Northrop Grumman Corp. on May 1 redelivered the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to the U.S. Navy after a post shakedown availability (PSA) at Newport News Shipbuilding, the company said May 3. The USS Ronald Reagan was first delivered to the fleet in June 2003. It was returned for upgrades to its electronics package, combat systems, radar equipment and minor repairs, as well as modifications to accommodate F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft, Northrop Grumman CVN-76 program director Ken Mahler told The DAILY.
Northrop Grumman, having re-ceived an $888 million contract April 30 for the next phase of the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), is preparing for a final design review of the system next month, according Dave Mazur, the company's program manager. Once the review is completed, he said in a May 3 telephone interview, "we'll basically say the design is done and we'll start actually going into the development and the demonstration" of the radar.
Avionics supplier Rockwell Collins is taking its lean development and manufacturing process to the next level, to "life cycle value stream management," Bob Chiusano, the company's executive vice president and chief operations officer of Commercial Systems division, told The DAILY.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would maintain or expand funding for NASA if he wins the White House in November, but he doesn't support President Bush's new space exploration program, according to an aide for the campaign. Jason Furman, Kerry's economic policy director, told The DAILY that Kerry supports increasing NASA funding, focusing on research and development and high technology.
RAISED RATING: Standard & Poor's has raised its ratings outlook on European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. from negative to stable, the ratings service said. "The ratings action reflects EADS' ability to maintain strong financial measures, the expansion of the group's defense-related activities, and the resilience of subsidiary Airbus to the tough market environment," S&P said. It said Airbus aircraft deliveries will again top 300 units in 2004, and that EADS' defense activities will contribute significantly to cash flow generation by 2006.
RESTON, Va. - Through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is sponsoring the development of multi-purpose flight data recorders for the F/A-18 and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. Most current Navy aircraft fly with several data recording systems that separately record voice, video, vehicle health, and other information, according to Francis Peter of Management Sciences, Inc. Based in Albuquerque, N.M., Management Sciences is working on a multi-purpose flight data recorder for the F/A-18 under a Phase II SBIR grant.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers released a survey that said workers in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington are concerned about continued job losses. The poll found that 51 percent of those polled who identified themselves at blue-collar workers were somewhat or very concerned about job loss. The IAM represents members in aerospace, manufacturing and defense related industries.
MEP TROUBLE: Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, says a planned budget cut still threatens the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), which provides technical and business support to defense contractors and others. The Administration's fiscal 2005 budget request would cut MEP's budget from $106 million to $39 million. The White House wants to phase out the program to avoid subsidizing competition, according to budget documents. Snowe and Sen.
REFUELING IMPROVEMENT: The Boeing Co. is close to unveiling a hardware change designed to increase the stability of hose and drogue systems that tanker aircraft use to refuel planes in flight, says Boeing vice president Bob Gower, who oversees his company's tanker programs. Gower says he will be able to talk about the "hose stabilization technique" in about a month, once it is patented by Smiths Aerospace, a Boeing partner. The hardware adjustment is intended to reduce hose oscillation, which mainly is a problem in bad weather.
WORKING TOGETHER: Today, unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) are "point solutions," in that they conduct single missions with an operator. In the future, they will work in tightly integrated teams with other UGVs, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and warfighters, says Eugene Hudson, coordinator of the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Joint Robotics Program. OSD is conducting a study on the collaborative engagement of unmanned systems and naval vessels, says Mack Barber, president of Northrop Grumman's REMOTEC.
UPGRADE: Rockwell Collins will upgrade the communications of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles to allow the fighters to "engage more actively" in homeland security activities, the company said. Rockwell Collins will replace one of the F-15's military single-band radios with a multi-band radio capable of providing Very High Frequency communications with civil air traffic control authorities and civil aircraft. "The addition of this new Rockwell Collins radio is a critical improvement for the U.S.
TANKER REPORTS: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to be briefed during the week of May 3-7 on two reports he requested on the Air Force's controversial proposal to lease 20 Boeing KC-767 refueling aircraft and buy 80 more. The report by the Defense Science Board (DSB) is to examine whether new tankers are needed now, while the report by the National Defense University (NDU) is expected to examine the cost effectiveness of the Air Force proposal. Early this year, Rumsfeld put the potential deal on hold so DOD could finish several reviews of the matter.
MTHEL TEST: The test bed for the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) successfully tracked a large-caliber rocket for the first time April 29 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., but no shoot-down was attempted because of bad weather, time constraints and problems with test-range equipment, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army. The test bed, developed jointly by the United States and Israel, shot down artillery shells and smaller-caliber Katyusha rockets in earlier tests.
Despite the passage of the Safety Act of 2002, companies wishing to offer products to combat terrorism still are too vulnerable to third-party liability claims, according to Ron Sugar, chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman.
Small businesses are being recruited to bid for contracts at the new National Interagency Biodefense Campus at the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick, Md. The goal is to establish a "one-stop shop to provide better access for businesses that don't have the in-house staff or resources to investigate all the available contracts, and run the traps of the regular, complex procurement process," a representative from Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's (R-Md.) office told The DAILY.
MISSILE COUNTERMEASURES: Several factors make current military anti-missile systems a poor fit for commercial airlines, according to Ronald Robinson of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The failure rates that are quite acceptable for military operations are up to 30 times more frequent than the standard that we've set for commercial [airlines], which is about 10,000 hours of operation on the airplane between failures," he says. False alarms on anti-missile systems also could pose a significant problem for the commercial air traffic system, according to Robinson.
One of three companies receiving contracts for the Innovative Space Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT) program will be chosen in 2006 to build a 100-meter demonstration antenna that would fly in 2010, according to an Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) official.
WORKSHOP: NASA's Centennial Challenges program will conduct its first industry workshop June 15-16 in Washington. Modeled on successful 19th century navigation prizes and early 20th century aviation prizes, Centennial Challenges is establishing a series of annual prizes for technical breakthroughs that advance space exploration and other NASA goals. "Centennial Challenges is a small but potentially high-leverage investment by NASA to help address some of our most difficult hurdles in research and exploration," says NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.
JOINT FORCIBLE ENTRY: The U.S. Marine Corps is planning to conduct Sea Viking 04, a concept development and experimentation campaign to assess future Marine Corps and naval capabilities for joint forcible entry, the Navy says in its Naval Transformation Roadmap (DAILY, April 23). The U.S. Department of Defense is studying forcible entry to address the anti-access problem.
WAITING: Textron Inc. officials are waiting for results of the U.S. Army's Strategic Priorities Board review of an Operational Needs Statement (ONS) for 28 Armored Security Vehicles. Textron has a contract for 104 of the vehicles, which are used by military police forces. Of those, 99 are part of an earlier multi-year contract and four were added in the fiscal 2004 budget. Sixty-three of the vehicles are in Iraq and performing well," says Jay Johnson, director of ground systems at Textron's Marine and Land Systems division.
May 3 - 6 -- 2004 U.S. Coast Guard Innovation Expo, Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, Savannah, Ga. For information go to www.ndia.org. May 6 -- NASA Contractor Open Forum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Robert R. Gilruth Center, Houston, Texas. For more information call (281) 483-4512 or email [email protected].
U.S. Air Force officials are declaring victory in their battle to fix a major technical problem with the F/A-22 Raptor: avionics software instability. "Software stability [is] no longer an issue," the Air Force said in a graphic displayed at an April 30 press briefing.
House and Senate defense authorization bills are scheduled to be marked up this week. The Pentagon is seeking $401.7 billion for the Department of Defense, a 7 percent increase over fiscal year 2004 funding levels, although it does not include funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
