The U.S. Army is ramping up testing of the Patriot anti-missile system after a two-year hiatus. The first intercept test since 2002 occurred March 4 and involved a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile successfully destroying a short-range ballistic missile target (DAILY, March 5). Tests planned for June and August will fire PAC-3s at multiple targets, said Col. John Vaughn, who oversees Patriot as project manager for the Army's Lower Tier Project Office in Huntsville, Ala.
MK80 WORK: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems will build bomb bodies for the MK80 Series bomb under a $103.9 million contract modification from the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command, Ill., the company said March 18. The contract has a potential value of $240 million, including options. Production under the modification includes inert and live bomb bodies in the 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound class, and will be performed at the company's Garland, Texas, facility. Work is expected to be completed by September 2005.
Boeing will manufacture 14 T-45 training system airframes under a $247.6 million contract modification, the U.S. Department of Defense announced March 18. The work will be performed in St. Louis and Warton, Brough, England and is expected to be completed in September 2006.
The U.S. Air Force is considering speeding development of a standoff electronic jamming capability for the B-52 bomber, sources said March 18. They said current plans call for development to begin in fiscal year 2005, leading to initial operational capability in 2011 or 2012. But, they added, options to speed the operational date to 2009 or 2010 are being investigated. - Rich Tuttle ([email protected])
The first priority for Boeing's new Space Exploration Systems (SES) organization, headquartered near Washington, will be to help sell NASA's space exploration plans to Congress and the public, according to SES head Chuck Allen. "The American people right now are very skeptical, as they should be, because they don't have any details," Allen said at a briefing in Arlington, Va., March 18. "Many in Congress are skeptical because they don't have any details. Everybody [has questions] that there just aren't answers to yet. It's just too early.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Joint Forces Command's (JFCOM) Joint Center for Lessons Learned is analyzing Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) from an operational and strategic level, said the center's director, Army Brig. Gen. Robert Cone. The center collected real-time observations of key activities and capabilities in the theater, such as the common operating picture and collaborative efforts regarding combat identification, Cone said at the JFCOM and National Defense Industrial Association's industry symposium here.
The Department of Defense has not provided "reasonable assurance" that its investment in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will result in effective integration into the force structure, according to a General Accounting Office report released March 17 at a congressional hearing. GAO officials Neal Curtin, director of defense and capabilities management, and Paul Francis, director of acquisition and sourcing management, appeared before the House Armed Services' tactical forces subcommittee.
Singapore has formalized its participation in the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development program by signing a "letter of offer and acceptance." The Singapore Ministry of Defence said the agreement would allow the Asian country to request delivery of JSF as early as 2012 if it decides to buy the aircraft.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The U.S. Army learned during Operation Iraqi Freedom that it needs to push networked communications down to the tactical level, a service official said March 17. "We need to overcome the digital divide, which prevents soldiers on the ground from having the same picture as does the commander in the command post," said Lt. Gen. William Wallace, deputy commanding general for combined arms at U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command. Wallace spoke at the Joint Forces Command-National Defense Industrial Association symposium here.
GREENBELT, Md. - NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) probably can function on the surface of the planet for 200-250 days if the agency can find the money to operate them that long, according to Jim Garvin, lead scientist for Mars exploration at NASA headquarters. The twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in January to look for evidence of past water (DAILY, Jan. 16). Spirit has been on the surface for more than 70 days, and Opportunity for more than 50. The baseline mission for each golf-cart sized rover is 90 days.
GE AIRCRAFT ENGINES said testing of its new CT7-8C turboshaft engine is off to a successful start. The engine has exceeded its planned rating, demonstrating more than 3,100 shaft horsepower under sea level, static conditions, while meeting all test parameters, the company said. Maturation testing is scheduled to begin later this year, leading to full certification by the FAA.
The United Kingdom Parliament's Select Committee on Defence favors the "robust" approach being taken by the British military on the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle program, and considers the military's assessment of man-portable UAVs "well worthwhile."
Air Force Secretary James Roche acknowledged March 17 that the F/A-22 Raptor may not be ready to begin a key testing phase in two weeks as planned. "I think it's iffy," Roche told the Defense Writers Group. Defense acquisition officials are scheduled to meet March 22 to determine whether the F/A-22 is ready to start its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) March 31. Tom Christie, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation, has warned that the Raptor may have trouble sticking to its test schedule (DAILY, Jan. 22).
AAI CORP., Hunt Valley, Md. Maj. Gen. John F. Michitsch (USA, ret.) has been appointed executive vice president. BOEING CAPITAL, Seattle Steve Vogeding, previously the chief financial officer, has been named vice president, transition management and operations integration. Russ Evans, the deputy chief financial officer, replaces Vogeding as CFO. John Rosenthal, the treasurer, will become director, risk management. Geoff Carpenter will replace Rosenthal as treasurer. CAE, Montreal
GOODRICH CORP. said Eurocopter successfully completed the first flight of its NH90 helicopter equipped with Goodrich's all-electric Actuation Systems flight control. Production deliveries for the NH90 begin later this year, the company said. Goodrich is the main supplier of servo controls to Eurocopter France and "is proud to have participated in the development of the fly-by-wire system, which is a real technical innovation in the rotorcraft market," Jean-Guy Mutez, the Goodrich business development director for helicopters, said in a statement.
BAE SYSTEMS will upgrade the identification friend or foe (IFF) system in the E-2 Advanced Hawkeye. The company will deliver seven production systems to Northrop Grumman after qualification testing under a $30.4 million contract.
GREENBELT, Md - NASA's new Office of Exploration Systems has just completed its review of 140 pre-existing technology programs it inherited from elsewhere in the agency, according to office director Rear Adm. Craig Steidle. "We just did a complete realignment and a review of 140 programs that have been moved into this office from different places, and about 25 percent of them are being refocused and realigned," Steidle said during the American Astronautical Society's 42nd Goddard Memorial Symposium here March 17.
LOCKHEED MARTIN will integrate the Sniper XR targeting pod on the A-10 Thunderbolt II to support the A-10 Precision Engagement (PE) program. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Orlando, Fla., will develop the Pilot Vehicle Interface, pod Operational Flight Program software and the pod interface adapter hardware for the A-10. The pod will be integrated as part of the PE program at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego, N.Y., the company said.
GOODRICH CORP. will supply General Electric Aircraft Engines company with nacelle systems for the new C-X Japanese military cargo aircraft. The work is expected to be worth more than $100 million over the life of the program, including sales of spare components, the company said.
