JSF PICK: Lockheed Martin has selected Dassault Systemes and IBM to provide computer-based development tools and processes for the Joint Strike Fighter. The companies will support the Lockheed Martin Virtual Development Environ-ment, for computer-assisted construction of the aircraft.
March 21, 2002 McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Boeing Co., is being awarded an $11,533,383 firm-fixed-price order under a long-term contract (N00383-98-D-003H-7049) for continuing repair of an estimated 740 ailerons, flaps and horizontal stabilizers in support of F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed Mesa, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by October 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.
REJECTION URGED: TRW Inc.'s board of directors unanimously recommended March 25 that its shareholders reject Northrop Grumman proposals that TRW establish an independent committee to review Northrop Grumman's stock exchange offer, and provide it with confidential financial information. Northrop Grumman has proposed exchanging each outstanding share of TRW common stock with $47 of Northrop Grumman stock.
The ongoing delay in raising NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) to its operational orbit is unlikely to affect the operation of the TDRS constellation, according to NASA. Satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS), which still owns the satellite, is working on raising TRDS-I to its operational geosynchronous orbit, after detecting a pressure problem in one of the spacecraft's four propellant tanks that could jeopardize its operational life (DAILY, March 25).
New systems using space-based assets made a big difference in how U.S. forces fought in Afghanistan, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano, the head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and U.S. Army Space Command. The value of constant surveillance and precision targeting provided through systems using space-based assets "is the big lesson learned" from Afghanistan, Cosumano told The DAILY in a March 25 interview.
After a successful series of automatic collision avoidance flight tests, NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) team is turning its attention to other projects that could help get unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) accepted into the national airspace. The recent flight tests used Scaled Composites' Proteus as a UAV stand-in, as well as a variety of other manned aircraft flying simulated collision courses over Las Cruces, N.M. (DAILY, March 13).
Work to produce a new multiyear contract for Navy procurement of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has moved to the back burner while the service considers a proposal to cut its total purchase of the strike fighter, a Boeing official said March 25.
The biggest challenge in meeting the program goals for the Joint Strike Fighter will be integrating the activities of companies and facilities spread across nine time zones through a seamless sharing of information, senior JSF program officials said March 22.
March 18, 2002 Northrop Grumman Corp., Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $16,422,306 (not-to-exceed) contract modification to provide for increase in long lead aircraft production funding for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Lot X aircraft (P16). At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. The Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity (F19628-01-C-0015, P00006).
March 20, 2002 Sikorsky Aircraft Co., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded an $84,000,000 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract (DAAJ09-97-C-0005) for 13 MD060S aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 4, 2000. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Although the restructuring of the missile defense program provides the head of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) with greater control, there will still be a number of oversight mechanisms, according to the Pentagon's acquisition czar. "There's been some criticism that we're not providing sufficient oversight of the missile defense activity," E.C. "Pete" Aldridge Jr., the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, logistics and technology, said at a March 22 Pentagon briefing. "That is not true."
The International Space Station's robotic arm has developed a balky joint, but NASA officials said March 21 they have planned a workaround and the trouble probably won't affect the next construction mission, slated for April 4. However, it will delay the shuttle mission after that, originally scheduled for May 6, because NASA plans to fly a replacement joint on that flight. NASA bumped that flight to May 31, which officials said would give the agency time to get the equipment on the shuttle and plan the spacewalk needed to install it.
BMD FUNDING: The House Armed Services Committee is unlikely to make major changes to the Bush Administration's $7.8 billion fiscal 2003 budget request for missile defense, according to Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.), a member of the panel. That's because "a lot of the changes that many [on the committee] were hoping to take place, especially with regard to an aggressive, robust testing regimen, [are] in the works with the Administration," Hostettler says.
The Defense Department's adoption of performance-based contracting in recent years is requiring defense contractors and suppliers to change their approach to supply chain management, according to a retired Air Force general. Five or six years ago, most of the contracts awarded by the DOD to defense contractors in the post-production phase of a weapon program were task oriented, said George Babbitt, now director of aerospace and defense operations for KPMG Consulting Inc.
An Air Force-chartered independent review team has found that the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) was "too immature" when it entered the system design and development phase several years ago, according to Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets. The review team also discovered other deficiencies in SBIRS-High, including "inadequate systems engineering" and "a significant breakdown in execution management," Teets testified before the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee March 20.
CREW RETURN: NASA's X-38 experimental vehicle, once intended to lead to the development of the Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station, could be taken off life support, says station program manager Tommy Holloway. "There are some limited funds in this budget to allow the orderly continuation of the X-38 at this point, and, in a sense, the orderly termination if that turns out to be the direction that the agency chooses to go," Holloway says.
Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) is working on a plan to get the company's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-I) to its operational geosynchronous orbit, after detecting a problem with one of the spacecraft's four propellant tanks. Although there is enough propellant in the other tanks to raise the orbit, if the problem isn't solved it could jeopardize the operational life of the satellite, according to Boeing spokesman George Torres.
Accelerated production of Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) and General Atomics Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and continued development of a UAV signals intelligence (SIGINT) system are slated for funding under the Bush Administration's recently announced fiscal 2002 supplemental appropriations request.
AEGIS TESTING: Lockheed Martin has completed equipment testing of the seventh generation of its Aegis Weapon System, the company announced March 22. The latest upgrade, called Baseline 7.1, contains a new radar and the first complete commercial-off-the-shelf Aegis computing architecture. The system will be installed on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Pinckney in November. Sea trials for Pinckney are slated to start in August 2003.
KEEPING IT LETHAL: Although he sees a growing future for non-lethal weapons such as Active Denial Technology (ADT) (DAILY, March 19), there always will be a need for lethal systems, according to Col. Mark Stephen, deputy director of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. "There is a lot of emphasis now ... on developing options to deter people from coming to you without having to kill them," Stephen says.
ACC AND HOMELAND DEFENSE: Air Combat Command's new Homeland Security Division will provide forces on standby to several new task forces under Joint Forces Command. The purpose of Joint Task Force Civil Support, Joint Task Force Consequence Management, and Joint Task Force Consequence Management-East is to help offset the effects of a terrorist attack by weapons of mass destruction. The task forces would concentrate on cities other than New York and Washington.
