NETCENTS: The Centech Group of Arlington, Va.; Multimax of Largo, Md.; NCI of Reston, Va.; Northrop Grumman of McLean, Va.; Booz-Allen Hamilton of McLean, Va.; General Dynamics of Needham, Mass., and Lockheed Martin of Manassas, Va., were awarded a $9 billion contract for the Network Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) program, the Department of Defense said Sept. 13. The work is to be completed by September 2009.
The U.S. Army is looking to industry for new technology to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and to provide affordable combat identification, vehicle antennas, heavy lift rotorcraft technologies, and autonomous robotics, said Tom Killion, Army deputy assistant secretary for research and technology. "We need to support current operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom by accelerating these technologies for the current fight," he said Sept. 13 at the Association of the United States Army's Acquisition Symposium in Falls Church, Va.
The first A-10 Thunderbolt upgraded with precision weapons capability is on track to begin flight-testing in December, according to Lockheed Martin. The Precision Engagement (PE) program for the A-10 is adding a targeting pod and Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) data link, as well as integrating the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) on the aging A-10. Most A-10s date back to the late 1970s or early 1980s, and the aircraft is expected to remain in service until 2028.
NASA's Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft has completed its initialization and orbit calibration phase and entered the science phase, the aerospace agency said last week. "This is the moment we have been waiting for," Francis Everitt, the GP-B science principal investigator at Stanford University, said in a statement.
September 7, 2004 ARMY McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded on Sept. 3, 2004, a $6,310,458 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for conversion of three basic Apache Aircraft. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 31, 2003. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-01-C-0124).
Russian engineers are analyzing an intermittent problem with the International Space Station's primary oxygen generating device, according to NASA. The crew is in no danger, NASA said, but engineers want to fully understand the situation before they try to correct it. The device, known as Electron, has been shutting down, NASA said.
In an office-wide broad agency announcement (BAA) issued Sept. 8, DARPA's Special Projects Office (SPO) is seeking ideas from industry on topics ranging from countering underground facilities (UGFs) to urban combat and precision navigation in the absence of a Global Positioning System (GPS). The agency expects to begin awarding exploratory funding contracts of less than $1 million each in fiscal year 2005. All responses are due by Sept. 15, 2005.
BAE Systems North America Inc. is purchasing DigitalNet Holdings Inc. in a $600 million deal that will make BAE Systems a leading federal sector information technology provider with revenues of more than $1.2 billion, DigitalNet said Sept. 11.
Force Protection Inc., will produce 15 more Buffalo armored vehicles for an existing customer in an order worth about $10 million, the company said Sept. 10. The Buffalos will be produced at the company's Ladson, S.C., facility and are to be delivered in the first quarter of 2005. The vehicles' configuration will be similar to the 21 Buffalos the company is making for the U.S. Army.
The U.S. Army is waiting for a waiver from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to procure at least 5,000 Microlight pocket-sized radios for Stryker brigades before Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 5 is scheduled to be deployed, said Brig. Gen. James Moran, commanding general, Soldier Systems Center. Moran spoke Sept. 13 at the Association of the U.S. Army's Acquisition Symposium in Falls Church, Va.
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman held a keel-laying ceremony Sept. 10 for the amphibious transport dock ship New York (LPD 21), the company said. The ship was named to honor the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Its bow stem is cast from more than 24 tons of steel from the World Trade Center. The ship is the fifth of 12 San Antonio-class ships Northrop Grumman is building.
The U.S. Air Force plans to buy "hundreds" of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) configuration, a key general said Sept. 13, adding further clarity to the service's plans for the JSF variant. The specific figure remains under review, said Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff. "I can't give you an exact number, but it's going to be more than a handful," Jumper said at a press briefing at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in Washington.
The Department of Defense should take a "holistic approach" to the task of maturing the conceptual thinking and capabilities related to homeland security, according to the Defense Science Board. "Developing an effective capability to protect the homeland is a top national priority," DSB co-chairmen Donald Latham and Adm. Donald Pilling (USN-Ret.) said in a memorandum accompanying the study.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., has assembled and shipped the hybrid rocket motors that will be used during SpaceShipOne's upcoming first qualification flight to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, the company announced Sept. 13. The X Prize will be awarded to the first private team to conduct two manned flights into space within a span of two weeks using the same vehicle. SpaceShipOne's first qualification flight is scheduled for Sept. 29, and its second for Oct. 4 (DAILY, July 28).
Lockheed Martin is developing a downlink capability to allow fighter aircraft to send real-time video from their targeting pods to ground forces, company officials said Sept. 13. Peter Fox, a Lockheed Martin business development manager, said creating the downlink, which includes adding an antenna to the targeting pods, will increase the situational awareness of ground troops. "What the ground crew sees is what the air crew sees," Fox said at a press briefing at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in Washington.
United Defense Industries, Inc. of Minneapolis has successfully fired a 120mm Electrothermal Chemical (ETC) gun from a hybrid electric drive combat vehicle, the company said Sept. 13. The U.S. Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) staged the tests through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement and used a fully integrated 100kJ pulse power system.
The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems of Scottsdale, Ariz. a five-year, $30 million contract to provide protective clothing and advanced electronics to Army helicopter aircrew members, the company said Sept. 13. The Air Warrior Block 3 system includes an enhanced voice/data communication capability, upgraded microclimate cooling unit, and an integrated aviator helmet system, the company said.
JCM ANTENNAS: EMS Technologies' Space & Technology/Atlanta division will develop antennas for the Joint Common Missile (JCM) under a $5 million contract from JCM prime contractor Lockheed Martin, the company said Sept. 13. The company could also be awarded follow-on production contracts, EMS Technologies said.
Operational readiness for the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 aerial tanker fleet has been reasonably steady and corrosion has not been a major contributor in cases where adverse trends have been observed, according to a review by the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA). The findings were part of a summary analysis of the material condition of the KC-135 aerial tankers, which is part of the debate on whether they should be replaced with new Boeing-built tankers or other aircraft.
TRANSFORMATION MEANS CHANGE: Military transformation means a willingness to change acquisition plans as needed, says Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy. "For example, making some products operational, to some extent, even before they've been fully developed and tested. That's what's been done with some unmanned aerial vehicles and with our missile defenses," he says.
The Jan. 1, 2005 deadline for compliance with the Department of Defense's (DOD) new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) regulation has been relaxed under an Aug. 30 Defense Logistics Board Meeting memorandum, according to an Army logistics official.
Northrop Grumman has prevailed over Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the competition to develop the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) system for the U.S. Air Force's E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), the Defense Department announced Sept. 10. Northrop Grumman said it expects the BMC2 development effort to be worth more than $300 million, including an initial increment of at least $50 million.
TARGETING POD REVIEW: A panel of experts is scheduled to tell U.S. Navy acquisition chief John Young Sept. 23 what it learned from reviewing the military's targeting pod acquisition plans, sources say.
DISTRIBUTION: Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems of Reston, Va., will build two Army Internet Protocol Theater Satellite Broadcast Manager terminals for the Global Broadcast Service program under a $6.5 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Sept. 10. The program is a satellite-based system for distributing video, imagery and other data files for users around the world, DOD said.
