Defense Daily articles from March 2008

Defense Daily archives from March 2008

Defense Watch.
March 3, 2008... The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense Half a Trillion Floor. Considering current demands on the Defense Department, the president's request for $515.4 billion in Pentagon funding is a "minimum," the leaders of...

Northrop Grumman Wins Air Force Tanker Competition.
March 3, 2008... By Jen DiMascio In a surprise decision, the Air Force on Friday picked a Northrop Grumman [NOC]-European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) team over Boeing [BA] to develop and produce the service's next aerial refueling tankers....

IBM Protests FBI Biometric Award To Lockheed Martin.
March 3, 2008... IBM [IBM] last week lodged a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over its loss to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for a potential $1 billion contract to develop a multi-modal biometric matching system for the FBI. What will...

Biometrics Agency Soliciting For Technologies Ready For Demonstration.
March 3, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker The Defense Department's Biometrics Task Force (BTF) today plans to issue a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking mature biometric technologies that have the potential for being used in military or business...

Improving Army Capabilities A National Imperative, Army Vice Chief Says.
March 3, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.--For seven years the Army has worked to sustain, prepare, reset and train its soldiers for ongoing operations, and that momentum must continue, according to the Army Vice Chief of Staff. ...

Lockheed Martin, Army CERDEC Sign ISR CRADA.(Army's Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center's )
March 3, 2008... Lockheed Martin [LMT] announced Feb. 27 it signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the Army's Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center's (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare...

Lawmakers Press For Hearings On Tanker Award.
March 4, 2008... By Jen DiMascio A senior member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and other lawmakers are pressing for hearings on the Air Force's decision to award Northrop Grumman [NOC] a contract to develop the service's next...

Little Time, Lots of Effort Led To Successful Satellite Shoot-Down.
March 4, 2008... By Geoff Fein Last month's missile shot at a wayward spy satellite not only demonstrated the capability of the technologies to conduct such an effort, but it also showed the ability of the government and industry to quickly plan, train...

Rockwell Collins To Acquire UAV Subsystem Supplier Athena Technologies.
March 4, 2008... Rockwell Collins [COL] yesterday said it has agreed to acquire Athena Technologies, a privately held developer and supplier of flight control and navigation systems used mainly in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in a deal that expands its...

Army Examines Options For Maintenance And Recovery Vehicles For Stryker, MRAP.
March 4, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.--The Army is considering its options to see if new vehicles are needed to tow and/or repair a Stryker or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) when it breaks down, or gets mired in mud, or if it...

NASA Gives Lockheed $47.5 Million Contract For Space Shuttle Fuel Tanks.
March 4, 2008... NASA gave Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $47.5 million contract change for external fuel tanks to be mated to space shuttle orbiter vehicles in future missions. Lockheed Martin will make the tanks at New Orleans at the NASA Michoud Assembly...

QinetiQ Enters Test And Evaluation Partnership With U.K. MoD.
March 4, 2008... QinetiQ March 3 announced it signed with the U.K. MoD a five-year, approximately $1.8 billion firm price agreement confirming price, volume and availability for the Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) for Test and Evaluation (T&E) and...

Lawmakers Draw Battle Lines On Tanker Competition.
March 5, 2008... By Jen DiMascio If yesterday was any indication, the Air Force's hope for a quick start to development of aerial refueling tankers after last week's contract award is unlikely to materialize. The combination of union support for...

Coast Guard Working To Assure Information Won't Leak From Bertholf.
March 5, 2008... By Geoff Fein The Coast Guard might take delivery of its lead National Security Cutter (NSC) while continuing to certify some of the vessel's command and control systems, a Coast Guard official said. However, any system related to...

AoA For Prompt Global Strike To Go To JROC This Summer, Chilton Says.
March 5, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford An in-depth study examining four options for a long-term non-nuclear strike capability for hitting time-sensitive targets around the globe will be reviewed by a top Pentagon board in the coming months, the commander...

Earned Value Management System Keeps FCS On Cost, Schedule, Officials Say.( Future Combat System )
March 5, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.--The Army and Lead System Integrator (LSI) Boeing [BA] and SAIC [SAI] say the Army's potential $160 billion modernization program, Future Combat System (FCS), continues to be on cost and on schedule,...

DoE, Navy Move To Consolidate Management of Bettis, Knolls Labs.
March 5, 2008... By George Lobsenz The Energy Department and the Navy announced last week that they will jointly seek competitive bids from industry for complementary contracts under which one company will operate both the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory...

Army Orders 11 New Boeing Chinook Helicopters.
March 5, 2008... The Army awarded Boeing [BA] $280.5 million for 11 new CH-47 Chinook helicopters, increasing the number of new Chinooks on contract to 59, the company said last month. "This new contract award represents a long-term commitment to...

Coast Guard Takes Deliver of First Missioned HC-130J.
March 5, 2008... The Coast Guard last Friday accepted delivery of the first of six missioned HC-130J long range surveillance maritime patrol aircraft, the most capable aircraft in the service's inventory, the Coast Guard said. Two more HC-130Js are...

B-2 Crash Investigation Underway.
March 5, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford Air Force investigators soon will start probing the late-February crash of a Northrop Grumman [NOC] B-2 bomber in the western Pacific, once a safety panel that convened the day of the accident finishes its work, a...

Members of Congress May Seek To Overturn Tanker Decision.
March 6, 2008... By Jen DiMascio and Emelie Rutherford Regardless of whether the Air Force acted legally and responsibly in its decision to choose Northrop Grumman [NOC] to build the service's next aerial refueling tankers, lawmakers may still move to...

NNSA: RRW Makes Return To Nuke Testing Less Likely.
March 6, 2008... By George Lobsenz The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), seeking to resurrect its new warhead plan in the face of a skeptical Democratic-controlled Congress, is suggesting that development of the "reliable replacement...

Australia To Cancel Kaman Seasprite Helicopters.
March 6, 2008... Australia announced March 5 it will cancel the U.S. Kaman Corp. [KAMN] - produced Seasprite helicopter project, two aircraft short of completing an order for 11. The Rudd Labor government initiated a review of the project in late 2007...

General Dynamics Invests And Accelerates Efforts At Saco, Maine Site.
March 6, 2008... General Dynamics [GD] Armament and Technical Products unit is investing more than $5 million in production equipment and accelerating its enterprise- wide focus on Lean/Six Sigma-based process improvements at its Saco, Maine, gun...

Wynne, Moseley Say They Personally Support Second Engine For Joint Strike Fighter.
March 6, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford Air Force leaders told Senate authorizers yesterday they personally support funding a second-engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), citing cost as the sole rationale for the effort's absence from the...

Army, General Dynamics Commemorate Abrams Multi-Year Contract.
March 6, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.--Officials from General Dynamics [GD], Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and Anniston Army Depot held a commemorative signing of last month's award of the first increment of an Abrams tank...

Independent Review Finds New Radiation Monitors Could Improve Container Screening.
March 6, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker Deploying a next-generation radiation portal monitors for secondary screening of cargo containers at ports of entry in the United States could result in better performance versus current technologies, thereby...

CoVant Acquires Bomb Disposal, WMD, Experts A-T Solutions.
March 6, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker CoVant, a private equity partnership firm founded in late 2006, said yesterday it has made its first acquisition, A-T Solutions, Inc., which provides analytical and training services in explosives ordnance awareness...

Taylor Offers Shipbuilding Deal To Navy Leadership.
March 7, 2008... By Jen DiMascio The leader of a House subcommittee yesterday presented the Navy Secretary and Chief of Naval Operations with a deal on shipbuilding. The Navy wants to waive an agreement it made last year to maintain a fleet of 11...

New Coast Guard Cutter Nearly Out of Margin On Weight, Cantwell Says.
March 7, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker The weight margin designed into the first Coast Guard National Security Cutter (NSC) is nearly used up and the ship may not have room to grow as currently designed, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairman of a Senate...

Uncertainties Abound In Budget Building, Army Official Says.
March 7, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt The Army is committed to rebalancing the force in fiscal year 2011, but faces uncetainties as it executes the FY '08 budget and prepares the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) future budget build, the deputy chief of...

Navy Needs More Info On CG(X) Before Propulsion Discussions Begin, Admiral Says.
March 7, 2008... By Geoff Fein Any discussions as to whether the Navy's next cruiser should be equipped with a nuclear propulsion plant is akin to putting the cart before the horse, a top Navy official said. "In some ways we may be getting the cart...

BAE To Sell Flight Systems Unit To Calspan.
March 7, 2008... Britain's BAE Systems this week said it has agreed to sell its California-based Flight Systems business unit to Calspan Corp. for $62.5 million in cash as it focuses its on its role as a developer and systems integrator. Terms of the deal...

ATK's AARGM Scores Direct Hit, Continues On To LRIP This Summer.
March 7, 2008... By Geoff Fein ATK [ATK] recently had a successful test of its Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), as the weapon was able to detect, identify, locate and guide to a simulated enemy target even though the missile's sensor did...

Defense Watch.
March 10, 2008... The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense Free or Fair Trade? As the presidential campaign reached Ohio last week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was quoted in the Los Angeles Times responding to the Air...

Boeing Weighing Tanker Protest After Debriefing.
March 10, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford Boeing [BA] on Friday said it "will give serious consideration to filing a protest" against the Air Force's award to a rival for a lucrative contract to build the service's replacement air-refueling tankers, saying...

HASC Panel Releases Report To Prompt Discussion of DoD Reform.(United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services)(United States. Department of Defense)
March 10, 2008... By Jen DiMascio A House Armed Services Committee (HASC) panel released a study last week on the Defense Department's roles and missions intended as a "brainstorming" session to kick off an open-ended discussion about potentially sweeping...

Coast Guard Agrees With AA On Almost All Recommendations.
March 10, 2008... By Geoff Fein With the exception of a recommendation to pursue a composite patrol boat, the Coast Guard is in agreement with the results of a study examining Deepwater assets and the service anticipates signing off on the document before...

Boeing To Protest Air Force Tanker Award To Northrop Grumman-EADS Team.
March 11, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford and Jen DiMascio Boeing [BA] announced last night it will protest the Air Force's award to a rival Northrop Grumman [NOC]-European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) team for contract worth at least $35 billion...

MRAP Orders Expected Soon.
March 11, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford The Pentagon is expected to soon order potentially thousands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP ) vehicles from multiple truck builders, bringing it close to wrapping up orders for the fast-paced acquisition...

Kyl Blasts Obama's Position On Missile Defense.
March 11, 2008... By Jen DiMascio In a Capitol Hill speech yesterday, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a strong advocate of missile defense, blasted past statements by presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on the topic. Kyl, who has endorsed Sen....

SAIC To Acquire Military Training Firm Icon Systems.
March 11, 2008... SAIC [SAI] yesterday said it has agreed to acquire Icon Systems, Inc., a small San Diego-based firm specializing in the development and production of laser-based systems and products for military training and testing. Terms of the deal...

Boeing Reports Success In UAV Bio-Collection Tests.
March 11, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker Boeing [BA] said yesterday it has successfully completed a series of tests using modified ship-based ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to track simulated biological plumes, collect the airborne agents, return...

Coast Guard Sustainment Effort Extending Life of Some 110, 210 and 270-Foot Cutters.
March 11, 2008... By Geoff Fein While the Coast Guard's effort to convert eight 110-foot cutters to 123- foot vessels continues to draw the attention and ire of lawmakers and watchdogs, the service has been successfully renovating 20 of its 110 fleet to...

United States, Poland Outline Missile Defense Pact, But No Final Deal Set.
March 11, 2008... By Dave Ahearn The United States and Poland yesterday reached an outline of an agreement to have a U.S. ballistic missile defense system installed in Europe, and for Washington in return to provide the Poles with "concrete and tangible"...

FCS Keeps Virtual Tabs On Far Flung Work.
March 11, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt Keeping tabs on the work being done on the Future Combat Systems (FCS) around the country is aided by the use of information technology and teleconferencing, according to program officials. FCS, managed by Boeing...

Pentagon Official Prioritizes Upgrades To F-22 Over Additional Jets.
March 12, 2008... By Jen DiMascio The Defense Department should place more of a priority on upgrading existing F-22 Raptor fighter jets than on buying new ones, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer told lawmakers yesterday. John Young reiterated the...

L-1 Awarded Passport Card Work After State Withdraws It From GD.
March 12, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker L-1 Identity Solutions [ID] yesterday said the State Department has awarded it a potential five-year, $107 million contract to produce a new border crossing credential that had originally been won by General Dynamics...

Lockheed Martin To Provide Radars For Romania.
March 12, 2008... Lockheed Martin [LMT] and the Romania Ministry of Defense (MoD) March 11 announced the signing of a contract for the co-production of 17 TPS-79(R) Multi- Mission Surveillance Radar systems for Romania's Phase II "Gap Filler" program. ...

ATK's Bid For MDA's Space And Information Assets Edges Forward.(Alliant Techsystems Inc.)(MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 12, 2008... Shareholders for Canada's MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) yesterday overwhelmingly approved the sale of the company's Information Systems and Geospatial Services business to Alliant Techsystems [ATK], keeping the deal on track...

Jumpstart Effort To Launch In June.(Brief article)
March 12, 2008... If the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket Flight 003 mission launches this June, as scheduled, it will carry a so-called operationally responsive space payload as part of the "Jumpstart" effort, the Air Force said last week. "Jumpstart will...

Boeing Details Tanker Protest Decision As Lawmakers Demand New Competition.
March 12, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford Boeing [BA] officially protested the Air Force's decision to give a $35 billion-plus deal for aerial-refueling tankers to a rival last night, after angry lawmakers alleged Boeing underwent an unfair competition...

L-3 Forms Marine And Power Systems Group.
March 12, 2008... L-3 Communications [LLL] yesterday said it has realigned some of its businesses in its Specialized Products segment to form the $1.2 billion Marine and Power Systems Group, enhancing the customer focus of the business area. "We are...

Northrop Solid State Laser Program Advances; Lasers Gain Multiple Weapon Uses.
March 12, 2008... By Dave Ahearn A solid state laser program has succeeded in linking several lasers together in a chain, a key breakthrough toward eventually producing a high- powered weapon system, a Northrop Grumman [NOC] briefer said yesterday. ...

Note.(Brief article)
March 12, 2008... Adm. William Fallon is resigning his post as commander of U.S. Central Command and will retire March 31, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, Fallon's deputy, will serve as...

Clarification.(Correction notice)
March 12, 2008... Comments by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) included in a March 11 story: "Kyl Blasts Obama's Position on Missile Defense" intimated only that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is the likely winner of the Democratic nomination, Kyl's press secretary Ryan...

Murtha: Election-Year Politics May Stand In Way of Defense Bill.
March 13, 2008... By Jen DiMascio The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee told senior Army leaders he predicts election-year politics will make passing a defense spending bill for fiscal year 2009 very difficult, if not impossible....

L-3 Acquiring Electro-Optical Systems Business From Northrop Grumman.
March 13, 2008... L-3 Communications [LLL] said yesterday it has agreed to acquire the Electro-Optical Systems (EOS) business from Northrop Grumman [NOC] for $175 million in cash to expand its core offerings of image enhancing products. The deal is...

Navy Hoping For Spring Milestone Review For MPF(F) Ships.
March 13, 2008... By Geoff Fein The Navy is hoping to head into a Milestone review this spring for additional T-AKE cargo ships and the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), both important vessels in the service's sea basing fleet. Currently, the Navy has been...

Army, State Department, To Work Together On Stability Operations.
March 13, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt Stability operations appear to be an idea whose time has come, as a future failing state crisis could see State Department-led civilian groups moving and working alongside Army soldiers under plans to coordinate Army and...

TSA Seeks Sources For Bottled Liquid Scanners.(United States. Transportation Security Administration)(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) this week issued a notice seeking sources for handheld or benchtop devices capable of screening bottles for liquid explosives with the aim of establishing a Qualified...

NCI To Acquire Army Contract From MTC Technologies.
March 13, 2008... NCI, Inc. [NCIT] this week said it has agreed to acquire certain assets of MTC Technologies [MTCT] related to the company's support for the Army, a transaction that is being done to help pave the way for BAE Systems' pending acquisition of...

Moseley: Air Force May Need 76 B-52s, Wants Next-Gen Bomber In 2018.
March 13, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley told lawmakers yesterday the service will likely need more than 76 B-52 bombers and that he is committed to fielding the next-generation bomber in 2018. The Air Force...

Raytheon Unveils Self-Funded Bunker-Busting Warhead.(Brief article)
March 13, 2008... Raytheon [RTN] has successfully tested a new self-funded conventional warhead technology to defeat elusive bunkers, the company said yesterday. Dubbed the Tandem Warhead System, the technology is made up of a shaped- charge precursor...

Murtha Points To Difficulties With Possibility of Skipping DDG-1000s.
March 14, 2008... By Jen DiMascio The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee indicated yesterday there are problems with an effort to have the Navy "jump over" its next-generation destroyer in favor of building nuclear cruisers. ...

Navy Will Benefit From Northrop Grumman Shipyard Consolidation, Official Says.
March 14, 2008... By Geoff Fein The recent decision by Northrop Grumman [NOC] to consolidate its shipbuilding sector into one unit should, over time, provide benefits to the Navy, a service official said. In January, Northrop Grumman combined its two...

Army Funds Lockheed Demonstration of C-RAM System.
March 14, 2008... Lockheed Martin [LMT] said March 6 it received an $8.6 million Science and Technology contract from the Army Research and Development Command (RDECOM) Missiles and Aviation Research and Development Center (AMRDEC) to demonstrate a Counter...

Major Defense Companies Get DARPA Contracts For Mini-Satellites.
March 14, 2008... By Dave Ahearn DARPA last week awarded Boeing [BA], Lockheed Martin [LMT], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and Orbital Sciences [ORB] multi-million-dollar contracts to design and build what is essentially one satellite divided into multiple...

Battelle Develops Breakthrough Composite Vehicle Armor System.
March 14, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt Battelle has developed armor called the Resin and Ceramic Engineered (RACE) composite armor system that potentially could solve current IED and Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFP) problems for wheeled, armored vehicles...

Defense Watch.
March 17, 2008... The Latest Word On Trends And Developments In Aerospace And Defense Bye, Bud. Rep. Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) announced last week he would not seek re-election to Congress next year. Cramer is a member of the House Appropriations defense...

CBO, Navy Differ On Cost of Shipbuilding Plan.
March 17, 2008... By Jen DiMascio The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) places the Navy's shipbuilding tab for the next five years about 30 percent higher than the Navy does, according to a report released yesterday. The biggest gaps are in estimates...

ICx Stock Price Tanks On Big Fourth Quarter Earnings Miss.(Financial report)
March 17, 2008... By Calvin Biesecker ICx Technologies [ICXT] last Thursday posted a smaller net loss and higher sales in its fourth quarter but the loss was worse than expected, causing some investors to chuck their shares of the company's stock, which...

White House Wants VH-71 Increment 2, But Redesign Will Lead To Cost Increase.
March 17, 2008... By Geoff Fein The White House has decided to move forward on Increment 2 of the next presidential helicopter, VH-71, citing that the Lockheed Martin [LMT] aircraft provides the capability requested by the government. Meanwhile,...

Army Contract Seeks New Kinetic Missile Interceptor To Kill Rockets, Artillery.
March 17, 2008... The Army is awarding contracts for design and demonstration of a prototype kinetic-kill missile interceptor that would take down enemy rockets, artillery and mortars. Northrop Grumman [NOC] received one of the contracts, worth $6 million...

SBSS Among Space Capabilities That Will Launch, Deploy In Next Two Years.
March 17, 2008... By Emelie Rutherford The Air Force plans by spring of 2009 to launch the developmental Space Based Space Surveillance System (SBSS), one of five planned kickoffs of major new operational space capabilities over the next two years,...

Note.
March 17, 2008... The Marine Corps last week placed the following orders for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles: International Military and Government LLC (IMG), Warrenville, Ill.: $410.7 million for 743 Category I vehicles; BAE Systems: $481.8...

Navy Needs To Invest In ISR, Maintain ASW Advantages, CNO Says.
March 18, 2008... By Geoff Fein The Navy needs to expand its investments in the "kill chain" to include more focus on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as command and control, according to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). ...

Year-Old Coast Guard Acquisition Organization Continues To Progress, Commandant Says.(United States. Coast Guard)(Interview)
March 18, 2008... By Geoff Fein While the past year has been a rough one for the Coast Guard as it battled issues over its handling of the Deepwater program, the future is looking much better as the service begins to integrate new platforms and...

Army, Marines, Offer Acquisition Plans On JLTV Effort.
March 18, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt The Army and Marine Corps recently explained to industry the acquisition strategy for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program at a three-day pre- proposal conference at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. ...

AeroVironment Puma UAS Breaks Own Record At Nine Hours.
March 18, 2008... AeroVironment (AVAV) recently announced that it has flown its Puma small unmanned aircraft for over nine hours, powered by an onboard fuel cell battery hybrid energy storage system. This breaks the previous announced Puma flight record of...

Boeing Updates Study On Fuel Savings Potential With 767.
March 18, 2008... With the price of oil inching above $110 per barrel last week, Boeing [BA] updated the findings of a study on the fuel efficiency of aerial refueling tankers yesterday. Now, the company says the Boeing 767 tanker would cost $30 billion...

L-3 Acquires Australian Marine Firm.(Brief article)
March 18, 2008... L-3 Communications [LLL] said on Sunday it has acquired HSA Systems Pty Ltd of Australia, a $10 million a year provider of geospatial, marine and electronic systems for maritime and defense customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed....

TSA Expanding Use of Canines For Air Cargo, Mass Transit Security.
March 18, 2008... The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said last week that it will train and certify 400 new explosive detection canine teams for use in mass transit systems and for sniffing out potential explosives threats in air cargo bound for...

FCS Common Control Node Phase II Nears Completion.
March 18, 2008... By Ann Roosevelt ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md.--Early next month, the Future Common Control Node, a simulation, software and development center for the Army's major modernization program, the Future Combat System (FCS), will be up and...