As federal budgets have gotten tighter in recent years, federal contractors have become more likely to file bid protests, but they also are more likely to lose, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Under pressure from sequestration budget cuts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is delaying the launch of the first of a new breed of weather satellites.
A Boeing-led team has demonstrated that a group of EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, connected by a prototype data link, can track a moving ship accurately enough to guide a missile to it, without the help of radar. In follow-on tests, proposed for next year, the Growlers would be linked to an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter carrying an infrared search-and-track (IRST) system for long-range detection and tracking of airborne targets.
HOUSTON — So far, Mother Nature has not disappointed the 250 scientists, engineers and flight-support personnel participating in a NASA-led airborne research campaign to understand how regional summertime pollution from urban areas, forest fires and other sources influences air quality and climate on a global scale.
NEW DELHI — Boeing has delivered a third Boeing C-17 airlifter to the Indian air force (IAF). The military transport aircraft departed for India Aug. 20 from the company’s Long Beach, Calif., facility. The first and second Indian C-17s were delivered in June and July. “Boeing is on track to deliver two more C-17s to the IAF this year and five in 2014,” the company says. India signed a $4.1 billion contract with the U.S. in 2011 to acquire the aircraft.
While F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) contracts and modifications may make Lockheed Martin the leading fixed-wing contractor for the Pentagon, Boeing’s combined rotary-wing, airframe and UAV deals were enough to make it the Defense Department’s leader for aviation-related transactions in 2011, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis.
Aviation Week 2013 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast! The MRO Fleet, Forecasts and Data you need to accurately plan and strategize for the future. See for yourself with a free demonstration: AviationWeek.com/FleetMRO Aviation Week Intelligence Network Click here to view the pdf
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), of McLean, Va., has unseated incumbent contractor Wyle Laboratories for a potential $1.76 billion, 10-year contract supporting a wide range of human spaceflight-related biomedical and biotechnology research and operational activities at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The agreement, effective Oct. 1, includes a five-year base period with two options to extend.
NEW DELHI — After scrubbing the launch of its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) Aug. 19 due to a fuel leak in the rocket’s second stage, India may consider destacking the rocket and swapping for a backup engine. “We have the standby for the second-stage engine. It is similar to the one used for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [PSLV],” a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says. But “first we have to see what went wrong with the [GSLV] launch,” he says.
Autonomy and low-carbon propulsion are two areas likely to receive greater emphasis at NASA as it embarks upon its new strategy for aeronautics research. The new strategy aligns civil aeronautics research under six thrusts: safe, efficient growth in operations, low-boom supersonic and ultra-efficient subsonic commercial aircraft, low-carbon propulsion, real-time system-wide safety assurance, and assured autonomy.
LONDON — The U.K. National Police Air Service (NPAS) is launching a tender to standardize its fleet of Eurocopter EC135T2 helicopters based around the country. The NPAS operation, which is headed by West Yorkshire Police, has requested information from suppliers to provide mission equipment for several aircraft used by NPAS. The tender covers the installation and integration of the aircraft’s electro-optical camera system, communications and radio equipment, mission system workstations, searchlights and public address system.
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps need more analysis of their simulation-based training to better gauge its costs and benefits vs. live training, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO recommends the services develop metrics and a methodology to compare live and simulation-based training costs. The Pentagon partially concurred, but noted that it “captures all relevant costs needed for decision making,” GAO says in its Aug. 22 report.
A South Korean government committee is due next month to decide the winner of the F-X Phase 3 fighter competition, in which the Boeing F-15SE is the only remaining candidate following an assessment by the Defense Acquisition Program Agency (DAPA).
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Boeing officials say that they are not out of the precision timing and navigation business, despite having lost the $1.8 billion, winner-take-all development contract for the next generation of GPS satellites to Lockheed Martin five years ago.
