NUNN-PERRY AWARD: Boeing and Precision Machine & Manufacturing of Grove, Okla., were awarded the Nunn-Perry Award at the DOD's Mentor-Protege Conference March 17. The mentor-protege program encourages contractors to help small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses and organizations that employ the severely disabled to develop technical and business capabilities.
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.
GENERAL DYNAMICS ELECTRIC BOAT will continue to convert the USS Florida (SSBN-728) from a Trident ballistic-missile submarine to a Trident SSGN cruise missile submarine under a $145.6 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy. The award modifies a five-year, $443 million contract awarded last year for the conversion of four Trident ballistic-missile submarines to the SSGN configuration.
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.
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
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.
GENERAL DYNAMICS ARMAMENT AND TECHNICAL PRODUCTS will manufacture unguided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) 70mm rockets, motors and warheads for the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and foreign military sales customers, the company said. The work will be done under a $66.6 million order from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
GREENBELT, Md. - NASA leaders are engaged in a "Red Team-Blue Team" exercise to develop architectural trades, notional schedules and initial requirements for human missions to the moon and Mars.
House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) said March 16 that military policy for using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been "ad hoc-ed" and needs direction. The committee's tactical forces subcommittee plans a March 17 hearing on the Department of Defense's fiscal 2005 UAV budget, and Abercrombie, the ranking Democrat, said he wants to hear military plans for the vehicles before he decides whether the budget request is enough.
GREENBELT, Md. - NASA's proposed human missions to the moon should culminate in a year-long mission that simulates an extended stay on Mars, according to Wendell Mendell, manager of the Human Exploration Sciences office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. President Bush's space exploration agenda, announced in January, calls for NASA to return humans to the moon no later than 2020, in large part to prepare for landings on Mars (DAILY, Jan. 15).
The Army Tactical Missile System-Penetrator (TACMS-P), which underwent its first flight test in mid-March, is expected to have at least one more flight test within the next few months, an industry source said March 16. A third firing, with a backup missile, could occur if program officials decide it is necessary, the source told The DAILY.
The U.S. Navy plans to award the system development and demonstration contract (SDD) for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle program in the second quarter of fiscal 2005, a delay of at least several months. Navy spokesman Lt. Jon Spiers said the award was pushed back to ensure the decision fits with the service's overall strategy. The Navy plans an open competition for BAMS, the service said in a statement.
Defense Department officials have not yet responded to the Senate Armed Services Committee's latest demands for e-mails and other documents pertaining to the Air Force-Boeing tanker lease deal, aides to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told The DAILY March 16.
The U.S. Air Force plans to add computing power to the F/A-22 Raptor as part of an effort to improve the aircraft's air-to-ground capabilities, a spokesman for prime contractor Lockheed Martin said March 16.
NEW DELHI - India's air force plans to acquire precision-guided missiles from international markets, service head Air Chief Sriniwaspuram Krishnaswamy told The DAILY. The air force held an air demonstration March 14 in the Pokhran nuclear test area in the Rajasthan desert that included precision-guided missiles. The air force currently has mostly Russian-made guided weapons, including heat-seeking and laser-guided missiles.
Project Alpha, a Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) rapid idea analysis group, says it has a number of ongoing projects for accelerating military transformation.
LAUNCH: An International Launch Services Proton-M successfully launched the W3A satellite for Eutelsat on March 16 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite carries 38 Ku-band and two Ka-band transponders and is to provide broadcasting and multimedia services to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa.
The U.S. Navy has decided to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) service-wide to cut costs and improve efficiencies in acquisition and financial and logistics operations, a service official said March 16. ERP uses commercial practices to achieve its goals. The Navy plans to start deploying it across the service in fiscal 2006, after it incorporates the results from four ERP pilot programs, said Ronald Rosenthal, the Navy ERP program manager. Rosenthal spoke at the SAP International Aerospace & Defense Information Forum in Washington.
The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) is expected to begin fielding 41 backpack-portable Dragon Eye unmanned aerial vehicles in Iraq in May. "We are playing a fine line expediting as fast as we can, but also trying to make sure we have all the program support in place as well ... training, sustainment, all the rest of that," said Program Manager Lt. Col. Don Bruce.
