Pratt & Whitney and the NASA Langley Research Center are beginning test firings of the hypersonic Ground Demonstration Engine (GDE-2) at the NASA Hampton, Va., facility.
The Naval Sea Systems Command has tacked on $6.8 million more to a Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. contract for the post-shakedown availability (PSA) of the amphibious transport dock ship LPD 17, recently commissioned the San Antonio.
The Government Accountability Office reported Jan. 27 that between 2000 and 2004, U.S. defense exports averaged $11.5 billion a year versus imports of $1.8 billion per year, while Foreign Military Sales (FMS) averaged $12.6 billion against $1.5 billion in U.S. purchases of foreign military products. During the same period, Defense Department purchases of defense articles and services from foreign companies have dropped from 2.4 percent to 1.7 percent of all such DOD purchases.
ACCORD: Boeing and officials of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have reached a preliminary contract agreement to end a nearly three-month strike involving about 1,500 workers in three states, the company said Jan. 30. Ratification votes for IAM Locals 725, 2766 and 44 located in Alabama, Florida, and California are set for Feb. 1. If the contract is approved, workers would return to their jobs as early as Feb. 6. The strike began Nov. 2, 2005.
January 25, 2006 AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a $56,709,462 firm fixed price and cost plus fixed fee contract modification. This undefinitized contractual action will support the F119 Engine Lot 6. At this time, $42,532,095 has been obligated. The work will be complete by March 2006. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8611-05-C-2851/P00003). ARMY
The U.S. Air Force has chosen Lockheed Martin Corp. over Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. for a $2 billion award for the Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) Mission Operations System (TMOS), the Defense Department announced late Jan. 27. The 10-year contract for the TMOS will link the TSAT program to the Global Information Grid (GIG), the U.S. military's protected Internet-like network, and is expected to start operations in 2014, Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
WING NUTS: The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 25 rejected Space-Lok Inc.'s protests of the Defense Logistics Agency's award to UFC Aerospace for self-locking barrel nuts used in repairing U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter wings. Space-Lok argued that an agency supply center improperly awarded the contract based on a 210-day delivery schedule, and that UFS could not meet the timeline.
GREENVILLE, Texas -- Britain's new Astor ground surveillance radar aircraft has some hidden, next-generation information warfare and radar weapons effect potential.
LONDON -- U.S. and European land-system manufacturers are looking to a series of meetings set for February and March to clarify significant issues outstanding in a 14 billion-pound armored vehicle acquisition. The British Defense Ministry is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the likes of BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin to discuss elements of its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program.
Boeing officials are waiting to see the details of the long-awaited analysis of alternatives (AOA) for recapitalizing the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker fleet, hoping it will pave the way for the service to "outline a program path forward." John Sams, vice president of Boeing Air Force Systems, said Jan. 30 he hopes the Air Force would be able to issue a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said Jan. 30 that it successfully flight-tested the Air Force-led Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) from B-1 and F-16 aircraft, making for 11 successful flight-tests out of the last 13. The two flight-tests, Jan. 25 and Jan. 27, respectively, come as the company also is working on a maritime-interdiction software upgrade for the weapon, according to Mike Inderhees, Lockheed Martin JASSM program manager. The upgrades could boost sales to the U.S. Air Force and even Australia, he told reporters in a teleconference.
The Army will test its Future Combat Systems at Fort Bliss, Texas, because of its "immense" training areas and proximity to White Sands Missile Range and Biggs Army Airfield, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Carl Ey said. Three brigade combat teams are scheduled to move to Fort Bliss from Europe as part of the base realignment and closure process, and one of them will become the FCS Evaluation Brigade Combat Team (EBCT). The team will begin forming in March 2007.
NNSA NOMINATION: President Bush intends to nominate Thomas P. D'Agostino to be deputy administrator for defense programs in the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Energy Department, the White House said Jan. 27. D'Agostino now is assistant deputy administrator for program integration in Energy's Office of Defense Programs. The U.S. Navy Reserve captain has also served as deputy director for the Nuclear Weapons Research, development and simulation program.
Moving to improve profit margins and position itself for an anticipated slowdown in Pentagon spending in fiscal 2007, Boeing on Jan. 27 unveiled a major restructuring of its defense business. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), which has annual sales of more than $30 billion, is being consolidated from seven units to three: Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems, Networks and Space Systems, and Support Systems.
The U.S. Navy is speeding up its sea trials of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and particularly Hydroid Inc.'s Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS). Rear Adm. Deborah Loewer, Mine Warfare Command chief, led testing of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization's REMUS prototype off the northwest coast of Italy in mid-December, Naval Sea Systems Command said Jan. 27.
FULL PLATE: Launch of Echostar 10 on a Zenit-3SLB in early February will be the first of six missions scheduled for the Sea Launch Odyssey floating platform in 2006. Sea Launch recorded nine commercial contracts last year, the best order and launch pace since the company was founded in 1995. Replacements for satellites launched in the early 1990s and demand for broadband, digital radio and high definition/direct-to-home television services are sparking the sales, a company official says.
