An independent commission is recommending that NASA give private industry more responsibility for the agency's "operational, mundane" needs such as access to low-Earth orbit, while the agency retains control of "inherently governmental" tasks such as human space flight.
Naval Air Systems Command is going ahead with plans for a July 21 industry day on the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) program. A request for proposals for the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of JPALS has been planned for release in June 2005; a contractor would be chosen in late 2005.
WORKSTATIONS: DRS Technologies Inc. will build next-generation AN/UYQ-70 Advanced Display Systems workstations for U.S. Navy Aegis cruisers and other ships, E-2C Hawkeye aircraft and USS Los Angeles-class attack submarines under new orders totaling $31 million, the company said June 16. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors Tactical Systems awarded the contracts. The workstations are becoming the Navy's common computer display consoles, DRS Technologies said.
The House Appropriations Committee's commerce subcommittee approved $106 million in fiscal year 2005 funding for the Manufacturing Extension Program. The committee is seeking to restore funding for MEP to the fiscal year 2003 level. The White House has recommended cutting the program's funding to avoid subsidizing competition, according to budget documents.
Budget constraints have prompted the U.S. Air Force to scale back initial capabilities for a key component of the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), according to government and industry officials.
The House Appropriations Committee approved $416.9 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Defense, including money for acquiring Boeing 767A aerial refueling tanker aircraft. The panel convened June 16 for a markup session that made minor changes to the bill approved by the committee's defense subcommittee last week. The full committee increased appropriations for the DOD that are only slightly more than the subcommittee's $416.1 billion recommendation.
SFW HARDWARE: Herley Industries will provide microwave hardware for Textron's Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW), the company said June 16. The work will be done under a $2.3 million contract that includes one $2.3 million option, Herley said. The company received a similar contract last year (DAILY, June 6, 2003). The work will be done at the company's facility in Woburn, Mass. The SFW is an air-dropped dispenser that can eject 40 seeker-equipped submunitions, each of which is capable of detecting and firing on a target.
Goodrich Corp. and Varig Engineering Maintenance (VEM) have agreed to team up to provide aircraft wheel and brake service, which will place the companies in a leading role in South America for the repair and overhaul of wheels and brakes, Goodrich said June 16.
A newly formed European Union (EU) defense agency probably won't increase defense spending in Europe, but likely will reduce the number of smaller, weaker European defense companies and encourage consolidation, defense analysts said.
The Boeing Co. is working on several fronts to expand its already broad-based international cooperation on missile defense, according to a company official.
NASA began brainstorming ideas for its upcoming Centennial Challenges aerospace prizes with industry representatives during a meeting in Washington June 15, in anticipation of announcing the first prizes later this year. Modeled on successful 19th century navigation prizes and early 20th century aviation prizes, the Centennial Challenges program is aimed at stimulating industry to produce breakthroughs in technologies that would support NASA's new vision for space exploration. The agency is requesting $20 million for the program in fiscal year 2005.
NEW DELHI - About 70 Indian air force MiG-21s are to be phased out by 2012 and replaced by BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainers, according to Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, the air chief marshal. India signed a contract for 66 115Y Hawk advanced jet trainers earlier this year (DAILY, March 22), with deliveries scheduled to begin around 2007.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) program is preparing to draw to a close with an upcoming demonstration to the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Ga., according to prime contractor Honeywell. The OAV is an autonomous ducted fan vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle designed to provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition for small units in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS). Happening soon
FCS MORTAR: United Defense is asking suppliers for off-the-shelf solutions and modifications for a 120 millimeter, breech-loaded, smooth-bore mortar armament subsystem for the Army's Future Combat Systems program. Responses are due June 18. The request was released May 20. Information is available online at http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/ic/fcs/bia/040223_ud_announce.html.
ALCATEL SPACE of Paris has agreed to build a new Galaxy 17 satellite for American operator PanAmSat. It will be the first European-built satellite in PanAmSat's fleet. The Galaxy 17 will provide television and telephone services to North America and has a design life of 15 years. PanAmSat covers the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Alcatel Space will be in charge of satellite construction and delivery of a satellite simulator, as well as the launch campaign, satellite positioning and in-orbit tests.
XEROX is teaming with NASA to develop collaboration and knowledge management systems and to help NASA implement its new space exploration program. NASA expects to save research and development tax dollars by using Xerox's technology and expertise. The partnership has resulted in the NX Knowledge Network, which incorporates NASA's Ames Research Center's Netmark software with software from Xerox's global research centers.
DEFEATED: The Senate rejected an amendment to the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would have eliminated funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). The amendment, offered by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), was defeated 55 to 42. The Bush Administration is seeking $27.6 million to study RNEP in fiscal 2005, but its opponents contend the weapon could cause radioactive fallout.
The U.S. Navy plans to give other countries a major role in the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program, possibly on a level approaching that of the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Navy acquisition chief John Young told reporters June 14 that the United States already has had initial talks with several potential international participants, and he expects those discussions to intensify now that the Navy has picked the Boeing Co. to be the new prime contractor for the new anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft.
As part of its work on the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program, Northrop Grumman Corp. demonstrated a shipboard mission control system that would allow unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) to participate autonomously in conventional manned, aircraft carrier-based flight operations, the company said June 15. The demonstration occurred Feb. 23-29 on the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier stationed off the East Coast of the United States.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is on track to install the first operational interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system in about 30 to 45 days, an MDA spokesman said June 15. The interceptor, Initial Defensive Capability 1 (IDC-1), is on course for insertion in an underground silo at Fort Greely, Alaska, in mid- to late-July, the spokesman told The DAILY.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bird Eye 500 Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system was successfully demonstrated by Condor UAV B.V. in Nuenen, the Netherlands on June 14-15, IAI said. Condor UAV B.V. is the Haarlem, Netherlands-based distributor of mini UAVs for IAI's MALAT Division. The demonstration included traffic control, the detection and tracking of people and vehicles, fire detection, and urban and farm site monitoring.
The Coast Guard's Deepwater program is meeting its milestones, an Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) official told The DAILY after top service and industry officials met June 15 for a quarterly program management review. "... We are working concurrently across several domains or areas at the same time, with milestones being met in every domain. The Deepwater program is tracking positively with the overall plan and consistent with the funding received to date," said ICGS spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell-Jones.
