The international export control system can't prevent the proliferation of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), according to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
THAAD DELAY: The first flight test of the revamped Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is being delayed about three months, from September to December, because the program was forced to change sources for the interceptor missile's motor, says U.S. Army Col. Chuck Driessnack, who manages THAAD. Aerojet is taking over the motor work from Pratt & Whitney (DAILY, April 12), which was rocked by two explosions last year at its propellant-mixing facility in San Jose, Calif.
Although the acquisition of tank manufacturer Alvis by BAE Systems would be a loss for competitor General Dynamics, it wouldn't be devastating because the American company already has a large footprint in the European armored vehicle sector, according to an industry analyst. BAE Systems has offered to acquire the remaining 71 percent stake in United Kingdom-based Alvis that it doesn't already own. The offer values the entire company at 355 million pounds ($651 million), according to the Standard & Poor's rating service.
SWARM: The European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen a mission called "Swarm" as its next Earth Explorer Opportunity mission. A constellation of three magnetometry satellites, Swarm would provide the best survey of Earth's magnetic field, offering scientists new insights into the planet's interior and climate, according to ESA. After launch in 2009, the satellites would circle the Earth in near-polar orbits - one at 329 miles (530 kilometers) and two at 280 miles (450 kilometers) altitude.
Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne will attempt the world's first privately financed space flight on the morning of June 21st after taking off from the Civilian Flight Test Center at Mojave Airport in California. Although skies are almost always clear in Mojave, the flight could be postponed if winds are too high, according to Scaled spokeswoman Kaye LeFebvre. The flight will begin at 6:30 a.m. local time, before winds usually pick up.
JSF INTEROPERABILITY: The U.S. Defense Department is wrestling with a host of issues to ensure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is interoperable among the countries that buy the stealthy strike aircraft, says Air Force Maj. Gen. John "Jack" Hudson, head of the JSF program. One issue being addressed is the sharing of data, including how the exchanges should occur and how much information should be transferred. Other issues involve maintenance and logistics, such as being able to repair a Dutch JSF at a U.S. air base.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he would restrict the number of e-mails and other documents released to the Senate Armed Services Committee relating to the U.S. Air Force-Boeing Co. tanker acquisition program. "A number of e-mails and documents that fit within certain categories of internally deliberative matters would not be made available for review," Rumsfeld said in a letter sent last month to committee chairman Sen. John Warner (R-Va.)
The Department of Defense is unable to determine the number of Stinger missile systems sold overseas and lacks procedures for conducting inspections of international inventories, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
CKEM: Lockheed Martin was tapped by the U.S. Army to develop the Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM), the company said June 3. The company competed with a Northrop Grumman-led team for the program, a next-generation hypervelocity anti-tank weapon. Lockheed Martin will proceed as sole contractor under a $21.3 million, 36-month CKEM Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) contract, with the remainder of the contract valued at $60 million, the company said. Once the ATD program is completed in 2006, a two-year system development and demonstration phase is scheduled.
The international Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is now less than 10 million miles from the planet Saturn as it prepares to swoop through the planet's rings and perform a critical orbital insertion maneuver June 30. Launched in 1997, the $3 billion mission is the most sophisticated spacecraft ever launched to the outer planets. NASA built Cassini, while the European Space Agency (ESA) developed the Huygens probe.
NASA officials provided details about how a robotic servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) could work during a meeting in Washington June 2, while touting the concept as a way for the program to "take back" its destiny from the uncertainties inherent in shuttle servicing.
Prospects for Malaysia to become the first international buyer of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet are generating differing opinions. Although the Malaysian government continues to maintain publicly that it is interested in the strike fighter, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tome Walters, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), said June 3 that Malaysia seems unlikely to acquire the American-made aircraft, partly because the country's large Muslim population strongly opposed the U.S.-led Iraq war.
U.S. and British companies have won nearly all of the subcontracts awarded by the prime contractors and their teammates for the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.
No shortfalls of U.S. intelligence-gathering technologies have been found by Congress as it reviews the 9/11 attacks and preparations for the war in Iraq, Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told The DAILY June 3. Goss said the United States has an abundance of intelligence-gathering capabilities and that research and development are progressing. "There are people coming to my office everyday with a new technology," Goss said. "The question is, how do we use it?"
The E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-based early warning and command and control aircraft. Its mission is to extend perimeters of a task force by detecting enemy units and by vectoring interceptors into attack positions. It also provides strike control, radar surveillance, search and rescue assistance, communications relay, automatic tactical data exchange, and has shown its value in drug interdiction missions.
A Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) studied in a Joint Readiness Training Center exercise conducted in May 2003 demonstrated superior network capabilities, a significant information advantage and increased force effectiveness compared with a non-digitized light infantry brigade, RAND Corp. officials said June 2.
Regulations that ban the export and sale of commercially available aerospace parts and components used on military aircraft are stifling the ability of U.S. suppliers to compete with their European counterparts, according to an industry group. House lawmakers and members of the Aerospace Industries Association met June 2 to discuss the barriers that small and moderate-size aircraft suppliers face in competing successfully in the global marketplace.
Lockheed Martin is "up and running" to build the first Littoral Combat Ship for the U.S. Navy, and plans to talk with House lawmakers to try to head off a budget cut that could delay the program, company officials said June 2.
UPGRADES: United Defense Industries will upgrade Bradley Fighting Vehicles and provide spare parts and Blue Force Tracking (BFT) kits under contracts totaling $218 million, the company said June 2. The awards include $191.1 million to remanufacture and upgrade 131 older vehicles and provide fire support vehicles and other equipment; $19.8 million for spare parts for Bradley A3 and A2 vehicles; and $7.1 million to provide BFT kits for A2 vehicles. Bradley vehicles in Iraq " proved to be an exceptional system both in the open desert and during urban operations ...
The Department of Defense is preparing the latest update to its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) roadmap and expects to publish it at the end of this year, according to Dyke Weatherington, deputy in charge of DOD's UAV Planning Task Force. The previous UAV roadmap, dated 2002, was released in March 2003. In addition to information on several new UAV programs, the new roadmap also will contain a section on airships, according to Weatherington.
All soldiers assigned to future Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) units will be subject to the Army's Stop Loss/Stop Movement policy, Lt. Gen. Frank Hagenbeck, the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel, said June 2. Stop-loss restrictions prevent service members from retiring or leaving the service at their scheduled time, while stop movements prevent permanent changes of station (PCS) moves.
