Boeing dominated the 2011 winners of Aviation Week’s annual Program Excellence awards, announced Oct. 25 in Phoenix. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Rockwell Collins also walked away with recognition of their recent programmatic performance, as did Finmeccanica’s DRS Technologies.
HOUSTON – NASA’s asteroid analog mission aboard the Aquarius undersea laboratory off Key Largo, Fla., came to an early end on Oct. 26, as Hurricane Rina gained strength and forecasters predicted movement toward South Florida.
As the U.S. Marine Corps slackens its efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the service is shifting its priority to the Pacific, where the Marines will focus more on expeditionary operations than ground forces, says Gen. James Amos, the Corps Commandant. The shift will determine how the Marines train and what they invest their money in, Amos says.
LONDON – Elbit’s AEL Sistemas subsidiary will have a key role in providing self-protection equipment for the Embraer KC-390 tanker/transport, including the directed infrared countermeasures (Dircm) system. As part of its latest subcontract announcements, Embraer notes that AEL will also work on other aspects of the self-protection system and the head-up display. It already has been named to supply the aircraft’s mission computer. AEL’s work will likely build on expertise gained from developing the Music fiber-laser infrared countermeasures system.
Boeing is confident that a $60 billion U.S. arms deal with Saudi Arabia that includes the sale of 84 F-15 fighter jets is heading for the finish line more than a year after it first became public.
SPENDING BILLS: The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee told reporters Oct. 26 that if the Senate can by next week send the House of Representatives a bill that contains spending for NASA and the FAA, the House and Senate versions can be reconciled before the current spending bill for the entire government runs out Nov. 18. Rep.
So far, there is no foolproof cyber-security, but ideas are emerging to soften the impact of Internet attacks. They include setting up parallel Internets, creating faster fixes to problems in existing networks and practicing the basics of digital hygiene. Such discipline could solve 85% of network attack problems, according to a recent government study. Well-monitored cloud computing appears to be an intermediate option.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy is making good on its intentions to put more resources and effort into maintaining and repairing its ship fleet. “We currently have 49 ships receiving some form of depot-level maintenance in our public and private shipyards,” says Adm. J.C. Harvey, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, in his most recent blog.“For every ship deployed forward, we have one back home conducting critical maintenance and training,” he says.
With the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.1% and President Obama pushing for a costly jobs bill, the Aerospace Industries Association is framing its don’t-cut-defense-spending message in terms that may resonate with politicians. If the worst-case budget scenario unfolds and the “supercommittee” and/or Congress fails to reach an accord on pinpointing ways to trim at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit, the Pentagon would automatically lose $600 billion over the next decade in addition to an initial cut of about $450 billion.
POSEIDON AWARD: Boeing says the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol program will receive its second low-rate production award from the U.S. Navy next month. LRIP-2 will be for seven aircraft and is expected to be followed by an LRIP-3 award for another 11 aircraft next spring, Boeing P-8 Program Manager Chuck Debundo says. Speaking at Aviation Week’s A&D Programs Conference in Phoenix, Debundo said the program expects to see a rate increase from one aircraft every three months to one per month within the next three months.
LONDON – Germany has begun examining its long-term air and missile defense needs even as it has joined the U.S. in forgoing acquisition of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads).
New flight-control software meant to help aircraft “stick” aircraft carrier landings more cleanly could lead to major aircraft redesigns that would save costs, reduce wear and tear on future aircraft and improve their overall performance, according to the Office of Naval Research (ONR), which has been spearheading the technology’s development.
WASHINGTON – Although the U.S. Coast Guard spent the past year performing more non-homeland security missions than it has previously, the service is set to refocus on securing the homeland. “The Coast Guard’s budget information for fiscal 2011 and projections for fiscal 2012 show a slight increase in homeland security mission spending and a slight decrease in non-homeland security mission spending,” says the Annual Review of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Mission Performance by the Homeland Security Department’s Inspector General (IG).
November 2 - 3, 2011 Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel Istanbul, Turkey Engine maintenance at 35%, is the largest segment of total MRO spend. It is the biggest cost driver for operators and engine MRO requirements are likely to increase over the next decade. This forum will identify and help you develop a strategy for selecting your service provider and planning engine maintenance schedules that lead to effective planning and cost reduction.
ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $30,279,377 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract for additional engineering services for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System program. The work will be performed in Poway, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 30, 2012. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ- AIR FORCE
The top two senators from the Senate Armed Services Committee are calling for the U.S. Air Force to halt talks worth up to $15 billion with its top rocket provider owing to insufficient pricing data and management insight for the service to make “informed decisions” for crafting a new buy strategy for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV).
WASHINGTON – When deciding who will be the prime Aegis contractor for the combat system’s Advanced Capabilities Build (ACB) 16 upgrades, the U.S. Navy will be looking at each company’s ability to complete the work, technical and management approaches, past performance, combat systems knowledge, experience and, of course, price, according to the service’s request for proposals (RFP) released last week.
