INTEROPERABILITY: Defense industry players could help the U.S. Department of Defense become more joint by producing products that are interoperable, with open architectures, says Col. Greg Brown, commander, Joint ID Evaluation Team, Joint Forces Command (JFCOM). Brown spoke last week at the JFCOM-National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Industry Symposium in Portsmouth, Va. "There is a role for industry to play in the process of integration and interoperability," Brown says. "Proprietary business relationships are a big problem.
Boeing's X-45A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is expected to perform its first inert weapon drop at Edwards, Calif., within a week, according to a Boeing spokesman. The first drop will be unguided, using a dummy Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) deployed from the aircraft's weapons bay, according to Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale. A guided drop is expected to follow by early April.
EUROPEAN CONSOLIDATION: The recent announcement of General Dynamics' plan to buy Alvis-Vickers of the United Kingdom underlines that European military vehicle manufacturers must consolidate, says Ben Moores, an industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan. Alvis, the leading armored vehicle manufacturer in the U.K. and Scandinavia, complements General Dynamics' European armored vehicle business, Moores says. Acquiring Alvis gives the company the Nordic and Middle Eastern market, he says.
Senators return to Washington this week to resume consideration of the Department of Defense's $401.7 billion budget request for fiscal 2005, with House members so far unwilling to go along with a Senate Budget Committee effort to trim that request by $7 billion.
HAPPY TOGETHER: Redesignating the secretary of the Navy as the secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps would help clarify the Marine Corps' status, former military leaders say. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) has pushed for such a change for years, and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says he supports it. "... While both services have made tremendous contributions to the cause of freedom, only one service in this team is recognized in the title of secretary of the department," Hunter says.
JSF NON-SHUFFLE: The Defense Department, which had been considering changing the order in which the three variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are designed, now plans to keep things the same: conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) first, followed by short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) and then carrier variant (CV). "The plan now is that we will keep the STOVL as the second one in the queue," Navy Secretary Gordon England says in recent congressional testimony. "And it's that way because there's commonality between STOVL and the CTOL.
READY FOR LAUNCH: Space Systems/Loral said March 19 that it has completed the integration and testing of the MTSAT-1R satellite and has shipped it to Japan's space center in Tanegashima, where is to be launched on an H-IIA rocket. The satellite was built for the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau and the Japanese Meteorological Agency.
SED: The Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are developing a prototype hypersonic missile for a first flight in 2008, according to Ron Sega, director of defense research and engineering at the Pentagon. The Single Engine Demonstration (SED) program will integrate the Air Force's Hypersonic Technology (HyTech) engine with DARPA air vehicle technology. The SED missile will be powered by a hydrocarbon supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) and ultimately should achieve speeds of Mach 7-8, according to Sega.
PORTSMOUTH, VA. - One of the goals of the Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) is to integrate Combat ID and Blue Force Tracking across Department of Defense operations, according to Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) officials said at a conference here March 18. Combat ID is the process of accurately identifying objects to enable the use of the correct military options and weapons. Blue Force Tracking is a satellite-based system installed in ground vehicles and helicopters that monitors the movement of friendly forces.
GETTING READY: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has until May 16 to release a list of military installations slated for closure or realignment, but some elected officials are not waiting until then to take action. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell has awarded $150,000 in grants to some facilities in his state to help shore them up, including developing part of the Letterkenny Army Depot as a repair facility for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles. Letterkenny lost 3,450 jobs in earlier base closing rounds.
OPEN DISCUSSION: NASA has come a long way since the days of the Clinton Administration in its ability to openly discuss plans to send human beings beyond low-Earth orbit, according to Gary Martin, space architect for the agency. The previous Administration instructed NASA to remain focused on the space station and space shuttle, Martin says. As a result, he was forbidden to publicly show artist's conceptions of humans on other planetary surfaces. "They didn't want us to be distracted," Martin says.
NEW DELHI - A deal between India and the United Kingdom for 66 Hawk 100-Y advanced jet trainers is back on track after overcoming a last-minute cost dispute. India and the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) March 19 on the $1.5 million deal and plan to sign it this week.
Boeing will manufacture 14 T-45 training system airframes under a $247.6 million contract modification, the U.S. Department of Defense announced March 18. The work will be performed in St. Louis and Warton, Brough, England and is expected to be completed in September 2006.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The European Union and Israel have signed an agreement that lays the foundations for Israel's active participation in Europe's Galileo satellite radio navigation program. The agreement, initialed in Jerusalem March 17, covers cooperative activities on satellite navigation and timing in a wide range of sectors, including science and technology, industrial manufacturing and service and market development, as well as standardization, frequencies and certification.
NASA's X-43C hypersonic de-monstrator and RS-84 reusable engine program have been canceled following a review of 140 programs inherited by the agency's new Office of Exploration Systems.
ACQUISTION: General Dynamics will acquire space systems integrator Spectrum Astro of Gilbert, Ariz., the company said March 18. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the deal. Pending regulatory approval, it is expected to close within 60 days. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Spectrum Astro will become part of General Dynamics C4 Systems, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., the company said. "The U.S.
The U.S. Army is ramping up testing of the Patriot anti-missile system after a two-year hiatus. The first intercept test since 2002 occurred March 4 and involved a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile successfully destroying a short-range ballistic missile target (DAILY, March 5). Tests planned for June and August will fire PAC-3s at multiple targets, said Col. John Vaughn, who oversees Patriot as project manager for the Army's Lower Tier Project Office in Huntsville, Ala.
The U.S. Air Force is considering speeding development of a standoff electronic jamming capability for the B-52 bomber, sources said March 18. They said current plans call for development to begin in fiscal year 2005, leading to initial operational capability in 2011 or 2012. But, they added, options to speed the operational date to 2009 or 2010 are being investigated. - Rich Tuttle ([email protected])
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Joint Forces Command's (JFCOM) Joint Center for Lessons Learned is analyzing Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) from an operational and strategic level, said the center's director, Army Brig. Gen. Robert Cone. The center collected real-time observations of key activities and capabilities in the theater, such as the common operating picture and collaborative efforts regarding combat identification, Cone said at the JFCOM and National Defense Industrial Association's industry symposium here.
NEW DELHI - India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to begin production of the indigenously developed Nishant unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The production has been delayed by technical problems, but they have been overcome and limited production will begin by the end of the year, a DRDO scientist said.
