TANK SUPPORT: General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $22.7 million contract modification to provide Abrams tank systems technical support (STS), the company said June 29. The STS program aims to maintain Abrams tanks at high operational readiness rates. It funds engineering studies and identifies improvements and the need for replacing obsolete parts, while keeping Abrams tanks current to their base configuration. The work will be done at General Dynamics Land Systems' headquarters in Sterling Heights, Mich., and is expected to be finished by July 31, 2006.
Gerard A. "Duke" Dufresne has been named sector vice president of the Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems unit, based in Bethpage, N.Y. He succeeds Philip A. Teel, who was named corporate vice president and president of the Ship Systems sector.
A British air force commander has high praise for the performance of a variant of the US101 presidential helicopter that he and his crew have been operating in Iraq. "The two words I'd use, to me I find it unbelievable. When I talk to people about what we're doing, they find it incredible," Royal Air Force Wing Commander Andy Turner said of the EH101 Merlin Mk3 helicopter.
The U.S. Army-led Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program has concluded that it will need a larger airframe than the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet that it selected less than a year ago, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Responding to questions, Lockheed Martin told The DAILY in a statement June 29 that ACS designers have found "additional integration weight" that will prevent the program from using a modified ERJ-145.
Boeing Co., nearing the end of an effort to remanufacture AH-64A Apache helicopters it has delivered to the U.S. Army, is in line to remanufacture still more, a company spokeswoman said. By July 2006, Boeing is slated to complete a second five-year Army contract to remanufacture 501 of the 821 AH-64As it has delivered to the Army into the advanced AH-64D Longbow configuration.
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Navy is looking forward to having its two new Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles play major roles in the upcoming Trident Warrior and Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment exercises, an official said.
EGYPTIAN SPENDING: The Aerospace Industries Association is urging Congress to keep up its significant aid allotments to Egypt, noting that more than 90% of the country's military financing returns to the United States as defense procurements. In a June 24 letter to Reps. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's foreign operations subcommittee, and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), its ranking Democrat, AIA asked them to support President Bush's fiscal 2006 request of $1.3 billion for Egypt.
VEHICLE ENGINEERING: The Naval Research Laboratory has awarded Swales and Associates Inc. of Beltsville, Md., a $33.7 million contract for aerospace vehicle engineering technical services to support the definition, development, assembly, test and integration of aerospace platforms, structures, mechanisms and subassemblies. The engineering work will be performed in Washington and is supposed to be finished in a year.
BALTIMORE - The joint Air Force/DARPA Autonomous Aerial Refueling program has begun flight-testing using a Lear Jet as an unmanned aerial vehicle surrogate, and plans its final "graduation" demonstration in 2007. The program primarily is focusing on the Air Force's boom/receptacle style of aerial refueling, rather than the Navy's probe/drogue method. Begun in 2002, the program has more than 25 participating organizations, including the Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and NASA.
Japan has asked to buy nine Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA missiles with MK 21 Mod 2 canisters and related equipment, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on June 29. The deal could be worth up to $387 million, DSCA said, and includes ballistic missile defense upgrades to one Aegis Weapon System.
The House Science Committee's space and aeronautics subcommittee has sent a $16.5 billion fiscal 2006 NASA authorization bill to the full committee, but panel Democrats complained that they were not involved in the initial drafting.
AESA CONTRACT: Raytheon Co. has been given a $580 million, five-year contract to build 190 more APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the company announced June 28. The contract award from the Boeing Co., the Super Hornet's prime contractor, covers two low-rate production lots and three full-rate production lots. Two low-rate production contracts for 20 units were awarded earlier. The Navy plans to buy a total of 415 APG-79 radars.
Metal Storm Ltd. will integrate its 40mm grenade launcher into a DP-4X vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle and conduct live-fire tests, the company said June 29. The work will be done under a $325,000 contract from DP-4X builder Dragonfly Pictures Inc. and a live-fire test is planned for September or October, with at least two or three to follow, Metal Storm CEO David Smith told The DAILY. The contract could be worth up to as much as $431,100.
USAF VICE: Lt. Gen. John Corley, a senior U.S. Air Force acquisition official, has been nominated by President Bush to become vice chief of staff of the Air Force, the Pentagon announced June 29.
NAVSEA CHIEF: U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paul E. Sullivan has been nominated to succeed Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle as the next head of the Naval Sea Systems Command. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced Sullivan's selection for the Navy's shipbuilding command on June 29. Sullivan currently is NAVSEA deputy commander for ship design integration and engineering. He served as program manager for the Seawolf submarine from 1995 to 1998.
Kenneth J. Disken has been named senior vice president of human resources, and has been elected a corporate vice president by the board of directors. Stan Arthur, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Fla., is retiring. Ron Abbott, the vice president for tactical missiles and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, will move to Orlando and become executive vice president for mission assurance, effective July 1.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency have signed an agreement for including European instruments on India's first scientific mission to the moon, Chandrayan-1, planned for launch in 2007 or 2008 atop India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 525-kilogram (1,157-pound) satellite will be placed in a 100-kilometer (62-mile) polar orbit around the moon and is designed for a two-year life.
The Government Accountability Office has denied a protest by Metro Machine Corp. of Norfolk, Va., which said the Naval Sea Systems Command treated it unfairly in a recent competition. Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp., also of Norfolk, won the work to repair, maintain and modernize naval amphibious assault ships homeported in Norfolk.
