U.S. soldiers have successfully test-fired three experimental weapons at a training area in Germany, the Defense Department said. The troops fired an upgraded XM25 semiautomatic rifle, XM312 machine gun, and SM320 grenade launcher at the Grafenwoehr Training Area on Sept. 24. The weapons were produced at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. The soldiers said the weapons produced little kickback and were easy to fire, with most hitting their targets on their first tries.
The South Korean air force soon will receive two new K-model F-15 Eagle fighters from the Boeing Co., the U.S. Air Force said. The aircraft, part of a 40-plane, $4.2 billion purchase, arrived at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, on Oct. 2 on their way to Seoul. Hawaii Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotankers will refuel the planes for a stop at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, before they arrive in South Korea.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Oct. 6 that he would vote to confirm Donald Winter to be secretary of the Navy after Winter pledged to abide by an ethics recusal policy, which apparently could see him removed from major naval shipbuilding decisions for a year after taking office.
The Senate late Oct. 6 was on the verge of passing the fiscal 2006 defense spending bill, but without the accompanying annual authorization legislation. Late on Oct. 5, the Senate turned back an effort by the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee to amend a modified version of their FY '06 policy measure to the spending bill. After lengthy - and sometimes testy - debate between defense appropriators and authorizers on the Senate floor, the chamber rejected the SASC effort by one vote.
Following an eight-day semifinal event, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has chosen 23 robotic ground vehicle teams to compete for the $2 million Grand Challenge prize on Oct. 8. The finalists will traverse a rugged, 150-mile course through the desert starting in Primm, Nev., that will include lakebeds, narrow roads, tight turns, gateways and treacherous mountain passes. The course will not be revealed to teams until two hours before the event begins.
Michael Wynne, the Bush Administration's nominee to be the next Air Force secretary, pledged Oct. 6 to "pursue competition at every level" if he takes over the service, which has been marred by high-level acquisition scandals and mistakes.
Boeing was awarded another delivery order under the Mission Planning Enterprise Contract, the company said Oct. 6. The $153 million order is for a joint planning system for B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers. Boeing will be the lead systems integrator, teaming with BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and the Air Force's Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, the company said.
MARINE VISION: DRS Technologies Inc. announced Oct. 5 that it won a competition for a potentially $660 million, five-year contract to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with up to 28,000 lightweight, handheld, battery-operated, infrared binoculars. The Tactical Range Thermal Imagers are used by the military for long-range observation and reconnaissance. "This new program establishes DRS as a major supplier of handheld thermal imaging devices," a company statement said. For the initial award, DRS will deliver more than 3,800 systems for $46 million.
The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems program is moving into a phase of more specific platform-level reviews and prototype manufacturing as it gears up for its overall preliminary design review in June 2006, according to program officials. Following a System of Systems Functional Review in August, the program now is moving more into the building, testing and integration of prototypes for the 18 interconnected ground and air platforms that comprise the core of FCS.
EADS and DRS Technologies have agreed to collaborate on the U.S. marketing and production of EADS' Hellas laser-based obstacle warning system for helicopters. The agreement covers the Hellas-W (warning) system, which is already in use on German police helicopters, and the new Hellas-A (awareness) obstacle warning system being developed for the German military's NH90 helicopters. Hellas-A also has been identified for potential U.S. military use after a 2002-2003 U.S. Foreign Comparative Test evaluation, EADS said.
A British navy mine countermeasure vessel came to the aid of a Dutch trawler that snagged a World War II bomb in its nets, the British defense ministry said. The HMS Hurworth was on routine fishery protection duties in the North Sea on Oct. 4 when it responded to a call from the Onderneming, which said it had pulled the 250-pound bomb onto its deck.
PRAGUE - Defense officials have launched the testing phase of a CZK 20 billion (USD $805 million) tender for armored personnel carriers for the Czech military. Tests began Oct. 4 at Vyskov in south Moravia on carriers produced by three companies: Patria Vehicles of Finland, Rheinmetall Landsysteme of Germany and the Steyr Consortium of Austria.
DELAYED AGAIN: The launch of a Boeing Delta IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been delayed again due to a potential concern about propellant sloshing during the coast phase of the vehicle's second stage, the Air Force said Oct. 5. Propellant sloshing refers to the movement of propellant inside the fuel tank during flight. Launch teams are conducting a "precautionary technical review and mission analysis" on the situation before launching, Vandenberg said. A new launch date is to be picked after that.
U.S. Army soldiers have begun training to use a new, more capable version of Northrop Grumman's Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle. Troops initially are being familiarized with updated work stations and will start flying the MQ-5B Hunter in January, said Michael Howell, an unmanned systems official at Northrop Grumman.
Bonnie Dunbar, an astronaut, has retired to become president and CEO of the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Jefferson Davis Howell Jr. is leaving his position as director of the Johnson Space Center to join the University of Texas, Austin. Jeffrey T. Jezierski has been appointed deputy chief of staff at NASA Headquarters.
