The Irish government kicked off a competition to buy light tactical armored vehicles (LTAVs) on May 8, with bids due July 9 for the 27-vehicle program. The defense ministry says the vehicles need to “fulfill a number of distinct roles, within the full spectrum of operations both at home and overseas. The vehicles will be required to carry out a range of tasks including command, control and communications, light reconnaissance, target acquisition tasks and to act as a weapon platform.” Core program
NO SMALL AWARD: Vendor interest in the U.S. Army’s Information Technology Services – Small Business (ITS-SB) multiaward contract has quickly increased since April, according to IT consultancy Input. The anticipated value for the ITS-SB effort reaches $400 million, but small businesses know it puts them in a virtual “prime vendor” footing. The Army is looking to small businesses to fill IT gaps left by the land service’s two ITES contracts, and ITS-SB will supply services in specific task areas missed or limited under the current large ITES-2S and ITES-2H, Input says.
EAGLE STRIKE: A potential $447 million cut in authorized funding for F-15 repairs next fiscal year could amount to the greatest single spending reduction proposed by House Armed Services Committee members, a staff member says. The full $497 million request was to pay for structural fixes for the F-15A-D fleet, but subcommittee recommendations included only about $50 million for the repairs. The staff member noted that repair costs have been better estimated since then.
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Boeing is considering doing maintenance and overhaul on three Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) and the P-8I Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft at its planned MRO hub at India’s Nagpur Airport. “We are considering looking at support systems in India and are in discussions with Boeing and Aviall India, a Boeing subsidiary for components, to provide integrated capabilities,” George White, director of International Support Systems, told Aerospace DAILY here.
NASA’s J-2X rocket engine development project is moving into critical design review (CDR) with extensive data on the performance of its Saturn-heritage gas generator and turbomachinery, holding pace for first flight of the Ares I crew launch vehicle.
NAVY Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, Archbald, Pa., is being awarded a $19,927,908 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-05-D-0020) for the procurement of 11,466 laser guided training rounds. The work will be performed in Archbald, Pa., and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $881,166 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
COLUMBUS, Miss. – The U.S. Army plans to roll out the first UH-72A for the Army National Guard, which will operate the majority of the new helicopters, on June 7. Meanwhile, EADS North America is establishing its U.S. final assembly facility of the EC-145 derivative helicopters here. Managers of the facility here are in the second phase of what began as a three-phase transition of final assembly from Eurocopter’s facility in Donauworth, Germany. Final assembly consists of seven workstations at the Columbus facility.
SECTOR LEAD: Northrop Grumman has appointed Roger Fujii vice president and general manager of its Network Communications Division within its Mission Systems sector. Fujii reports to Phil Teel, corporate vice president and president of the Mission Systems sector. He is responsible for overall leadership and management of the division and will serve as the division’s executive of strategic initiatives. Fujii was a vice president in communications and systems technology prior to his promotion.
SECTOR LEAD: Northrop Grumman has appointed Roger Fujii vice president and general manager of its Network Communications Division within its Mission Systems sector. Fujii reports to Phil Teel, corporate vice president and president of the Mission Systems sector. He is responsible for overall leadership and management of the division and will serve as the division’s executive of strategic initiatives. Fujii was a vice president in communications and systems technology prior to his promotion.
ELECTRIC ARC: U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) accepted its 25,000th ARC-210 radio from Rockwell Collins on April 29. The radio is installed on more than 180 different types of platforms worldwide, ranging from fighter aircraft, transports, unmanned aerial systems, ships, vehicles and in buildings. The Navy alone has more than 9,800 in service. The ARC-210 provides two-way, multimode voice and data communications, with the most recent variant supporting a 30- to 941-megahertz frequency range.
The House Armed Services Committee is likely to approve language this week that slashes the Bush administration’s fiscal 2009 budget requests toward the proposed Reliable Replacement Warhead while underpinning Democratic efforts to re-examine the U.S. nuclear strategy in the post-9/11 world.
EAGLE STRIKE: A potential $447 million cut in authorized funding for F-15 repairs next fiscal year could amount to the greatest single spending reduction proposed by House Armed Services Committee members, a staff member says. The full $497 million request was to pay for structural fixes for the F-15A-D fleet, but subcommittee recommendations included only about $50 million for the repairs. The staff member noted that repair costs have been better estimated since then.
P5 SALE: Cubic Defense Applications has scored its first export sale of the P5 rangeless combat training system, to Poland. The potential $9.5 million contract for the Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation program includes 16 DRS-built airborne pods for Polish air force Lockheed Martin F-16s, plus ground brief/debrief stations to be delivered to the Poznan-Krzesiny and Lask airbases by late 2009. The P5 system is operational at 10 U.S. bases, with deliveries to U.S. Air Force bases in Europe set for 2010.
LONDON - Network and processing constraints are limiting the U.K.’s ability to fully exploit its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms in ongoing military operations.
Top-level engineers overseeing development of the Orion crew exploration vehicle have decided to slip preliminary design review (PDR) on the six-seat capsule — probably by about two months — to give some contractors more time to work design changes adopted last fall in a major weight-saving exercise. Meeting on May 6, the Constellation Program Control Board tentatively authorized a PDR slip from Sept. 16-26 to Nov. 10-21.
ACQUIRING DRS: “Accounting issues” are holding up further progress in the discussions Finmeccanica is having with DRS Technologies about purchasing the New Jersey-based defense electronics firm. If the two companies reach agreement, the proposed transaction almost certainly will come under intense scrutiny by regulators concerned about the transfer of sensitive technologies, including new infrared detector systems for the Missile Defense Agency.
VIRGINIA ON TRIAL: The U.S. Navy’s first, namesake Virginia-class attack submarine is starting its six-month comprehensive evaluation, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. The trial will include operations with an aircraft carrier strike group in a large naval exercise, simulated combat operations against surface ships and other subs, the launch of Tomahawk test missiles, and a simulated special operations mission with Navy SEALs.
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Executive Steering Board meeting in Amsterdam on April 22 has discussed the possibility of extending the JSF system development and demonstration (SDD) program by one year to late 2014, according to Dutch state secretary for defense procurement Jack de Vries. A decision on this is expected in the fall, he further said. Such an extension also would lead to a longer initial operational test and evaluation program, now scheduled to last from 2011-2014.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) May 14 - 16 — EW – Electronic Warfare 2008. “New Threats Require New Solutions,” Casino Krusaal, Interlaken, Switzerland. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk/ew
ASSIGNING ROLES: Pentagon leadership is looking at a congressionally mandated report over U.S. military roles and missions as a way to solidify some Bush administration changes while making recommendations to the next president ahead of the next quadrennial defense review. “We felt that it was best to look at it as an opportunity to continue some of the things that we’ve learned in this administration, as far as organization and construct, and things that could perhaps be of value to the next administration,” a Defense Department representative told reporters May 8.
SMALL SATS: Within a year, the Army will have a firmer plan of how to proceed with two experimental efforts: building a small satellite for tactical use and building a high-altitude, long-loiter tethered platform for intelligence collection. Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, director of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, says these efforts are driven to provide more access to ground commanders of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and communications capabilities.
NATO INFO: Northrop Grumman will provide NATO hardware and software support services for the rollout of the Maritime Command and Control Information System (MCCIS) across NATO countries. The MCCIS merges information gathered from satellites, wide area networks, computerized tactical data processors and machine-readable messages to create a common operating environment for maritime and other assets. It is integrated by NATO support staff and includes commercial-off-the-shelf products together with NATO-developed applications.
GPS III: The U.S. Air Force must take “specific actions to mitigate program risks” on the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) III program, according to DOD acquisition chief John Young.
