COLORADO SPRINGS — The Pentagon has declared that the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) project has exceeded its original projected per-unit cost by 58.4%, triggering a rigorous review under the Nunn-McCurdy program oversight law. Through the EELV program, the government procures Atlas V and Delta IV rockets from United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The cost growth was reported April 13 to Congress.
CYBER GAME: A U.S. Air Force cyber and outer space wargame starting April 20 at Nellis AFB, Nev., will for the first time include representatives from NATO members Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Australia, Canada and Britain already are partners of the Schriever Wargame 2012 International Game. The wargame scenario depicts NATO counter-piracy operations around the Horn of Africa.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Though parts for the new GPS III satellites are costing more than planned, Lockheed Martin says the rigor applied by the U.S. Air Force in quality assurance is setting a new industry standard.
After 13 years of steady and often sharp increases in defense spending, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) says last year’s 0.3% increase to $1.74 trillion in global expenditure suggests the growth period is at an end. Although the global average is leveling off, it mainly reflects a change in spending in the U.S. and Western and Central Europe, where spending was down by 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Latin American spending also was down, by 3.3%.
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Even in the construction of an aircraft carrier, it is the culmination of the small things that makes a big difference. The focus on lifecycle savings for the new CVN-78 Ford carrier has created a slight drag on the construction timetable for the ship, according to Matthew Mulherin, corporate vice president for Huntington Ingalls Industries and president of the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding unit.
WINNING COMBO: Textron AAI executives are pointing to their known track record with providing unmanned aircraft logistics, as well as the platforms themselves, as a key reason the company recently was selected to join a potentially $874 million contract vehicle for sea- and land-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services for the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy.
Senators approved draft legislation April 17 that rejects parts of the president’s budget request for NASA, cutting nearly $300 million from the development of commercial crew vehicles. The fiscal 2013 spending bill passed by the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, and science subcommittee adds back close to $200 million for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), a priority for Republicans Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) and Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.).
COLORADO SPRINGS — As part of a broad initiative to boost its share of the launch market and particularly the tightly contested medium commercial sector, Lockheed Martin is stepping up sales campaigns for its Atlas and Athena vehicles and appointing space and satellite marketing veteran Robert Cleave to head the business.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Lockheed Martin has begun hot-fire tests of a rocket engine designed to power a Reusable Booster System (RBS) demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Cambodia’s air force aims to receive its first Avicopter Z-9 helicopter next year and plans to purchase Russian-built Mil Mi-17 helicopters and Chinese-built Xian Aircraft MA60 military transports, according to service chief Lt. Gen. Soeung Samnang. Samnang spoke to Aviation Week April 16 on the sidelines of the Defense Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
U.S. ARMY Raytheon Co., Network Centric Systems, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., was awarded a $75,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the procurement of the AN/TPX-57 Identification Friend or Foe Systems Air Defense Interrogators components and associated engineering support. Work will be performed in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15P7T-12-D-A010).
COLORADO SPRINGS — More than 1,800 space experts from industry and government are gathering for the 28th National Space Symposium, as NASA engineers and technicians prepare for a major shift in U.S. space activities this week. Crews at Kennedy Space Center are readying the space shuttle Discovery for its final ferry flight to Washington, where it will go on permanent display at the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Indonesia has signed a firm contract for the purchase of 16 Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 jet trainers. Defense minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro declined to reveal what offsets Indonesia has secured from South Korea for ordering the T-50s, at the Defense Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Russia’s arms export agency is only interested in selling fighter aircraft to China if there is a large deal, despite the fact many of the other contracts Russia has been chasing in Asia can be considered small.
HOUSTON — NASA and SpaceX, the agency’s front-running Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) partner, declared themselves ready for a late April launching of the first privately developed cargo mission to the International Space Station, following an April 16 Flight Readiness Review (FRR).
LONDON — Cuts to the German military could lead to a contraction of the defense industry, particularly with smaller suppliers, warns the country’s aerospace lobby group, BDLI.
HOUSTON — NASA is looking to firm up future Mars exploration options by August, as the agency rebounds from a proposed 20% cut in the planetary exploration program that forced it to withdraw from a budding partnership with the European Space Agency (EGSA) for the ExoMars missions in 2016 and 2018. Though the long-term federal funding outlook is uncertain, NASA’s recently established Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) is looking at perhaps $700-800 million for either a lander or an orbital mission launch in 2018 or 2020.
HEAT VISION: Lockheed Martin has completed assembly of the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the company announced April 16. The work was done at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, where environmental testing is about to begin. The University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin are responsible for the NIRCam instrument design, the instrument control and focal plane electronics and software.
U.S. ARMY Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Windsor Locks, Conn., was awarded a $46,780,633 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the overhaul/upgrade services of the T700 fuel control in support of the UH-60 Black Hawk. Work will be performed in Windsor Locks, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 30, 2017. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-D-0073).
U.S. AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $98,800,000 not-to-exceed cost-plus-incentive-fee and firm-fixed-priced contract to procure enhanced threat response redesign for the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a quick reaction capability program. The location of the performance is St. Louis, Mo. Work is to be completed by March 30, 2014. AAC/EBDK/EDBJ, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA868109-C-0280, P00034). U.S. NAVY
FORT WASHINGTON Md. — Key technology for the U.S. Navy’s proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) is advancing more quickly than the service brass had anticipated, casting doubt on some of the criticism leveled lately at the AMDR development program, says Rear Adm. James Syring, program executive officer for Integrated Defense Systems.
