B-2 RADAR: Northrop Grumman has begun flight-testing the new radar antenna for its B-2 stealth bomber, the company announced June 13. The flights of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna mark the first time that engineers have been able to test how the Raytheon-built radar works in flight, Northrop said.
NASA is issuing new contracts important for landing new space vehicles on both Earth and Mars. Irvin Aerospace of Santa Ana, Calif., has been awarded a five-year contract from the NASA Langley Research Center to help model landing airbags that could enable the crew module for the Crew Exploration Vehicle to touchdown on ground landing sites. Irvin has been designing parachutes and other landing systems for 85 years.
A new forecast by Futron Corp. predicts that demand for satellite capacity in the coming years will remain "strong and growing," increasing by more than 5 percent annually, which in turn will drive demand for more spacecraft as existing satellites are booked up.
House Republicans leaders are expected June 13 to get their chamber to pass the congressional conference agreement over the $94.5 billion fiscal 2006 supplemental appropriations measure, with the Senate expected to follow within days.
THURAYA: Sea Launch has signed a contract with Boeing Satellite Systems International to launch the 11,578-pound (5,250-kilogram) Thuraya-3 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from Sea Launch's equatorial launch site in the Pacific Ocean in January 2007. Boeing is building the spacecraft at its Satellite Development Center in El Segundo, Calif.
The Commerce Department's Office of Space Commercialization (OSC) is planning an initiative to try to entice businesses that have not traditionally been part of the space industry to get involved. "We are going to do a number of outreach activities, both with ... OSC as lead, and also co-chairing with other government agencies, where we want to get to the nontraditional space industry," OSC Director Ed Morris told The DAILY. Examples of powerful nontraditional players could be Exxon Mobil or Ford Motor Co., Morris said.
Three European countries are interested to varying degrees in hosting a third U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) site, according to Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), and NATO and the Defense Department are close to working out an arrangement that would provide political cover for those allies deploying missile interceptors.
Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. on June 12 both promoted respective U.S. Air Force contracts for Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) kits. The Air Force awarded Raytheon's Paveway II the majority of the funding available for the LGB's fiscal 2006 production award, including the maximum computer control group award allowed under the competitive contract, Raytheon said.
Savings to the U.S. Navy "would be insignificant" if Congress eliminates the requirement for maintaining 12 operational aircraft carriers, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said June 12. If the minimum number of carriers is reduced from 12 to 11, the CBO said it expects the aging U.S.S. John F. Kennedy (CV-67) would be retired immediately. Built in the 1960s, the Kennedy was significantly overhauled in the 1990s to extend its life until 2013.
ARMY Longbow L.L.C., Orlando, Fla., was awarded on May 31, 2006, a $125,800,109 firm-fixed-price contract for production of fire control radars for the AH-64D Apache helicopter. The work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 15, 2005. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-06-C-0134).
NAVY Raytheon Technical Services Co., LLC, Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $31,539,432 fixed-price with award fees requirements contract for logistics support for the USC-38 satellite communications system. The work will be performed in Norfolk, Va. (55 percent), and Chula Vista, Calif. (45 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (N00104-06-D-ZD31). AIR FORCE
The Pennsylvania National Guard has unveiled the first of 300 new Stryker combat vehicles it is receiving to transform its 56th Brigade, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said. A ceremony was held June 10 at Fort Indiantown Gap.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has extended Akamai Physics Inc., Las Cruces, N.M., a $10.3 million contract modification regarding Bright Onyx, a compact, active multispectral chemical sensor deployed aboard an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for remote detection of chemicals associated with weapons of mass destruction that may be transported on ships inbound to U.S. ports. The Defense Department said June 9 that the contracted work will be complete by June 2008. Solicitations began in March and negotiations were finished this month, the DOD said.
ROUGH WATERS: The U.S. Navy makes a big deal about stability for the shipbuilding industry under its 30-year, 313-ship force structure plan. But as an in-depth Congressional Budget Office report in May shows, builders of large- and medium-sized amphibious ships, as well as support ships, are going to have a tough time from 2016-2020 even under the Navy's plan. Shipbuilding spending for those categories drops dramatically or altogether, according to CBO charts on Navy plans, and doesn't pick up again until the 2021-2025 period.
INTELLIGENCE VACUUM: The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which oversees U.S. secret intelligence photos and satellite imagery, plans a formal ceremony this week to transfer the authority of the director, Lt. Gen. James Clapper (USAF Ret.). But who will take over remains an open question. No successor to Clapper has been named, although wagging tongues say the top candidate is the Director of Naval Intelligence, Rear Adm. Robert Murrett.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory a $444.88 million modification under a previously awarded sole source task order contract through October 2011. The Lab will provide research and development, test and evaluation and specialized engineering capabilities in advanced guidance and navigation, thermal propulsion, advanced hydrodynamics and hydroacoustics, advanced materials and manufacturing sciences, and advanced atmospheric and undersea communications.
UK UAV TO AFGHANISTAN: British soldiers will soon deploy to Afghanistan with a portable Desert Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, the U.K. Ministry of Defence says. The 7-pound UAV, which has a wingspan of about 4 feet and can fly for about an hour, will accompany about 70 members of the U.K.'s 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery and soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Desert Hawk provides aerial video reconnaissance from anywhere within a 6.2-mile radius of its ground control station.
MENTORING ALASKANS: Boeing, the prime contractor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Seabased X-Band Radar (SBX), says it will mentor Aleut Technologies, a Native Alaskan-owned small business. Aleut Technologies furnishes the SBX with an escort vessel, refueling and other services, and will provide primary support services at the SBX's future base at Adak, Alaska. Alaskan Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, helped create the law that promotes special procurement status for some Alaskan business.
WARHEAD DELIVERED: Boeing announced June 8 that it has delivered the first Block 1A Standard Missile-3 Kinetic Warhead (SM-3 KW) to SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon. The warhead was shipped in April from Anaheim, Calif., to Raytheon facilities in Tucson, Ariz. The Block 1A upgrade provides the missile with several improvements, according to Boeing, including increased reliability and supportability. The SM-3 is designed to intercept short- to medium-range ballistic missiles as part of the Aegis sea-based midcourse missile defense system.
June 12 - 14 -- ACI-NA Marketing & Communications Conference and Jump Start, Hyatt Regency Austin, Austin, Texas, 202-293-3032, email [email protected]. June 13 - 14 -- Homeland Defense Journal Training Workshop on the Importance and Process of Obtaining Your Security Clearance, Including a Special Segment on the Convergence of Collateral and Special Compartmented Intelligence (SCI) Clearances, Market Access Training Center, Arlington, Va. For more information call (201) 592-6477 or [email protected].
