SPEEDIER SUBS: The House Armed Services seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee on March 8 will host a hearing about accelerating submarine production to two annually earlier than planned. The hearing comes after top U.S. Navy officials last week listed the acceleration as a top priority for any additional shipbuilding funds Congress provides over President Bush's budget requests.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and seven other trade and business groups have teamed up to push the Bush administration to make regulatory and other administrative changes to "improve" the U.S. export control system. "We strongly believe that export control modernization is needed and that the opportunity is now," the coalition member associations said in a March 6 letter to President Bush. The changes could be made within current law, they said.
TANK FORECAST: Forecast International's (FI) Weapons Group projects that the international market for new military tanks will produce more than 7,600 main battle tanks worth more than $31.5 billion through 2016. Furthermore, while increased modernization and retrofit is becoming a significant portion of the international market, it "pales in comparison" with the prospect of new tank procurement, the group said.
Looking for a silver lining in the recent decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to sustain the contract award protest of the new combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet, a senior Air Force official intimately familiar with the service acquisition said the issue appears to be one of arithmetic. The GAO only addressed the manpower input on lifecycle costs, the official said. While that could involve some tweaks to the bid review, the official added, there should be no need for a new request for proposals (RFP).
The cause of the Feb. 18 Chinook accident in Afghanistan that killed eight soldiers appears to have been a combination of engine failure and icing, according to an e-mail from a U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) colonel in command of one of the units involved. "The cause of aircraft accident appears to be catastrophic engine failure aggravated by icing conditions, but has not been officially determined," the colonel wrote in an e-mail to the AFSOC community shortly after the crash.
AUSTRALIAN HORNETS: Australia announced March 6 that it would buy 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet multirole aircraft for about $6 billion over 10 years as it awaits the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is facing the prospect of program delays due to tightening appropriations. Besides the 24 aircraft, the deal includes initial support and upfront training for aircrew and maintenance personnel. "The JSF is the most suitable aircraft for Australia's future combat and strike needs," the Australian government said in a statement. "Australia remains fully committed to the JSF.
In a move that would further expand its presence in the U.S. aerospace market, Britain's Meggitt plc has struck a tentative agreement to acquire aircraft wheels and brakes supplier K&F Industries for $1.8 billion.
PANEL REVIVED: Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's recently revived investigative panel, says he'll unveil the subcommittee's first project this week. The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was recreated by Democrats in January after they won control of the House. Meehan and Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, the panel's senior Republican, have scheduled a March 6 news conference to announce their plans.
A Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc. report on Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engine acquisition being shared around Washington by Pratt & Whitney concludes that a second JSF engine will increase lifecycle costs and that any savings generated by competition will be more than offset by lower order quantities and inefficiencies stemming from split procurement.
On April 5 United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to discuss with industry the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) consent order regulating the merger and how it will be enforced. The ULA joint venture conducts U.S. government launches on Atlas and Delta rockets. Since ULA parent companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both satellite makers, the merger raised competition concerns, particularly on the part of Northrop Grumman and fledgling launch provider SpaceX (DAILY, Oct. 5, 2006). Corporate firewalls
FLIGHT TRAINING DEVICES: Indra will develop flight training devices for Eurocopter EC135s under a deal between the Spanish electronics company and the EADS helicopter unit. The flight training devices, to be operational at mid-year at American Eurocopter and Eurocopter Deutschland in Dnoauwoerth, Germany, will include six-degree of freedom, full-motion simulators.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) annual ballistic missile defense (BMD) system concept review could be out as early as April. In the review, MDA tries to decide how to weave its various BMD programs together to provide the best shield possible for missile defense. "We bring all of our programs together and make sure they are integrated," said MDA spokesman Richard Lehner. One change in this year's report will be the mobile capabilities for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI).
DOD GROWTH: Because funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities related to the war on terrorism is eliminated after 2009 in President Bush's latest budget proposal, the Defense Department's budget authority would fall from $625 billion proposed for 2008 to $536 billion in 2012, according to a March 2 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). With funding for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other global antiterrorism activities excluded, proposed funding for DOD would grow by $53 billion from 2008 to 2012.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne is considering an option to continue C-17 transport buys - a major win for Boeing - but at a sharply lower production rate than desired by the company. Boeing turned up the political pressure to get more business for its Long Beach, Calif., production line last week when the company publicly issued a letter to suppliers informing them that long-lead parts and supplies will not be purchased without a Pentagon commitment beyond the 190 platforms now on order.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $107,269,507 cost-plus-award fee and cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification. This contract modification will extend the contractor's authorization to provide F-22 sustainment from Jan. 31, 2007 through Feb. 28, 2007 and Jan. 31, 2007 through April 30, 2007. At this time, $80,452,130 has been obligated. The work will be complete in December 2009. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-05-C-2850/P00041).
NASA is exploring alternatives to retention bonuses as the primary means of keeping talent in place as it looks forward to the end of the space shuttle program in 2010. Bonuses are a standard method for retaining workers in the final days of a program. NASA has done a number of benchmarking studies for other programs that have closed down operations, including the Titan IV rocket, according to Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier. 'Other tools'
ORLANDO, Fla. - Richard J. Millman, Bell Helicopter Textron's new president and CEO, says he's confident that when the correct "management processes and talent are put in place," the company will overcome existing commercial and military program issues. Millman replaced Michael Redenbaugh in January. Bell recently announced cancellation of the Model 417, claiming the single-engine aircraft failed to meet performance projections. Millman also says he is tackling schedule and cost problems with the H-1 program for the U.S. Marine Corps.
