France's Thales has opened a second manufacturing facility in the United States to support its military communications work, the company said Dec. 5. The new facility, in Germantown, Md., is near the Clarksburg, Md., headquarters of subsidiary Thales Communications Inc. Thales opened a manufacturing plant there in 2001.
RADAR SYSTEMS: ITT Industries' Gilfillan Division of Van Nuys, Calif., will upgrade and refurbish seven AN/SPS-48E radar systems and provide other services and equipment for the LPD 22/23 amphibious transport dock ships, the Defense Department said Dec. 6. The work will be done under a $31.4 million Navy contract modification.
The U.S. Navy has succeeded in launching an underwater "glider" from the dry deck shelter aboard a submarine, a first for the service and a necessary demonstration before the Navy employs the unmanned vehicles for anti-submarine warfare. With the help of Navy divers, the glider was deployed from the USS Buffalo, the Navy said. The platform will be used to paint a three-dimensional picture of ocean conditions for tactical decisions, as well as determining sonar performance.
The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has tacked on another $5.3 million to Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Advanced Deployable System (ADS) contract, bringing the total so far to $243.3 million. Spawar awarded the option last week for design and system engineering for a critical design, development and demonstration of a fully integrated system, system development and demonstration phase, and delivery for technical and operational evaluations.
Bell Helicopter's Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle has received its experimental airworthiness certificate from FAA, which the company says is the first such certificate ever granted to a vertical takeoff and landing UAV. Flight-testing of the full-scale Eagle Eye prototype will take place at the recently opened Bell "XworX" facility in west Texas. The only previous prototype was a 7/8-scale demonstrator that hasn't flown since 2000.
Pemco Aviation Group said its Pemco Aeroplex facility in Birmingham, Ala., is preparing to begin phased depot maintenance work on the first U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft covered under a teaming arrangement with L-3 Communications Integrated Systems. "The P-3 program significantly expands our relationship with the U.S. Navy and supports our objectives to diversify and grow our military services business," Glenn Hess, president of Pemco Aeroplex, said in a statement.
NUCLEAR FLATTOP: The U.S. Navy announced Dec. 2 that the nuclear-powered USS George Washington will replace the USS Kitty Hawk as the forward deployed aircraft carrier in the western Pacific and will arrive in Yokosuka, Japan, in 2008. Ending its nuclear resistance, Japan agreed to base a nuclear U.S. flattop, allowing the Kitty Hawk to come stateside and possibly clearing the way for the USS John F. Kennedy's retirement (DAILY, Oct. 31).
Logistical Support Inc. will provide repair and overhaul services on the main damper assemblies for U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters under a $600,000 delivery order under an existing five-year contract. The main damper assembly mounts to the main rotor assembly of the UH-60 and reduces vibrations and oscillations of the main rotor blades that occur during flight. This is the second order placed under the contract, the Chatsworth, Calif.-based company said.
The Defense Logistics Agency will search for alternatives to military Meals, Ready to Eat to feed natural disaster victims after discovering that MREs are too high in calories for some civilians, the DLA's director says.
WEIGHING IN: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has weighed in on a year-long Senate debate over potential oil and gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, saying new drilling east of the so-called Military Mission Line would be "incompatible with military activities, such as missile flights, low-flying drone aircraft, weapons testing and training." Rumsfeld's opinion was issued Nov. 30 at the request of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who has been fighting efforts by other senators to extend Outer Continental Shelf drilling closer to Florida.
The unique X-50A Dragonfly unmanned aerial vehicle has returned to flight-testing in Yuma, Ariz., roughly 19 months after the crash that ruined the first Dragonfly demonstrator. Following a 30-second "pop-up" flight in early November to build confidence, the X-50A completed a four-minute hover flight Dec. 2 in which it reached an altitude of roughly 20 feet.
The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Naval and Marine Systems Division a potentially three-year, $44.7 million contract to develop "collaborative and networked autonomous vehicles demonstrating transformational, scalable and persistent anti-submarine warfare barriers" using large numbers of autonomous underwater vehicles.
CORRECTION: A Dec. 5 DAILY story incorrectly described some actions by NASA. The agency will no longer work on aviation security but will continue research related to aviation safety.
FIRST LCS: The U.S. Navy said the USS Freedom, the first Littoral Combat Ship, will be homeported at Naval Station San Diego. The homeports for the 20 future Freedom-class ships have not yet been determined, the Navy said Dec. 2. The Navy said it expects Freedom to be delivered in December 2006 and arrive in San Diego in early 2007. The Lockheed Martin Corp.-led team building the ship at Marinette Marine in Wisconsin said Nov. 21 that Freedom would be delivered in early 2007 (DAILY, Nov. 22).
IED LEADER: Ret. U.S. Army Gen. Montgomery Meigs will lead Defense Department efforts to counter improvised explosive devices. Miegs "will expand upon existing efforts to ensure innovative solutions ... by integrating technology and training with battlefield tactics, techniques and procedures, while leveraging outside sources for rapid acquisition of technical solutions," DOD said Dec. 5. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel has been overseeing anti-IED efforts, but a spokesman said in November that DOD was considering putting a higher-ranking officer in charge.
POSTPONED: The launch of the AMC-23 satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Proton rocket was postponed Dec. 5, International Launch Services announced. Managers chose to delay after preflight testing showed anomalous behavior in the flight control unit on the Breeze M upper stage. The rocket will be returned to the processing facility for further investigation. No new launch date has been set. The satellite is being launched for Alcatel Alenia Space, which built AMC-23 for SES Americom.
The Naval Sea Systems Command has turned to VT Halter Marine Inc. of Pascagoula, Miss., for functional design of the Egyptian Navy's Fast Missile Craft under the Foreign Military Sales program. Under the almost $30 million contract, which was not competitively procured, the company will provide analytical, design, engineering and model testing services for the three vessels. VT Halter is expected to finish its work by December 2006.
Raytheon's APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar is slated to undergo a series of improvements after it becomes operational on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet late next year, a U.S. Navy official said Dec. 5.
