Two Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) hit their intended target after being launched from a B-52 bomber and flying their planned routes, according to a test summary released Sept. 1 by the U.S. Air Force. "Both missiles separated from the B-52 aircraft, had nominal flights, and impacted the target as planned," the Air Force said. "Further analysis is required to score the shot accuracy." The Aug. 31 tests occurred at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
The Czech Republic on Aug. 31 received the final two of 14 JAS-39 Gripen jet fighters it has acquired from Sweden-based Gripen International, Sweden's defense material agency said. Pilots from the Swedish Defense Material Administration (FMV) delivered the aircraft in a one-hour flight from FMV's facility outside Linkoping to the Caslav air base in the Czech Republic.
General Dynamics Corp.'s Bath Iron Works (BIW) unit has received $53 million in recent contract awards for continued development work on the DD(X) program, the U.S. Navy's planned future destroyer, according to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) "BIW plays an important role in both our national security and the economy in Maine, and this project will allow BIW's professional design workers to sustain a more stable workload," Collins said in a Sept. 1 statement.
As Northrop Grumman Corp. kept its major Gulf Coast region shipyards closed again Sept. 1, analysts said there could be a small but noticeable impact on the company's earnings and Hurricane Katrina's aftermath could even lead Congress to reassess plans for defense shipbuilding. "The wisdom of concentrating Navy ship construction in a single region may be questioned," Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in review of their investment stance. "On the other hand, it is also difficult to see Navy programs on the Gulf not being funded in the future."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is receiving help from the National Reconnaissance Office's classified spy satellites as it scrambles to help people in areas of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina. FEMA asked NRO for the assistance, according to recently appointed NRO Director Donald Kerr. "At the end of the day, there's nothing like some of our capabilities for providing people a view of things as they are, rather than as they were," Kerr said during a press briefing at the Pentagon.
RELIEF: Relief efforts continue at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where 1,000-1,500 agency employees and area residents have taken refuge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The rocket test center fared better than the surrounding areas and is being used as a rescue staging point by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A NASA plane delivered 30 satellite phones to the center Sept. 1 and there are now 40 portable electrical generators functioning at the site.
The Pentagon plans to convene a high-level panel Sept. 26 to consider whether the Air Force's B-52 Stand-Off Jammer (SOJ) program is ready to begin its technology development phase. If the Defense Department approves the program's entry into TD, the Air Force intends to award a contract in October to one of the industry teams that are vying for the work.
The military services are considering a proposal from F-35 Joint Strike Fighter builder Lockheed Martin for a suite of JSF pilot training simulators ranging from traditional high-fidelity cockpit trainers down to applications that could run on laptop PCs. Rapid improvements in commercial computer and gaming technology are allowing for certain training tasks to be offloaded onto cheaper, off-the-shelf simulators, according to Lorraine Martin, vice president of flight solutions for Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support.
WEAPON FIRED: The Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW) was successfully test-fired at a military range near Adelaide, Australia, Metal Storm Ltd. announced Aug. 31. The AICW program, led by the Defence Science and Technology Organization, includes Metal Storm and Tenix Defence as consortium members. The weapon combines a 5.56mm Steyr assault rifle with Metal Storm's 40mm grenade launcher and a common trigger, laser sight and control system.
Clyde R. Kizer has been appointed to the board of directors. Kizer was president and COO of Airbus North America Customer Services and has served on numerous FAA committees.
IG QUITS: U.S. Defense Department Inspector General Joseph Schmitz, who has scrutinized Air Force acquisition practices during his 3 1/2-year tenure, intends to resign Sept. 9 to join the private sector. Schmitz disclosed his plans in an Aug. 30 e-mail to staff. The Project on Government Oversight disclosed the internal e-mail Aug. 31.
A Northrop Grumman-U.S. government team has demonstrated a new communications capability for the U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit bomber using a Link 16 system, the company said Aug. 31. Testing showed that a B-2 equipped with the system will be able to exchange information with a variety of aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and other equipment, the company said.
NASA shut down one of the Hubble Space Telescope's three remaining operational gyroscopes this week, putting the observatory into a "two-gyro" mode to preserve the third gyro and hopefully extend Hubble's operations through mid-2008. Hubble previously required three operational gyroscopes to stabilize itself sufficiently to make long-duration exposures of objects in deep space. Hubble's lifespan is contingent upon the health of its gyroscopes and batteries, which can only be replaced by shuttle astronauts.
One of six BAE Systems-built Hawk Mk129 aircraft bound for Bahrain's air force made its first flight from England last week, nine months ahead of schedule, the company said. The plane, flown by test pilot Pete Wilson, took off from BAE Systems' Warton facility on Aug. 26 and flew for 73 minutes over the Irish Sea. The aircraft is updated from the standard Mk127, which was originally provided to Australia's air force.
WEB SERVICES: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has tapped M.C. Dean Inc. of Dulles, Va., for a "second-generation," satellite-based broadband Internet service and voice-over Internet protocol network for deployed military personnel, mostly in Iraq. Other locations include the Balkans and non-Global Information Grid operations in the European and Central command areas. With one option, the two-year deal is worth $18.5 million, the Navy announced Aug. 30.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is on track to achieve its next milestone Sept. 7, when the electrical power system (EPS) for the first flight-test jet will be turned on for the first time, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The EPS consists of two subsystems: the Electrical Power Generating System (EPGS), provided by Hamilton Sundstrand of Rockford, Ill., and the Electrical Power Management System, supplied by Smiths Aerospace of the United Kingdom.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began checking out its instruments Aug. 30 after a successful course correction Aug. 27 that put the spacecraft on schedule to reach the red planet on March 10, 2006. The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft fired its six main thrusters for 15 seconds during the course correction maneuver. The main engines won't be used again until the spacecraft arrives at Mars, when they will fire for 25 minutes to slow MRO down enough for the planet's gravity to capture it into orbit.
