The U.S. Defense Department's new advisory panel on acquisition reform has scheduled a number of public and private meetings this month and next to discuss whether the department is properly equipped to oversee major weapon system programs.
Transformational Space Corp. (t/Space) tested a parachute landing system for its proposed Crew Transfer Vehicle over the Pacific Ocean Aug. 3, the company announced. The test used a full-sized mockup to represent the Crew Transfer Vehicle, or CXV, which would be a low-cost means of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA will hold a competition this fall to select a new vehicle to carry ISS crew, the company said.
EXPLAIN AND JUSTIFY: Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the assistant Democratic leader in the Senate, is calling for a Pentagon report identifying and explaining all major weapons programs whose unit costs have grown by more than 50% since their original budget estimates. In an amendment submitted to the Senate's fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill, Durbin also proposed requiring the defense secretary to justify continuing the programs despite the increases. The Senate is expected to restart debate on the defense bill soon after reconvening Sept. 6.
INFRARED REPAIR: The U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center has awarded FLIR Systems Inc. of North Billerica, Mass., almost $10 million more for repairs, upgrades and application engineering services and spares for the Maritime Forward-Looking Infrared AN/KAX-1 and AN/KAX-2 systems. The follow-on contract is for U.S. Coast Guard and unidentified "coastal patrol" customers, the Navy announced Aug. 4. The latest repair order is supposed to be finished by August 2009.
AIR EXERCISE: A recent U.S. Air Force exercise highlights the need to train airmen regularly to ensure they are up to date on the latest air operations technology, which is advancing at a rapid rate, according to Col. David Morte, an organizer of the event. "If we don't stay on top of our procedures of how we execute, and train as many people as we can on what the latest and greatest is, then even people who have done this a year or two ago ... can almost get left behind," Morte says.
LM DIVIDEND: Lockheed Martin's board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend on the company's common stock of 25 cents a share, the company said Aug. 4. The dividend is payable Sept. 30 to shareholders of record on Sept. 1.
MRO A GO: NASA plans to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 10 during a launch window lasting from 7:54 a.m. to 9:39 a.m. EDT. The 4,800 pound Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft is the first NASA payload to be carried by an Atlas V rocket. After arriving at Mars in March 2006, MRO will use its suite of instruments to study the history and distribution of martian water and scout possible landing sites for future missions.
Kuwait is seeking 436 Raytheon-built TOW-2A/B anti-armor guided missiles and related equipment and services that could total $19 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Aug. 4. The government of Kuwait is requesting 288 TOW-2A missiles, four TOW-2A Fly-to-Buy missiles, 140 TOW-2B missiles and four TOW-2B Fly-to-Buy missiles, DSCA said, as well as spare and repair parts and other equipment.
NASA has formed a "tiger team" led by International Space Station Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier that is studying the remaining trouble spots on the shuttle's external tank where potentially dangerous foam debris was seen coming loose during Discovery's launch. "My purpose in having this team is to ... improve our knowledge base on how we go put foam on tanks and how we ensure it doesn't come off," Gerstenmaier said during a press conference in Houston Aug. 5. "Because it's obvious it's not an easy problem."
AEROCAPTURE: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is seeking an industry partner to team with it on a proposal for an aerocapture demonstration that would compete for an opportunity to fly Earth's atmosphere in 2010. Aerocapture is a fuel- and time-saving maneuver in which a spacecraft dips into a planet's atmosphere to slow down and enter orbit around it. The partner would build the flight aeroshell structure and thermal protection system for the Earth Aerocapture vehicle, according to NASA.
ABL MODS: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) program has moved its modified Boeing 747-400 freighter to Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kan., where the aircraft will undergo more changes to prepare it to accept a chemical kill laser. The floor and supports in the aircraft's aft section will be strengthened to handle the weight of the laser's six modules. Installation of the laser on the aircraft is expected to begin at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in the summer of 2006. The program's first ballistic missile intercept test is slated for 2008.
Congressional auditors continue to press for Congress to require the Defense Department to develop and obtain approval of a comprehensive list of program elements that are part of the strategic "new triad," even though Pentagon officials disagree. The Government Accountability Office also wants the DOD to establish a "virtual" major force program for the new triad, similar to what it has done for space spending, and report on that money as part of its annual budget request.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) increased sales, earnings per share and cash guidance after it announced positive financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2006. The report showed increases across the board, with earnings per share increasing 38% over the same period a year ago, to 99 cents. Sales rose 17% over the same period, reaching $757 million, and operating cash flow is up $34 million, ATK said Aug. 4.
The U.S. Air Force is studying whether coal could be used to increase the fuel efficiency of fighter aircraft, according to a service official. Researchers are examining coal's potential to expand petroleum-based jet fuel to get more energy out of it, said Col. Mark Stephen, chief of the science and technology division in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering.
FIRST FLIGHT: The first new-production MH-60R flew for the first time July 28 at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. facilities in Stratford, Conn. The helicopter flew for 90 minutes and performed the entire flight acceptance profile, including flight control checks, vibration measurements and engine power checks, without incident, program and industry officials announced Aug. 4. Sikorsky makes the helicopter and Lockheed Martin is the mission systems integrator. Test MH-60Rs have been in operational evaluation since May and are expected to finish in September. The U.S.
The U.S. Navy's Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) program has completed a key design review three months ahead of schedule and with a positive outcome, according to a service official. "We were pretty pleased with the overall results of the design review," said Capt. Mick Outten, who manages surface-ship weapons programs for Naval Sea Systems Command. "We don't see any major issues."
GOES-N: The launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite has been rescheduled for the evening of Aug. 12 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., while engineers grapple with a possible problem in one of the Boeing-built spacecraft's communication subsystems. "Boeing is working with NASA and NOAA to complete testing and analysis of several communications subsystem components to more thoroughly characterize their expected on-orbit performance," the company said.
SLAM-ER ROLLOUT: Boeing rolled out the first Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) for the Republic of Korea's air force at a recent ceremony, the company announced Aug. 4. Korea is Boeing's first international customer for the 500-pound weapon and intends to field it on its F-15K fighter fleet, due to arrive in Korea this fall.
A new study from the National Research Council recommends that NASA update its procedures for preventing the contamination of Mars in light of new research suggesting that some Earth microbes might be hardy enough to survive in certain places there.
ITT Industries delivered its latest nuclear, biological and chemical training system to the Army at Fort Polk, La., the company announced Aug. 4. The Fox M93A1 allows the Army to detect and map contaminants on the battlefield. ITT developed the training system for the Fox in conjunction with the 83rd Chemical Battalion, the Department of Defense's Joint Program Manager NBC Contamination Avoidance, and the Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI).
General Dynamics said Aug. 3 that it has agreed to buy Itronix Corp. of Spokane, Wash., which produces wireless mobile computing products. Financial terms were not disclosed. Both companies' boards of directors have OK'd the sale, but it must still receive regulatory approval. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2005. Itronix will become part of the General Dynamics C4 Systems business unit, which integrates secure communication and information systems and technology.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from written responses by Phillip Jackson Bell, nominated by President Bush to be deputy undersecretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. He testified July 28 and was confirmed July 29.)
