The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense
Senatorial C-5s. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren spar during an Oct. 9 debate about the future of Lockheed Martin-built C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass. Brown says Warren wants to cut military funding and “can’t have it both ways.” He says: “You can’t cut (the) military and protect the C-5s and the missions in Massachusetts. You can’t do both.” Warren says she and Brown both want to “protect the military,” saying she wants to find common ground with Republicans on a deal to prevent so-called sequestration defense cuts from starting next January. “I’m prepared to get out there and fight for Westover, to talk about what the C-5 Galaxy means, how this is the place where we have these giant planes that take big troops, big equipment, and are even used in disaster relief all around the world,” she says. “And that’s why there shouldn’t be a penny of cuts there.”
AIA’s Take. After the Oct. 11 vice presidential debate, Aerospace Industries Association President Marion Blakey calls for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan deal to stop potential sequestration reductions to the defense budget from starting in Januaray. “While it is important that tonight’s debate addressed sequestration and the looming budget cuts, it is clear however, we still need critical bipartisan consensus in resolving the issue,” she says. “Both candidates must recognize how immediate and severe the risk is with less than 90 days to go before the sequestration pin is pulled.” She argues “it’s long past time for our leaders to clean up the sequestration mess.” During the debate, Democratic Vice President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) spar over sequestration, with Ryan seeking to blame President Barack Obama for the politically unpopular cuts and Biden noting Ryan voted for the law that indirectly created them.
Army Mod. The Army plans to maintain or boost funding for special operations, intelligence and reconnaissance programs, and space and cyberspace capabilities, Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal reportedly tells a business and government audience Oct. 11. Despite the Army’s budget crunch and planned reduction in size, the service still needs to continue modernizing, he says at a breakfast sponsored by Government Executive magazine. “I see an Army that will have an opportunity to go through a very significant modernization to ensure that the Army of (the future) is as progressive and as modern as it needs to be,” Westphal says, according to the Army News Service. He says the Army will be more technologically advanced, scientifically sophisticated, and efficient because of budget restraints. He and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd Austin also are trying to eliminate redundancy and duplication at Army headquarters.
TSA Management Shortfalls. A breakdown in checked baggage screening operations at a Hawaiian airport in the closing months of 2010 may have been prevented if the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had done a better job of overseeing its screening workforce and provided more adequate staffing, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General’s office. From at least September to December 2010, dozens of TSA screeners at Honolulu International Airport didn’t screen all the checked baggage as required, the IG says. The report also says the situation may not have occurred if the agency had a more consistent approach for developing and evaluating changes to its baggage screening procedures. TSA agreed with all of the IG’s recommendations.
…Mica’s Reaction. In a press release last week announcing the IG’s findings, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) says the “report further confirms what we’ve already witnessed through TSA security meltdowns” in other airports. He adds that “There are system-wide problems with this massive bureaucracy.” Mica, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform National Security and Homeland Defense Subcommittee, requested the report.
Rolls-Royce Ops Center. Rolls-Royce opens its first-ever United States defense operations center in downtown Indianapolis, according to a company statement. The $2 million defense operations center will provide around-the-clock response for customers in the field to speed support and technical assistance for engine-related issues. The center offers technical support from a 50-member team of technical and engineering experts and will be able to provide a new, integrated and centralized operation using high-tech software and tools.
DigitalGlobe Cloud. DigitalGlobe publicly unveils its My DigitalGlobe cloud services platform at GEOINT 2012, according to a company statement. The My DigitalGlobe portal creates seamless, on-demand access to more than 200 million square kilometers of imagery with content from DigitalGlobe services such as Global Basemap, First Look, Enhanced GEOINT Delivery and some custom customer content. The My DigitalGlobe user interface enhances the experience for government and commercial customers through a greater ability to access and manage the information they need when and where they need it most.
DigitalGlobe/Saab Partnership. DigitalGlobe and Saab partner to deliver the next-generation of Saab’s Vricon Rapid 3D Mapping system, according to a DigitalGlobe statement. DigitalGlobe’s stereoscopic satellite imagery and temporal analysis data will be integrated into the Vricon solution, enabling faster creation of highly-accurate, photo-realistic 3D maps of specific areas of interest. The Vricon system automatically and rapidly generates high-resolution 3D data based on imagery from satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and manned aircraft. Vricon is built for integration in additional systems and applications, such as intelligence reporting, mission planning and rehearsal, training and simulation as well as coordinate extraction and georeferencing of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors.
New Exelis Jagwire. ITT Exelis releases Jagwire 1.2, the upgraded version of its Jagwire enterprise software for the management and dissemination of tactical imagery and video, according to a company statement. The new Jagwire 1.2 solution greatly reduces the time required to review and exploit vast amounts of data generated through wide area persistent surveillance (WAPS). Jagwire 1.2 enables faster data exploitation through improved interaction between the system and its tactical operators with the addition of support for the 4.0 version of the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Integrated Backbone (DIB). As a result, end users will experience increased reliability, even in bandwidth constrained environments, as well as access to a variety of information within their existing infrastructure, while maintaining interoperability.
Raytheon MALD-J. The Air Force and Raytheon achieve four successful flights in four attempts during operational testing of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer (MALD-J), according to a company statement. The MALD-Js were launched from a B-52 bomber and an F-16 fighter jet, Raytheon spokesman John Patterson says last week in an email. Raytheon marked the delivery of the first MALD-J to the Air Force during a Sept. 6 ceremony at the company’s Tucson, Ariz., facility. MALD-J adds radar-jamming capability to the basic MALD platform, a state-of-the-art flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable.
Intelsat 21. Intelsat S.A. accepts its second Boeing 702MP (medium power) satellite, Intelsat 21, according to a Boeing statement. Intelsat 21, launched Aug. 18, enhances Intelsat’s broadcast and communication services in an area ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and Africa to South America. 702MP, designed to provide more than 15 years of service, provides the high capability of the flight-proven Boeing 702HP (high power) model, but with a modified bus structure and a simplified propulsion system.
ATK SLS Contract. NASA awards ATK a $50 million contract to complete engineering development and risk reduction tests as part of the Advanced Concept Booster Development for the Space Launch System, according to a company statement. ATK will work on developing a lithium-ion battery-powered electric thrust vector control system, high-performance propellant, lightweight composite rocket motor case and an advanced nozzle. This announcement comes about a week after NASA announced it awarded ATK, Dynetics and Northrop Grumman $137.3 million in contracts for SLS advanced booster work. Dynetics spokeswoman Janet Felts says Friday the company’s award was worth $73 million. Dynetics will demonstrate the use of modern manufacturing techniques to produce and test several primary components of the F-1 rocket engine. Northrop Grumman spokeswoman Cyndi Wegerbauer says the company was not able to provide the value of its award.
NASA/SpaceX GPS IIF. NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) jointly form a CRS-1 post-flight investigation board, SpaceX says in a statement. The board will “methodically analyze all data” in an effort to understand what occurred to Engine 1 during liftoff of the CRS-1 mission Oct. 7. Air Force Space Command chief Gen. William Shelton says he ordered an Accident Investigation Board to find out why an upper stage engine on the Delta IV rocket that launched the service’s latest GPS IIF satellite into space did not perform as expected (Defense Daily, Oct. 12). United Launch Alliance, the developer of the Delta IV, says an unexpected “data signature” with the upper stage engine caused the launch to experience a reduced thrust level.
America. The first in a new class of amphibious assault ships, the future USS America (LHA-6), is to be christened Monday. The ceremony will take place at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The LHA-6 is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy next year. The America class is to replace the Tarawa class of amphibious assault ships.
Bradley Reset. BAE Systems says it received a $97 million Army contract to reset up to 146 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The reset effort will see Bradley vehicles partially torn down, rebuilt and tested to restore and extend the life of the vehicles. “We are proud to ensure that our soldiers are receiving Bradleys that are restored to their full capability,” says Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of Vehicle Systems at BAE. “This important work reinforces the Bradley as a vital asset to the U.S. Army and helps maintain the skilled workforce imperative to the defense industrial base.” Contract work is expected to begin this month, with final delivery in July 2014. The initial vehicle teardown will be done at the Red River Army Depot (RRAD). This is a level-II vehicle reset where key components are removed for reset, then returned to BAE and RRAD to be rebuilt and tested for performance.
The Enemy Gets A Vote. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey says he’s among those who always realize the enemy gets a vote and people should be careful when they say there’ll never be another significant big land conflict. “And so the idea that we don’t need land forces is not a good idea,” he tells the National Press Club last week. Having said that, however, he continues, “I will say the nature of land conflict is changing.” As he rose through the ranks during the Cold War the service thought first about the big organizations, corps and divisions. But, “there are some significant changes coming, I think, in the way we think about building our land component. And I would suggest to you it’s not from the top down but rather from the bottom up.”
…In The Chairman’s View. Dempsey says as chairman of the joint force, “I really do believe we are far better when we see each other as the sum of our parts, not as individual services.” He explains that he likes having four different service chiefs at the table in the Tank, because “that diversity of thinking generally pulls us in a direction that creates better options for the nation.”
Full Scale Production. The Germany Army Tiger helicopter’s main armament, the PARS 3 LR, fire-and-forget missile moves into full scale production, now that its completed a validation program that included a direct hit against an intended target during a Sept. 20 test firing. The target was provided by a tank moving in between houses. In the final firing, the PARS 3 LR missile struck the target with exceptional precision in a demanding urban combat scenario at a range of approximately 3 km. All test firings were carried out from a German Tiger helicopter. “The successful conclusion of the firing campaign sends a strong signal to our national customers and potential export customers,” says Thomas Homberg, managing director of MBDA Germany. PARSYS, a joint venture between MBDA Germany and Diehl BGT Defense, will produce and delivery of 680 missiles for the German Army.
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