SUB PLANNING: General Dynamics Electric Boat will begin advanced planning for maintenance, repair and alterations on the USS Augusta (SSN-710) under a $7 million contract from the U.S. Navy, the company said July 11. The interim dry docking work is to be completed by March 19, 2004, at the company's Groton, Conn., facilities.
The U.S. Air Force on July 11 launched a mandatory congressional review phase on a $15.5 billion plan to lease 100 Boeing 767-200 tankers, delivering a 13-page report to the defense committees that describes the more expensive lease option as "an opportunity cost trade-off." Air Force Secretary Jim Roche is free to sign the lease contract after 30 days, but agreed to take no action until the defense committees approve a separate request to start the proposed 14-year program.
VXX STUDY: Sikorsky is delivering a study to the U.S. Marine Corps on how the company's S-92 helicopter could be adapted to serve as a presidential transport, according to S-92 Program Manager Nick Lappos. Competing contractor Lockheed Martin delivered a similar report on the Lockheed/AgustaWestland/Bell Helicopter US101 in June. Sikorsky expects a total buy of up to 23 aircraft in the program, known as the Vertical Lift Aircraft (VXX).
July 15 - 17 -- Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, 2003 Unmanned Systems Symposium and Exhibition, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore. For more information, call (703) 920-2720, email [email protected] or go to www.auvsi.org. July 15 - 17 -- 3rd Tri-Service Power Expo & Conference, "Power On the Go for Today's Armed Forces," Norfolk Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, Va. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
The U.S. Defense Department says several of its missile defense and space programs will be delayed or constrained if Congress approves certain proposals that lawmakers are considering as part of the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill.
NEW DELHI - The Indian defense ministry has invited tenders for a transport aircraft for the prime minister, to replacing two aging Boeing 737-200s. This is in addition to the purchase of aircraft for transporting other government leaders. India announced last month it will buy four Embraer Legacy aircraft for that purpose (DAILY, June 27).
BMC2 DELAY: The deadline to submit bids for the Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) component of the E-10A Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A) has been postponed about four weeks to Aug. 4, according to U.S. Air Force acquisition documents. The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., which is managing the contract, has not offered a reason for the delay. The original deadline to respond to the request for proposals was July 8.
NEW DELHI - The first two Raytheon AN-TPQ/37 Firefinder weapon-locating radars bought by the Indian army arrived last week aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17. The radars are part of a buy of 12 India made last year (DAILY, April 19, 2002) under a $190 million fast-tracked Foreign Military Sales contract. The contract includes radar sets, AN/VRC-90E SINCGAR radios, generators, communications and Global Positioning System equipment, training equipment and support personnel, an Indian defense ministry official said.
CLASSIFIED EXPERIMENTS: Some of the classified experiments the U.S. Navy will be conducting later this year or early next year with the SSN-23 Jimmy Carter may involve unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), says Rear Adm. John Butler, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines. The Jimmy Carter, the last of the Seawolf-class submarines, has been redesigned for classified research and experimentation, Butler says. "The Carter has a large open interface available to us. So we'll be looking at things like large UUVs," he says.
FUEL CELL PARTNERS: Five international partners will work with the Boeing Research and Technology Center in Madrid, Spain, on a demonstrator project to explore the use of fuel cells in aircraft, Boeing said July 11. They are Intelligent Energy of the U.K., Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria, Sener and Aerlyper of Spain and Advanced Technology Products of the U.S.
VETO THREAT: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he will recommend that President Bush veto the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill if it contains House-passed provisions aimed at shoring up the U.S. defense industrial base. Rumsfeld says the so-called "Buy American" provisions, which would increase restrictions on the Pentagon's use of non-U.S. sources, would require costly changes in weapon system programs to eliminate foreign content. "For example, the provisions could force the U.S.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) believes several research and development programs related to undersea warfare look promising for further development, according to Rear Adm. John Butler, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines. Most systems being studied relate to the detection and identification of potential threats rather than actual weapons technology, he said. "There are a couple of areas we find promising," Butler told a group of defense reporters in Washington late last week.
Contracts for the first satellites to be built for Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system were signed July 11, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. The contracts are for two experimental satellites, forerunners of the system's in-orbit validation phase. One is to be launched in 2005 to secure the frequencies reserved for the Galileo system with the International Telecommunications Union, ESA said.
PRAGUE - The Czech Republic will protect its airspace over the next five years with 12 older supersonic fighters and two training aircraft, the government agreed at a meeting on July 9.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has added $202 million to the Coast Guard's $500 million fiscal 2004 budget request for the Deepwater modernization effort, an increase that proponents say is needed to keep the program on track.
Second-quarter financial results for most aerospace and defense companies should reflect strong business fundamentals, despite a lack of investor interest in defense stocks, according to financial analysts. The divergence between the defense sector's performance and investor interest is "disturbing" given the high visibility, improving returns and stable cash flow of most of companies in the sector, senior aerospace and defense analyst Christopher Mecray said.
LITTLE IMPACT: A proposed joint venture between BAE Systems and Finmeccanica is unlikely to have a major impact on the defense electronics market, according to defense electronics analyst David Rockwell of the Teal Group. The joint venture is unlikely to affect the U.S. market, Rockwell says, because it's unclear how Finmeccanica can assist BAE Systems with some of its electronics programs. The effect on the European market also is unclear because many European countries have their own suppliers, as France does with Thales, he says.
BIG CUTS: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a longshot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, says he would slash defense spending to free up money for education. "We are arming ourselves to the teeth, and we are missing a chance to make sure our children have decent education," Kucinich says. He would kill the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F/A-22 Raptor, V-22 Osprey, RAH-66 Comanche, Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) and Space Based Radar. He also would significantly reduce spending on shipbuilding.
The U.S. Navy echoed the Air Force July 10 in saying it does not intend to put weapons on the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, despite an Army general's recent comments suggesting the Defense Department will try to arm the Northrop Grumman-made surveillance aircraft. "At this time, we have no plans to arm the Global Hawk aircraft," a Navy spokesman told The DAILY.
Senior officials with the U.S. and Taiwanese navies have agreed on preliminary plans to design and develop eight diesel-electric submarines for sale to Taiwan. The plans were agreed upon last month when Taiwanese navy officials visited Washington, according to Rear Adm. John Butler, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines. Taiwan must allocate funding for the program before the U.S. Navy will issue a request for proposals (RFP) to U.S. defense contractors to build the submarines, he said.
The FAA commissioned the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) at midnight on July 9, marking the formal beginning of the agency's effort to enable precise satellite navigation for aircraft flying anywhere in the U.S.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Thomas W. O'Connell, who has been nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict (SO/LIC). O'Connell testified July 10.) Q: The position of assistant secretary of defense for [SO/LIC] has been vacant for over two years. What changes, if any, have taken place during this time in the SO/LIC organization and the responsibilities of the ASD (SO/LIC)?
A plan to field an early version of the $1.3 billion Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) in 15 months faces a growing list of complications, including possible shortages of funds and training participants, as well as mounting technical difficulties. The JNTC is a top item on the Pentagon's transformation agenda. A $60 million fund borrowed from other programs to launch JNTC in fiscal 2003 was diverted to pay bills for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and may not be paid back.
