The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Appropriations Action. The Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, the final of the Big Four defense panels to unveil a budget bill for fiscal year 2010, is scheduled to mark up its Pentagon appropriations bill Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee, tells reporters he supports continuing to fund the General Electric-Rolls-Royce second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike fighter, which the Pentagon and White House want excluded from the bill. Inouye supports buying more of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 fighters but says he may not put the money in the bill because of the administration’s strong opposition. The senator says he wants to allow other countries to buy the F-22 but obstacles stand in the way of lifting the export ban this year.
Three of A Kind. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England is heading up E6 Partners LLC, a consultancy with offices in Forth Worth, Tex., and Vienna, Va. Working for him are two other Bush administration heavyweights: John Young, the former Pentagon acquisition czar, and Robert Earl, England’s former chief of staff. Young is E6’s vice president for business development and Earl is a partner and vice president for Washington operation at the company. E6’s Web site emphasizes its U.S. and international business and government ties, and says it helps “close the deal” on business ventures. “While the Partnership provides consulting services, its primary objective is to assist in all aspects of winning new business or expanding existing business to include follow-on operations assistance when requested,” the site says. England, E6’s president and a former longtime defense-industry executive, also began serving on CACI International’s board of directors last month.
MRAP Money. The Pentagon shifted $951 million from its Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP) Transfer Fund to buy all-terrain MRAPS (M-ATVs) for all of the services, according to an internal reprogramming action released to the public last week. The shifted funds also cover government-furnished equipment for the vehicles, their initial logistics support, and their transport to Afghanistan. Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale signed off on the reprogramming on Aug. 24.
In Position. The last in a series of eight modernized Global Positioning System IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellites built by Lockheed Martin is operational, the company announced last week. The satellite, known as GPS IIR-21(M), was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral AFS on Aug. 17. Lockheed Martin’s operations team assisted the Air Force with the launch and early on-orbit maneuvers. Lockheed Martin and its navigation payload provider ITT designed and built 21 IIR spacecraft and subsequently modernized eight of those spacecraft designated Block IIR-M. Each IIR-M satellite includes a modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide users with an open access signal on a different frequency. GPS provides services including situational awareness and precision weapon guidance for the military. It is also an information resource supporting a wide range of civil, scientific and commercial functions–from air traffic control to the Internet –with precision location and timing information. The team is progressing on-schedule in the Critical Design Review phase of the program and is on track to launch the first GPS IIIA satellite in 2014, the company said.
To Be Precise. Northrop Grumman’s Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), in use with the Army since 1996, has successfully completed testing of the new GPS-guided Viper Strike (VS) weapons system at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. GPS VS will soon deploy to theater on board Hunter in support of contingency operations. GPS VS aids the weapons guidance by providing proximity based on coordinates while maintaining pinpoint accuracy with laser guidance. While previous VS systems required the Hunter to be directly overhead, GPS VS offers the advantage of nearly six miles of stand-off range. GPS VS also can hone in on both moving and stationary targets. The currently deployed MQ-5B Hunter, provides warfighters with state-of-the-art reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition, communications relay, signal intelligence, and weapons delivery. The RQ-5A Hunter was the Army’s first fielded UAS. The MQ-5B is the next-generation Hunter.
Lookin’ Good. Based on the success ATK is having with AARGM, it puts the company in a wonderful position to join a team for the Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM), Jack Cronin, president, ATK mission systems, tells Defense Daily. AARGM scored a direct hit on a simulated enemy air defense target during its final development test (Defense Daily, Sept. 4). Besides JDRADM, Cronin also notes there is a new study coming out to potentially build a new cruise missile in the next several years. “Our successful development of MSST puts us in a position to compete in that next generation of anti ship cruise missile,” he adds. Last September, ATK was awarded a $97 million contract for the design, development, integration, and test of the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target which will simulate a two-stage anti-ship cruise missile threat. “As we build up our portfolio, as we execute for the customer, and as we prove out our technical capability by delivering quality products, we are very well positioned for virtually all the future missile developments that are being proposed,” Cronin says.
Longer Life. Both the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G have a flight plan, which defines the capabilities required for the remaining service life of the aircraft along with the hardware and software changes required to achieve those capabilities, Marcia Hart-Wise, PEO (T) public affairs officer, tells Defense Daily. “The flight plan has been endorsed by our program sponsor.” The F/A-18E/F and EA-18G flight plans define continual updates and improvements to the respective aircraft’s capabilities, including the software necessary to integrate those changes into the aircraft and the pilot-vehicle interface. The mission computer hardware/software interface is managed through the well-defined application programmer’s interface to ensure portability of mission software through hardware generational changes. The mission computer hardware utilizes the VITA standards for 6U VME modules to maximize portability and upgradability, Hart-Wise says..
Getting Packed. Sailors from the first Surface Warfare Mission Package (SUW MP) Detachment completed four weeks of hands-on training last month on the SUW Gun Mission Module that will be a part of LCS. The training took place at NSWC Dahlgren, Va. The SUW MP is specifically designed to combat small, fast boat threats to the Fleet, the Navy says. SUW MP Detachment sailors learned critical skills in pre- and post-firing procedures such as ammunition loading; misfires; power loss; elevation/azimuth drive-motor loss; and power up/shut down during their training. Once sailors were familiar with the SUW MP, they learned to operate the Gun Weapon System at both local and remote stations by tracking live, high-speed maneuverable targets both at day and at night, the Navy adds. The four weeks of training ended with a live-fire exercise for the students in which 164 rounds of ammunition were safely and successfully fired on target. Following the training, SUW MP Detachment Sailors will operate the SUW MP Gun Mission Module during the upcoming Structural Test Firing aboard LCS 1.
SSDS Update. The Navy awards Raytheon a $9.6 million modification to previously awarded contract for performing as the platform system engineering agent for the ship self defense system (SSDS). In the course of this effort, Raytheon IDS will be responsible for the integration of complex war-fighting improvements–including components associated with the Dual Band Radar and Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2–into the modular SSDS, the company says. Raytheon IDS will integrate, test and provide certification support for the government-furnished equipment/government-furnished information required for the CVN/amphibious ship combat system.
Soft Power. DISA has cleared the last hurdle for full deployment of Global Command and Control System-Joint (GCCS-J) Block V, the last planned version of the suite of software that gives the national leadership and joint commanders tools to analyze situations and direct military units in the field, the agency reports.
Unique VTOL. Moller International announces it has begun assembly of a unique version of it Neuera-series VTOL aircrafts, the Moller “Firefly.” The Firefly is specifically designed for urban search and rescue operations, the company says. “The Firefly can address the pressing need for a vehicle that is able to extract trapped personnel directly from the upper floors of office buildings,” says Paul Moller, president of Moller International. “It can accomplish this by positioning itself adjacent to the building near a window, thereby enabling trapped personnel to exit the building directly into the Firefly.” Unlike a helicopter, the Firefly’s enclosed rotors can approach and dock to the side of a high- rise building without interference from a dangerous overhead rotor, the company adds.
…SAR Capability. The Firefly will be capable of retrieving three people per trip and transporting them safely to ground level, a capability that is virtually non-existent in current search and rescue vehicles, adds Moller International. The Firefly is equipped with larger engines to accommodate the increased payload and will have a retractable ramp with handrails to facilitate movement to and from the building. The operator is seated at the rear of the vehicle where he can oversee and provide direction to those being rescued, the company says.
CREW Orders. The Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command awards SRCTec a five-year IDIQ contract with an approximate value of $700 million for Counter Remote Control Improvised Explosive Devices Electronic Warfare (CREW) Duke V2 system upgrades, the company says. The CREW Duke counters radio-controlled roadside bombs, or IEDs, and is currently the Army’s most widely fielded CREW system. The initial order is for $188 million. SRCTec anticipates that this award will result in the addition of up to 50 production positions in 2010.
First R&D For Canada. OSI Geospatial Inc. says it has signed a contract valued at approximately $600,000 with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), an agency of the Canadian Department of National Defense. Under the contract, the company will deliver a prototype Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Immersive Training Environment (CIITE) system utilizing OSI’s iGEN(TM) Cognitive Synthetic Agents that will assist Canadian Forces to recognize, react to and defeat situations where an IED danger exists. “This is our first R&D contract with DRDC and we are pleased to be involved in such an important program,” Ken Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of OSI Geospatial, says. “I am confident that this project will be a success and lead to future business for the company. We are also pleased to be expanding our advanced research and development customer base.”
K-MAX Demo Coming. Kaman Corp. says the Helicopters Division of its subsidiary, Kaman Aerospace Corp., received an $864,000 contract from the Marine Corps on behalf of Team K- MAX to demonstrate the ability of the Unmanned K-MAXr helicopter to deliver cargo to troops in extreme environments and at high altitudes. Team K-MAX is comprised of Kaman and Lockheed Martin. Kaman will award a subcontract to Lockheed Martin to integrate a beyond-line-of-sight data link and unmanned aerial system mission management system with Kaman’s proven aerial truck, the K-MAX. The team will demonstrate the unmanned helicopter’s capability to deliver cargo a round trip distance of 150 nautical miles. The Marine Corps objective is to move 20,000 pounds in a 24-hour period. The demonstration is scheduled for late 2009.