The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
D-Day. Mark the calendar. Put the Air Force acquisition shop on speed-dial. The Defense Acquisition Board meets today to decide the fate of the KC-X aerial refueling tanker replacement program. A decision whether the initial contract worth up to $40 billion goes to Boeing [BA] or Northrop Grumman [NOC] could come anytime after, service officials have said.
Frequency Change. The Army is considering big changes to the war supplemental request from fiscal year 2008 that Congress has yet to approve including a $1.7 billion reduction in plans to purchase Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radios, informed sources said last week. The service had requested $2.4 billion for SINCGARS radios. Cuts to the $2.7 billion request for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles are also being considered as part of a plan that was briefed to Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, sources said.
Over and Out. Mitch Waldman, a former deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for shipbuilding and more recently a former military assistant to former Sen. Trent Lott (R- Miss.), starts work today at Northrop Grumman’s customer relations shop, a company spokesman confirmed. Waldman follows in the footsteps of Eric Womble, who left Lott’s office to join Northrop Grumman in 2002 as a vice president of programs. Lott’s office has long been supportive of Northrop Grumman, which operates Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Lott left the Senate late last year to start work as a lobbyist.
Contracting Reforms. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the chairman of HASC, last week urged Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle to reconsider changes that loosen two rules governing contracting accountability in Iraq. Those include the exemption of overseas contracts from the Cost Accounting Standards Board and from required self- reporting of abuses of more than $5 million. “Reconsideration of these two decisions will go a long way toward ensuring that accountability and oversight of contingency contracting are once again high priorities of the government,” Skelton wrote in a Feb. 19 letter.
Steady Ted. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) announced last week he’s running again for a seventh term in the Senate. Stevens, who was appointed to the chamber in 1968, is the most senior member of the Republican party. Stevens, 84, continues to serve as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.
Learning Curve. Northrop Grumman’s apprentice school has been the backbone of the Newport News shipyard for 87 years and it has become the most outstanding place to learn how to work with tools, Mike Petters, president Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, tells Defense Daily. Petters was in attendance at the school’s graduation earlier this month. “Several years ago we realized we had over 2,000 graduates. Today we are up over 2,400. About 80 percent of those grads have moved beyond their tools and are in management,” he says. “We decided we not only need to help train our folks to be superior mechanics…but the great enabler in shipbuilding is leadership…so we brought a leadership element into the school because in very short order many of these folks are not going to be working off a tool bag, they are going to be leading.” It’s important for Northrop Grumman to get those folks the kind of training that they need to do that job right, Petters adds.
…Help Wanted. “There is a lot, though, of work in the shipyard that we are going to have to find ways to do that job…and make it attractive for people to come in and do it,” Petters notes. “Just like any other business, we are going to have to do that. I think that is a legitimate issue and it is something we will continue to work on.”
Another Delivery. The Navy last week took delivery of the PCU North Carolina (SSN-777), from Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN). The North Carolina is the fourth Virginia-class submarine and the second delivered by NGNN, the Navy reports. “North Carolina‘s delivery marks a major milestone for the program,” Program Executive Officer for Submarines Rear Adm. William Hilarides says. “It completed the last ship of the Block I contract and with Electric Boat’s and Newport News’ continued improvement and innovation we will reach our goal of 2 for 4 in 12 [buying two Virginia-class submarines for $4 billion as measured in Fiscal Year 2005 dollars, in Fiscal Year 2012].” North Carolina will be commissioned May 3, in Wilmington, N.C.
High Speed Pursuit. The Navy’s High Speed Anti-radiation Demonstration (HSAD) Project successfully launched its first controlled test vehicle (CTV) from an unmanned QF-4 drone at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) last month, the Navy says. The telemetry and optical reports confirmed that the CTV safely separated from the launch aircraft, boosted to ramjet transition speed, completed the transition events, but failed to ignite the ramjet gas generator igniter. The ramjet fuel control system operated as expected. The vehicle maintained stable controlled flight throughout its flight up to the point of termination by the range safety officer just prior to ground impact. Most flight test objectives were demonstrated. All vehicle systems performed as designed given the lack of ramjet gas generator ignition. The failure investigation is ongoing. ONR and NAWCWD China Lake are heading up the effort.
The Big Cheese. The future USS Green Bay (LPD-20) achieved a significant milestone Feb. 14 when Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Avondale Operations started the ship’s two main propulsion diesel engines, the Navy says. “Main engine light-off is an important milestone in delivering any ship to the Navy, and is key in completing production work and testing the ships’ engineering plant in preparation for sea trials,” Capt. Bill Galinis, program manager for the LPD 17-class, says. Green Bay will be delivered to the Navy this year and will eventually be homeported in San Diego. Green Bay, New York (LPD-21), Anchorage (LPD-23) and Somerset (LPD-25) are currently under construction in Avondale, La., while San Diego (LPD-22) is in production at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
Sign Here. At the end of an arms control conference in New Zealand last week, 82 of 103 countries attending were signed on to the “Wellington Declaration,” another step toward an international treaty on cluster munitions. The conference is a pivotal stage in the Oslo Process, which New Zealand and six other countries started last year following frustration at a lack of progress from the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. “The conference has, in the words of the Cluster Munition Coalition, been a ‘rousing success,’ Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Goff says Feb. 21. “In five days we have achieved more than the UN convention was able to in five years.”
Fulfilling A Promise. Australian Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, announces he has delivered on a key election promise by commissioning a new Defence White Paper. “The White Paper is a vital planning document that will form the foundation of our future Defence capabilities,” Fitzgibbon says. “The White Paper process will result in comprehensive policy guidance across the entire Defence portfolio, delivering on the Labor Government’s election undertaking to re-examine Australia’s strategic environment. It will align defence strategic guidance, force structure and capability priorities, and resource strategies, by taking a comprehensive view of the Defence enterprise.” The minister also calls for reviews to underpin the new White Paper, and the studies will be a key input into developing defense business and budget priorities out to 2030. Michael Pezzullo, currently a Deputy Secretary within the Department, will be principal author of the White Paper as of Feb. 25.
…Fly By. By the end of April, Australia expects to have a completed review of current planning for air combat capability out to 2045, and the status of a potential sale of Boeing F/A-18 aircraft made under the previous government, as part of the larger new White Paper, Fitzgibbon said Feb. 18. That subject is also likely part of the agenda during U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ visit. The two-stage review will first assess air combat capability requirements 2010-2015; the feasibility of retaining the F-111 aircraft in service beyond 2010; and comparative analysis of aircraft available to fill any gap that may be left by the withdrawal of the F-111, and reviewing the F/A-18 plans. The second stage of the review will consider trends in Asia-Pacific air power until 2045 and the relative capabilities of current and projected fourth and fifth generation combat aircraft such as the Joint Strike Fighter. The review will also examine the case for and against acquiring the F-22 aircraft. The public will be able to have input in this stage. The review team will also consider industry issues.
Working On Space. Northrop Grumman and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center sign a Space Act Agreement Feb. 21 that creates a framework for the two organizations to work together to develop advanced remote sensing systems that will enable key space and earth science measurements. Researchers from the two organizations will collaborate on developing advanced civil radar system architectures that can be leveraged into new space-based remote sensing instruments with revolutionary performance characteristics. These systems will help scientists measure with far greater accuracy, precision, and detail such things as the three-dimensional structure of Mars and other planets and heavenly bodies, as well as cloud composition and other characteristics on Earth to better understand climate change. Through the collaboration, researchers hope to demonstrate the feasibility of a smaller, lighter, less costly radar system for science and exploration initiatives.
Sensing Research. The Army Feb. 22 issues the new Helmet Sensor to soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, that is a component of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH). The sensor detects and records acceleration and pressure on the soldier from concussive events such as blasts from improvised explosive devices. The data will be used to make improvements to the helmet. About 3,800 Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, are receiving the sensors. Lt. Col. Robert Myles, who leads Product Manager Soldier Survivability, part of PEO Soldier, says: “We want to take care of the soldier” and that the data will be used “to improve form, fit, and comfort of the helmet,” an Army statement says. A different version of the Helmet Sensor was distributed to Soldiers of the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell in December. That model mounts on the back exterior of the ACH.