Defense Department programs are experiencing recurring problems with cost overruns, missed deadlines and performance shortfalls because the Pentagon has trouble distinguishing wants from needs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress April 5. "Poor performance and cost overruns will likely persist until DOD provides a better foundation for executing its weapons programs," U.S. Comptroller General David Walker said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
With leading lawmakers looking to speed up the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program, Coast Guard leaders are indicating that aircraft like refurbished HH-65C helicopters, EADS CASA HC-235A-300M medium-range maritime patrol aircraft and Bell Helicopter Textron's tiltrotor Eagle Eye unmanned aircraft could benefit.
PRIME MOVERS: Lockheed Martin said April 6 that it has been awarded a $2.1 million contract to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with Lightweight Prime Mover trucks to tow the new M777 155mm lightweight artillery howitzer. The Low-Rate Initial Production contract covers four vehicles. The Marines also have an option for full-rate production of 120 of the vehicles, with a potential contract value of $30 million.
Because of budget limitations, the U.S. Marine Corps is not producing V-22 Osprey aircraft at a fast enough rate to meet its desired goal of transitioning two squadrons of aging CH-46 and CH-53E helicopters into V-22 squadrons each year, according to Assistant Commandant Gen. Robert Magnus. The Marines plan to buy 360 V-22s total. "I've seen nothing to indicate that the number 360 is wrong," Magnus said. "What I can tell you is the rate at which we are buying them in the FYDP [five-year defense plan] is wrong. It's low."
Sean P. Hennessy has been named to the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee. Hennessy has been chief financial officer of The Sherwin Williams Co. since 2001.
French space officials are worried that U.S. ground-safety concerns related to the design of the Proteus satellite bus could delay deployment of the U.S.-European Jason-2 oceanography satellite, possibly jeopardizing continuity with Jason-1.
In his opening statement before a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing April 6, subcommittee chair Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) questioned the U.S. military's need for so many different unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems.
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. a $3.035 billion contract modification for the system development and demonstration (SDD) of the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter, the Pentagon announced late April 5. The modification includes four SDD aircraft, one ground test vehicle and associated program management and test support, the Defense Department said. The aircraft will be built in Stratford, Conn., and are expected to be finished by December 2015.
Don T. Clark has been appointed principal staff advisor to the general manager in the facilities division. Dr. James G. Gee has been named principal director of the Strategic and Developmental Planning Directorate in the office of the corporate chief architect/engineer. Dr. Lubo B. Jocic has been appointed principal engineer in the directorate.
BONUS SHOTS: NASA's nuclear-powered Cassini probe continues to rack up spectacular images of the ringed planet Saturn and its many moons, but the Cassini imaging team has also put out the best color maps yet of Jupiter, as this South Pole view shows. Based on images collected Dec. 11-12, 2002, as Cassini approached Jupiter en route to its ultimate destination, the maps cover the entire planet with a resolution of about 75 miles.
Senate appropriators have taken the U.S. Army to task for not completing the required operational test and evaluation for the Joint Network Node (JNN) and have sliced $100 million from the program's request while redirecting $10 million from other Army procurement to complete its testing.
The Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey tiltrotor program is investigating a March 27 accident in which an Osprey on the ground undergoing a post-maintenance checkout experienced an engine control problem that caused it to become accidentally airborne for a few seconds. Neither of the pilots was injured in the Class-A mishap, which occurred at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina. The aircraft fell on its landing gear and its right wing broke off.
Total acquisition costs for the Navy's MH-60R helicopter are expected to be around $10 billion over the life of the program, including for ground-maintenance equipment, training materials and other government-furnished equipment, the Naval Air Systems Command announced April 5.
The Defense Department does not have a space-based interceptor program layered into its Ballistic Missile Defense System, the head of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) says, adding there are no immediate plans to base a ballistic missile defense in space. In testimony prepared for a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III discussed tradeoffs in determining what to fund, such as a diversity of basing modes "including space."
An engine problem with the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that caused two high-altitude engine failures last year has been linked to improperly manufactured engine blades, according to program officials.
