SUB MAINTENANCE: General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., will perform routine maintenance work on the USS Connecticut (SSN 22) Seawolf-class attack submarine under a $62.4 million contract modification awarded by the U.S. Navy, the company said March 2. Electric Boat will carry out a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability consisting of repairs, maintenance work and alterations. The work will be done at Electric Boat's shipyard in Groton between April and December 2005. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of Falls Church, Va.-based General Dynamics.
NASA is making progress in reforming its financial management and has begun a get-well plan called "Operation Clean Opinion" to set the agency back on the road to clean budget audits, according to Chief Financial Officer Gwendolyn Sykes. The plan addresses organizational weaknesses identified by auditors, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the NASA inspector general and internal reviews, Sykes said. Despite its name, it doesn't focus exclusively on audits, she said.
The Defense Department is defending its decision to cancel the Army-led Joint Common Missile (JCM), saying the program faced possible cost and schedule overruns and offered capabilities that largely will be met by other air-to-ground munitions.
JASSM LAUNCHED: The U.S. Air Force resumed flight-testing of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) on March 3 by launching the Lockheed Martin-built missile from an F-16 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Air Force said the test was successful, with the missile hitting its target as planned. Another flight-test is scheduled for later in March. JASSM testing had been suspended since a failed flight-test more than seven months ago.
L-3 Communications has completed the acquisition of General Dynamics' Propulsion Systems business, the company said March 2. New York-based L-3 said late last year that it would buy the Muskegon, Mich.-based unit for $185 million in cash (DAILY, Dec. 1, 2004). Propulsion Systems will be renamed L-3 Communications - Combat Propulsion Systems.
The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) - which trains, equips and commands its own forces - is cutting unidentified defense systems that do not support anti-terrorism military efforts while other systems are being highlighted, SOCOM's commander told members of Congress on March 2. Army Gen. Bryan Brown, head of U.S. special operations forces (SOF), further said the global combatant command soon will add two new "flagship" programs: SOF Warrior Systems and SOF training centers.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has delivered the first fire-control radar for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to prime contractor Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman said March 3.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recently covered more ground in three consecutive days than either it or its twin rover, Spirit, did in their first 70 days on Mars, according to NASA. From Feb. 19 to 21, Opportunity traveled nearly a quarter of a mile, or 390 meters. During the previous week, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., sent both rovers a software upgrade that enhanced their ability to carry out day-to-day driving commands.
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, late March 2 announced a restructuring that would eliminate one of its 13 subcommittees, the VA-HUD-Independent Agencies panel, which also has oversight of NASA. The restructuring moves the SAC closer to the House Appropriations Committee, which recently cut its subcommittees from 13 to 10. NASA and other science agencies now fall under the committee's revamped Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee.
The F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programs face major challenges ahead despite making recent progress in tackling their development problems, according to congressional testimony by the Government Accountability Office.
PRAGUE - The Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU), the body responsible for deciding who will operate Europe's proposed Galileo satellite navigation program, will open negotiations with the two remaining candidates for the concession, according to European officials.
Lockheed Martin Corp. on March 2 said it tapped the Ebensburg, Pa.-based architecture firm of L. Robert Kimball & Associates to design Lockheed Martin Systems Integration's new presidential helicopter facility in Owego, N.Y. The firm will design the 176,000-square-foot facility to house the VXX helicopter program's administrative offices, systems integration laboratories and an aircraft integration hangar. The deal is worth more than $1 million, Lockheed Martin said.
TOUCHDOWN: Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer pilot Steve Fossett landed at Salina Municipal Airport in Kansas at roughly 2:49 p.m. Eastern time March 3, becoming the first person to fly an aircraft around the world solo without refueling. Despite concerns over fuel consumption that nearly prompted an emergency landing in Hawaii, Fossett pressed on and completed his flight in 67 hours and two minutes.
Senate Armed Services Committee members said March 3 that budget cuts and ship delays in the U.S. Navy's budget request for fiscal 2006 appear to stem from deficit concerns instead of military forecasting, and warned that they may not go along. SASC chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), reflecting widely held congressional concern over the affect of a smaller fleet on future military ability and industry capacity, reminded the secretary of the Navy that Congress can set force levels, including the number of aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines.
The House Transportation Committee's Coast Guard subcommittee will push legislation authorizing an additional $134 million, almost 14%, over the Bush Administration's fiscal 2006 budget request for the service's Deepwater recapitalization in an attempt to finish the program by 2016.
National security products provider Titan Corp. of San Diego has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy worth up to $125.8 million to perform support services for navigation systems installation, the company said March 2. Under the contract, Titan will provide engineering, logistics, installation, testing, and fabrication in support of navigation systems for Navy ships, submarines, shore laboratories and training facilities, Coast Guard ships, and vessels serviced through foreign military sales.
Chris Conrardy has been hired as a technology leader in the Arc Welding, Materials and Automation Group. Brendan Cryns has been hired as an aerospace market leader. Doug Jeter has been hired as a technology leader in the Microjoining, Plastics and Ceramics Group. Seth Krem has been hired as an applications engineer in the Resistance and Solid State Welding Group (RSSW). David Speth has been hired as a senior engineer in the Microjoining and Plastics group.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee's projection forces subcommittee on March 2 grilled several Navy and Marine Corps officials on proposed budget cuts and delays to shipbuilding, with lawmakers saying they could affect future military capability against rising challenges, such as China. For the most part, the Pentagon officials maintained the message already provided by top military and civilian leaders: proposed shipbuilding cuts and delays represent "acceptable risk" under budget constraints because of efficiency and capability improvements.
Rolf Bartschi has been promoted to sector vice president and chief nuclear engineer, waterfront nuclear engineering and test, in the Newport News, Va., sector. Danny Hunley has been promoted to sector vice president, trades, education and training, in the Newport News sector. Northrop Grumman also announced the following changes in its Electronic Systems sector: Charles J. Brinkman has been named vice president, Surveillance & Remote Sensing.
REVENUE UP: National security products provider Titan Corp. of San Diego reported fourth quarter 2004 revenue of $552 million, 15% higher than fourth quarter 2003 revenue of $480 million. Revenue for all of 2004 was $2.05 billion, 17% more than the $1.76 billion in revenue for all of 2003.
A high-level Defense Department review of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been delayed almost two months due to a scheduling conflict, according to Pentagon and program spokeswomen. The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting had been slated for March 15 but has been moved to May 5 because one of the participants could not attend on the original date, said program spokeswoman Kathy Crawford. The delay will not affect the program's own schedule, including first flight of the stealthy fighter jet in August 2006, Crawford told The DAILY March 2.
