NEW FIGHTERS: Venezuela will buy 24 new Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia in 2006 to replace a fleet of U.S.-made F-16s, President Hugo Chavez says. Financial terms were not disclosed. Chavez made the announcement June 14 to soldiers at a Caracas military base, the Voice of America reported. Chavez also delivered some of the 100,000 new Russian-made AK-103 rifles set to be received by Venezuela's military in the next six month.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), an avowed Lockheed Martin Corp. military aircraft advocate, and several other senators are offering an amendment to the fiscal 2007 defense authorization measure that would protect the company's F-22A Raptor acquisition, an effort that was decried by a watchdog group.
HUSH HUSH: The White House and Pentagon's effort to crack down on open discussion of technologies and efforts to counter improvised explosives devices (IEDs) appears to be extending to Congress, according to President Bush's signing statement in enacting the $94.5 billion off-budget supplemental measure last week.
June 21 -- Wings Club Luncheon featuring Scott Donnelley, president & CEO of GE Aviation, Yale Club, New York City. For more information call (212) 867--1770 or email wingsclub @aol.com. June 26 -- Maritime Domain Awareness Force Requirements, Capabilities & Technology Forum, Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, Fla. For more information go to www.ndia.org. June 27 - 28 -- 2006 U.S. Coast Guard Innovation Expo, "Domain Awareness & Integration," Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, Fla. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
SUPPLEMENTAL SIGNED: President Bush late June 15 signed the $94.5 billion supplemental funding bill, and the new director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget promised fiscal discipline in future budgets. "Spending restraint is absolutely essential if we are to meet the president's goal of cutting the deficit in half, and I will work with lawmakers - Democrats and Republicans - to tighten our budget belt," Rob Portman said June 15.
The U.S. Air Force's program executive officer (PEO) for the F-22 Raptor says the overall design is stable and the program is prepared to enter a multiyear production contract, despite a number of design problems currently being grappled with. The problems "are all normal occurrences in a new platform out there in the field," Maj. Gen. Richard Lewis said June 16. Such issues typically only emerge when an aircraft has become operational and flown significant flight hours. The F-22 was declared operational in December.
MINE HUNTERS: Four of the U.S. Navy's Osprey-class Coastal Mine Hunters will be decommissioned this month, with the whole class of 12 retired by fiscal 2008, according to the Naval Sea Systems Command. The ships were designed to detect, locate, classify or neutralize moored or bottom mines of acoustic, magnetic, contact or pressure type in littoral, coastal and harbor environments worldwide. The new Littoral Combat Ship and one of its mission packages are expected to take over much of that role. The class' namesake ship and the USS Robin were decommissioned June 15.
The U.S. Coast Guard's fiscal 2007 budget request of $8.4 billion is 4 percent more than the current fiscal year, but it still represents a "slowing" of the Homeland Security Department armed service's budget increases over the last two years, according to nonpartisan congressional investigators. The reduced growth comes just as the paramilitary organization's missions and responsibilities are increasing significantly.
SOLE SOURCES: U.S. shipbuilders rely on sole-source suppliers now more than ever before, according to a recent RAND Corp. study on the Navy's shipbuilding issue. More than 75 percent of Virginia-class submarine suppliers are sole sources. Reduced rates of procurement and lack of multiyear commitments can force shipbuilders to pay premium prices for hard-to-find products and to meet contract delivery schedules, RAND noted.
HELOS MOVING: Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland, have been transferred to RAF Lakenheath, England, and three more will be moved there over the next several months, the U.S. Air Force says. About 25 people from the 56th Rescue Squadron are also transferring from Keflavik, which is closing. The first two helos arrived at Lakenheath June 12-13 aboard a C-17 Globemaster III. About 200 Keflavik airmen and their families will be assigned to Lakenheath during the next year.
ROBOT LANDER: NASA exploration strategists still haven't decided whether the agency will need a robotic precursor to the generic human and cargo lunar lander that is expected to be a key element in the future moonbase infrastructure. Tony Lavoie, newly named acting program manager for NASA's Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program, says the decision on a robotic lander will be driven by the strategy for lunar surface operations, which is still in development.
INFLATED NUMBERS: The Pentagon's inspector general and the Government Accountability Office are writing a report that says Air Force officials grossly inflated C-130J termination costs in testimony to Congress, a moved that helped save the contract, according to congressional sources. The Air Force estimate that canceling the 60-aircraft multiyear deal with Lockheed Martin could result in termination costs of more than $1 billion was too high, a Capitol Hill official says. The actual cost of termination would have been about $383 million.
MAINTENANCE ISSUE: Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne says his biggest concern with the new Army-Air Force partnership to buy a fleet of small cargo airlifters is who will maintain them. The Air Force has repeatedly run afoul of a law that requires 50 percent of its fleet's maintenance to be handled by service depots. But an Army-led joint program office is reviewing Joint Cargo Aircraft proposals that include contractor maintenance because its fleet is expected to be so small - about 33 aircraft - that government repair would not be cost-effective.
Washington and Rome are finalizing a deal that will see Italy garner the prize of a European final-assembly line for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). London, meanwhile, is focusing on securing "operational sovereignty" of the aircraft and, possibly, a maintenance center for European jets.
HELO SUPPORT: Maritime Helicopter Support Co. of Woodbridge, Va., has been awarded a $204.8 million contract modification to provide logistics support for U.S. Navy SH-60B, SH-60F, HH-60H, MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters, the Defense Department said June 16. The work will be done in Stratford, Conn., and Owego, N.Y. It is expected to be finished by December 2008. The contract was awarded by the Naval Inventory Control Point.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ship Systems unit in Pascagoula, Miss., a $20.38 million contract modification for special studies and procurement of additional long lead-time material for the new LHA 6 ship, the Defense Department announced June 15.
F/A-18 MODULES: General Electric Co.'s Aircraft Engines Business Group of Lynn, Mass., has been awarded a $20.6 million contract modification to provide 23 F414-GE-400 high pressure compressor modules for the F/A-18 engines program, the Defense Department said June 15. The work will be done in Lynn and is set to be finished in January 2007. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.
The Bush administration "strongly" opposes the Senate Armed Services Committee's $1.2 billion reduction in the Joint Strike Fighter procurement, saying the move would "significantly" delay the program, increase future costs and risk the support of international partners of the U.S. In a statement of administration policy, the White House Office of Budget and Management also said it opposed cuts to the Transformational Satellite, Air Force tanker replacement and Space Radar programs.
SENATE BACKS SUPPLEMENTAL: The Senate approved the $94.5 billion congressional compromise over the fiscal 2006 supplemental appropriations measure June 15 by a vote of 98 to 1. The vote means the measure goes to the White House for President Bush's signature, which is expected imminently. The Defense Department was lobbying for passage before Memorial Day. The House has already agreed to the compromise (DAILY, June 14).
Lawmakers are raising concerns that the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program is increasingly about sustaining and stretching legacy platforms and systems to meet the service's growing list of missions.
