On Target
Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Dayton, Ohio-based SoBran will continue its development support for U.S Air Force defense and mission systems with a new multimillion-dollar contract.
The five-year contract with the 309th Software Maintenance Group at Hill Air Force Base expands the depth and breadth of DoD programs that SoBran supports.
SoBran was the only one of four existing contractors to receive the new contract. SoBran will continue to support the Minuteman III ICBM and other new and legacy DoD mission-critical weapon systems and simulators.
The company will provide design, engineering and production of test and embedded systems; hardware and software support; application development and configuration management; surveillance testing; advanced technical support; systems engineering, integration and analysis. “Since 1986, the Minuteman III missile system continues to be considered one of the nation’s most critical national defense systems. The key behind upholding its superior performance after all these years lies with some of the most sophisticated software engineering and development advances— many of which are based here at Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah,” Richard Swank, senior program manager, Engineering and Technical Services, SoBran, told MSMF.
Swank pointed out that maintaining performance for the Minuteman III program does come with its fair share of challenges. “The Minuteman III has been around for more than 20 years, requiring constant levels of software updates and modification. New technology needs to be integrated into the system, working hand-in-hand with the older types of technologies that have made it run in peak shape for years.”
And Swank noted that attention to detail is paramount. “There is no room for error, and tolerance is extremely tight for everything associated with the missile—from test equipment, to launch controls to various other types of systems. Whether you are updating or manufacturing software, circuit chips or cables for test equipment, everything has to be perfect,” he added.
Richard Swank, Senior Program Manager:
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GPS OCX Proposal
Integral Systems submitted a proposal to the U.S. military to deliver an integrated command and control solution for the GPS Next Generation Advanced Control Segment (OCX) program.
Integral Systems’ proposal includes a satellite command and control solution that leverages its Command and Control System-Consolidated (CCS-C) program, an operational military satellite communications system located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. The company said that CCS-C resulted in tremendous personnel and operations efficiencies and dramatically reduced operational costs for U.S. Air Force Space Command.
“The joint proposal outlines major enhancements in performance and efficiencies for GPS operators. This program will transform GPS command and control operations as we know them, giving operators a highly flexible command and control architecture that will support current and future missions more efficiently,” Integral Systems CEO John Higginbotham said in a statement provided to MSMF prior to his resignation.
GPS OCX aims to provide command and control operations for all GPS 2 and future GPS 3 satellites. Integral Systems is part of a Northrop Grumman team competing for the open-architecture, nextgeneration control segment contract.
Kathryn Herr:
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Lockheed Martin Awarded SBIRS Contract
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. was awarded a cost-plus fixed-fee contract for an approximate $1.5 billion. This contract is for the production of the third Space Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite 3, the production of Highly Elliptical Earth Orbit payload 3 and modification of the SBIRS Ground systems to accommodate operations of three payloads simultaneously. At this time, about $1.1 billion has been obligated.
Confirming future SBIRS activities, the company noted, “Final integrated system testing of the first two GEO satellites is progressing at Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif. The fully-integrated GEO-1 spacecraft is being readied for the start of thermal vacuum testing, and the team recently integrated the spacecraft bus with the infrared sensor payload for GEO-2.” The company added, “After the extensive environmental and final integrated test phase, GEO-1 will be shipped to the Air Force in preparation for launch in 2010 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla.”
Michael Friedman: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it