The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Kerry At the Helm? The Senate Foreign Relations Committee needs a new leader, now that its chairman, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is the number-two Democrat on the panel, but senators can chair only one committee each, and Dodd tells reporters he wants to remain chairman of the Banking Committee. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is next in line to be Foreign Relations chairman, though it remains to be seen if he’s tapped to serve in President-elect Barack Obama’s administration. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) falls after Kerry in seniority. The committee’s second-ranking Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) is leaving Congress this year. Both Hagel and committee Ranking Member Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) are rumored to potentially have roles in the new administration as well.
Lieberman’s Leanings. It remains to be seen if Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.), will remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Armed Services Airland subcommittee when Congress reconvenes in January. Democrats are annoyed that Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, supported Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met last Thursday with Lieberman about his future in the Senate Democratic Conference and issued a statement saying no decisions were made. “While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus,” Reid said. “I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps.” A possible compromise could be to remove Lieberman from the Homeland Security leadership post but allow him to keep the Armed Services one.
Hill Turnabout. Democrat Eric Massa, a retired Navy officer and the likely winner of New York’s 29th congressional district House seat, is no stranger to Congress. A former Republican, he was a professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee when Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) was chairman earlier this decade. Massa left the committee, reportedly under tense terms, to support retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Massa was Clark’s special assistant when the former general was the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Massa writes on his campaign Web site: “When my former Commanding Officer and friend, Wes Clark joined the Presidential race, I refused to allow partisan politics to come between myself and my loyalty for my old Boss. I left my position on the House Armed Services Committee over the plans and strategies dealing with the Iraq war and its aftermath and have not looked back since.” The Associated Press declared Massa the winner of last Tuesday’s House race, though as of last Friday he had not officially declared victory while the final ballots were tallied.
Bye, Bye Byrd. Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) is poised for a promotion, after full committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) announced last Friday he will relinquish control of the committee in January, as the frail senator’s colleagues had been encouraging him to do. “Senator Daniel Inouye has stood in line for many years and now his time has come,” Byrd says in a statement. “He will be a skillful and fair Chairman of the Appropriations Committee because he is a man of outstanding character and great wisdom.” Sources say Inouye may still chair the Defense subcommittee after becoming Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) chairman. If not, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is next in line after Inouye on the Defense subcommittee. Byrd plans to remain on the SAC and continue chairing the Homeland Security subcommittee.
All Aboard. The Navy Saturday commissioned its first Littoral Combat Ship, the USS Freedom (LCS-1) built by Lockheed Martin. Joining the crew of 40 sailors and officers onboard will be Northrop Grumman’s Fire Scout. The VTOL UAV will transit with Freedom as she makes her way from Milwaukee, Wis., to Norfolk, Va. Fire Scout is a key enabler for LCS and will significantly contribute to its core mission areas of mine counter measures, antisubmarine warfare and surface warfare with modular mission payloads as well as organic intelligence surveillance reconnaissance, targeting and communication-relay functions, according to Northrop Grumman. In addition to developing and building Fire Scout, Northrop Grumman is also the LCS mission package integrator and installed the mission package computing environment onto Freedom. Northrop Grumman also has a number of mine countermeasure systems in the mission packages, the company adds.
Up And Running. The Fleet Readiness Center Southeast completed repairs on the first Red-striped P-3C Orion and delivered the aircraft to its squadron in Brunswick, Maine. The Navy grounded 39 P-3C aircraft in December 2007 for structural fatigue concerns on a portion of the lower outer wing, called Zone 5, NAVAIR says. These 39 aircraft comprise approximately one quarter of the P-3C fleet, many of which have been flying for more than 25 years. The Zone 5 repair consists of replacing five of the nine lower wing planks and the aft lower wing spar, adds NAVAIR.
…Winging It. The Zone 5 repairs are very extensive, requiring 21,000 man-hours of work and 6,000 holes drilled for rivets. All this work is accomplished while the wing is attached to the aircraft. The extensiveness of the repair process presents another issue: stabilization and alignment of the work surfaces. The wingspan on a P-3 is more than one hundred feet long. Special blue shoring was developed to support the wing during the repairs and to prevent it from bending and twisting. FRCSE began working on the first two Zone 5 aircraft in January 2008, NAVAIR says.
Denied. Although the Navy submitted a lengthy detailed response to Raytheon’s protest over the awarding of three sole source contracts to Lockheed Martin for Aegis combat systems and BMD work, the GAO denied the Navy’s request to dismiss the case. The denial occurred last month, leaving open the possibility of a hearing before the GAO. That decision could be issued in the coming week, a source tells Defense Daily. The GAO has until Dec. 31 to rule on Raytheon’s protest.
Wave of the Future. Kirtland AFB, N.M., has awarded SAIC a $16 million contract to continue conducting electromagnetic effects research and development. According to a Nov. 4 Defense Department announcement, this effort “is to search for new opportunities in all aspects of high power EM lethality, as well as to develop new solutions and enhance present capabilities. Missions such as survivability of DoD assets to high power microwave (HPM) environments, the development of HPM weapons and the refinement of HPM-predictive modeling for inclusion into engagement and campaign-level models will be supported.” Kirtland labs have been conducting research on high-power electromagnetic weaponry for over a decade. HPM encompasses a variety of devices: HERF (High Energy Radio Frequency) and EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) effects are HPM weapons. Other nations known to be conducting research on HPM weapons include China, France and the United Kingdom.
Well Positioned. Lockheed Martin has successfully completed an important review for the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft, GPS III. The successful review “established a reliable baseline in relation to the program’s cost, schedule and technical requirements,” according to a Nov. 4 company announcement. A $1.4 billion development and production contract was awarded in May by the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., to produce the first two GPS IIIA satellites. The contract also includes options for up to 10 additional spacecraft. GPS III is expected to improve position, navigation and timing services for DoD and civil users and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities. Lockheed Martin “will now focus on execution of the satellite subsystem Preliminary Design Reviews,” which are to culminate in the overall Space Segment PDR next summer, according to the company. The Critical Design Review (CDR) phase will then validate the detailed design of the of the space segment. First launch is scheduled for 2014, and next-generation GPS III satellites will ultimately replace satellites on-orbit as they reach the end of their design life.
More Robots. iRobot is going to provide as many 26 PackBot 510s with FasTac Kits as part of a $3.5 million order under a contract with the Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation. This is the seventh order under the $286 million IDIQ xBot contract. Total orders under this contract have now reached approximately $67 million, the company said Nov. 6. “With this most recent order, the Army is making it clear that it intends to build upon its use of unmanned systems,” said Joe Dyer, president of iRobot Government and Industrial Robots. PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit is used by infantry in combat operations to perform reconnaissance, investigate suspicious objects, identify roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices (IED), and to uncover unexploded ordnance while keeping soldiers in theater at safe distances. iRobot will deliver the spare parts Jan. 29, and all 26 PackBots with FasTac Kit by April 30.
PayAttention. North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command are participating in Exercise Vigilant Shield 09 Wednesday through Nov. 18. VS09 focuses on homeland defense and civil support, and will run concurrent with other DoD-sponsored and international exercises to more realistically test the synchronized response of federal, state, local and international mission partners in preparation for homeland defense, homeland security and civil support missions in the United States and abroad. Concurrent exercises include U.S. Strategic Command’s Global Lightning 09 and Bulwark Defender 09; Canada Command’s Determine Dragon; California National Guard’s Vigilant Guard; and the State of California’s Golden Guardian.
Talking WMD. Senior officials from across the globe will discuss the challenge of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at a high-level seminar in Berlin Thursday and Friday. This is the fourth NATO-organized event and the German Federal Foreign Office hosts this year. Thirty-five high-level speakers, senior officials and academics will analyze the adequacy of the international efforts to deal with the challenges of WMD proliferation. It is an occasion for open and informal dialogue among senior national officials, representatives of the academic community and key international organizations. Over one hundred participants from 65 countries are expected to the event.
New Trucks. Oshkosh Corp. presents their 20,000th Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) to the Tennessee Army National Guard in a Nov. 5 ceremony in Smyrna, Tenn. The HEMTT is known as the “ship of the desert” for its extreme mobility in all types of terrain and has served the Army and Army National Guard since 1982. It provides transport capabilities for re-supply of combat vehicles and weapons systems. The 20,000th HEMTT Fuel Tanker sports a special brass recognition plate commemorating this milestone in Oshkosh production. “We’re very pleased with the outstanding relationship between Oshkosh, the Department of Defense and the Tennessee National Guard,” says Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, Tennessee’s Adjutant General. “It’s a privilege for me to accept this 20,000th HEMTT on behalf of the more than 10,700 Soldiers of the Tennessee Army National Guard. We will definitely put it to work real soon.” The Tennessee Army National Guard has more than 310 Oshkosh-series vehicles currently in service, representing 100 percent of its allocation. “The fielding of the 20,000th HEMTT is a momentous event,” says Eddie Garcia, director of marketing for Oshkosh Defense. “This was a program started more than 20 years ago when we began fielding the initial models of this highly successful family. Twenty-thousand vehicles later, we’re proud to continue fielding HEMTTs to the hard working soldiers of the US Army and the Tennessee National Guard.”
New Orders. ATK receives a total of $88.5 million in new medium-caliber gun and ammunition orders, the company says. These orders add to the previously announced $53 million contract to produce Mk19 Mod-3 Grenade Machine Guns. The orders were received from a variety of domestic and international customers. ATK’s Mesa, Ariz., facility will manufacture the guns, which include the Mk44 and M242 Bushmaster chain guns, as well as the Mk19. The Mk19 contract significantly expands ATK’s portfolio of gun systems. The company will produce the medium-caliber ammunition, including 20mm, 25mm, and 30mm cartridges, at its facilities in Lake City, Mo., and Radford, Va.
MineWolf. DoD acquires field-ready mechanical demining Mini MineWolf from Switzerland’s MineWolf systems after an intensive process. The machine will now be evaluated including against live mines. The MineWolf was selected based on transportability, extensive test record, survivability and successful deployments in the field. Special preference was given to the tiller attachment with its proven effectiveness in ongoing operations, such as Afghanistan and Sudan. MineWolf will arrive as a containerized solution including a fully equipped mobile workshop, specially designed spare parts container, and technical support to sustain the machine through trials in the U.S. MineWolf will have a remote video guidance system based on a four-camera configuration. The MiniWolf will be delivered before the end of 2008.