Companies involved in the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system said April 6 that they are looking for new ways to improve the missile shield and apply its technology to other programs.
Major Pentagon acquisition programs have increased in cost by $73 billion, or 5.8 percent, the U.S. Defense Department said April 6 in releasing the latest selected acquisition reports (SARs).
Lockheed Martin is evaluating a third variant of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) that would have a striking range of more than 1,000 nautical miles, according to company officials. Grant Begley, business development manager for Lockheed Martin, said April 6 that the armed services have "expressed interest" in a weapon with longer-range capabilities than currently available. Begley said the company could seek development funding for the JASSM extra-extended range (JASSM-XR) variant as early as fiscal 2007.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) showed that improvements have been made in joint operations, but it also showed that challenges remain in areas such as logistics, damage assessment and coalition communications, U.S. service officials said April 6 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo in Washington.
The testing schedule for the U.S. Navy's MH-60R helicopter slipped about 10 months while engineers grappled with technical and training-related issues discovered during testing last summer, according to prime systems integrator Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin's proposed Joint Common Missile (JCM) rocket motor has completed a series of company-funded tests designed to ensure it won't detonate when subjected to fire or struck by debris. The company completed the tests April 3 at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) in Socorro, N.M., in conjunction with rocket motor supplier Aerojet and propellant supplier Roxell U.K.
EMALS: General Atomics was awarded a $145.6 million contract for the system development and demonstration of an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the Defense Department said April 5. The SDD phase includes the design, delivery, test and support of a full-scale EMALS at Naval Air Systems Command facilities in New Jersey, the DOD said.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee are asking their leaders to include an amendment in the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would limit the leasing of foreign-built ships by the U.S. Department of Defense to 12 months, including contract optionss.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is showing signs of maturity even as the aircraft continues to battle a weight problem, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. "A lot of stuff is coming together right now," said Tom Burbage, who heads Lockheed Martin's work on JSF.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. Air Force officials say a new GPS Operations Center at Schreiver Air Force Base here shifts the focus from those who operate the navigation satellites to warfighters and civil users, giving them real-time information to help offset problems that may crop up with ground stations, receivers or the satellites themselves.
A cabin pressure monitor (CPM) developed by NASA engineer Jan Zysko was named NASA's top commercial and government invention for 2003, the agency said. The CPM, patented by NASA, is a hand-held device that senses local environmental pressure while operating separately from other aircraft or spacecraft systems, NASA said. The device is being used in the Kennedy Space Center's Mars Simulation Chamber to protect workers from an accidental pressure reduction, a NASA official told The DAILY, and it also is being sold for use in commercial aircraft.
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system has successfully demonstrated the ability of an Alaska-based interceptor silo to open its doors while buried under a massive pile of snow, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. During a February test at Fotr Greely, Alaska, where much of the GMD system is being built, an interceptor silo opened its doors in 1.12 seconds despite being blanketed by a 29-foot-high heap of compacted snow, MDA said April 2. The goal was an opening time of 1.75 seconds or less.
The U.S. Army Research, Development and En-gineering Center (TARDEC) has has asked Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies of Irvin, Calif., to develop transportable hydrogen refuelers to support its fuel cell vehicles. The technology comes as the armed services have been seeking more portable and lightweight power sources for equipment for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The $1 million agreement is an expansion of a contract for light-duty off-road vehicles also currently under development.
Vision Systems International (VSI), a joint venture between EFW Inc. and Rockwell Collins' Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics, is delivering more than 400 additional Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) under a $62.6 million contract from the Boeing Co.
As the U.S. Navy moves from being primarily a blue water navy and places new emphasis on fighting in the littorals, BAE Systems officials say they and their European partners are ready to offer their experience in developing mine warfare systems.
Engineering development models (EDMs) of eight of the DD(X) next-generation destroyer's 10 technology areas have passed preliminary design review (PDR), and three have gone through critical design review, a program official said April 5. The DD(X) hull form is scheduled for a PDR this week, and the dual-band radar will go through its PDR in May, according to Brian Cuccias, DD(X) program manager at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2) is planning an innovative small, high-speed littoral ship that would be able to engage small attack boats at five nautical miles, George Root, director of advanced programs at Lockheed Martin MS2, said April 5 at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Expo. Lockheed Martin envisions the Covert, High-Speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC) deploying from a larger combatant, which could include a version of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) - a program for which Lockheed Martin is competing - Root said.
NANO FUNDING: The president's fiscal year 2005 budget request for nanotechnology programs at the Department of Defense (DOD) is $276 million, according to Clifford Lau of the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Laboratories and Basic Science. Although this is less than the $315 million the DOD will spend on nanotechnology in FY '04, Lau says he expects a "substantial increase" in the FY '05 enactment as a result of congressional plus-ups.
SALES MANAGER: Air Force Lt. Gen. Tome Walters is scheduled to retire July 1 as the head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Richard Millies, DSCA's deputy director, will serve as acting director until a new director is appointed. During Walters' tenure of almost four years, he has overseen an average of $13 billion a year in foreign military sales.
AURA DELIVERED: Northrop Grumman has delivered NASA's Aura satellite to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for its summer launch, the company said April 2. The satellite will be the first capable of collecting data for gauging the concentration and movement of gases in the troposphere, the region that "most affects daily human life," the company said.
April 6 - 7 -- DoD Chemical Biological Advance Planning Briefing for Industry (APBI), Kossiakoff Center, Laurel, Md. Contact Angie Gress at (703) 247-2568, email [email protected], or go to www.ndia.org. April 6 - 8 -- Sea Air Space Exposition 2004, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC. For more information go to www.sasexpo.org/2004/.
The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program should be completed in 15 years, not 20 or more, Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), who chairs the House Transportation Committee's Coast Guard subcommittee, told The DAILY April 2. "We want to make sure first it doesn't slip beyond 20 years and then we want to see it completed in a faster period of time," LoBiondo said. LoBiondo said the changing nature of the U.S. Coast Guard's mission, particularly its expanded role in homeland security, makes it crucial to upgrade the fleet.
