STRYKER ORDER: The U.S. Army has ordered vehicles for a fourth Stryker brigade, General Dynamics Land Systems said March 10. The order, for 212 of 300 vehicles, is worth $282.4 million. Deliveries are scheduled between February 2005 and January 2006. The Army is expected to order 88 more vehicles within 120 days to equip the fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team, the company said.
The U.S. Army has implemented a rapid fielding initiative to ensure that troops deploy with "off-the-shelf" or near-term developmental items that can be made available quickly, top service officials told House Appropriations Committee lawmakers March 10.
The U.S. Defense Department plans to begin a broad review of its transportation requirements in June, an effort that could pave the way for the purchase of dozens more Boeing C-17 transport aircraft. A previous mobility requirements study, completed in 2000, determined that DOD needed to have enough airlift to move 54.5 million ton miles (MTM) of cargo a day. That figure translated into 180 C-17s, 113 of which have been delivered so far to the Air Force. But the war on terrorism has greatly increased demand for transports, stirring calls for a new study.
Metal Storm Ltd. said it has achieved several milestones on its way to firing an electronic grenade launcher from a small unmanned helicopter. The company, based in Australia, said March 10 that it has conducted several firings of a 40mm grenade launcher from a suspended helicopter airframe; tested an integrated recoil system; and used lightweight, non-metallic material in a multi-shot cartridge.
EDO MBM Technology Ltd., a unit of New York-based EDO Corp., will supply scanning motors and drive electronics for the Eurofighter Typhoon's Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment (PIRATE) search-and-track system, EDO said March 10. The company will do the work at its United Kingdom facility under a 1.2 million pound ($2.2 million) contract from Thales Optronics Ltd. Follow-on options could add $5.5 million to the contract's value.
Lockheed Martin is preparing to introduce a system of electronic technical manuals for the worldwide F-16 fleet that should help save hundreds of millions of dollars, the company said March 10. The F-16 International Technical Order Digitization program also will pave the way for electronic manual support of advanced fighters such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F/A-22 Raptor, the company said.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engineers will conquer the aircraft's weight problem, U.S. Navy Secretary Gordon R. England told Senate Appropriations Committee lawmakers March 10. England told the panel that the Navy wants to ensure the aircraft's developmental problems are resolved early, one reason the program has seen delays. Its critical design review has been pushed from April to sometime in 2005, and the start of aircraft procurement has been moved from fiscal 2006 to FY '07 (DAILY, March 1).
NASA and Northrop Grumman have collected the largest set of sonic boom data recorded in 20 years as part of an effort to develop quieter supersonic aircraft, NASA announced March 9. The 21 data collection flights used a modified F-5E aircraft flying at speeds from Mach 1.35 to 1.4, and altitudes from 32,000 to 34,000 feet. The flights took place in January and February, according to NASA spokesman Gray Creech.
A panel of non-government witnesses was divided on the value of the International Space Station (ISS) to NASA's new exploration initiative during a House Science Committee hearing in Washington March 10, with one questioning whether the expense of completing assembly will be worth it.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, which has combined seven companies, has increased efficiency and profit by fully integrating its acquisitions, according to a company official. Formed in 1999, Crane Aerospace & Electronics has acquired aerospace companies Eldec, Hydro-Aire, Lear Romec and Resistoflex and electronics companies General Technology, Interpoint and Signal Technology.
U.S. Air Force Secretary James Roche has ended his bid to lead the Army, avoiding what would have been a tough confirmation fight in the Senate. In another Pentagon leadership development, President Bush has decided to nominate FBI official Tina Jonas to replace Dov Zakheim as the Defense Department's budget chief.
A prototype of the Active Denial System (ADS) is set to be delivered this summer and operational testing is to begin in the fall, according to the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. ADS uses an energy beam to heat water under the skin, causing intense discomfort but no permanent damage. Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were given a look at ADS and another nonlethal method of crowd control, the Mobility Denial System (MDS), before a hearing last week on new warfare technologies (DAILY, March 4).
Cuts in the Defense Department's $206 billion fiscal 2005 request for readiness would affect recapitalization plans, service commanders told Senate Armed Services Committee members March 9. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, said a cut in the readiness budget would pose challenges to resetting equipment and preparing for the next rotation in Iraq, and would hinder recapitalization plans to rebuild for the future. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) had asked about the effect of such a cut as Congress considers defense spending.
BALDRIGE AWARD: David Spong, vice president and general manager of Boeing Aerospace Support, was presented the 2003 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award by President Bush on March 9. The award is the highest honor for quality and performance excellence, and the unit received it in the service category.
Boeing plans to implement all the recommendations of an outside panel reviewing its hiring of government and former government employees, company Chairman Lew Platt said March 9. The panel, headed by former Sen. Warren Rudman, found no more problematic hires, like that of former Air Force official Darleen Druyun. However, it said Boeing should tighten up in some areas, such as by establishing a system for central oversight and monitoring of the recruitment and hiring of government and former government officials.
EMCORE Corp. of Somerset, N.J., will provide solar cells and panels to the Boeing Co. for the latest-model 702 satellite, the company said March 9. "Equipped with advanced triple-junction solar cells, this satellite is able to generate 18 kilowatts of power at start of service and 15.5 kilowatts at the end of its 15-year design life," Earl Fuller, vice president of EMCORE's Photovoltaics Division, said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The contract includes an option for providing the equipment for a follow-on satellite.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee's NASA subcommittee, plans to raise the issue of the future of the Hubble Space Telescope when NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe appears before the panel March 11. Mikulski joined astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore March 9 for the unveiling of new Hubble images, which NASA said may reveal the first galaxies to emerge after the Big Bang.
