TOMAHAWK OFFICE: The U.S. Navy's Tomahawk missile program offices have consolidated into a single new organization, PMA-280, that will be "the Navyís premier acquisition command and life-cycle manager for the Tomahawk Weapons System," the service says. Dubbed the Tomahawk Weapons System program office, the organization includes the formerly separate Tomahawk Weapon Control System office (PMA-282) and the Tomahawk All-Up-Round program management office (PMA-280). The office is located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
On-orbit inspections of shuttle Discovery have shown no serious damage that would prevent the orbiter from safely re-entering Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. Shuttle astronauts used the new Orbiter Boom Sensor System on July 29 to perform a series of "focused inspections" of six areas where the orbiter may have suffered damage during launch, including the chipped tile near the nosewheel landing gear door (DAILY, July 28).
A decision could soon be made on where Lockheed Martin will do its assembly work as the prime contractor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's targets program. Jim Tevepaugh, Lockheed Martin's program director for targets and countermeasures, said nine potential sites across the United States are being examined and that a decision is expected this fall. A mix of new and existing facilities probably will be chosen, Tevepaugh told The DAILY July 28.
Bell Helicopter Textron has been picked over Boeing to be the prime contractor for the U.S. Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), the Defense Department announced late July 29.
JSF CUTS? Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita denies recent reports that decision-makers for the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) are considering deep cuts in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, saying they are still discussing broad capabilities, not specific programs. Program officials have said they expect the Air Force's planned procurement of 1,763 F-35s to decline ultimately because that figure amounts to a one-for-one replacement of the F-16 and A-10, a ratio the Air Force no longer believes it needs (DAILY, June 15). Air Force Brig. Gen.
The U.S. Air Force is resisting a legislative effort sponsored by the Senate Armed Services Committee that would authorize $200 million for up to two fully equipped, dedicated, aeromedical evacuation (AE) aircraft for seriously wounded and ill military patients.
PENTAGON LEADERS: The White House plans to designate former Rep. Preston "Pete" Geren (D-Texas) as acting Air Force secretary and nominate Navy acquisition chief John Young to be director of defense research and engineering.
TUAVS: The U.S. Army has awarded AAI Corp., a subsidiary of United Industrial Corp., a $129 million contract to provide 12 Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) systems, the company said July 29. The systems include 48 advanced RQ-7B air vehicles, 24 ground control stations and associated components and support equipment. They will be delivered over the next 18 months.
HADITHAH, Iraq - Marines deployed in Iraq are using encrypted hand-held Global Positioning System equipment to expedite route and operations reports over radio networks.
SBIRS INFLATION: Lockheed Martin Corp., the prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force's missile-detecting Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), is bracing for the possibility that the Defense Department will conclude that the program has invoked a Nunn-McCurdy Act provision requiring that defense programs be canceled or recertified if their costs grow by 25% or more.
COVERED: The House's NASA authorization bill, H.R. 3070, would extend NASA's ability to indemnify or insure developers of experimental aerospace vehicles operated by civilian developers from damage claims by third parties through 2015, the Congressional Budget Office says. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin would be able to indemnify or insure a single event for up to $1.5 billion (in 1989 dollars) beyond the developer's private insurance coverage, regardless of whether amounts are available from appropriations to pay such claims, CBO reports.
Canada is providing 105 armored vehicles to help the peace effort in Darfur, Canada's defense department said July 28. One hundred Grizzly general purpose armored vehicles and five Husky armored recovery vehicles are being loaned for one year to the African Union Mission in Sudan. Spare parts will be included, along with training, maintenance assistance and personal protective equipment.
Rockwell Collins reported a 20% increase in sales for its fiscal 2005 third quarter. Sales totaled $890 million, the company said, and net income was up 33% over the third quarter of fiscal 2004, reaching $101 million, or 56 cents per share.
The Navy is spearheading what it calls a "Manhattan Project" to counter the threat posed by improvised explosive devices, which still account for three-quarters of U.S. casualties in Iraq. The project sprang from a challenge posed by Navy Secretary Gordon England to Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Jay Cohen to develop technologies capable of detecting and neutralizing IEDs at safe distances from a moving vehicle. Most IED attacks target convoys, and most are discovered only after they explode.
The U.S. Navy will commission another Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the Halsey, on July 30 at the Naval Air Station, Coronado, Calif. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will deliver the ceremony's principal address while Heidi Cooke Halsey, Anne Halsey-Smith and Alice "Missy" Spruance Talbot will serve as sponsors of the ship named for their grandfather. Fleet Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (1882-1959) was the fourth and last five-star Navy admiral. The 9,300-ton Halsey is the 47th of 62 planned Arleigh Burke vessels.
EDO Corp. said July 28 that earnings for its second quarter of fiscal 2005 totaled $6.1 million, a 46% increase from last year's $4.2 million. Second-quarter revenue also was up, reaching $156.1 million, an increase of 24% over the same period last year. Revenue for the first half of 2005 was $272.6 million, a 14% jump over last year. The order backlog for the company, which supplies armament, defense eletronics and other systems, increased to $535.1 million.
An analysis of the Mobility Capability Study, an assessment of the Defense Department's transportation needs, is finished and Pentagon "principals" now are being briefed on its results, Air Force Lt. Gen. Norton A. Schwartz told senators July 28. The analysis includes a "range of solutions," he told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Schwartz did not provide further details pending final internal review.
The U.S. Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) has placed an order worth $7.2 million with Engineered Support Systems Inc. (ESSI) for its Knight Precision Targeting System for artillery and air-dropped munitions, ESSI said July 26. ESSI subsidiary Systems & Electronics Inc. will fill the order, which involves 31 Fire Support Sensor Systems-equipped Mission Equipment Packages that include laser designator/rangefinders, thermal imagers, and Global Positioning System targeting and navigation systems.
LONDON - Despite the aircraft's age, the United Kingdom may upgrade its Harrier Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) fleet to extend its life beyond 2020, the ministry of defense said this month. Such an upgrade would leave the design more than 60 years old by the time it left service. But the defense ministry is said to want to ensure that the Royal Air Force still has a potent VTOL close air support platform if the Joint Combat Aircraft, Britain's version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is delayed past 2012.
Anteon Corp. of Fairfax, Va., and the Titan Corp. of San Diego will compete for more than $26 million in surveillance systems engineering, software development, and test and evaluation services for the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Joint and National Systems Division. The contract has a five-year ordering period with no options. Additional contracts to other unidentified offerors may be awarded in a second phase at a later date, the Navy said July 27. All work is to be performed in San Diego by July 2010.
Raytheon Co. reported significantly improved financial results for the second quarter of 2005, going from a loss of $108 million in 2004 to net income of $201 million, or 44 cents a share, in the most recent quarter. Sales were up 10% to $5.4 billion, driven partly by the company's Missile Systems and Space and Airborne Systems units, both of which recorded sales of just more than $1 billion for the quarter.
Lockheed Martin has begun doing significant work on the possibility of adapting its land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor for use on ships. Michael Trotsky, vice president for air and missile defense systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said July 28 that the company has received two $8 million contracts from the U.S. Navy within the past two years to explore putting the PAC-3 missile on Aegis cruisers or destroyers.
