to create special operations and humanitarian mission modules next for its pending Littoral Combat Ship class after the first three mission packages, according to the service's research, development and acquisition chief, Delores Etter.
General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Mich., has been awarded a $45.7 million contract to provide long lead material for reset of M1A2 Abrams tanks, the Defense Department said Aug. 1 The work will be done in Anniston, Ala.; Lima, Ohio; Sterling Heights, Mich.; and Scranton, Pa. It is expected to be finished by June 30, 2007. The contract was awarded by the Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.
Military aviation analysts say the additional month-plus delay in awarding the U.S. Air Force contract for its replacements of combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopters shows a mismatch between the service's requirements for the aircraft and the Air Force's strategy for buying the new fleet.
With some key players in Congress still opposed to a multiyear procurement contract for the F-22A Raptor, industry insiders worry that production continuity for Lockheed Martin's stealth fighter line remains uncertain. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says he plans to bring up his objections to the U.S. Air Force plan for a three-year contract for a batch of 60 F-22A Raptors when House and Senate negotiators thrash out differences in their respective defense authorization bills this summer.
The U.S. Navy said July 31 that it will name its newest combat logistics force underway replenishment naval vessels the USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) and USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) to honor the two famous Arctic and Antarctic explorers. The ships are being built by General Dynamics Corp.'s NASSCO unit in San Diego. Yet the announcement comes as Senate appropriators, pinched by a mandate to strip $9 billion from defense requests for domestic spending, have targeted the T-AKE class among other programs to make up the difference.
C-17 SALE: McDonnell Douglas Corp. has been awarded a $780 million foreign military sales contract to provide Australia's air force with four C-17 aircraft, the Defense Department said July 31. The aircraft will be delivered in November 2006, May 2007, January 2008, and February 2008. The contract was awarded by Headquarters 328th Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
GeoEye is entering a key stage of development for its next-generation commercial imagery satellites, as subcontractor General Dynamics is putting its telescope through environmental tests. Not only will the new imagery satellite have a resolution of 0.5 meters - nearly double that of the company's current satellite, the spacecraft's development and manufacturing has significant ramifications for meeting unclassified government imagery requirements.
An international coalition of helicopter operators, manufacturers and industry groups have joined forces with the FAA and other air traffic regulators from around the world to spearhead a new safety push aimed at cutting the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent over the next decade.
