AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - U.S. Marines have turned to civilian contractors for maintenance of helicopters on site in Iraq to save the time and money associated with sending them stateside for major overhauls. Boeing, Sikorsky and BellAero have set up shop with the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS-26) at Al Asad Air Base in the heart of western Iraq to perform scheduled maintenance on CH-46s, CH-53s and H-1s, respectively.
GLOBEMASTER CEREMONY: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) welcomed the first C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to March Air Reserve Base, Calif., on Aug. 9. Seven more C-17s are scheduled for delivery there. The congressman, an advocate for basing the military transport aircraft in his district, said such placing ensures the base remains "significant" to U.S. defense. "There is no better aircraft than the C-17 to support combat, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions worldwide," Calvert said.
A new study predicts an expenditure of $6.4 billion over the next decade on the research, development and production of key land and naval electro-optical systems. The study, by Forecast International of Newtown, Conn., estimates that some 363,779 systems will be produced through 2014.
RADIOS: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has selected Rockwell Collins to provide radio equipment for the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS), the company said Aug. 10. FNARS will use Rockwell's high-frequency URG-III product line to transfer voice and data communications between local and federal governments during emergencies. The contract is worth $21.5 million over the next five years and marks FEMA's first buy from Rockwell Collins.
AIR DEFENSE TRAINING: AAI Corp. will provide the Netherlands army with an air defense training system under a $13.8 million contract, the company said Aug. 10. The 15-year contract for the Advanced Moving Target Simulator (AMTS) system also includes logistics support. Hunt Valley, Md.-based AAI said it will develop, install, and test a computer-generated environment inside a 64-foot in diameter dome in which gunners and crew chiefs will be trained to use Stinger missiles against enemy aircraft.
The launches of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration GOES-N spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Fla., are proceeding as scheduled despite recent technical problems. MRO is set to lift off on an Atlas V rocket during a one hour and 45 minute window opening at 7:50 a.m. EDT Aug. 11. Originally scheduled for Aug. 10, liftoff was pushed back 24 hours while engineers tried to assess the health of a Redundant Rate Gyro Unit (RRGU) on the rocket after a similar unit failed in manufacturer testing.
A General Electric Co. laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y., has won an $11.1 million contract from the U.S. Navy for research and development of active screening and imaging for "shielded special nuclear materials," as well as ultra-large field-of-view X-ray imagers for cargo radiography.
The U.S. Navy wants one of iRobot Corp.'s Robotic Gator autonomous unmanned ground vehicles, according to a contract announcement from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center. On July 11, the SPAWAR posted a decision online to award iRobot a sole-source contract for one of the vehicles, as well as for Run Flat Tires. A contracting official could not be reached for more information Aug. 10.
Volga-Dnepr Group announced Aug. 10 that a "born again" new-build IL-76 cargo aircraft, designed to meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) noise and emissions standards, has completed its first test flight.
DOMESTIC SOURCE: The Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded Cree Inc. of North Carolina a $19.7 million cost sharing/technology agreement contract to establish it as a domestic source for Silicon Carbide Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Devices, the Defense Department said Aug. 8. The devices are used for next-generation military radar systems as well as for commercial applications. The contract, which calls for Cree to develop a manufacturing capability for the devices, lasts through March 2010.
Lockheed Martin and MD Helicopters of Mesa, Ariz., announced a teaming agreement Aug. 9 to compete for the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program. The companies will offer the MD Explorer(R), which uses twin Pratt & Whitney 207E turbine engines with the NOTAR(R) no-tail-rotor anti-torque system. The helicopter has a crashworthy frame, energy absorbing crew seating and a crash-resistant fuel system, the companies said in a statement. The aircraft has 30 square feet of usable flat floor with space for six passengers.
WESTMINSTER, Md. - With U.S. Army and industry executives expecting major developments in robotics and unmanned systems over the next few years - and hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to their efforts - General Dynamics Corp. broke ground here on a 150,000-square-foot facility Aug. 9 to help it with such work, including for the Future Combat Systems (FCS).
After two weeks in space and 5.8 million miles traveled, Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-person crew landed safely at 8:11 a.m. EDT Aug. 9 in near-perfect weather at Edwards Air Force Base in California. "We have had a fantastic mission," STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins said after she and her crewmates performed the traditional post-landing walk-around inspection of the shuttle on the runway. "The crew was really anxious to walk around and see what the outside looked like, and it looks fantastic."
Although unmanned airships and unmanned aircraft have distinctly different looks, a new Pentagon report suggests there may be several areas in which technology developed for one vehicle type could benefit the other. The report, a "road map" on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), sees a "potential for synergy" between airships and unmanned aircraft that would "enhance capability or reduce cost" for several kinds of missions, including communications relay, force protection and signals intelligence collection.
Directed energy weapon producer Ionatron Inc. said its second-quarter 2005 financial results showed a large revenue gain over last year's reporting period, although the quarter ended with a loss larger than reported for the same time in 2004 as it set up a new production facility. Revenue was $4 million for the quarter, compared with $1.8 million in the same period last year, the Tucson, Ariz.-based company said Aug. 9, partly boosted by work under a contract to build anti-improvised explosive device systems.
International defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. reported Aug. 8 that its revenue grew 5.2% in the second quarter of 2005 while net income fell 18% due to the purchase of shares in a military communications company. Second quarter 2005 revenue was $243.8 million, compared with $231.6 million for the same period a year ago. Net income dropped from $13.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 to $10.9 million.
WEAPONS DELIVERED: Raytheon Co. said Aug. 9 that it has delivered the 25,000th AN/PAS-13 Thermal Weapon Sight to U.S. Army officials. Raytheon doubled its production rates from 400 to 1,050 units per month in 2004 to speed delivery of the equipment to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The advanced thermal imaging sensors improve soldiers' surveillance, targeting and combat effectiveness during the day or night and in any type of weather, the company said.
HELLFIRE FIRED: Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin said Aug. 9 that they have successfully fired a live Hellfire II missile from a Eurocopter Tiger built for Australia, the first non-U.S. aircraft to integrate the Hellfire. An Australian Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter fired the missile at the Woomera test range in Australia's southern desert, striking a simulated armored personnel carrier six kilometers (3.8 miles) downrange. Lockheed Martin said the test, the first of six, paves the way for using Hellfire on European versions of the Tiger.
