An analysis of aerospace stocks over the past decade reveals a mixed bag, with some performing well and others poorly in relation to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow recently hit its lowest level since Oct. 28, 1997, wiping out nearly a dozen years of gains in a period that included the dot-com bubble, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, war in Iraq and the global economic meltdown.
CLOSE CALL: In a tough economy, 700 members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Wichita, Kan., are holding what is expected to be a close vote March 5 on whether to accept a three-year contract. The engineers also will vote on whether to authorize a strike (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 25).
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has contracted with EADS Astrium’s German unit to supply a Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EarthCARE mission.
Aviation Week held its 52nd Annual Laureate Awards dinner in Washington March 3 to recognize industry leaders in seven categories who epitomized leadership, innovation, operational skill and heroism in 2008. The Philip J. Klass Award for Lifetime Achievement went to Alan Boyd for his years of service helping to shape U.S. aviation policy. Aviation Week’s Heroism Award went to a U.S. Coast Guard team that performed a night rescue of 42 of 47 passengers in a sinking fishing trawler in the Bering Sea.
The National Academies’ National Research Council (NRC) is giving NASA poor marks so far for its implementation of the most recent NRC decadal survey on solar and space physics, which endorsed a number of missions that have since been delayed or scaled back.
Boosted by another strong year of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle procurement, wheeled vehicle contracts and modifications once again finished fourth among leading Pentagon expenses in 2008, an Aerospace DAILY analysis shows. But there’s been some Pentagon concern that the Defense Department moved too quickly with its MRAP procurement, with the Pentagon’s acting inspector general questioning the acquisition process in recent testimony on Capitol Hill.
GENOA, Italy – The Italian Air Force next month will receive its 12th and last C-27J tactical transport aircraft from Alenia Aeronautica, which delivered the 11th aircraft at the end of February. The Air Force has assigned nine aircraft to the Pisa-based 46th Aerobrigade and the brigade has so far logged more than 4,500 flight hours in 3,000 flights, including the operational deployment of two aircraft in Afghanistan. Another C-27J is assigned to the Air Force flight-test wing in Pratica di Mare, southwest of Rome, and has flown another 175 flight hours.
Following the Obama administration’s decision this week not to certify further F-22 production until April at the earliest, departing Pentagon acquisition chief John Young signed an acquisition decision memorandum March 3 for Lockheed Martin’s stealth fighter program.
2008 Pentagon Spending On Wheeled Vehicles 2008 Pentagon Spending On Wheeled Vehicles Contractor Number Of Contracts Or Modifications Total Amount In Contracts Or Modifications Average Amount Per Contract Or Modification AM General, LLC 1,603 $3,490,334,270 $2,1
LONDON – Further procurement lessons should be drawn from Britain’s abortive procurement of eight Boeing Chinook Mk3 helicopters, according to the British Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. A committee report on the program, dated March 5, says even if the scale of the shortcomings on the Chinook Mk3 is not representative of all defense acquisitions, it does highlight some specific areas where the Defense Ministry needs to revise its decision-making processes.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is addressing defense acquisition problems in two recent documents, one a statement to congressional committees and the other testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). On March 3, GAO’s director of acquisition, Michael Sullivan, called DOD’s weapons system procurement strategy “fragmented.”
TANKING UP: Forecast International projects that the international market will produce more than 6,500 main battle tanks worth more than $26.76 billion through 2018. Modernization and retrofit of high-end main battle tanks will pale in comparison with the prospect of new tank procurement. Pakistan’s Al Khalid, China’s Type 98, and Russia’s T-90 (including India’s licensed T-90S production program) will dominate, representing 60.57 percent of all new tanks rolling out worldwide and 52.28 percent of the value of the market through the time frame.
The French government is looking at gapfiller options to avoid a tactical airlift shortage resulting from delays with the Airbus Military A400M transport. Options are being evaluated and will be presented to French President Nicolas Sarkozy in coming months, says Defense Minister Herve Morin. France’s C-160 Transalls are aging and the country believes it needs a gapfiller of some sort since it cannot stretch the service lives of the existing fleet until the A400M comes online – now four years later than expected.
The French government has long been pushing for greater industrial cooperation in Europe, and now has identified several initiatives it would be interested in pursuing. French Defense Minister Herve Morin suggests industrial arrangements could be made along the lines of those existing between French and Italian industry. Thales Alenia Space is often seen as a model the French government wants to see implemented more widely.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a how-to guide for cost estimating and assessment to guide the federal government in money management. “The ability to generate reliable cost estimates is a critical function,” GAO says in the opening pages of its 438-page report. “Without this ability, agencies are at risk of experiencing cost overruns, missed deadlines and performance shortfalls.”
The U.S. Air Force’s second Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft is nearing launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on March 13. Liftoff off is scheduled from Space Launch Complex 41 during a 38-minute launch window from 9:25 to 10:03 p.m EST. Generating approximately 1.7 million pounds of thrust at launch, the Atlas V includes a first stage powered by the kerosene/LOX RD-180 engine, and a liquid hydrogen–liquid oxygen powered Centaur upper stage.
UNMANNED RAPPORT: The congressional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) caucus will focus on traditional military applications for UAVs, but also on their growing civilian applications, according to Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.). The congressman, who spearheads House appropriations for NASA, NOAA and other agencies, also told a Global Hawk industry event in Washington late last month that there are growing connections between the UAV industry and lawmakers.
GETTING SERIOUS: The Obama administration will review the use of sole-source, cost-type contracts and improve the quality of the acquisition work force and use technology to create transparency around contracting, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget promised lawmakers March 3. “We will review acquisition programs that are on the GAO high-risk list for being over-budget and prone to abuse,” Peter Orszag testified, referring to the Government Accountability Office.
Saying the U.S. is committed to the independence and security of countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, President Barack Obama on March 3 denied offering to delay deployment of a controversial missile defense system in Eastern Europe in exchange for Russian help in preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.
Northrop Grumman is developing a wireless databus that could eliminate many of the wiring harnesses in a spacecraft, reducing both weight and the time required for integration and test. The company has won a 21-month, $4.1 million Phase 1 contract to develop a wireless databus interface for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Plug-and-Play Avionics (SPA) architecture.
The U.S. Marine Corps mistakenly released classified data during normal procurement transactions, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. “We have determined that the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) has processed disbursement transactions that contain classified information into unclassified DOD systems,” the IG says in its February report.
TOP COVER: The Defense Department is soliciting public comment on its statutory requirement to develop a more comprehensive acquisition strategy for Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance. DBA requires all contractors performing work outside the United States to have coverage for workers’ compensation benefits for employees. Except for contracts performed in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors now are required to obtain that insurance from private insurance carriers, according to the Professional Services Council, a leading federal outsourcing industry group near Washington.
