The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Tanker Turmoil. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) awaits a response to a letter he sent Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne on–what else?–the service’s disputed tanker contract award to a Northrop Grumman-EADS team over Boeing. Tiahrt’s April 10 missive laments the exemption foreign companies such as EADS enjoy from the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Cost Accounting Standards when bidding for Air Force contracts. The congressman has drafted an amendment to the war supplemental bill banning contract awards to companies that violate the FCPA, which was waived for EADS.
…More Pen Pals. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sends Wynne a letter last Thursday calling for the “loss of the privilege of command, if not the privilege of continued uniformed service,” for Air Force officers involved in awarding a $50 million contract to Strategic Message Solutions related to air demos. The Department of Defense Inspector General investigated the contract and found improper influence and preferential treatment. Wynne “took administrative action on three members, including a general officer, and referred action for two others to their chain of command,” the service says.
New Horizons. Former SASC staffer Daniel Cox is Boeing’s new director of legislative affairs, as of last Friday, the company says. Cox, an Army veteran who worked on the committee’s Democratic side, left Capitol Hill April 4.
Clinton To DoD: Buy America. White House hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) wants to keep more defense manufacturing in America, she says in Indiana April 12. Her plan to “protect U.S. jobs and strengthen national security,” calls for: a comprehensive review of the defense industrial base; a critical-capabilities impact analysis for federal contracts; a requirement to review foreign investment in critical national security industries and technologies; protecting “Buy America” provisions for metals vital to national security; and an inter-agency task force to combat industrial espionage.
Pentagon Budget Movement on Hill. SASC marks up the fiscal year 2009 defense authorization bill next week. All markups, alas, are closed. The subcommittees on Personnel; Seapower; Readiness and Management Support; and Emerging Threats and Capabilities mark up April 29. On April 30 the Strategic Forces and Airland subcommittees mark up. The full SASC has slated three meetings–on April 30, May 1, and May 2–for it to make its mark for the bill. Action–of some sort, maybe just rumblings–is expected this week on the FY ’08 (and possibly FY ’09) war supplemental bills on the House side.
Air Milestone. The Air Force expects–today or around today–to surpass more than one million missions flown by its aircraft in the Global War on Terror since Sept. 11, 2001. “Synchronized and integrated into larger Coalition air efforts, these missions represent the most deliberate, disciplined and precise air campaign in history,” the service says last week, noting it is operating the oldest fleet of aircraft in its 60-year history.
Nuclear Trust. Maj. Gen. Roger Burg, commander of the 20th Air Force, says the military has to answer a new question from policy makers: Can it still be trusted with nuclear weapons? That’s, of course, because of the unauthorized transfer last August of nuclear weapons on a B-52 flown from Minot to Barksdale AFB, La. “It’s up to us in the military to prove that absolutely, yes, you can trust your military services with the incredible responsibility of operating, maintaining, and securing nuclear weapons,” Burg says at a April 15 breakfast in Washington sponsored by the NDU foundation.
Dig It. The National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Md., is breaking ground on a new $60.7 million project designed to facilitate the production and delivery of critical maritime intelligence. The new 182,649 square foot, five story addition will be completed in August 2010.
Name Change. The Coast Guard has decided to rename the third National Security Cutter (NSC-3) to honor Capt. Dorothy Stratton, the first director of the Coast Guard’s Women’s Reserve. NSC-3 was originally slated to be named after the father of the service, Alexander Hamilton. That honor will now be bestowed upon NSC-4. The Women’s Reserve were referred to as SPARs, a name that Stratton came up with using a contraction of the Coast Guard motto Semper Paratus and its English translation “Always Ready.” She was appointed its first director with a rank of lieutenant commander. Stratton continued in the post until 1946 and rose to the rank of captain. As director, she oversaw over 10,000 enlisted women and 1,000 commissioned officers. She left the Coast Guard in 1946 when the SPARS were demobilized.
Laser Fare. Boeing delivered the first Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) kits to the Air Force, the company says. The $28 million contract signed a year ago will add 600 laser seekers to the Air Force and Navy JDAM inventory. The contracted kits will be delivered by June 2009, Boeing adds.
Closed Air Space. Lockheed Martin opens a new wireless cyber security center enabling defense and intelligence agencies to test and evaluate wireless systems on a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) network, the company says. The center supports a broad spectrum of wireless networks including Bluetooth, Wi-FI, 802.16. Wi- Max, cell phones and Ku and C-band satellite communications. The facility will focus on helping to define and evaluate wireless security strategies; serve as a proving ground for next-generation security technologies; and support users in the field engaged in mission-oriented wireless signals applications, Lockheed Martin says.
Up, Up, And Away. Boeing was awarded a contract to launch commercial imagery company DigitalGlobe’s second World View Earth-imaging satellite in mid-’09, Boeing reports. Boeing launched the first satellite, WorldView-1, on Sept. 18, 2007. WorldView-2 will offer higher collection capacity, more frequent refresh and revisit rates, more spectral information and greater Earth-imaging agility, providing a substantial response to the increased market demands for geospatial data, Boeing adds. WorldView-1 was part of the NGA’s NextView, designed to ensure that the NGA has access to commercial imagery to provide geospatial intelligence in support of national security. WorldView-2 is not part of NextView, a NGA spokesman says.
…Cleared For Launch. GeoEye-1, GeoEye’s contribution to NextView, has been cleared to launch. The imaging satellite will also ride on a Boeing Delta II in mid- August.
Success. PEO C4I completes successful testing of two critical components of its planned upgrade to the Tactical Data Link system onboard Navy ships. The Next Generation Command and Control System (NGC2P)/Common Data Link Management System (CDLMS) and the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) on Ship (MOS) each achieved positive results in recent testing conducted by the Navy’s Operational Test and Evaluation Force, SPAWAR says.
…Coming Soon. Each system must clear a final hurdle before being introduced to the fleet. NGC2P is expected to receive full-rate production approval this summer and will then be installed aboard all Navy combatant ships by 2012. The final step for the MOS system is the award of a production contract, also scheduled for this summer. The MOS system will be installed on new construction ships.
Beans And Billets Winners. Fluor Intercontinental Inc., Kellogg, Brown and Root, and DynCorp International LLC are the Army’s selections for the potential $150 billion Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV contract after a full and open competition April 17. The three companies initially won the contracts in June 2007, but the awards were protested by the two unsuccessful competitors–Contingency Management Group and IAP Worldwide Services. GAO upheld the protests and the Army implemented corrective actions, leading to the awards. LOGCAP IV calls for multiple contractors to deliver services instead of using a single contractor as in the past. Thus, planning support and performance functions have been split among different contractors to allow the Army to more effectively manage the number and scope of LOGCAP actions. The three performance contractors will compete for individual LOGCAP task orders, creating a competitive environment meant to control costs and enhance quality.
Wolf Pack. Switzerland’s BAL Bauer Industries Ltd., has received a multi-million Euro contract from the United Arab Emirates land forces for Mine Wolf large-scale mine clearance vehicles. The systems were delivered at the beginning of 2008, six months after contract signing. The training of the UAE personnel is being carried out currently. The purchase follows extensive trials of the MineWolf in harsh desert conditions in the Gulf region in 2006, and includes special modifications for lifting mine fragments buried in sandy terrain to the surface. The UAE is the first army in the Middle East to procure the MineWolf. The MineWolf is a tracked mine clearance machine implementing an interchangeable tiller, or flail, system. It has been proven effective against anti-personnel and heavy anti-tank mines in many mine-affected countries including Sudan, Jordan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The system is capable of clearing up to 30,000 square meters per day.
Proposals Provided. Competitors looking to help the military build the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to eventually replace the ubiquitous Humvee submit proposals for the technology development phase to the Army and Marine Corps. The companies include: General Tactical Vehicles, a joint venture of AM General and General Dynamics; Oshkosh Truck Corp. and Northrop Grumman; Lockheed Martin; BAE Systems and Navistar Military; and a Textron, Boeing and SAIC team.
User Updates. Northrop Grumman holds its second annual conference for users of the Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator (CEESIM) systems in the United Kingdom April 16. The conference keeps users up on system developments and identifies potential opportunities for improving system performance and customer service. More than 50 military and civilian personnel from the U.K., German and Italian user community attended. CEESIM allows military specialists to test and evaluate the performance of advanced electronic warfare systems such as radar warning receivers and electronic countermeasures and signals intelligence systems. Principal U.K. CEESIM users are the Air Warfare Centre, BAE Systems and Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems. International users include EADS Deutschland GmbH and Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A. CEESIM supports aircraft including Typhoon, Tornado, Nimrod, Global Hawk, MRA-4, Harrier, AWACS and Apache. Northrop Grumman also is to supply CEESIM systems and expects future expansion potential for the A400M, ASTOR, JSF, C-130J and various helicopter programs.