Conference agreements on the fiscal 2006 defense authorization and appropriations bills look set to be finalized next week. In a discussion on the House floor Dec. 8, Reps. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told their colleagues to expect motions to appoint and instruct conferees on the two bills around Dec. 13.
Hostile ground-to-air fire caused the crash of a British air force Hercules XV179 in Iraq early this year that killed 10 people on board, a United Kingdom board of inquiry has concluded. The board also identified three other factors that contributed to the crash, and made several safety recommendations. The Jan. 30 attack triggered an explosion in the plane's right hand wing fuel tank, the board said Dec. 8. The blast caused the outboard section of the wing to separate from the rest of the wing, making the aircraft uncontrollable.
Bell-Boeing delivered the first Block B version of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft on Dec. 8 to the U.S. Marine Corps in ceremonies at Bell's Amarillo, Texas, manufacturing facility. The Block B aircraft has software upgrades and improvements in maintainability and reliability, the Bell-Boeing Program Office said. It was accepted by Col. Bill Taylor, PMA 275 program manager at Naval Air Systems Command, who manages the V-22 program for the government, and Lt. Gen. Jim Amos, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.
NASA should consider a two-tiered competition for a Human Orbital Vehicle (HOV), with a top prize of as much as $150 million, the X Prize Foundation said in a new study. The foundation, which last year awarded the $10 million Ansari X Prize for the first commercial space flight (DAILY, Oct. 5, 2004), conducted the study to gauge interest in a Centennial Challenges-style competition for an HOV and make recommendations for prize rules and requirements. NASA's Centennial Challenges are based on the X Prize and on early 20th century aviation prizes.
AGREED: Commercial space company Spacehab of Houston has signed an agreement with Netherlands-based HE Space Operations to market Spacehab's space services in Europe, the company said Dec. 8. The agreement establishes HE Space Operations as a European-registered company representing Spacehab in offering commercial space access on European, U.S., Russian and other space vehicles. The deal is "expected to increase Spacehab's business opportunities throughout Europe," as well as boost HE's work with the European Space Agency and other space programs.
Switzerland's army has received the last of its new Grenadier armored combat vehicles from Sweden-based Land Systems Hagglunds, the Swiss defense department said Dec. 7. The final Grenadier, a CV-9030, was delivered during a ceremony at its production site in Thun, Switzerland, culminating a five-year, CHF 990 million (USD $761.7) program. A total of 186 Grenadiers were produced.
A Raytheon-led team completed a series of tests for its Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) design, the company said Dec. 8, showing that an off-the-shelf fuse could fire an off-the-shelf warhead.
France-based Airbus Military has signed an MYR 2.8 billion (USD $741.8 million) contract with Malaysia to provide the country's air force with four A400M transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of 12 Lockheed Martin-built C-130s, the Bernama news agency reported Dec. 8. Malaysian defense ministry officials had been in talks with Airbus since 2003 on the possible buy (DAILY, Feb. 3). Two of the planes are set for delivery in 2013 and the other two in 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
EDO DIVIDEND: Defense contractor EDO Corp. of New York said Dec. 6 that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of three cents per share, payable Jan. 6 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 16.
The U.S. Air Force has proposed slowing the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A) program by several years as part of a restructuring spurred by a late-2004 funding cut, according to a program official.
Eurocopter has been awarded a contract to provide Japan's coast guard with two EC 225 Super Puma helicopters, the company said Dec. 5. Financial terms were not disclosed. The helicopters will be used for search and rescue missions and to transport coast guard teams.
Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., has been awarded a $34.4 million contract extension to provide the U.S. Army with M1114 up-armored Humvees, the company said Dec. 6. The work will be done during 2006 at the Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group facilities in Fairfield, Ohio. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. In November, Armor Holdings received a $53.1 million contract modification to provide U.S. and foreign militaries with additional M1114s (DAILY, Nov. 29).
The trade association for the U.S. specialty metals industry has begun a campaign to convince the Bush administration and Congress to create incentives in "trade, costs and taxes" to keep domestic manufacturers from going abroad, especially to China, due to their national security significance.
Congressional Democrats say the U.S. military will need $50 billion just to recapitalize its current forces once the United States ends combat operations in Iraq. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the top Democrat in the Senate, told reporters that figure Dec. 6 while discussing Democratic efforts to pressure the Bush administration over its Iraq strategy. Reid said he got the amount from Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel.
A group of 16 Democratic senators and House members has written President Bush to protest a Defense Department nuclear posture document that they believe advocates keeping nuclear weapons on high alert and which they say could authorize pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is planning a follow-on program to its Grand Challenge robotic ground vehicle race in which the top performing teams will be asked to tackle the challenge of negotiating moving traffic.
The cost of flying the aging HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter is rising about 16 percent a year, outpacing the growth rate for all other U.S. Air Force aircraft, according to service officials. Only about four or five other Air Force aircraft have growth rates above 10 percent, underscoring the severity of the Pave Hawk's problem, said Air Force Lt. Col. Tim Healy, who is involved in writing requirements for the Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) aircraft, the Pave Hawk's planned replacement.
With two hover flights under its belt since recovering from a 2004 crash, the X-50A Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle team hopes to conduct its next flight before the holidays, according to Boeing Program Manager Clark Mitchell. Following a 30-second "pop-up" flight in early November, the X-50A completed a four-minute hover Dec. 2 in which it reached an altitude of 15 feet at Yuma, Ariz. (DAILY, Nov. 6). For the next flight the vehicle will hover at 30 feet and then perform "some very basic directional movements" including pedal turns, Mitchell said.
American Technology Corp. of San Diego says its Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), which gained attention recently after one was used to repel pirates who attacked a cruise ship off Somalia, are being used by U.S. forces in Iraq.
Dayton, Ohio-based MTC Technologies Inc. said Dec. 6 that it has won a $13.8 million task order to provide Visual Threat Recognition and Avoidance Trainer devices for aircrews to recognize and respond to anti-aircraft threats. The devices will be used by Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard crewmembers.
Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. of Haifa, Israel, will supply intelligence and reconnaissance systems for the Dutch air force's F-16 fleet under a $40 million contract, the company said Dec. 5. The self-contained, self-cooled, multisensor RecceLite provides real-time intelligence and reconnaissance and can handle multiple moving targets over large areas in all types of weather, the company said.
