DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: General Dynamics Awarded $41 Million To Supply Next-Generation Deep Space Network Antennas For NASA

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: General Dynamics Awarded $41 Million To Supply Next-Generation Deep Space Network Antennas For NASA

**Two 34-meter (112-foot wide) antennas are part of a NASA plan to replace large, aging antennas that currently enable communications with NASA’s interplanetary flight missions.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources General Dynamics - January 19,

2011

(NSI News Source Info) NEWTON, N.C. - January 23, 2011: General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies received a $40.7 million contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to build two additional 34-meter (112-foot wide) beam waveguide antennas as part of NASA’s modernization and transformation plan to continue scientific studies of the Earth as well as explore distant bodies in the solar system. The new antennas will be located at the Deep Space Network (DSN) facility in Canberra, Australia.

Gary Kanipe, vice president of General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies, said, “This contract, combined with General Dynamics’ continuing work to modernize the space administration’s ground systems, meets NASA’s critical need for seamless upgrades to communications and network infrastructure, while maintaining mission critical operations.”

Originally designed by JPL and built by General Dynamics, the antennas enable the Deep Space Network to communicate with existing flight missions such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spitzer Space telescope, Saturn explorer Cassini, as well as support future NASA space missions. The company has built nine 34-meter antennas for NASA’s Deep Space Network. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Deep Space Network for NASA Headquarters, Washington.

Beam waveguide-style antennas house sensitive electronics and systems in a room that is inside of the antenna’s ground-based pedestal rather than in the center of the dish or reflector. This design makes it easier for technicians to maintain the equipment as well as implement technology upgrades. Construction, integration and testing for the two new antennas, designated Deep Space Stations 35 and 36, are scheduled for completion by 2014 and 2016, respectively.

NASA’s Deep Space Network is an international collection of antennas that support NASA’s spacecraft missions as well as radar and radio observatories that explore the solar system and universe. There are three Deep Space Network facilities, located 120 degrees apart, in California, Spain and Australia. This strategic placement enables constant observation and communication as the Earth rotates, making the Deep Space Network one of the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications systems in the world.

General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies is a part of General Dynamics C4 Systems. More information is available atwww.gdsatcom.com and www.gdc4s.com.

More information about General Dynamics is available on the Internet at www.generaldynamics.com.

Contact: Fran Jacques
Tel: (480)-441-2885
Email: Fran.Jacques@gdc4s.com

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: SAIC-led Industry Team Continues To Pursue Ground Combat Vehicle Program

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: SAIC-led Industry Team Continues To Pursue Ground Combat Vehicle Program

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources SAIC

(NSI News Source Info) MCLEAN, Va., - January 22, 2011: Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (NYSE:SAI - News) announced yesterday it will continue to lead a team pursuing the U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program. The SAIC-led team submitted a revised proposal for the technology development phase of the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) being developed under the GCV effort to the U.S. government. The team originally submitted a proposal in May 2010, but the initial Request for Proposal was rescinded by the Army, and a second RFP issued inNovember 2010.

"GCV is of vital importance to our nation as it will be the first combat vehicle designed to be adaptable to the full range of military operations, while protecting our soldiers from current and emerging threats," said Deborah Alderson, SAIC group president. "Our offer continues to focus on delivering a newer, highly survivable, more lethal, off-road IFV than previous offerings we know of."

SAIC's Team Full Spectrum consists of three large enterprises – The Boeing Company, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and Rheinmetall Defence (RMD). The team, called Team Full Spectrum, is proposing a vehicle it believes is well-positioned to meet the Army's accelerated development needs because of its MGV and Puma heritage. The Puma is the only production-ready IFV designed from the ground up since Sept. 11, 2001, and incorporates the lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The team will also incorporate lessons learned from the Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicle effort.

"Our offering is designed, first and foremost, to protect our Soldiers, to unburden them from mechanical tasks with the latest technology thus allowing concentration on the cognitive, and to empower them to accomplish their mission," said Alderson. "In addition, high technical readiness levels will help meet the Army's timeline of delivering the first vehicle in 7 years."

The U.S. Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program is part of a holistic Army plan to modernize its combat vehicle fleet.

About SAIC

SAIC is a FORTUNE 500® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health. The company's approximately 45,000 employees serve customers in the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other U.S. Government civil agencies and selected commercial markets. Headquartered in McLean, Va., SAIC had annual revenues of $10.8 billion for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2010. For more information, visit www.saic.com. SAIC: From Science to Solutions®

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in SAIC's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period endedJanuary 31, 2010, and other such filings that SAIC makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

Contact:	Melissa Koskovich	Laura Luke
	(703) 676-6762	(703) 676-6533
	Melissa.l.koskovich@saic.com	laura.luke@saic.com

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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