Boeing to develop advanced sensor for next-generation munition
Boeing in St. Louis won a $600,000 U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract to develop the Seeker Integrated Target Endgame Sensor (SITES) to help advance Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM) technology. “We believe SITES will help maximize the system’s lethality,” says David Moos, Boeing program manager for SITES. “This missile seeker will provide sufficient precision targeting to advance JDRADM technology. JDRADM is designed to be used against multiple types of targets during air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.”
Under the Task 1 contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Boeing will study and establish the SITES program requirements baseline, ultimately leading to a system architecture. The SITES contract follows a $4.2 million contract awarded in May for the Dual Role Air Dominance Missile-Technology program that focuses on the missile’s propulsion and control systems.
Lockheed Martin delivers volume search radar antenna for U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt destroyer program
Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, N.J., delivered the engineering development model of the antenna for the volume search component of Raytheon’s Dual Band Radar (DBR) for the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt class destroyer (DDG 1000) program. The DBR is an X and S-band 3D surveillance radar that searches, detects, and tracks missiles, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles at long ranges. Lockheed Martin developed and produced the VSR antenna as a subcontractor to Raytheon, the prime contractor for the DBR radar system for this next-generation, multimission destroyer. This VSR antenna has been integrated with Raytheon’s DBR system components and this integrated S-band radar capability is currently undergoing testing at the Navy’s Surface Warfare Engineering Facility in Port Hueneme, Calif., and the Surface Combat Systems Center at Wallops Island, Va.
General Dynamics awarded contract for WIN-T satellite communications terminals
General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies in Newton, N.C., won a $24 million contract from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J., to provide specialized satellite communications earth terminals and support services for the Joint Network Node-Network (JNN-N) program, now known as Increment One of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T). Under the contract, General Dynamics will provide 33 satellite transportable terminals (STT) and two unit hub SATCOM Trucks (UHST). General Dynamics will also supply Ka-band upgrade kits, training, and logistics services. The delivery order is part of a base-plus-four-option-years contract that has a total potential value of $721 million for 1,233 STTs and 44 UHSTs if all options are exercised. WIN-T Increment One builds on the former JNN-N and will be used by soldiers in the field to securely access communications services using an enhanced Internet Protocol-based satellite communications network for flexible and reliable transmission and reception of high-bandwidth video, voice, and data. The next-generation STT terminal can be configured to operate over Ku- or Ka-band satellite frequencies. The lighter weight design allows for additional enhancements over previously fielded units. The new UHST provides Ku- or Ka-band operation and increased modem capacity. The new STTs and UHSTs are interoperable with previously fielded JNN-N Lots 1-9 baseband STT and UHST units.
SAIC awarded two contracts to support Naval Surface Warfare Center
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) McLean, Va., won two follow-on contracts from the Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Crane, Ind., in support of Naval Sea Systems Command. The first contract will support the Navy’s Conventional Ammunition and Night Vision Program Office, the Munitions Division, and the Business Resource Management Division of the Joint Special Operations Response Department. The other contract provides support to the Operations and Assessment Division. Through these two contracts, SAIC will provide a wide variety of capabilities to NSWC Crane which includes professional engineering and technical data support services to design pyrotechnics and demolition devices; engineering and logistics services for in-service ammunition during manufacture, use, maintenance, demilitarization, conventional ammunition acquisition, and disposal; engineering test and evaluation services, including the simulation of environmental conditions for pyrotechnics and conventional ammunition and strategic weapons systems; and in-service engineering agent services for the Marine Corps.
DRS to produce electronics test support and hardware equipment for Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems
DRS Test and Energy Management in Huntsville, Ala., will continue manufacturing Direct Support Electrical System Test Sets (DSESTS) and Test Program Sets (TPS) for the U.S. Army’s M2A2 and M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems. The contract was awarded to DRS by the Army’s Tank Automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command’s (TACOM LCMC) Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center at U.S. Army Garrison, Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. The TACOM LCMC placed the order on behalf of the office of the Army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems and its subordinate office of Program Manager for Heavy Brigade Combat Team in Warren, Mich. As part of this contract DRS will produce Bradley A3 Test Program Sets, Bradley tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missile Test Program Sets, and components for Bradley Fighting Vehicle Systems and DSESTS kits. Product deliveries are expected to start immediately with completion expected by August 2008.
Northrop Grumman awarded U.S. Army contract for logistics support services
The U.S. Army awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $331 million cost plus award fee contract to provide logistical support services to the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, Calif., for annual programmed training, multiple joint services training exercises, and unprogrammed support requirements. Fort Irwin is located in the Mojave Desert, halfway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and is home to approximately 14,000 soldiers, family members, contractors, and civilians. Brigade-size combat teams from across the country, ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers, rotate into the National Training Center to take part in force-on-force and live-fire training.
