* Defense Secretary Panetta removes the F-35B STOVL (Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing) from its 2-year probation, just 1 year in. Rolls Royce is very happy. James Hasik adds some thoughts about the timing. * Panetta also stated the US will keep 11 aircraft carriers. *...
USA Articles
UK Wind Farm Interference Leads to Radar Replacement
AN/TPS-77 Radar One of the problems with wind farms is the effect of their turbine blades on air traffic control and defense radars. Wind turbine blades have extremely large radar signatures, especially when grouped in a farm, and their movement creates doppler...
$100M for Sunpower Electricity at NAWS China Lake, CA
Latest updates: Construction underway; Further details. At the end of September 2011, Sunpower Corp. in Richmond, CA, won a $100.3 million firm-fixed-price task order under a previous multiple-vendor award contract, for up to 30 years of electricity from a renewable...
Rapid Fire 2012-01-20: F-35B Off Probation?
* Latest on JSF: Reuters and Bloomberg report that Leon Panetta is about to announce that the F-35-B is off probation; Canadian industrial participation; 1st night flight; 3rd F-35B delivered; F-35C tail hook redesign. * Israel's IDF now believes that unrest in Syria...
$94M to LMCO for Continued DMOC Operation
In January 2012, Lockheed Martin Global Training and Logistics in Orlando, FL received a 5-year, $94 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to continue supporting the USAF's Distributed Mission Operations Center. The mission of...
Army Order to Quell Fires… at Oshkosh, Too?
Pierce pumper, USAF(click to view full) Oshkosh subsidiary Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. in Appleton, WI won a maximum $7.1 million firm-fixed-price contract for fire fighting vehicle pumpers, for use by the US Army. The contract will run until Nov 28/12. There were 3...
Rapid Fire 2012-01-19: Anti anti-access, Area-Denial Denial
* President Obama's campaign donors at Lightsquared still have a big problem with GPS interference, according to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, and the American FAA. The company didn't mince words in its reaction: "the...
Rapid Fire 2012-01-18: DOTE FY2011
* J. Michael Gilmor, the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) within the US DoD released his FY2011 report. Among other changes made in recent months, he notes that his organization now has input at the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System...
Rapid Fire 2012-01-17: Information Preservation Challenges
* The RAND Corporation published a report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on what it would take to sustain a competitive military aircraft industry in the US. It comes with plenty of charts on research and procurement spending by contractor...

