The death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, is setting off a shuffling of committee chairmanships. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is likely to take over as the chairman of the full appropriations committee, leaving a spot open on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is likely to move into that slot, and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) tells Aviation Week she is preparing to fill Feinstein’s role as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation has named Eric Trappier to replace outgoing Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Edelstenne, who will step down Jan. 8.
MOSCOW — Russia has set another record in foreign arms trade. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the value of Russian weapons delivered to foreign customers in 2012 exceeded $14 billion — 6% more than in 2011 ($13.2 billion) and more than twice the $6.5 billion reached in 2006.
There is no doubt where the top U.S. shipbuilder sees the U.S. Navy putting most of its investments: “Aircraft carriers,” says Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Michael Petters, whose Newport News Shipbuilding unit builds the behemoths. “They are the most complex and highest priority for the Navy.” Keeping an even pace, he says, is the Navy’s interest in submarines. “Submarines are not a lesser priority for the Navy,” Petters said during a recent presentation at a Credit Suisse Aerospace & Defense Conference.
Fiscal cliff negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are in full swing after Boehner reportedly offered to increase tax rates on millionaires. The pair met Dec. 17 for 45 min., but before a deal can be reached, the talks also will have to overcome significant differences regarding entitlement spending cuts and the question of when and how to handle the debt ceiling.
National Airlines — an Orchard Park, N.Y.-based provider of international charter service for the U.S. military, U.S. government contractors and foreign defense agencies — wants to expand its operations to include scheduled passenger service to Afghanistan and potentially Northern Iraq. The general public would not be able purchase tickets for the flights, which initially will be confined to Defense Department-vetted government personnel and contractors. But National adds that it “may eventually expand its operation to include such sales.”
LONDON — Denmark has officially rejoined NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program, after abandoning the project back in 2010. The Danish government withdrew its support in June 2010 when it cut more than $500 million from its 2010-2014 defense spending plan. But it reaffirmed its decision to rejoin the project this May during the NATO conference in Chicago, saying that operations in Libya had proven the need for such a system to be operated by NATO. Denmark re-signed the agreement on Dec. 12
AIR FORCE L-3 Communications Corp., Waco, Texas, (FA8625-13-C-6597) is being awarded a $80,277,677 firm-fixed price contract for long lead spare aircraft parts required to support the C-27J. The location of the performance is Waco and Torino, Italy. The work is expected to be completed by July 29, 2013. The contracting activity is ASC/WLVK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Contract involves foreign military sales to Australia. NAVY
The commercial growth of Wi-Fi is causing headaches — and opportunities — for U.S. Army electronic warfare (EW) experts, according to the service’s updated EW field manual. “The increased use of wireless systems — including commercial off-the-shelf items — makes the available electromagnetic spectrum a high-demand, low-density resource,” says the recently released manual.
LONDON — The first AW101 heavy helicopters for the Indian air force’s VVIP contract are being made ready for delivery. The first two AW101s are being prepared at London’s Stansted Airport for air freighting to India on board an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft in the next few days. AgustaWestland is continuing to build Indian air force AW101s at the company’s factory at Yeovil in Somerset, the center of production for the type.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Services Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo., (FA8823-13-C-0002) is being awarded a $104,205,172 firm-fixed-price contract for Global Positioning Systems control segment sustainment. The location of the performance is Colorado Springs. Work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2019. The contracting activity is SMC/PKP, Peterson AFB, Colo.
Aviation Week Events - Defense Technology And Affordability Requirements March 5-6 2013 Hilton Arlington Arlington, VA Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2014 budget and hear First-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs! Register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar
GOOD NEWS: A new analysis of 11 major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) by congressional auditors trying to see how the Pentagon is carrying out the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 finds that the landmark law has reinforced early attention to requirements, cost and schedule estimates, testing and reliability. But the Government Accountability Office also notes that some key reforms have been focused only on MDAPs, and defense officials face further challenges in implementing changes across the military portfolio and culture.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded a $563,788,721 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to fund the Navy’s second program year in support of MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters. The work will be performed in Stratford, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2016. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-C-0008).
The U.S. Navy is still pursuing approval to initiate a quick program to transform the Tomahawk cruise missile into an anti-ship weapon. Upon approval, the goal is to have a successful demonstration and fielded capability within 42 months, Rear Adm. Mathias Winter, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, says in a recent blog.
After more than a year-long delay, the U.S. Air Force has begun training its F-35 instructor pilots at Eglin AFB, Fla. Gen. Edward Rice, who heads the Air Education and Training Center, gave the formal nod to begin pilot training Dec. 17 during a visit to the base, which is where the first F-35 schoolhouse has been established.
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have finally agreed on a 4% decrease in the target cost for the next production lot of stealthy F-35s after more than a year of antagonistic negotiations.
March 5-6 2013 Hilton Arlington Arlington, VA Join senior defense officials and discover where priorities and opportunities exist beyond the FY 2014 budget and hear First-hand how programs are implementing affordable and effective designs! Register now at www.aviationweek.com/events/dtar Click here to view the pdf
The destroyer-building shipyards were expecting the U.S. Navy to award the next contract block for nine or 10 DDG vessels by the end of this year, but legislative continuing resolutions (CRs) will likely push that decision out to the first quarter of next year, says Michael Petters, CEO for shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries.
NEW DELHI — The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to undertake 10 space missions in 2013, including its first Mars orbiter. “Of these, eight missions will be launched by September 2013 and the remaining by year-end,” says V. Narayanasamy, a junior minister in the prime minister’s office, which is in charge of space administration.
LONDON — The U.K. Royal Air Force has carried out its last missions with the Eurocopter SA330 Puma Mk1. The last Mk.1 flew its final sortie on Dec. 14. The Mk.1s are being replaced by 24 Puma Mk.2s that are progressively being upgraded by Eurocopter at their facilities at Brasov in Romania under the Puma Life-Extension Program, launched in September 2009. The first aircraft entered the program in October 2009 and the upgrades should extend the life of the long-serving medium helicopter until around 2025.
