The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has chosen DynCorp International of Fort Worth, Texas, for a $13.7 million contract to provide maintenance and support services for the Kuwaiti air force F/A-18 program under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Ninety percent of the work will be performed in Kuwait while the rest will be done in Fort Worth. DynCorp is expected to finish in December 2006. This contract was competitively procured through an electronic request for proposals, with three offers received, according to a Dec. 15 Pentagon announcement.
BATTERIES: Saft, headquartered in France, says the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded it a $3.8 million contract to develop lithium ion (Li-ion) cells and batteries for use in the Joint Unmanned Combat Aerial System (J-UCAS). The company said its batteries also were recently chosen for the Global Hawk RQ-4B and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Aviation Group at the Saft America facility in Valdosta, Ga., will carry out the J-UCAS project.
Aerospace and defense contractor Esterline Corp. of Bellevue, Wash., said Dec. 16 that it has bought Darchem Holdings Ltd. of the United Kingdom for about $120 million in cash. Darchem builds thermally engineered components for aerospace and defense markets, including lightweight thermal insulation for jet exhaust ducting and heat shields.
DEJA VU: "It feels and smells like the mid-1980s again," Pierre Chao of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says about ongoing defense acquisition reform. The difference is that there is no scandal on which the public hangs its anger, except for widespread disbelief over the initial lack of armor for vehicles and personnel in Iraq. The Darleen Druyun-Boeing tanker imbroglio was too much an insider-baseball Washington scandal, he says.
Pakistan is seeking 115 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers in a deal that could be worth as much as $56 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Dec. 16. The deal also would include spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, among other services, DSCA said. Pakistan will use the systems to re-equip existing units and retire older artillery pieces. It currently operates M109A2 howitzers.
NASA may try to drop a ground-truth sensor into a permanently dark crater at one of the lunar poles of the Earth's moon as early as 2008 to settle once and for all the question of whether there is water ice in the super-cold shade there.
UAV CONCERNS: Although the Department of Homeland Security's use of unmanned aerial vehicles for border surveillance is a "positive step," challenges remain in expanding their use, according to DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner. They have "significant limitations," including weather constraints and the effects of cloud cover on sensors, Skinner says. Also, UAVS "require a significant amount of logistical support," he says, including a crew of up to 20 support personnel.
Defense Department leaders met in the Pentagon Dec. 16 to discuss DOD's stance on Lockheed Martin and Boeing's proposed United Launch Alliance merger. Once a decision is reached, DOD will report its position to the Federal Trade Commission, which has spent months studying the ULA deal in anticipation of making an antitrust ruling. ULA would merge production of Boeing's Delta and Lockheed Martin's Atlas rocket families, yielding a projected savings to the Air Force of $100 million to $150 million annually, according to the companies.
A "series of process defects," Bush administration "incompetence" and the high-level naïveté of implementing a top-down military restructuring have resulted in a Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) that has "failed" to transform the Defense Department but has successfully shielded most major defense weapons and systems, a trio of analysts told reporters Dec. 16.
SLOW MOTION: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's legacy will not be a singular transformation achievement, but rather six or so years worth of picking and installing senior military leaders who share his transformation philosophy as they wage two decades of the global war on terror, according to Pierre Chao of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The aerospace and defense industry will benefit from this slow-motion transformation because it allows more time to adapt - at least three more years instead of just 2006.
General Dynamics' deal to buy fast-growing defense information technology (IT) contractor Anteon International could alter the landscape in the defense IT business, creating a new top-tier challenger to industry powerhouses such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC).
ARMY COMMUNICATIONS: ITT Industries of White Plains, N.Y., said Dec. 14 that it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army worth up to $681 million to operate and maintain communications and information systems in southwest Asia, central Asia and Africa. The contract has one base year and four one-year options. The work will be done by ITT's Systems Division, in Colorado Springs, Colo., under the operational direction of the Network Enterprise Technology Command's 160th Signal Brigade. The contract was awarded by the U.S.
House Democrats tried unsuccessfully to include planning regarding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellites in efforts to secure the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, while a Republican is pressing satellite communications. The House started considering the proposed Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act on Dec. 15.
SHIP SUPPORT: Northrop Grumman Corp. said Dec. 15 that it was awarded a U.S. Navy contract to provide support services for new and current ships, including DDG 51 destroyers, LPD 17 amphibious transport dock ships, LHD 8 amphibious assault ships, Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and DD(X) destroyers. The potentially $64 million, five-year contract includes commissioning services and special-event support, as well as support of ships undergoing routine maintenance and overhauls.
Congressional negotiators hammering out a fiscal 2006 authorization agreement for the U.S. Coast Guard have not been able to reach an accord although they largely agree on boosting the service's resources. "The conferees have made a great deal of progress toward reconciling the language in both bills. However, some issues remain unresolved," Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) said on the House floor Dec. 14. LoBiondo is chairman of the House Transportation's Coast Guard subcommittee.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Dec. 15 that he wants a letter of assurance from the Bush administration that the detainee provision sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would not hurt the country's intelligence gathering ability.
FASTT LAUNCH: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research successfully flew a hypersonic scramjet-powered vehicle from Wallops Island, Va., on Dec. 10 as part of the Freeflight Atmospheric Scramjet Test Technique (FASTT) program, prime contractor ATK announced Dec. 15. It was the first-ever free flight of a scramjet-powered vehicle using conventional liquid hydrocarbon jet fuel, according to the company.
Belgium's defense ministry said Dec. 13 that it has agreed to buy 10 NH90 helicopters from France-based NHIndustries. Financial terms were not disclosed. Belgium's military will use the aircraft for search and rescue missions and to support its navy's Type M frigates. The helicopters will also rapidly transport army units for peacekeeping, disaster relief and humanitarian missions, and provide civilian emergency evacuation and equipment transport.
