SPARE PARTS: Milwaukee, Wis.-based Derco Aerospace Inc. said Dec. 27 that it will provide C-130 spare parts and technical assistance to the Belgium air force's fleet of 11 C-130 aircraft. Financial terms of the four-year contract were not disclosed. The agreement has an option for renewal in 2010. Derco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
AIR FORCE Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $29,279,853 firm fixed price contract modification. The supplies and services to be procured consist of ground based training system contractor logistics support for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems. The work will be complete in December 2006. At this time, $9,193,996 has been obligated. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-94-C-0006/P00363).
The Federal Aviation Administration is inviting public comment on proposed new safety rules applying to crew and passengers on commercial space tourism flights. FAA published the proposed rules in the Federal Register on Dec. 29 and expects to receive final approval for them this summer. They are available at http://www.faa.gov. Comments are due by Feb. 27. Industry was invited to comment on earlier draft versions of the rules last February (DAILY, Feb. 14, 2005).
F-22 PRODUCTION: While F-22 Raptor aircraft advocates haven't declared victory yet, they're at least beginning to breathe again. Program budget decision (PBD) 720, issued by the Pentagon on Christmas Eve but then quickly rescinded for some last-minute changes, confirms F-22 production at 183 and instructs the U.S. Air Force to pursue a multiyear contract with Lockheed Martin. The document also kills the B-52 Stand-Off Jammer, the Air Force's attempted re-entry into tactical electronic jamming.
Russia's Rokot launch vehicle is cleared to fly again, following an accident investigation commission ruling that its Oct. 8, 2005, failure was caused by human error and didn't represent an inherent design flaw. The mishap doomed Europe's CryoSat ice measurement mission. Several corrective measures must be implemented before Rokot flies again, but a return to flight is expected in the second quarter of 2006 with Korea's Kompsat-2.
Donald Winter, a former Northrop Grumman Corp. executive, was sworn in as U.S. Navy secretary on Jan. 3, beginning a one-year hiatus from shipbuilding decisions involving one of the Navy's top two shipbuilders, according to a deal reached with senators. In his new position, Winter leads the Navy and Marine Corps and is responsible for almost 900,000 people and an annual budget of more than $125 billion (DAILY, Jan. 4).
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. an $8.4 million contract for the initial system development and demonstration (SDD) of the Marine Corps' CH-53 Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program which includes initiating preliminary design work, the Defense Department announced late Jan. 3.
The U.S. Navy has awarded the Boeing Co. a five-year, $995 million contract for the F/A-18E/F Integrated Readiness Support Teaming (FIRST) program, the company announced Jan. 3. The new multiyear award consolidates separate FIRST contracts and will be overseen by the Naval Inventory Control Point. Boeing's team provides spares and repairs, manages obsolescent parts, adapts new technology and provides integrated logistics support for the aircraft fleet.
Many Israeli Boeing 767s at El Al and other airlines will now be able to operate with Flight Guard systems to protect against shoulder-fired missiles now that the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) has certified the Israel Aircraft Industries/Elta Systems Ltd. equipment.
The Bush administration continues to clamp down on dissenting ideas from the Pentagon as it puts the finishing touches on future spending and force structure plans. Defense industry officials and uniformed officers are expressing concern about the lack of informed debate.
FRIGATES UPGRADE: Spain's Council of Ministers said Dec. 23 that it has authorized the awarding of an EUR 88.9 million (USD $105.3 million), three-year contract to modernize the navy frigates Numancia and Victoria. The ships are the second and third of the six-ship Santa Maria class commissioned between 1986 and 1994. They are beginning the second half of their service life, which will end in 2025-2030. The ships will be upgraded to operate in modern operations scenarios and to be compatible with new ships now entering service or being built.
CUEING SYSTEM: BAE Systems has awarded Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. of Salt Lake City a contract to upgrade the visual cueing systems on two full-flight simulators, Evans & Sutherland said. Financial terms were not disclosed. Each simulator will receive an EPX-500 image generator and an Environment Creation Tool, which will help add more airfields and training areas to a larger geographic area.
AMC-23: A Proton rocket successfully launched SES Americom's AMC-23 communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 28 local time. Based on Alcatel Alenia Space's Spacebus 4000 model, the satellite will provide communications services throughout the Pacific Ocean region following a few weeks of in-orbit checkouts. The flight marked the seventh and final mission of 2005 for International Launch Services, a joint launch venture between Lockheed Martin and Russia's Khrunichev that offers launches on Russian Proton and U.S. Atlas rockets.
About $68 million in U.S. Army inventory has been lost or is unaccounted for because the service has not always kept accurate receipt records with repair contractors, a Government Accountability Office report says. An analysis of 2004 shipment data from two Army inventory control points showed that "about 15 percent of unclassified secondary repair item shipments in the survey population could not be confirmed as being received," said the report, which was released last week.
A LITTLE HELP: The U.S. Navy has tapped the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory of Cambridge, Mass., to offer its "integration experience" to the Military Flight Operation Quality Assurance Demonstration Project, the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) and the Submarine Class Ship Control System. The contract, announced Dec. 23 by the Defense Department, is worth $9.5 million and wraps up by December 2010. The contract was not competitively procured, the DOD said.
Military space programs, many of which have run into budget and deadline problems, are taking some of the biggest hits in the fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill.
Informal discussions at a November unmanned aerial vehicle conference led some participants to believe the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency was interested in buying UAVs to conduct high resolution mapping in the U.S. and in pushing the Federal Aviation Administration to quickly find ways to permit UAV operations in national airspace. But an NGA official objected to that characterization of the agency's intent.
France's defense ministry said it has awarded Eurocopter a EUR 40 million (USD $47.3 million) contract to provide five EC 135 helicopters to its customs service's maritime patrol units. The helicopters will be delivered in 2007 and replace the Ecureuil choppers now in service. The EC 135s will be outfitted with gyro-stabilized sensors that will allow maritime targets to be detected and identified day or night and in any weather or geographical conditions.
Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, after eight months with two Pentagon posts, has quit his other job as Navy Secretary. England will be replaced by Donald Winter, who was confirmed by the Senate last month and will be sworn in Jan. 3. President Bush cemented England's authority with an executive order naming him the successor to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld if the latter dies or resigns.
A recent $5 million budget cut to the Missile Defense Agency's High Altitude Airship program is not expected to slow the effort significantly, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Congress cut the money from HAA's $16 million budget request in its fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill. MDA still is assessing the potential impact of the cut, according to an agency spokesman.
