Members of the House Armed Services Committee questioned U.S. Army officials Jan. 28 about whether the military is taking aggressive enough steps to equip troop vehicles to sustain explosions from detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The U.S. Department of Defense and the military services have improved their business models to transition science and technology (S&T) to the warfighter more efficiently, according to Al Shaffer, director of plans and programs in the Pentagon's office of Defense Research and Engineering.
Northrop Grumman has won a $115 million contract to develop its Fire Scout unmanned aerial system for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), the company said Jan. 27. As had been predicted (DAILY, Nov. 18, 2003), the vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, already under development for the Navy, will be an element of the Army's tactical intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting architecture, according to Northrop Grumman. As such, the company said, it will provide real-time imagery and data collection and dissemination at the brigade level.
NASA is on track to return the shuttle fleet to space this fall, but it plans to revamp the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), which had aimed to keep the shuttle flying until 2015 or beyond. President Bush has called for a space exploration program that would end the shuttle's service around 2010, so "clearly the president's vision will have an impact on that [SLEP]," said Michael Kostelnik, the agency's deputy associate administrator for the shuttle and International Space Station.
The Boeing Co. is exploring new versions of its Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), including a variant that would go after laser-designated targets, company representatives said Jan. 27.
The new Joint Capabilities Integration Development System (JCIDS) regulation still is a work in progress, but mostly is successful in improving the defense acquisition process, according to Col. Hugo Keyner, chief of the Joint Staff's Capabilities and Acquisition Division. Keyner spoke Jan. 27 at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA) Defense Acquisition 2004 conference in Arlington, Va.
United Defense Industries, Inc. reported financial increases last year compared with 2002, citing its involvement in the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS), and increased ship activities as the reason. For the fourth quarter of 2003, the company reported a net income of $28.8 million. Net income for the full year 2003 was $140.6 million, compared with $134.6 million for 2002, the company said in a Jan. 27 statement.
It will be roughly three months before a new, streamlined Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) will go online, a Department of Defense official told The DAILY Jan. 27. Ronald A. Poussard, deputy director of DFARS, said the new system for contractors will streamline the process of updating regulations and guidelines that currently take months to change in print. "A change in a regulation doesn't just happen," Poussard said.
Lockheed Martin Corp. reported net sales of $31.8 billion in 2003, a record amount that is 20 percent higher than 2002 results. The company booked more than $38 billion in orders in 2003 and ended the year with a $76.9 billion backlog, the company said Jan. 27. Net earnings for the year were $1.1 billion, compared with $500 million in 2002. Those earnings were reduced by investments in space imaging and telecommunications (DAILY, Jan. 27, 2003).
THE X-PRIZE FOUNDATION of St. Louis has selected Florida and New Mexico as finalists in the bid to host the X Prize Cup, a planned two-week-long annual event that would help space companies continue their efforts to build reusable launch vehicles. California and Oklahoma also had competed to host the venue, but "the winners received unanimous endorsements from the selection committee," X Prize Chairman Peter H. Diamandis said in a statement.
PARTNERS: FLIR Systems has agreed with Max-Viz to be the exclusive distributor of Max-Viz's Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) for use in military and government helicopters worldwide, the companies said Jan. 27. The systems offer "an effective solution to improve visibility in difficult environments," FLIR Senior Vice President Andrew Teich said.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program has successfully conducted its first system-level test using a new interceptor booster made by Orbital Sciences Corp., according to MDA.
SI INTERNATIONAL has completed the purchase of MATCOM INTERNATIONAL CORP. for $65.8 million in cash. SI International is an information technology, network solutions and systems engineering company and MATCOM provides information technology, systems engineering, logistics and training. The acquisition will help SI's plan to expand into new markets and offer more capabilities to the federal government, the company said. MATCOM clients include the U.S. Department of Defense, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security.
Sales of U.S. and European military fighter aircraft and related logistic support most likely will be flat over the next decade, but sales could increase as development programs ramp up in the coming three to five years, according to Byron Callan, an aerospace and defense analyst at Merrill Lynch. U.S. and European fighter aircraft programs may come under more scrutiny as military threats and their affordability are reassessed, Callan wrote in his Jan. 23 "World Combat Aircraft Survey."
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) "Opportunity" landed safely on Mars and is functioning normally, while the condition of its twin, "Spirit," has improved as engineers zero in on the problem that has rendered it incapable of normal communications since last week, according to NASA.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Czech defense officials say talks with Sweden over the lease of 14 Gripen JAS-39 aircraft will not be affected by news that the Swedish air force is facing technical problems with the fighter. Swedish public radio reported Jan. 23 that early versions of the JAS-39 have experienced problems with pilot computer screens shutting down during flights. The Swedish air force has placed restrictions on advanced training flights during darkness and bad weather until manufacturer Saab Aerosystems resolves the issue.
FIBER OPTICS: Fiber-optic communications subsystem maker Finisar will acquire Honeywell's VCSEL Optical Products business for $75 million in cash, the company said Jan. 26. The transaction is expected to close early this year. VCSEL builds vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) used in high-speed fiber optic communications systems and position-sensing applications. Roger Fradin, president of Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) division, said the VCSEL business is "non-core" to ACS' business.
The Bush Administration's fiscal 2005 defense budget request will include funding aimed at achieving better integration of intelligence capabilities, according to the Defense Department. Defense officials have said that the Iraq war showed the U.S. military still has significant shortfalls in its ability to share vital information (DAILY, Sept. 12, 2003; Nov. 24, 2003).
