MKV TEST: A key experiment for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicles (MKV) program has been moved from fiscal 2005 to the summer of 2006, Defense Department officials said Sept. 22. DOD officials indicated earlier that the critical design review for the experiment has been delayed four months, to February 2005, mainly because more work is needed (DAILY, Sept. 22). The experiment, or hover test, is intended to see if a single, miniaturized kill vehicle can home in on a target.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted Sept. 21 to cut NASA's fiscal year 2005 budget to $15.5 billion, a figure $200 million higher than the agency's FY '04 enactment but $665 million lower than its request. The committee approved $268 million for the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which would be used to transport humans beyond low-Earth orbit, and $20 million for lunar exploration.
Inadequate wiring insulation caused one of the recent flight-test failures of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), a congressional source said Sept. 21.
EA-18G WORK: EDO Corp. of New York will provide an interference cancellation system for the EA-18G aircraft under a $14 million, three-year subcontract from the Boeing Co., EDO said Sept. 21. The work could be worth about $70 million over the life of the aircraft's anticipated production.
Aerospace and defense component supplier Esterline Technologies, based in Bellevue, Wash., will supply sensors and be the sensors integrator for the turboprop engine on the Airbus A400 military transport program, Robert Cremin, Esterline chairman, president and CEO, told The DAILY Sept. 21. This is the first time Esterline will both supply sensors and be the sensors integrator on an aircraft program, he said.
The Boeing Co. has awarded Telephonics Corp. of Farmingdale, N.Y., a contract for its Secure Digital Intercommunications (SDI) system for the U.S. Army's CH-47F Chinook helicopter modernization program, Telephonics Corp. said Sept. 20. The eight- to 10-year contract is worth more than $25 million, the company said. The SDI system is part of the Common Avionics Architecture system.
The British Ministry of Defence takes exception to a House of Commons Defence Select Committee statement that the MOD is moving too slowly in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles. "The Department is actively embracing" UAV technology, the British government said Sept. 20 in one part of a 22-page response to the committee's July 1 report on a Defence White Paper of December 2003.
Australia-based ADI Ltd. and Forgacs are teaming to bid on the Australian Department of Defence's oil tanker conversion and $2 billion amphibious ship projects, ADI Ltd. said Sept. 20. The amphibious ship program is the largest of the two projects and involves the construction of the biggest warships ever built in Australia. The work would be done at the companies' Queensland and New South Wales facilities, Sydney-based ADI said.
Boeing delivered on time and on budget the first U.S. AH-64D Apache combat helicopter refurbished under the new reset support program, the company said Sept. 20. The aircraft, which sustained damage and wear after operating in the harsh environments of Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, was delivered two days ahead of schedule, Boeing said.
L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace will provide logistics support for U.S. Navy T-2 and T-39 trainer aircraft and H-3 Sea King helicopters under a $47 million contract, the Department of Defense said Sept. 20. The Madison, Miss.-based company will perform the work in Pensacola, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Texas, DOD said. The work is expected to be completed in November 2009. Naval Air Systems Command solicited proposals from eight companies and received offers from three, the DOD said.
The Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency has awarded Swales Aerospace of Beltsville, Md., a contract to provide administrative support and missile assurance, the company said. Swales Aerospace will coordinate, maintain and develop MDA procedures and policies to support the agency's Safety, Quality, and Mission Assurance Directorate's roles and responsibilities, the company said. The Swales Aerospace team will include Millennium Engineering and Integration Co. (MEI) and subcontractors Vanguard Research Inc. and SRS Technologies.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has made some progress in tracking its foreign military sales of Stinger missiles, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) official said Sept. 21. "They said yesterday they have issued a contract to establish a centralized electronic database to keep track of U.S. Stinger inventory and sales. They will have preliminary results from the database in October, and hope to have the database deployed in January," Joseph Christoff, director of GAO's international affairs and trade team, told The DAILY.
A new report from the National Academies urges NASA to quickly choose a systems integration approach for Project Constellation, and "staff the selected approach adequately before making major commitments to hardware procurement." Project Constellation includes the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) for human transport, various robotic precursor missions and associated systems supporting the exploration of the moon and Mars.
Defense analysts said the U.S. Navy likely will not be able to afford a 375-ship fleet and will have to consider vessel requirements over quantity to more effectively address future combat threats. "They need to focus on capabilities-based planning. The fleet of the 21st century is heterogenous, with the biggest difference being mix of weapons [aboard]," said Col. Robert Work (USMC-Ret.), an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has awarded Northrop Grumman a $400 million contract to co-design the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) spacecraft, the agency announced Sept. 20. Under the contract, which covers work through mid-2008, Northrop Grumman will work with NASA on the preliminary design for the spacecraft. JPL chose Northrop Grumman over bids submitted by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
A key design review for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicles (MKV) program has been delayed by about four months, according to Defense Department officials. The critical design review (CDR), which will detail plans for an upcoming experiment, had been scheduled for October 2004 but now will occur in February 2005 instead, DOD said in a statement responding to questions Sept. 21.
The recovery of scientific samples from the wreckage of NASA's Genesis sample return capsule continues at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, although there is no firm schedule for shipping the samples to their intended home at NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston.
The United States and India are moving toward implementing the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative, which would expand trade and cooperation in civilian space and nuclear and high-technology programs, the U.S. State Department said last week. In January, India and the U.S. agreed to expand cooperation in these areas and in missile defense. They have concluded the first phase of NSSP, which called for measures to address concerns about proliferation and to ensure compliance with U.S. export controls.
OFFERING: B/E Aerospace Inc., a manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products and an aftermarket distributor of aerospace fasteners, plans an equity offering of 13.5 million shares of its common stock, the company announced Sept. 20. Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS Investment Bank will be the joint book running managers for the offering. B/E will grant the underwriters an option to buy up to an additional 2,025,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.
Military systems integrator the Boeing Co. and information technology provider IBM have formed a strategic alliance to address an estimated $200 billion market for ground- and space-based systems to enhance the nation's military communications, intelligence operations and homeland security, Boeing said Sept. 20.
Crews of the Spanish navy frigate Almirante Juan De Borbon (F-102) and the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG-91) continued the second joint combat system ship qualification trials (CSSQT) last week.
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) recently received delivery of the first MIDS-On-Ship (MOS) Production System from Data Link Solutions, Rockwell Collins said Sept. 20. Data Link Solutions was established by BAE Systems and Rockwell Collins to pursue next-generation Link 16 applications.
