Pemco Aviation Group has lodged a protest over the U.S. Air Force's recent decision to award Boeing a contract for KC-135 program depot maintenance (PDM) worth up to $1.07 billion.
The domestic and international helicopter market is soaring and should produce nearly 13,000 aircraft worth $138.7 million by 2016, a recent Teal Group industry report says. "This is the fastest growth market in Teal Group's coverage universe," says the "World Rotorcraft Overview," released last month. "High military demand (largely for force mobility) is the leading driver, but the long-stagnant civil sector is growing to a new level too."
KC-767 BOOM: Boeing does not plan to flight-test its new refueling boom, designed for its 767-based proposal to the U.S. Air Force, prior to the awarding of the development contract for KC-X. A downselect is expected by year's end. The boom, labeled a sixth-generation system, will be longer than the one designed for purchases from Italy and Japan. Company officials also say its engagement envelope is twice as large as the boom on the KC-767s being exported. Officials declined to provide the boom's specific dimensions.
Michael Jackson, the No. 2 official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced Sept. 24 that he will leave the department in October. The deputy DHS secretary said he was leaving the department as of Oct. 26 because of financial considerations.
Boeing's proposed Transformational Satellite (TSAT) Communication System has shown in an end-to-end demonstration that it is capable of interoperability with numerous types of communication assets and sensors, the company says. "We don't have to buffer the communication," said John Peterson, TSAT program director at Boeing. "We can transmit data at the data rate output of the sensor."
Production of the second Airborne Laser aircraft could start as soon as 2009 if a lethal shootdown test goes as planned in August of that year, Boeing officials said at the Air Force Association conference and exhibit in Washington. "There's money in the budget for this," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and ABL program director for Boeing, during a briefing Sept. 25. "If the shootdown is successful, we would start work on the second jet as soon as possible."
HYDERABAD, India - India is planning 60 space missions over the next five years to achieve objectives in navigation, positioning, advanced communications, space transportation, Earth observation and space science, according to the country's Minister of State Prithviraj Chavan. This will provide increased opportunities for commercial and scientific cooperation with India, Chavan said at the kickoff of the 58th International Astronautical Congress here.
HYDERABAD, India - A growing awareness of the threat to Earth posed by even relatively small asteroids and comet chunks suggests a potential career path for budding engineers.
The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) is hoping to convince Defense Department officials to cite its standards in future requests for proposals, top executives tell reporters. In a Sept. 18 press conference celebrating the group's third anniversary, retired Air Force three-star generals Carl O'Berry and Harry Raduege, Jr. said the 98-member consortium has rolled out a few "deliverables" that prove it can provide useful results for companies and their mostly DOD clients.
ADVENT PROGRAM: Lockheed Martin has been awarded $40 million for the ADVENT program, which demonstrates integration technologies to technology readiness level (TRL) four and five, and engine technologies to TRL-6 in a large-thrust class (25,000 pounds). The emphasis will be on multidesign point demonstration of significant advancements in thrust, fuel efficiency, production and development cost and maintenance cost characteristics over baseline engines.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine, the air arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has opened its fourth air branch along the U.S.-Canadian border at Grand Forks, N.D. The North Dakota Air Branch, located at Grand Forks International Airport, eventually will have a staff of 50, including pilots (known as Air Interdiction Agents), Air Enforcement Agents and mission support personnel.
Technology delays threaten to drive up the construction costs of the U.S. Navy's new carrier, the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Three systems in particular - the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the dual-band radar and the advanced arresting gear - are cause for concern, GAO says.
The DDG 1000 and DDG 1001 destroyers will benefit from a $994 million contract modification awarded by Naval Sea Systems Command to Raytheon for mission system equipment (MSE) production and engineering support services. The MSE is being developed as part of the DDG 1000 ship systems detailed design and integration effort, and includes elements such as the computing environment infrastructure and the acoustic sensor suite.
EUROFIGHTER DEAL: While an agreement has been reached between the U.K. and Saudi Arabia on Project Salam, covering the acquisition of 72 Eurofighter Typhoons, many issues remain to be resolved. These include such potentially thorny items as the weapons package and exactly how Saudi Arabian aspirations for final assembly of the bulk of the order will be satisfied. The first 24 aircraft will undergo final assembly by BAE Systems, with the remainder meant to be done in country. Also believed unresolved is the final weapons package for the Tornado Sustainment Program.
Northrop Grumman's Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program radar will fly on a Block-40 Global Hawk by the end of fiscal 2008, company officials told media attending the Air Force Association conference and exposition in Washington Sept. 24. The radar, developed by a Northrop-Raytheon team, uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology and commercial off-the-shelf hardware to deliver long-range, very high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) capabilities and air tracking.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) plans to offer its CH-47F Chinook in response to an Indian air force requirement for 12 medium- to heavy-lift helicopters expected to be released in the first quarter of 2008. Boeing's bid will emphasize the CH-47F's high-altitude and lift capability in hot conditions, which will be required for the austere flying environment in India, according to Chuck Allen, Boeing's vice president and general manager for rotorcraft systems.
GOES-R: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA have awarded Lockheed Martin a $178 million contract to develop the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument for NOAA's next generation of geostationary weather satellites, GOES-R. The SUVI will monitor the entire dynamic range of solar x-ray features, including coronal holes and solar flares, and will continue the mission performed by the Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) on the current GOES-N series. The first GOES-R satellite is set to launch in December 2014.
