General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products said Oct. 10 that it has been awarded a $14.7 million contract to produce 1,097 MK19 grenade machine guns for the U.S. Army. The MK19 can fire up to 400 grenades per minute. Program management will take place at the company's Burlington, Vt., facility. Production work will be done at the Saco, Maine, facility.
Teachers will be able to perform simple experiments in microgravity as Zero Gravity Corp. will conduct "weightless" flights from the space shuttle's runway at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., next month. Zero-G will use its Boeing 727-200 aircraft, "G-Force One," to fly parabolic trajectories that temporarily create weightlessness. NASA and the European Space Agency have used such flights for years to conduct experiments in microgravity.
Advocates for missile defense spending are declaring a victory over an abandoned Democratic attempt to use some fiscal 2006 ballistic missile defense funds for nonproliferation efforts instead.
DISAPPOINTING: FLIR Systems Inc. said Oct. 10 that its third-quarter revenue of $112 million is "disappointing," and revised its full-year 2005 outlook down. FLIR now expects 2005 revenue to be $510 million to $520 million, down from previous expectations of $545 million to $555 million. Full third-quarter results will be released Oct. 19.
U.S. Navy Capt. Joe Rixey has relieved Capt. Steve Eastburg as program manager for the P-8A Multimission Maritime Aircraft in the Naval Air Systems Command's Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office. Cmdr. Michael Moran already relieved Rixey in September as the deputy program manager. Since November 2003, Moran was the P-3 Aircraft Improvement Program deputy program manager before taking on his role as P-8A lead.
The Boeing Delta IV team preparing to launch a National Reconnaissance Office satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is waiting to hear from the NRO whether or not to de-stack the rocket to avoid a potential fly-over concern during an upcoming Lockheed Martin Titan IV launch. The Titan IV, carrying another NRO satellite, will follow a flight path that takes it over the Delta IV's launch pad, raising the possibility that a Titan launch failure could rain debris down on the Delta IV with the satellite sitting on top of it.
Lockheed Martin said Oct. 7 that it has successfully completed a live-fly demonstration of its Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) prototype. The demonstration featured airborne, ground-based and simulated maritime units collaborating in real time across an integrated, airborne Internet Protocol network to rapidly find, identify and strike a time-sensitive target, the company said.
The Defense Department has issued its latest overarching business enterprise architecture - and a new transition plan to get there - to try to help the largest federal agency get a handle on its bookkeeping and stop wasting taxpayers' money. Kenneth Krieg, the Pentagon's new chief acquisition official, told members of the Senate Homeland Security government management subcommittee on Oct. 6 that the new architecture and plan should help "reduce risks" that congressional investigators and White House budget-makers have identified as severe (DAILY, Jan. 26).
The United States is sending eight military helicopters and support personnel to Pakistan following a devastating earthquake that may have killed at least 20,000 people, the Defense Department said Oct. 10. Five CH-47 Chinook helicopters and three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and their crews were set to arrive on Oct. 10. They will provide rescue, recovery and logistics assistance. The aircraft were deployed from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan at the Pakistan government's request.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has tacked on $5.8 million more to Northrop Grumman Corp.'s contract to design, manufacture and test a shipboard compatible control station for the Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle to operate from a Littoral Combat Ship.
Science Applications International Corp. of McLean, Va., said Oct. 10 that it has purchased IMAPS LLC of Columbia, Ill. Financial terms were not disclosed. IMAPS provides geographic information systems and marine navigation, aviation flight planning and navigation software products. SAIC furnishes research and engineering services to national security, homeland security, space, and other customers. As part of the deal, 67 ex-IMAPS workers have joined SAIC's Mission Integration Business Unit.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s shipbuilding woes from Hurricane Katrina landed on Wall Street Oct. 10 as the company said it now expects 2005 revenue to be off by about $1 billion, while earnings could be down roughly 40 cents a share due to damage to its Ships Systems unit on the Gulf Coast.
Successful at-sea testing of the first Aegis Weapon System equipped with the new SPY-1F radar has been performed by Lockheed Martin and Spain-based shipbuilder Navantia, Lockheed Martin said Oct. 10. The Integrated Weapon System (IWS) testing took place aboard the Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen (F-310), the first of Norway's five new Aegis-equipped frigates.
AeroAstro Inc. will continue development of a Fast Angular Rate Miniature Star Tracker under a contract from the Air Force's Small Business Innovation Research program, the company said Oct. 10. A miniature star tracker is being developed in conjunction with MIT through a contract from the Missile Defense Agency, and that work laid the groundwork for the Air Force contract, the Ashburn, Va.-based company said.
Officials with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Stanford Racing Team's autonomous ground vehicle "Stanley" credit its winning performance in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge to its onboard software. The Stanford University team, with participation from Volkswagen, won the $2 million prize Oct. 8 by finishing the rugged 132-mile course through the Mojave Desert in six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds at an average speed of 19.1 mph. Stanford did not participate in the first Grand Challenge race in 2004.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has opened a new electronic warfare systems integration laboratory to support the development of the airborne electronic attack system for the U.S. Navy's EA-18G aircraft, the company said Oct. 10. The system is scheduled to enter the fleet in 2009. The lab, at Bethpage, N.Y., will be operated by the Bethpage-based Integrated Systems sector, which is the airborne electronic-attack systems integrator for that aircraft.
OSPREY OVERSEER: The U.S. multiservice V-22 Osprey program is about to get a new leader. During an Oct. 21 ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Marine Corps Col. Bill Taylor, who has been the V-22's deputy program manager, will be elevated to program manager, succeeding Air Force Col. Craig Olson, who is awaiting a new assignment that will take him to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The Osprey program recently achieved a key milestone, receiving Pentagon approval to begin full-rate production of the Bell-Boeing-built tiltrotor aircraft (DAILY, Sept.
GLOBAL REACH: In late October the Air Force Research Laboratory plans to release a broad agency announcement calling for research proposals on trans-atmospheric hypersonic vehicles capable of quickly reaching any spot on the planet. The first BAA under the Reusable Operationally Responsive Trans-Atmospheric Technology program will cover high-speed global reach air vehicle technologies including unpowered hypersonic glide and powered vehicles.
The Senate voted 97-0 on Oct. 7 to pass the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill, which would provide $445.6 billion in spending for the Defense Department for the year that started Oct. 1, including $50 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and domestic military air patrols.
SHIPBUILDING: U.S. Navy officials must separate shipbuilding requirements from "desirements," reinvigorate the service's acquisition work force and technical expertise, and try to convince industry to invest more in maintaining capacity and work forces on their own, says Donald Winter, the Bush Administration's nominee to be the next Navy secretary. He tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that if confirmed he will take a "good, hard look" at shipbuilding requirements and offer Congress and industry a "viable, credible" shipbuilding plan (DAILY, Oct. 7). He says Adm.
