Thursday, March 24, 2011

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Military Satellites Achieve 'Holy Grail' Of Missile Defense

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:
U.S. Military Satellites Achieve 'Holy Grail' Of Missile Defense
(NSI News Source Info)
WASHINGTON
- March 24, 2011:
A pair of low Earth-orbiting demonstration satellites built by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for the first time on March 16 detected and tracked a ballistic missile launch through all phases of flight, a Northrop Grumman official said March 22.

So-called birth-to-death tracking of a ballistic missile launch had never been done before from space and is the most significant achievement to date for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft, said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of missile defense and warning programs.

“It’s the Holy Grail for missile defense,” Young said during a media briefing here. [Top 10 Space Weapons Concepts]

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman built three STSS demonstration satellites for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The first satellite, which had a classified mission, was launched in May 2009. After completing its test program, it was transferred Jan. 31 to the control of Air Force Space Command to continue supporting the service’s space situational awareness mission.

The two unclassified STSS satellites were launched in September 2009 on a single United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket. During an extended on-orbit check-out and calibration phase that concluded in November, the satellites tracked multiple missile launches in the early boost and post-boost phases and demonstrated the ability to relay data from one satellite to the other.

On March 16, an ARAV-B short-range target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. An STSS satellite detected the heat signature of the launch with its acquisition sensor, and then its gimbaled tracking sensor locked on to the boosting missile, Young said.

The tracking data was successfully relayed to the other satellite, which continued to observe the target as it coasted through space, re-entered the atmosphere and splashed down in the ocean, he said.

Future STSS tests this year will be more sophisticated, Young said. In the coming months, the MDA will attempt to cue the STSS satellites to a missile launch using data from the operational Defense Support Program missile warning satellites, rather than the acquisition sensors on board STSS, he said.

Another test this year will seek to determine if the STSS satellites can produce missile tracking data good enough to cue the launch of ship-based interceptors, a concept known as launch on remote.

Today, Navy Aegis ships are only able to launch interceptors to defeat ballistic missiles after they are detected by the ship’s own radar. If the interceptors can be fired based on cuing from forward-based sensors, the area that each ship can defend from missiles is greatly increased. [Video: U.S. Military's Successful Satellite Kill]

The Navy and MDA plan to conduct the first Aegis launch-on-remote intercept test next month, for which a forward-based AN/TPY-2 X-band radar will cue the launch of a Standard Missile (SM)-3 interceptor before the target missile is detected by the ship’s radar, MDA budget documents show.

Similarly, the STSS demonstration satellites later this year will attempt to track a target missile and feed data to the Aegis system to generate a “fire control solution” for an early interceptor launch, Young said. However, an interceptor will not actually be launched in that test, he noted.

Meanwhile, the MDA is pursuing an operational constellation of geosynchronous missile tracking satellites dubbed the Precision Tracking Space System. The agency will rely on the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., to develop a prototype system to be launched in 2015. An industry team is expected to be chosen in 2014 to build between nine and 12 operational spacecraft planned to begin launching in 2018.

The MDA aims to spend $1.34 billion on the Precision Tracking Space System between 2012 and 2016, budget documents show.

This story was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 24, 2011

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 24, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 24, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 24, 2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY

On March 21, 2011, APPTIS, Inc. (formerly, SETA Corp.), McLean. Va., and Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., were awarded two contract modifications to add two, six-month option periods and increase the ceiling amount under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts DCA200-02-D-5000 and DCA200-02-D-5001, the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) Global Solutions (DGS) contracts. The purpose of the optional extension periods and increase to the ceiling amount were to ensure continuous, uninterrupted services provided under the DGS contracts as the government re-competes the associated efforts. As a result of these changes, the DGS contracts lifecycle period of performance end date will be changed to March 31, 2012, and the total combined ceiling will be changed from $4,200,000,000 to $4,835,000,000, an increase of $635 million dollars. The DGS contracts are open for use to all federal agencies whenever the requirement to be placed is associated with the lifecycle management of the DISN. These efforts include, but are not limited to: program management; cost/schedule; management; financial management; systems engineering; hardware and software management; test and evaluation; manufacturing; engineering; logistics; and other services required for DISN support. Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is the contracting activity (DCA200-02-D-5000/P00035, and DCA200-02-D-5001/P00035).

AIR FORCE

JK Hill and Associates, Virginia Beach, Va. (FA8224-11-D-5001); TalentScale, Lake Elsinore, Calif. (FA8224-11-D-5002); Sunrise Beach Corp. McKinney, Texas (FA8224-11-D-5003); and Affordable Engineering Services, Totowa, N.J. (FA8224-11-D-5004), are being awarded a $40,000,000 firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials contract for the Depot On-site Contract Augmentee Teams 2 Program, supporting aircraft maintenance and related tasks at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Utah, and the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, Ariz. Bids were solicited electronically with eight received. OO-ALC/PKESS, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity.

ManTech SRS Technologies, Inc., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $15,681,903 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for systems engineering, product assurance, program safety, systems security, risk management, and launch integration management supporting the Launch and Range Systems Directorate located at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Vandenberg Air Force Base. SMC/LRK, El Segundo, Calif., is the contracting activity (FA8811-10-C-0002 PO0007).

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif., is being awarded a $9,576,933 firm-fixed-price contract for the production and test of two mobile ground control station (GCS) software integration labs (SIL) and a fixed GCS SIL. Work will be performed in Poway, Calif. One bid was solicited and was bid was received. ASC/WIIK, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-10-G-3038 0008).

Technical Ordnance, Inc., Clear Lake, S.D., is being awarded a $5,886,040 firm-fixed-price contract for BBU-59/B Impulse cartridges, which are used to eject flares from the F-22A. Work will be performed in Clear Lake, S.D. Bids were solicited electronically and two were received. ALC/GHGKA, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-11-D-0002).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Global Montello Group Corp.*, Waltham, Mass., is being awarded a maximum $31,089,102 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 696 proposals solicited with 680 responses. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2014. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-8523).

Dennis K. Burke, Inc.*, Chelsea, Mass., is being awarded a maximum $25,200,339 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 696 proposals solicited with 680 responses. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2014. Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-8521).

Government Scientific Source*, Reston, Va., is being awarded a maximum $16,000,000 fixed-price with economic price adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for purchase of laboratory supplies and wares. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The original proposal was solicited via the Defense Logistics Agency Internet Bid Board System website with eight responses. The subject contract covers a base period and four one-year option periods with this action representing the execution of the second option period. The date of performance completion is March 26, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2DE-09-D-7339).

Santa Buckley Energy, Inc.*, Bridgeport, Conn., is being awarded a maximum $12,128,126 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Using services are Army, Navy, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 696 proposals solicited with 680 responses. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2014. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-8514).

Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville, Inc.*, Gainesville, Ga., is being awarded a maximum $11,594,283 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are in New Jersey, New York, Maine and Pennsylvania. Using services are Army, Navy and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 696 proposals solicited with 680 responses. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2014. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-8532).

Riggins Oil, Vineland, N.J.* is being awarded a maximum $7,903,945 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. Other location of performance is in Pennsylvania. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 696 proposals solicited with 680 responses. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2014. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va. (SP0600-11-D-8517).

NAVY

Advanced Engineering & Sciences, Annapolis Junction, Md., is being awarded a $30,829,958 firm-fixed price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the procurement of post-production maintenance support of Navy crew fixed site systems and procurement and support of the transmitting set, counter measure AN/PLT-4 systems. Work will be performed in Boalsburg, Pa., and is expected to be completed by March 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $576,343 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Md., is the contracting activity (N00174-11-C-0005).

Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $30,291,489 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to procure two U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command Tiltrotor (CV-22) flight training devices, and associated provisioned items and spares. Work will be performed in Broken Arrow, Okla. (53 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (35 percent); Philadelphia, Pa. (7 percent); Clifton, N.J. (3 percent); and Orlando, Fla. (2 percent). Work is expected to be completed in September 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61340-11-C0004).

Rolls Royce Engine Services-Oakland, Inc., Oakland, Calif., is being awarded a $21,396,304 modification to a previously awarded indefinite- delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-D-0006) for the repairs of T56-A-427 Series IV engines of the E-2C and C-2 aircraft. Work will be performed in Oakland, Calif., and is expected to be completed in December 2011. Contract funds in the amount of $6,170,716 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Gentex Corp., Carbondale, Pa., is being awarded an $11,824,966 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for light weight helmets/modular integrated communications helmets. These helmets provide ballistic and impact protection for the head. This contract contains options which, if exercised, will bring the contract value to $53,541,396. Work will be performed in Carbondale, Pa., and is expected to be completed March 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $71,613 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured on a full and open basis via Navy Electronic Commerce Online, with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-11-D-3024).

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DTN News - ASIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Libyan Air Force 'No Longer Exists'

DTN News - ASIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Libyan Air Force 'No Longer Exists'
(NSI News Source Info) - March 24, 2011:
(AlJazeera) Coalition forces "operating with impunity" over Libya, British official claims, but fighting still rages on the ground.
Libya's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force" following devastating air strikes by international coalition forces, a British military officer has claimed.

The claim came as fierce fighting continued on the ground on Wednesday as forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued their offensive against anti-government rebels across the north African state.

Addressing journalists at an air base in southern Italy, from which Royal Air Force (RAF) warplanes have been operating, Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell said international coalition forces could operate with impunity over Libya.

"Effectively, [Libya's] air force no longer exists as a fighting force," said Bagwell. "And his [Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's] integrated air defence system and command and control networks are severely degraded to the point that we can operate over his airspace with impunity," he said.

Bagwell said US, French and British forces involved in the strikes that began on Saturday had "taken away (Gaddafi's) eyes and ears" and "destroyed the majority of his air force".

Bagwell said coalition forces were also targeting Gaddafi's ground forces.

"We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten or attack civilians or population centres," he said.

The US military confirmed this on Wednesday, saying ground troops loyal to Gaddafi who are threatening rebel-held cities are now being targeted by coalition airstrikes.

"We are putting pressure on Gaddafi's ground forces that are threatening cities," Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber, US chief of staff for the Libya mission, said.

He also said that the coalition no-fly zone now stretches across all of coastal Libya.

Hueber said that Gaddafi's military remains in violation of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians, with fighting reported in several cities.

Enforcement of the no-fly zone has so far been carried out primarily by French, American and British forces but confusion over the command structure for the operation continued on Wednesday as NATO member states failed to agree on a role for the military alliance after a third day of talks.

Fierce fighting continues

Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone, pro-Gaddafi forces pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.

Pro-democracy fighters ranged against Gaddafi are finding the going tough.

"On the ground, the situation in [city of] Ajdabiya is that there have been some air strikes there by western powers, but they haven't managed to dislodge Gaddafi's tanks," Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the eastern city of Benghazi, said.Mostly outgunned and with little command structure, they have been left to run sporadic raids against Gaddafi's troops, before falling back to their original lines.

"In [the town of] Misurata at least 23 people have been killed in recent hours. The opposition is asking for international medical help. They are asking for a medical ship to come to the port, they say Gaddafi controls the hospital there."

Reuters news agency quoted a doctor there saying government tanks were closing in on the hospital and shelling the area.

Meanwhile, as night fell in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday, locals said they heard eight explosions in the east of the city and saw smoke rising into the night sky, Reuters reported.

Amid raging fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was "ready for battle, be it long or short". "We will win this battle," he said in an address during a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported. He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."

Opposition forms 'interim government'

Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, Libya's pro-democracy fighters formed an "interim government", headed by Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers.

He is best known on the international stage for meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, which led to France diplomatically recognising the rebels' transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people. Opposition spokesman Nisan Gouriani told Al Jazeera: "The provisional national council is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and provide an administration." He said the rebels' "position has been very clear from the beginning - that Libya is one unit". http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201132316258646677.html

"Our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli," he said. "We are striving to liberate the western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We would like to emphasise this over and over again."

The rebels had been wary of calling their nascent administration in their Benghazi stronghold an interim government seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country. "But they remain committed to one Libya," our correspondent said. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."

DTN Libya Uprising

DTN Libya Uprising

@DTNLibyaUnrest
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