The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Frank Budgeting. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says “the one area where” he’s been “disappointed” in President Barack Obama is his failure to slash defense spending. “I think he gets intimidated by this notion that ‘Oh, you look weak on defense,'” Frank says July 26 on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann show. Frank’s Sustainable Defense Task Force wants the Pentagon’s budget trimmed by $960 billion over the next decade. Frank tells Olbermann that while Obama wants to fight terrorism, nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines don’t thwart terrorists. “This money diverts resources from a focused effort on fighting terrorism,” the liberal congressman argues. Military spending must factor in to budget cuts aimed at reducing the deficit, and the United States should spend less money defending western Europe, Frank maintains.
Vehicle Cuts. The Army wants to take away previously approved funding for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Abrams Main Battle Tank, according to the Pentagon’s July 2 proposal to reprogram funding within its coffers in FY ’10. The 89-page omnibus reprogramming request, which congressional defense committees are weighing, seeks to reduce $143 million in research and development funding for the Combat Vehicle Improvements Program, because the Pentagon’s decision to upgrade the Bradley vehicle and Abrams tank was delayed. The money-shifting request also calls for cutting $200 million in Bradley procurement monies, because of some lower-than-estimated installation costs and the availability of FY ’10 supplemental war funding. An earlier Pentagon reprogramming request, which lawmakers still are reviewing, seeks to cut another $154 million in Bradley monies.
NASA Contracts. Three companies and one university have new contracts with NASA for crew robotics and equipment work. The deals cover spacewalk activity equipment; spacecraft flight-crew equipment; crew health and conditioning systems; spacewalk robotics equipment; environmental control and life-support equipment; active thermal control systems; avionics equipment; and ground-support systems. The companies are ATK Space Systems of Brigham City, Utah; Oceaneering International and Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering, both of Houston; and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The equipment will be used in the space shuttle, on the International Space Station, and with other “advanced development programs,” the space agency says.
Take Three. Boeing last week submitted a proposal to the Air Force for a contract to build an aerial refueling tanker replacement fleet. The potential airplane, based on the company’s 767 jetliner, would replace 179 of the Air Force’s 400 KC-135 tankers if the company were chosen over competitor EADS. The Airbus parent submitted a bid one day ahead of the July 9 deadline. The 8,000-page Boeing proposal was delivered to the KC-X program office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, on July 9. This is the Air Force’s third attempt to compete the contract.
Orion Progress. The Orion crew exploration vehicle has successfully completed the Phase 1 Safety Review of NASA’s Human Rating Requirements for space exploration in low Earth orbit and beyond. The NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion team now moves ahead to the Critical Design Review and Phase 2 Safety Review. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Orion spacecraft is comprised of a crew module for crew and cargo transport; a service module for propulsion, electrical power and fluids storage; a spacecraft adapter for securing it to the launch vehicle, and a launch abort system that will significantly improve crew safety. The spacecraft is on schedule to complete the Critical Design Review in 2011.
Ares Test. Engineers and technicians at ATK and NASA have completed installation work on the second Ares I First Stage five-segment Development Motor (DM-2), in preparation for its static-fire, which is currently scheduled for early September, the company says. The Ares I First Stage, the largest solid rocket motor ever built, was designed to maximize astronaut safety while providing a reliable launch capability for both crew and cargo missions. The motor, which is 154 feet in length and 12 feet in diameter, has been installed horizontally in a specialized test stand in Utah. Results from this test will be compared with data from the ground test of the first five-segment motor and Ares I-X test flight both successfully completed last year.
Successful Track. The Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demonstration satellites, built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, successfully detected and tracked a two- stage Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) during a Missile Defense Agency flight test on June 6, the companies say. Tracking data generated by the satellite sensors were transmitted to the Missile Defense Integration and Operation Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., which serves as the ground station for the two demonstration spacecraft. The missile tracking capability being demonstrated by the STSS Demonstration program will mature technologies and concepts of operation for an operational constellation. The operational constellation would enable earlier intercepts of threat missiles in flight.
Collins Knocks DHS Review. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Bottom-Up Review, which is supposed to show how its programs and organizational structure are aligned with its mission sets established in the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR), falls short. The review “has identified some actions that DHS plans to take to enhance the nation’s security, including steps that would eliminate unnecessary duplication and inefficiency in DHS operations,” says Collins, who is the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Despite these positive results, the review is disappointingly short on the programmatic and organizational details that would be necessary for it to serve as a roadmap for advancing the goals outlined in the QHSR.” DHS provided advance copies of the review to Congress last week but still not publicly released it.
Real Security In A Virtual World. Fundamental to all of NUWC’s virtual world applications is security, Steve Aguiar, virtual worlds program lead for a series of projects partly funded under NUWC Newport, tells Defense Daily. “Specifically information assurance. Making sure that we deploy and use virtual worlds in a secure manner does limit our ability to exploit some of the collaborative features,” he says. “This is simply a network appliance and we have to abide by very strict network and software product rules. This is a brand new product that our security folks don’t fully understand therefore they rightly have to be as cautious as they can.”
…Fast Track. The capability has exceeded the understanding of what to do with it, which affects all levels of use including our security rules, but that is tantamount, Aguiar says about virtual world programs. “We make sure the virtual world gets deployed in a completely secure manner.”
Just Like Wal-Mart. A new inventory management system developed by TASC, Inc., for the Navy will allow Naval warehousing facilities to automatically count and locate radio frequency identification (RFID)-tagged inventory in real time, the company says. The TASC software team created and implemented the tool at the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technical Division warehouse in Indian Head, Md. Users were able to locate items tagged with passive Radio Frequency (pRFID) tags in a scaled three-dimensional virtual warehouse. The solution was created in conjunction with RF Controls, who developed the Intelligent Tracking and Control System (ITCSr), a state-of-the-art pRFID system that uses innovative, bi-directional, electronically steerable phased array antennas. The software platform integrates a RFID system with an inventory management system, TASC adds.
…Accurate Count. Using a pRFID Real Time Location System (RTLS), the solution automatically inventories stock count and locations for reconciliation. From automatic stock count and location queries, users receive real-time inventory reports and a three-dimensional graphical presentation of items’ location in the warehouse. With the TASC system, users can resolve any discrepancies caused by human error and maintain a higher level of accuracy for both physical stock and database records.
New Missile Processing. A Navy team, led by the NATO SeaSparrow Project Office (NSPO), receives a Defense Standardization Program Achievement award July 7, for creating a common missile “flex” factory, NAVSEA says. The new, flexible facility concept allows Navy surface-to-air missiles to be processed using a standard set of test equipment similar to equipment found at intermediate-level maintenance facilities, the all-up round (AUR) facility, and Raytheon’s missile factory in Tucson, Ariz., NAVSEA adds. NSPO management teams developed a common-component strategy to eliminate program-unique test equipment by consolidating as many functions as possible into a single, flexible test suite. The team consolidated AUR and guidance-section testing into one test set for the Navy’s entire portfolio of surface missiles, including all variants of the Standard Missile, Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM), and Rolling Airframe Missile, NAVSEA says.
…Additional Work. The NSPO team is also working with the Standard Missile and Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) programs to standardize sub-assembly testing, consolidate fuse testing, and radio frequency component testing onto a single automated line.
Continuing NMCI. HP Enterprise Services signs a Continuity of Services Contract (“CoSC”) with the Navy, valued in excess of $3 billion, if all options are exercised. The CoSC enables the Navy to transition the comprehensive, end-to-end IT services presently provided under the NMCI contract to the NGEN contract in a manner that minimizes the possible risks to the Navy’s IT operations and security, HP says. This new agreement continues the relationship between HP and the Navy and ensures the continued IT support for more than 700,000 sailors, Marines and civilians in the continental United States, Hawaii and Japan, the company reports. HP Enterprise Services leads a team of more than 200 companies that operate all aspects of NMCI and maintains the performance and security of this highly-integrated IT environment.
IR Warning System Award. Northrop Grumman has been awarded an $80 million contract to provide infrared missile warning systems (IRMWS) and processors to the NAVAIR in support of medium and heavy lift helicopter fleets, the company says. This equipment enables theater operations in areas previously denied due to threat conditions. Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman will deliver more than 450 IRMWS and 90 processors to NAVAIR beginning in May ’11 and concluding in the second quarter of ’13. This hardware, in conjunction with Northrop Grumman’s Guardian laser, transmitter assemblies and control indicator units will complete the initial Department of Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (DoN LAIRCM) installation requirements on 156 aircraft to provide infrared threat protection for Marine Corps CH-53E, CH-46E and CH-53D platforms. The Northrop Grumman LAIRCM system also forms the baseline for the company’s Common Infrared Countermeasures offering for the upcoming Army competition to supply the service with an advanced infrared countermeasures systems, the company says.
SM. The Navy awards Raytheon contracts totaling $368 million with potential modifications for LRIP to manufacture SM-6 systems over a three-year period, the company reports. The contracts include the production of missiles, spare parts, and system and design engineering efforts. Raytheon will deliver the first missiles in early 2011. SM-6 is being developed to meet the Navy’s requirement for an extended-range anti-air warfare missile. The system will provide a defensive capability against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles, Raytheon adds.
New UK Equipment. The U.K. Treasury Reserve is providing some $285 million for new equipment for U.K. troops in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Liam Fox says. The funds will buy base protection equipment to include surveillance, communications and logistics equipment, he says. Since the beginning of June, reserve funding totals more than $386 million in reserve funds earmarked for equipment. This extra funding will allow the MoD to equip an increase in the number of specialist C-IED teams and reflects the continuing move towards partnering the Afghan National Army and Police and the thickening of U.K. forces across the area of operations, Fox says.
More Trucks. The Army orders 950 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles trucks and trailers from Oshkosh Corp., under two orders with deliveries completed by December 2011, the company says. “Oshkosh remains on target for FMTV production-unit deliveries starting in October of this year, allowing our men and women in uniform to receive these essential vehicles as quickly as possible,” says Mike Ivy, vice president and general manager of Army Programs for Oshkosh Defense. “From testing and production to training and service, we intend to satisfy every Army requirement related to the FMTV program with high quality Oshkosh products delivered on schedule.” The two delivery orders, valued at more than $136 million, include nearly 800 trucks and more than 160 trailers, increasing the total number of Oshkosh FMTV truck-and-trailer under order to 6,159. Oshkosh also will supply nearly 40 FMTV add-on armor “B” kits under the orders.
Submitting An Army Bid. Boeing says it submitted a proposal at the end of May to deliver an affordable airborne intelligence collection, processing and targeting support system to the U.S. Army, the Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS). The system is being procured by the Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors. “Boeing has a deep appreciation for the challenges soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan and understands the critical and urgent capability that EMARSS will bring into theater,” says Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, in a July 8 statement. “We are committed to delivering early and to providing a mission system that works as promised to bring soldiers home safely.” Northrop Grumman and L-3 are also competing. The award is expected in late September.
Exercise In Cambodia. Angkor Sentinel 10, the first large scale multilateral peacekeeping exercise in Cambodia, co-hosted with the United States is now in progress, running July 9-30 near Phnom Penh. The Royal Cambodia Armed Forces (RCAF) and the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) are participating in the multinational exercise. The Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI) is co-sponsored by RCAF and the U.S. Pacific Command. Angkor Sentinel 10 focuses on developing participating nations’ contributions to U.N. peacekeeping efforts, USARPAC says in a statement. The training emphasizes multinational peacekeeping challenges such as insurgency, terrorism, crime and ethnic conflict. The exercise strengthens readiness and interoperability for each nation to succeed in overcoming these challenges, the command says.