PROTECTION KITS: Simula Aerospace and Defense Group of Phoenix, Ariz., has been awarded a $19 million contract modification by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command of Warren, Mich., to produce 602 add-on armor crew protection kits for the M915A2, M915A3, and M915A4 series of tactical vehicles, the Defense Department said Dec. 27. The work will be done in Hagalil, Israel, and is expected to be finished by Dec. 15, 2005.
Unmanned aerial vehicles showed their ability to contribute to operations in urban environments during a December experiment in Louisiana, according to the U.S Joint Forces Command (JFCOM). The experiment, called Extended Awareness 1 (EA1), included flights of UAVs from the airport at Slidell, La. The experiment was carried out in support of more than 2,000 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit as they participated in the Marine Corps' Training in Urban Environment Exercise (TRUEX) that ran Dec. 3-17, JFCOM said Dec. 23.
Aerospace component maker TransDigm Inc. of Cleveland has completed its purchase of electromagnetic equipment manufacturer Skurka Engineering Co., TransDigm said Jan. 3. Financial terms were not disclosed. Skurka, based in Camarillo, Calif., primarily produces AC/DC electric motors and components used on a number of commercial and military aircraft, ships and ground vehicles. It has about 125 employees.
The U.S. Department of Defense's requirement for compliance with passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is phasing in slowly, with only two Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) depots required to conform as of Jan. 1, said Bruce Mahone, the Aerospace Industries Association's assistant vice president for technical operations. The first depots to be phased in are the Susquehanna, Pa., and San Joaquin, Calif., Defense Distribution Depots.
ENGINE HOODS: AM General Corp. of Mishawaka, Ind., will make engine compartment hoods for up-armored high mobility multiwheeled vehicles under a $21.6 million contract awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command of Warren, Mich., the Defense Department said Dec. 27. The work will be done in Mishawaka and is expected to be finished by Dec. 31, 2009.
Teams led by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Northrop Grumman have been tapped as finalists for the U.S. Army's Extended Range/Multi-Purpose (ER/MP) unmanned aerial vehicle program. A systems capabilities demonstration is scheduled for the first quarter of 2005, leading to an expected contractor downselect in April, according to Aerospace Daily & Defense Report affiliate NetDefense.
By the end of 2005, NASA expects to choose a systems integrator to manage its ambitious plans to return humans to the moon by 2020 and prepare for human landings on Mars, according to Rear Adm. Craig Steidle (USN-Ret.), head of the agency's Exploration Systems office. The systems integrator team probably will be led by a NASA center partnered with a major aerospace company, Steidle told The DAILY. The agency plans to release a request for proposals (RFP) for the lead integrator over the summer and make a selection by December, he said.
NASA's Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous (DART) spacecraft is back on track to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in early March, according to Rear Adm. Craig Steidle (USN-Ret.), head of the agency's Exploration Systems Office. Previous launch attempts in October and November were scrubbed due to weather, range availability, launch vehicle contamination and questions over whether the DART spacecraft would be able to withstand the loads associated with the ignition of the second stage of its Pegasus launch vehicle.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. has purchased Bianchi International for $60 million in cash, the company said Jan. 3. Bianchi, located in Temecula, Calif., supplies holsters, belts and accessories under the Bianchi brand name and outdoor backpacks and daypacks under the Gregory brand name. Bianchi will be integrated into Armor Holdings' Products Division, which manufactures and distributes security products and vehicle armor systems for law enforcement, military, homeland security and commercial markets, the company said.
TESTING: Raytheon Missile Systems Co. will provide 20 range safety kits to support the Tomahawk missile All Up Round flight test program, the U.S. Defense Department said Jan. 3. The work will be done under a $5.5 million delivery order and is expected to be completed in January 2007.
AMMUNITION CONTRACT: Finland-based Patria Weapons Systems will provide Finland's military with field gun and heavy mortar ammunition under a 40 million euro ($53.9 million) contract, the company said Dec. 28. Patria will produce 120mm Illumination and IR-Smoke and Cargo ammunition for the AMOS motar system, as well as 155mm Cargo ammunition components and ammunition shells. The company also will deliver its Artillery Proximity Fuze.
NAVY Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $35,300,000 ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-04-C-0001) for the development of the Generation II Mission Computer for the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft under the H-1 Upgrade Program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
JOB INTERVIEWS: Unmanned aerial vehicle maker Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., will conduct job interviews on Jan. 6-7 in Starkville, Miss., to staff its new Starkville facility, the company says. Aurora will build the Hunter II UAV in Starkville. The company is seeking a site manager, quality manager, office manager, composite lay-up technicians and assembly technicians. "We look forward to meeting face-to-face with many of the qualified individuals who will help Aurora launch this new venture," says Aurora Flight Sciences President John Langford.
International Launch Services (ILS) is expecting moderate growth in commercial satellite launches over the next few years as the high-definition television (HDTV) market grows in the U.S., according to ILS Vice President Frank McKenna.
DEFENSE FAIRS: South Korea will increase funding for the country's defense contractors to take part in overseas defense fairs to $952,000 in 2005, up from $48,000 in 2004, the South Korean ministry of defense says. South Korea also says it had more than $400 million in military exports in 2004, a 75% jump from 2003's $240 million. The MOD attributes the increase to Daewoo International's $150 million contract to provide the Indonesian navy with four landing platform docks and $54 million in ammunition sales by South Korea to the United States and Australia.
The U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School is asking for industry help in a study of ways to overcome shortfalls in U.S. air and missile defense capability. The school, at Fort Bliss, Texas, lists five "overarching" gaps in a Dec. 22 FebBizOpps notice: * "Cannot defeat the full spectrum of potential air and missile attacks on the U.S. Homeland * Cannot "completely defend ... critical assets against the array of potential ballistic missile, cruise missile, and rockets, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats
Unable to secure further funding support from the Army, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen to cancel the third phase of the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, an industry source told The DAILY. DARPA and the Army originally planned to split the cost of the $500 million program roughly 50/50, with DARPA paying most of its share in the early years, including two-thirds of the cost of Phase III. However, the Army pulled its support earlier this year to pay for other aviation priorities (DAILY, Sept. 20).
A new rifle sight that allows a soldier to aim at targets around corners and over or under barriers is being developed by Dayton, Ohio-based MTC Technologies Inc., the company said Dec. 22. The Parascope Urban Combat Sight contains a five-sided prism that enables a soldier to place a laser dot on a target from a variety of off-angle firing positions, the company said. Viewing ports from the rear are for normal firing and from the side for indirect firing. Only the hands and forearms of a soldier are exposed when shooting.
NASA has selected Muniz Engineering Inc. of Houston to provide electrical systems engineering services to support the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., NASA said Dec. 22. The company will provide electrical engineering support services for hardware and software for space flight, airborne and ground systems, NASA said. The work includes developing and validating new technologies to enable future space and science missions.
Jan. 10 - 12, 2005 -- GOVCON: 4th Annual Government Convention on Emerging Technologies, "Enabling the National Security Community," Anaheim, Calif. For more information call 1-888-603-8899 or go to www.federalevents.com. Jan. 24 - 26 -- The ION National Technical Meeting, The Catamaran Resort Hotel, San Diego, Calif. For more information go to www.ion.org. Jan. 25 - 26 -- JPEO-CBD Advanced Planning Briefing for Industry, The DC Convention Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
NASA has picked six proposals for science payloads to fly on its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the first spacecraft scheduled to be built as part of the agency's vision for space exploration. The LRO is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2008 and map the moon's surface, surveying natural resources and possible landing sites for future astronauts.
