The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Governing Tankers. Governors whose states would benefit if Boeing secures the contract for the Air Force aerial-refueling tanker plan to pitch the company’s bid in Washington. D.C., today. The Pentagon is expected to release the tanker request for proposals (RFP) this week. It remains to be seen if Boeing is the sole bidder or if a Northrop Grumman-European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. team also submits a proposal. “Awarding the refueling tanker contract to Boeing will provide work for 40,000 to 50,000 people all across the country at a time when the national economy is still struggling mightily,” says Gov. Chris Gregoire (D-Wash.). She is the head of a pro-Boeing-tanker commission that includes Govs. Mark Parkinson (D-Kan.), Jodi Rell (R-Conn.), Chet Culver (D-Iowa), John Baldacci (D-Maine), Jay Nixon (D-Mo.), Ted Kulongoski (D-Ore.), and Gary Herbert (R-Utah). Gregoire and Parkinson plan to tout Boeing’s tanker bid to reporters in Washington today.
Multiyear Tango. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), along with some congressional aides who want the Pentagon to enter into a multi-year procurement deal with Boeing for additional F/A-18 Super Hornets, argue Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited incorrect facts about such a contract before the HASC on Feb. 3. Gates says the Pentagon did not pursue an F/A-18 multi-year deal through 2013 because it would generate an estimated savings of 6.5 percent, below a desired 10 percent threshold for such contracts. Yet Akin in a Feb. 12 letter to Gates says the 6.5 percent savings figure appears to be based on old plans calling for buying 89 F/A-18s, instead of the Pentagon’s FY ’11 budget proposal to buy 124 of the aircraft over the next five years. “This procurement increase will likely represent an aggregate savings of taxpayer dollars that far exceeds 6.5%, if purchased using a multi-year contract,” Akin writes. He also notes Congress gives the Navy, in the FY ’10 defense authorization bill, authority to enter into an F/A-18 multi-year deal even if the 10 percent savings is not reached.
…Avid Chorus. Navy Capt. Mark Darrah, the F/A-18 program manager, declines to comment on Akin’s letter after addressing the Aviation Week-hosted Defense Technology and Requirements conference on Feb. 18. “I have not seen it, so I won’t comment on it specially,” Darrah says. “But what I will tell you is there is there is an avid chorus. Our job as the program manager is to continually find ways to procure things at costs that makes sense.” He says he is working “with all the appropriate agencies” to determine how to proceed on the F/A-18 multiyear, something Boeing and multiple lawmakers want.
MRAPs On Tap. Three companies are building more legacy Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles under $1 billion worth of vehicle orders from the Pentagon on Feb. 12. The orders include: $751.5 million for an unspecified number of category 1 MRAPs from Navistar Defense; $227.4 million for 250 MRAP RG-31A2 vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada; and $90.6 million for 58 Special Operations Command MRAP category 1 vehicles from BAE Systems Land & Armaments, Ground Systems Division.
Earmark Echelon. Top Republican defense appropriators secured the most money via earmarks in all appropriations bills in FY ’10, according to a new analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS). The government-watchdog group finds that in the Senate Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the ranking member of the SAC and SAC-D, secured the most earmarks and the had highest dollar total of them: 242 spending items valued at a combined $497.6 million. In the House, HAC-D Ranking Member Bill Young (R-Fla.) tops the earmarker list, in terms of overall dollar total, with $128.6 million in directed-spending items. Yet Young did not secure the highest number of earmarks; while TCS identifies 63 earmarks tied to Young, it also finds the same or more total earmarks from several other House members.
Take Three. The third of five F-35B Joint Strike Fighter short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) test aircraft was delivered to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., by Lockheed Martin last week. The jet, known as BF-3, will be used primarily in evaluation of vehicle systems and “expansion of the aircraft’s aerodynamic and structural-loads envelope,” according to a statement released by Lockheed Martin. The airplane will also focus on weapons testing, with plans to carry and release most of the weapons the F-35B will use in combat. The final two test aircraft will be the primary test assets for the F-35’s integrated mission systems, according to the company. In addition to flight testing, the F-35 program is using the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS) for maintenance actions, spares tracking and technical data support. ALIS is part of the F-35’s innovative sustainment architecture monitored by the F-35 Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS) Operations Center in Fort Worth.
Positioning. The Air Force Global Positioning Systems Wing last week delivered GPS IIF space vehicle one (SV-1) to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Air Force Space and Missile Defense Command announced last week. The satellite is scheduled to launch in May 2010, according to service officials. The GPS IIF satellites, developed and built by Boeing, are the next generation of GPS space vehicles. The GPS IIF satellites offer improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks, a longer design life than previous GPS satellites and a new operational civil signal on a third frequency. This new L5 signal is a second signal for aviation and other safety of life users in a protected frequency band providing increased availability and accuracy. The current GPS constellation has 30 operational satellites broadcasting worldwide and continues to boast performance greater than required. The improved signals provided by the 12 GPS IIF satellites as they launch over the next several years will enhance the precise global positioning, navigation and timing services supporting both military and civilian users.
Check-Up. The Air Force’s second geosynchronous Space Based Infrared Systems satellite successfully completed its first Baseline Integrated System Testing last week at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif., Air Force Space and Missile Defense Command announced. This test demonstrated the hardware integrity and full functionality of the payload and spacecraft bus, according to the service. The satellite was verified as ready to proceed with the remaining integration and performance tests. Over the last four months, the GEO-2 space vehicle completed nearly 200 hundred scripted test events. These scripts were responsible for verifying the satellite’s vital subsystems. “This marks two major milestones in the SBIRS program,” says Lt. Col. Heath Collins, the commander of the SBIRS Space Squadron. “It is the first time the GEO-2 payload and spacecraft bus have been integrated and operated together, and for the first time ever, we have two fully integrated SBIRS GEO satellites powered on and in test.” The GEO-1 satellite recently completed Thermal Vacuum testing, and the team is preparing the satellite for delivery to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. later this year. Lt. Col. Collins adds, “initial results indicate the satellite is in good health and everything is operating nominally. We’re ready to continue through our rigorous test program.” The development team will now continue GEO-2’s integration to its final, closed-panel configuration. GEO-2 is scheduled for launch in 2012.
High C-5. The C-5M set 42 world records last fall and established new benchmarks in carrying more cargo, faster and farther than any other military airlifter, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced last week. In October 2009, three C-5Ms delivered 3.8 million pounds of cargo in 34 missions during a 30-day surge operation, averaging more than 110,000 pounds of cargo per aircraft. By eliminating an en route stop, the C-5M saved more than 4,000 gallons of fuel and reduced fuel consumed by 13 percent compared to legacy C-5s, according to Lockheed Martin. “During the surge, the C-5M avoided more than 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and was the first to meet stage four noise compliance and certification, making the M an environmentally friendly strategic airlifter,” Lorraine Martin, the company’s vice president for the program, says during the Air Force Association’s annual symposium in Orlando last week. “The RERP [Reliability Enhancement and Reengining Program] production is on-track and we look forward to continuing the partnership with the Air Force to sustain and modernize the C-5 fleet for the total force, including the Guard and Reserve.” Current Air Force plans call for Lockheed Martin to deliver 52 C-5Ms by 2016. Three C-5Ms have been delivered to the Air Force at Dover AFB, Del., with a fourth scheduled for delivery in September.
Expanding Security. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is adding a new layer to aviation security through random use of Explosive Trace Detection machines at airports following a two-week pilot test of the new operating concept at five airports. TSA will begin using the ETD machines, which are supplied by Morpho Detection, a business unit of France’s Safran Group, and Britain’s Smiths Detection around the security checkpoints, checkpoint queues and boarding areas. The ETD machines are typically used for secondary inspections of passenger carry-on bags and checked bags at fixed sites. The new method will entail the TSA screeners pushing the desktop machines around on carts. The ETDs require a screener to swab a person’s luggage or skin to acquire a sample that is then inserted into the machine to test for traces of explosives. The random use of the ETDs is a response to the failed Christmas Day bombing.
Procurement Cooperation. The U.K. Minister for Defence equipment and his French counterpart sign a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the potential for closer cooperation in buying urgent operational equipment. U.K. Minister Quentin Davies says: “In order to ensure success in Afghanistan, it is important for us to co-operate closely with our international allies, including France. We often have the same urgent requirements for equipment, so it makes good sense to examine ways in which we could co-operate on procurement to mutual economic advantage.” The MoU does not seek to deliver interoperable solutions; the aim is to share best practice and seek rapid solutions to common procurement requirements, the ministry says in a statement.
Radio Backbone. Harris will supply highband networking radios as the communications backbone of the Army’s new Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). The work will be done under a $25 million contract from Northrop Grumman IBCS team leader. IBCS will integrate fire control networks of current and future systems, such as Patriot, the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor, Improved Sentinel Radar and potentially the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Medium Extended Air Defense System.
New Orders. Oshkosh Defense receives two awards from the Army valued at more than $24 million for MRAP All Terrain Vehicle kits to support communication equipment and electrical system upgrades. The combined orders consist of more than 2,090 upgrade kits. The kits will support the installation of Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance suites composed of electronic equipment such as communications hardware, jammer systems, tracking technology and driver vision enhancement. The kits also will support the addition of silent watch, which allows the M-ATV to operate C4ISR equipment for extended periods of time with reduced noise and heat signatures from the vehicle.
New VP Coming. Northrop Grumman announces that its board of directors has elected Gloria Flach to the position of corporate vice president and president of Enterprise Shared Services organization, effective March 1. Flach will report directly to Wes Bush, CEO and president, and will serve on the company’s Corporate Policy Council. “Gloria Flach is an outstanding executive whose strong leadership skills and operating experience will enable her to successfully guide this new Enterprise Shared Services organization,” Bush says. Flach will lead a newly consolidated Enterprise Shared Services organization.
New Gimbal. Goodrich is demonstrating a low-cost family of stabilized surveillance camera gimbals for the helicopter market that provide improved information-gathering capability to the military, budget-pressured cities and businesses. The TASE gimbal system consists of a lightweight stabilized camera gimbal, software and a FAA-approved mount for the aircraft. The TASE system collects video during flight that can be displayed in real-time in the cockpit, reducing pilot workload, enhancing safety and reducing costs. Images are also recorded for future playback. The TASE family is produced by Goodrich’s ISR Systems team from the Hood River, Ore.-based Cloud Cap Technology Inc., business that was acquired by Goodrich in May 2009.
Cyber ShockWave. A simulated cyber attack exercise conducted last week against the United States that spreads through 20 million individual smart phones and eventually cripples the power grid on the Eastern seaboard shows the tremendous challenges the government faces in responding to such a crisis, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which hosted the event. Cyber ShockWave consisted of a number of former senior officials from different presidential administrations playing key government roles such as Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of Homeland Security and more. Cyber terrorism “raises an issue of the system’s responsibility to be able to come together in a nonpartisan way and figure out the answer to questions as opposed to kicking the can down the road until we are in an emergency,” says former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was the National Security Adviser during the exercise.
Food Security. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has selected the Univ. of Minnesota as the lead for its Center of Excellence (CoE) for Food Security, focusing on enhancing security to protect against the intentional, natural or inadvertent introduction of hazardous chemical or biological contaminants into the food system. The school has been the lead under the predecessor CoE. There are five major research areas the center will focus on including interventions and countermeasures such as detecting chemical and biological agents, event modeling for consequence, risk and vulnerability assessment, strategies for enhancing preparedness, response, recovery and resiliency, agent behavior in food systems, and education. The university will receive $3.3 million per year for up to six years.
…Animal Disease Leads. S&T also selected Kansas State Univ. and Texas A&M as the co-leads for the CoE for Zoonotic and Animal Disease Defense. Kansas State, which will receive $2 million a year for six years, will be the lead for biological research and education programs. Texas A&M, which will receive $1.5 million a year for six years, will lead modeling, simulation and information management. The CoE will focus research in four main areas: development of vaccines to counter animal or zoonotic diseases with potentially catastrophic public health and economic implications; development of rapid diagnostic methods of identifying these diseases; modeling and simulation of the spread and impacts of such diseases and decision support tools to help DHS and its partners manage potential outbreaks; and education programs in animal disease disciplines. Texas A&M led the previous CoE on zoonotic disease defense.