The House Armed Services Com-mittee's projection forces subcommittee has voted to authorize $890 million more than President Bush's $401.7 billion request for the Department of Defense fiscal year 2005 budget. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over 500 programs and projects totaling about $28 billion. In its markup on May 5, it added $20 million for 17 additional B-1 bombers and provided $49.7 million to replenish Tactical Tomahawk missile stocks, bringing that program's budget to $305.7 million.
A recent RAND Corp. study of U.S. Coast Guard assets that said the service should buy more cutters and aircraft may not be realistic, commandant Adm. Thomas Collins said May 5.
Lockheed Martin has been picked to be the prime contractor for the U.S. Army-led Joint Common Missile (JCM) program, the Army announced late May 5. The company, which edged out teams led by Boeing-Northrop Grum-man and Raytheon, will conduct a four-year system development and demonstration (SDD) phase for the air-to-ground missile.
CURTISS-WRIGHT, Roseland, N.J. David J. Linton has been named president of the Flow Control segment, Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Corp. (CWFCC). He replaces Richard Langseder, who has served as interim president, and will become executive vice president for CWFCC. GENERAL DYNAMICS, Falls Church, Va. Sir Robert Walmsley, the former chief of defense procurement at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, has been elected to the board of directors. INTEGRATED COAST GUARD SYSTEMS, Rosslyn, Va.
Sens. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) introduced a bill May 5 that would require federal contractors to provide valid taxpayer identification numbers before they could be eligible to receive federal contracts. The bill would establish a Central Contractor Registry with the U.S. Department of Defense. As a part of the registration process, individuals and companies would be required to provide a tax identification number and their consent to validate that number with the Internal Revenue Service.
DISPLAYS: Elbit Systems Ltd. subsidiary EFW Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas, will design and develop Upfront Control Display and Multi-Purpose Color Display units for F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft, the company said May 4. The contract includes options for production units of up to 360 aircraft, and could be worth more than $45 million, the company said. EFW will provide form, fit, function and interface replacements of the existing aircraft configuration, with the work to take place from 2005 to 2009.
RESERVE: President Bush asked Congress on May 5 to establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for fiscal year 2005 to meet military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. "While we do not know the precise costs for operations next year, recent developments on the ground and increased demands on our troops indicate the need to plan for contingencies," Bush said in a statement. He said the Administration will pursue a full fiscal year 2005 supplemental request when costs can be better estimated.
At a Senate subcommittee hearing May 5, Chairman Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) repeatedly questioned NASA about options for retiring the space shuttle early and finishing the space station by other means, saying he is "not convinced" that the agency has given enough thought to other possibilities. The shuttle is expected to return to flight in March or April of next year. NASA's plan is to retire the shuttle fleet after it completes assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) at roughly the end of the decade.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Tina Westby Jonas, who has been nominated to be undersecretary of defense (comptroller), to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Jonas testified April 27.) Q: At what point, if any, do you believe it will be appropriate to include funding for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in the [defense] department's annual budget requests?
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Dionel M. Aviles, who has been nominated to be assistant secretary of the Navy (financial management and comptroller), to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Aviles testified April 27.) Q: What do you view as the major readiness challenges that remain to be addressed and, if confirmed, how would you approach these issues?
EDO CORP. will deliver eight Joint Enhanced Core Communication System (JECCS) terminals to the U.S. Marine Corps under a $19.3 million delivery order, the company said. JECCS is a multifunction communication system mounted on a Humvee. Designated AN/TSQ-231, it provides voice, data and satellite communication capabilities for Marine Expeditionary Units. The order was made under a contract awarded to Darlington Inc., which EDO acquired last year and incorporated into its Combat Systems Division.
The Pentagon agency that handles the sale and donation of U.S. defense equipment to other nations is gearing up for potential work with Iraq's new military, a Defense Department source said May 4. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) currently is not authorized to be involved in Iraq because the country does not have its own government yet. But with the United States planning to transfer sovereignty to an interim government June 30, that barrier is expected to go away, the DOD source told The DAILY.
MARKUPS: Two Senate Armed Services Committee panels held mark-up sessions May 4 on the fiscal year 2005 Department of Defense authorization bill. The airland and seapower subcommittees held closed sessions, but made no substantive changes to the $401.7 billion bill, according to a committee aide. The sessions were classified, and aide told The DAILY, and details likely will not be released for several weeks.
The House Armed Services Committee takes up a proposal May 5 to increase the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The proposal is included in H.R. 4200, the Department of Defense Authorization bill. It would increase the size of the Army by 30,000 troops over three years and the Marines by 9,000 over three years. Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood said the need for additional equipment is driven by the mission and not by the number of troops, so increasing the size of the services may not lead to the production of more equipment.
RESTON, Va. - Under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Navy, Foster-Miller, Inc. of Waltham, Mass., is developing a small robot that would inspect the propeller shafts of 688-class submarines without requiring the shafts to be removed.
The Boeing Co. has acquired unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) maker Frontier Systems Inc., the company said May 4. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Irvine, Calif.-based Frontier Systems builds the A-160 Hummingbird and Maverick UAVs.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s sales for the first quarter of 2004 increased 21 percent, from $5.9 billion for the same period of 2003 to $7.1 billion, the company said May 4.
ACQUISITION: Austin Semiconductor of Austin, Texas, has acquired SAAT Technology LTD. of Alton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, a silicon design company. The acquisition will provide Austin Semiconductor with a "sister company in Europe with common goals and aspirations," the company said. SAAT Technology will change its name to Austin Semiconductor Europe Ltd. The buy will bolster Austin Semiconductor's move into the military and aerospace market, the company said.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a tool that would allow maintenance personnel in different locations onboard ships to collaborate and share knowledge over a wireless network. Navy ships are entering an era of increased automation and reduced crew sizes, according to Joseph Tesar, director of research and development for Cybernet Systems Corporation of Ann Arbor, Mich. For example, the DD(X) will have about 130 personnel onboard, compared with roughly 300 on a comparably sized ship today, he said.
The Army-led Joint Common Missile (JCM) program has received the Defense Department's approval to move into development, clearing the way for the selection of a prime contractor. Based on a review led by acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne, JCM was cleared May 3 to enter a four-year system development and demonstration (SDD) phase, DOD said in a brief "information paper" released May 4.
DISPLAYS: Elbit Systems Ltd. subsidiary EFW Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas, will design and develop Upfront Control Display and Multi-Purpose Color Display units for F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft, the company said May 4. The contract includes options for production units of up to 360 aircraft, and could be worth more than $45 million, the company said. EFW will provide form, fit, function and interface replacements of the existing aircraft configuration, with the work to take place from 2005 to 2009.
RESTON, Va. - The U.S. Navy is sponsoring the development of a new method for refurbishing infrared (IR) domes on aircraft that would cost only one-tenth as much as replacing them, according to developer Computer Optics of Hudson, N.H.
