DD(X) CONTRACT: Raytheon Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Mass., has been awarded a contract worth up to $3 billion by the U.S. Navy for DD(X) ship system integration and detail design associated with specific DD(X) ship systems, the company said May 23. Besides the Raytheon unit, work also will be performed by Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J.; United Defense LP, Minneapolis; Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, King George, Va.; and Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp., Westminster, Colo.
PRAGUE - European Union defense ministers have agreed to a series of steps designed to tackle the fragmentation of defense equipment markets and boost the effectiveness of defense spending across Europe.
The U.S. Air Force is studying a possible replacement for the aging Bell UH-1N Huey helicopters used by intercontinental ballistic missile wings, a general said May 24.
Foreign contractors who do business with the United States would face blacklisting on a Defense Department list if they sell certain defense goods and services to China under a provision that a prominent member of Congress plans to push in the House. The provision, championed by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is included in the House's version of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1815), which the chamber is scheduled to take up May 25.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said the fire control radar it is providing for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has passed a key system integration test by detecting airborne targets in the company's integration laboratory. The AN/APG-81, which incorporates an active electronically scanned array, is to support air-to-air, air-to-surface and electronic warfare missions. The company delivered the first AN/APG-81 to JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin earlier this year (DAILY, March 4).
Lawmakers are "raiding" defense operations and maintenance (O&M) accounts to pay for pet defense spending projects, a questionable move in light of ongoing military operations, a panel of defense spending analysts said May 23 on Capitol Hill.
ANTI-TERRORISM AWARD: Applied Marine Technology Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., has been awarded a small business set-aside contract worth up to $271.8 million over five years for anti-terrorism support. The Navy announced late May 20 that the company would provide engineering, analytical, technical and programmatic support services for systems and projects under a joint effort in support of the U.S. Army Prophet/Cobra Project Office. The work is to be finished by May 2006.
As both chambers of Congress prepare to debate their respective $441.6 billion fiscal 2006 defense authorization bills this week, perhaps no greater divide exists between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee versions than in naval shipbuilding. Both committees have complained about the Pentagon's acquisition practices, although for different reasons, and both have targeted space programs for cuts. Both have kept alive the Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft program, and both make supporting military forces engaged in combat operations a priority.
The Cosmos-1 solar sail spacecraft is being shipped from its test facility near Moscow to Severomorsk, Russia, where it will be integrated with a Volna converted ICBM so it can be launched from a submerged Russian submarine June 21. A joint effort by the Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios, Cosmos-1 will attempt the first controlled flight of a solar sail. Solar sails use the pressure of solar photons bouncing off the reflective sail material to provide propulsion.
AFFORDABLE WEAPON SYSTEM: International Systems LLC of San Diego, a subsidiary of Titan Corp., has been awarded a $32.3 million contract modification for the fiscal year 2005 demonstration, test and evaluation phase of the Affordable Weapon System, the company said May 20. The work on the lower cost, Global Positioning System-guided cruise missile will be done in San Diego and is expected to be finished by September 2006. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington. D.C., awarded the contract.
Spain's cabinet has approved a 2.5 billion euro ($3.1 billion) military moderization that includes the purchase of ships, helicopters and missiles, the Spanish Council of Ministers said May 20. Spain will buy one F-100 frigate, four naval operations vessels, 45 NH-90 medium helicopters, and short-range missiles for its ground forces and marines, the council said. The purchases are funded under the country's 2005 budget and have been given immediate authorization.
Raytheon is gearing up to begin work on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program that will further develop nonmechanical laser beam control technology originally created for the agency's Steered Agile Beam (STAB) effort. DARPA released a request for information for the program, dubbed APPLE (Adaptive Photonic Phase Locked Elements), in December and decided to award a sole-source contract to STAB prime contractor Raytheon. APPLE will focus on space-to-ground laser control.
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Clearfield, Utah, is being awarded a $23,961,022 cost-plus award-fee contract modification to provide for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Security Modernization Program Fast Rising B-Plug Low Rate Initial Production. Fifteen B-Plug Kits, and six B-Plug Kit Installation. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by September 2007. Negotiations were completed May 2005. The Headquarters Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-98-C-0001).
NEW COMPLEX: Northrop Grumman Corp. said May 23 that it will build a new five-building complex in Huntsville, Ala., to accommodate its growing presence in the area. The company will consolidate most of its 1,200 area employees, currently located in more than 20 facilities, in the new complex. "We project even more growth in the years ahead, with Huntsville supporting or managing several major programs and new contract wins," Daniel L. Montgomery, the company's vice president and corporate lead executive for the Huntsville region, said in a statement.
Raytheon Co. said it has won a competition to provide a sensor payload for the Army's Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aerial vehicle. A $16.5 million contract for the Electro-Optic/Infrared/Laser Designator (EO/IR/LD) payload was awarded to Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) unit, the company said May 23. The payload will be manufactured by the unit's Precision Attack and Surveillance Systems (PASS) business area in McKinney, Texas.
Data Link Solutions will provide its Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) Class 2 Terminals for the U.S. Navy's E-2C Hawkeye aircraft under a $13 million contract from the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, the company said May 23. The terminals provide a real-time, jam-resistant transfer of combat information and navigation data "between widely dispersed battle elements," the company said.
PRAGUE - European officials are seeking approval from state ministers to begin negotiations on a cooperation agreement with South Korea to develop its Galileo Civil Global Navigation Satellite System, the European Commission said May 23. The EC said it intends to start talks immediately after gaining approval for its recommendation from the European Council of Ministers. Jacques Barrot, vice president of the commission in charge of transport, said in a statement that the Galileo has attracted interest from countries all over the world.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Pittsburgh Pa., is being awarded a $104,217,527 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2102) for naval nuclear propulsion components. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pa. (70 percent) and Schenectady, N.Y. (30 percent). Work completion date or additional information is not provided on naval nuclear propulsion contracts. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
Australia has requested three MK 7 Aegis weapon systems and related equipment totaling as much as $350 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress. The sale would improve the Australian navy's ability to participate in coalition operations, make its air warfare destroyer platform more lethal and provide common logistical support with the U.S. Navy, DSCA said May 23.
