DATABASE: Senators are moving a bill in that chamber that would require the federal government to create a searchable, public Web site for federal spending. The bill, now with 20 co-sponsors, would direct the White House Office of Management and Budget to ensure the database lists grants, contracts and loans of more than $25,000. Classified awards would be exempted. The effort, first proposed by spending watchdogs Sens.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION: iRobot Corp. said late July 27 that it signed an agreement with the United Kingdom's Defense Procurement Agency to supply 30 PackBot explosives ordnance disposal robots, spare parts and support. The deal settles a dispute between the British Defense Ministry and the company, iRobot said. More information will be provided late July 31 during a teleconference call. PackBots are one of two robots under the U.S. Navy guided Man Transportable Robotic System, and iRobot is developing the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle for the U.S.
CAMPAIGN ISSUE: House Democrats, led by their Armed Services Committee leadership, see Army and Marine Corps recapitalization and reset needs as a viable issue to campaign against Republicans. The HASC Democrats, who call the multibillion dollar budget gap a "crisis" and "catastrophe," are indirectly supported by Army boosters and even the service's chief of staff, who testified to the Army's looming shortfall in restocking and repairing war-torn equipment (DAILY, July 28). Expect a Democratic spotlight through August and September.
'NO DEVIATIONS:' The Defense Department reviewed its recent shipments of arms to Israel and found no policy or procedural violations, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said July 27. The review was conducted because of recent allegations that the United States had violated bilateral agreements with other countries by hastening shipments of bombs or other military equipment to Israel because of the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. "We're complying with all bilateral agreements," Whitman said. "We found no deviations."
Criticism leveled against the multiyear F-22 Raptor buy plan could sink a good idea for the wrong reasons, says aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group. The Pentagon says that by spreading the procurement of 60 stealthy F-22s over three years it can save $225 million, or about 2.7 percent, of the estimated $10.8 billion cost if they were procured through three annual contracts.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that Congress restrict NASA's budget for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), after the space agency rejected GAO's recommendation that it slow the program down.
ROCKET FAILURE: A Dnepr rocket failed on launch from the Baikonur space launch complex in Kazakhstan on July 26 after an emergency engine shutdown occurred 86 seconds into flight. The modified SS-18 ICBM was carrying 18 satellites. The launch took place around midnight local time. The Dnepr program is a cooperative effort between Russia and Ukraine. It is the latest in a series of setbacks for Russian launcher programs dating back more than a year.
The embattled DDG 1000 destroyer program, better known as the futuristic DD(X), could see more changes come early October as top defense officials are set to gather for an acquisition strategy review. The Defense Acquisition Board on July 13 scheduled an Oct. 4 in-process review for the destroyer program, which late last year saw roughly $300 million worth of requirements cut from the lead ship and more than $200 million removed from follow-on boats as the Navy struggles with its long-term shipbuilding and force structure plan.
Around $75 billion worth of U.S. Army and Marine Corps recapitalization and reset needs will hit taxpayers over the next five years, and the Bush administration is failing to account for it in regular appropriations or even supplemental measures, leaving military readiness at risk of a "catastrophe," according to House Armed Services Committee Democrats.
Northrop Grumman Corp. on July 27 reported a 20 percent gain in income from continuing operations and a decline in sales for the second quarter of 2006. Income from continuing operations was $442 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the second quarter of '06 compared with $369 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, for the same period of 2005. Sales, meanwhile, were $7.6 billion compared with $7.8 billion in the second quarter of '05.
The Homeland Security Department's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will buy two General Atomics Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles to deploy along the Mexican border and at least five light-observation helicopters, likely EC120s from American Eurocopter, to back up Border Patrol agents there, DHS officials said July 27.
ACTING ASSISTANT: President Bush intends to designate Arthur T. Hopkins to be acting assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, the White House said July 25. Hopkins is the author of "Unchained Reactions: Chernobyl, Glasnost, and Nuclear Deterrence," which posits that the Soviets' nuclear tragedy may have helped deterrence arguments.
Iridium Satellite LLC reported July 24 that by the second quarter of 2006 its subscriber base had increased by 25.4 percent and its revenues by 31.4 percent compared to the same period in 2005. The company had 159,000 subscribers worldwide as of the end of June. Revenue for the second quarter of this year was $53.6 million, while second quarter 2006 EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) was $13.2 million, a 99.6 percent boost over the same period last year.
The Boeing Co., which agreed to a $615 million settlement with the federal government regarding the Darleen Druyun scandal and possession of proprietary rocket data from competitor Lockheed Martin Corp., said July 26 that it would not seek a tax deduction from the payment. "Boeing will not claim a tax deduction for this payment," the company said in announcing its latest quarterly financial results. The settlement, after reserves were calculated in, would yield a net charge of $571 million, or 75 cents per share, Boeing told Wall Street (DAILY, July 5).
Three aging U.S. Navy H-3 Sea King helicopters will remain deployed to provide airlift and recovery functions in support of all Hawaiian military ranges for another three months as the handover to a commercial provider has been delayed, according H-3 deputy program manager Robert Kelly. The H-3s previously were slated for retirement by last spring (DAILY, Aug. 24, 2005).
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is implementing a series of design and process changes intended not only to prevent the corrosion problem that brought down the first Falcon 1 flight, but also to better automate the vehicle health monitoring and launch process, according to company founder and CEO Elon Musk.
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the top House Armed Services Committee Democrat, is urging President Bush to direct his administration to prepare a fiscal 2007 supplemental request covering the U.S. military's recapitalization and reset costs come Oct. 1. Highlighting the Army and its estimates that it will need at least $12 billion annually for the next several years to regroup after major Iraq operations are finished, Skelton further asked Bush to include such amounts in his regular annual budget requests.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said July 26 that it received a $13 million U.S. Army contract to develop, integrate and flight-test two systems to help helicopters survive attacks from small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs). The first system, the Hostile Fire Indicator, uses sensors to detect muzzle flashes and RPGs and compute bearings to the threat's location. The Visual Acquisition Disruptor, meanwhile, would "inhibit the ability of enemy combatants to acquire an accurate shot at the aircraft," the company said.
One-time penalties related to its troubled Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) program helped plunge Boeing to a $160-million net loss for the second quarter, despite a strong showing from the company's Commercial Airplanes (BCA) unit.
NASA announced July 26 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with AirLaunch LLC of Kirkland, Wash., to explore collaborations in space launch systems and payloads launched from aircraft. NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., signed the MOU as part of an effort to develop a "skunk works" operation that can build small satellites that cost less than $250 million.
Demand is growing in the Middle East for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, especially unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to handle operations in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel. Boeing this month received more than $25 million in contract modifications to provide more persistent ISR from UAVs in Iraq and "in support of the global war on terror," the Pentagon reported.
