General Electric will provide material, technical and logistics support for the Corpus Christi Army Depot's (CCAD) T700 turboshaft engine overhaul program under a $162 million contract option, the company said Dec. 16. Under the original contract, the company supplies T700 helicopter engine parts and logistics and technical expertise to support CCAD overhaul programs for various military helicopters including the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk.
Northrop Grumman Corp. was selected by the U.S. General Services Administration to provide system engineering and program support for the U.S. Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and Naval Oceanographic Office. The task order is valued at $38.9 million over five years to Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector. The contract work will be done at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss.
Lockheed Martin Argentina S.A. rolled out the first upgraded AT-63 Pampa jet trainer for the Argentine air force on Dec. 15, the company said. The upgraded low-cost advanced trainer and light attack aircraft is ready for ground testing and is scheduled to begin flight-testing in mid-2005, the company said. The aircraft features an upgraded crew station and modern avionics suite with advanced mission computers, Lockheed Martin said.
TESTING: The Lockheed-Martin developed Aegis Weapon System recently underwent successful testing during a three-day trial at sea aboard the U.S. Navy destroyer Halsey, the company said Dec. 16. The testing took place Nov. 30-Dec. 2 in the Gulf of Mexico and was overseen by Navy and Lockheed Martin engineers. It included gun exercises and two successful Standard Missile-2 firings. The Aegis now is 10 for 10 in missile sea test firings, the company said.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is considering buying a Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor missile defense tests, the agency head said Dec. 16.
U.K. Defence Minister Geoff Hoon has announced details of the "Future Army Structure" plan, which calls for development of a more deployable, agile and flexible army and involves the expenditure of "tens of billions of pounds" for new military hardware, including satellite communication systems and unmanned aerial vehicles for the army.
Thales has signed an agreement with Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. to integrate its avionics suite on the company's new Russian Regional Jet, Thales said Dec. 16. The companies have signed a contract worth about 70 million euros ($93.8 million) for the first equipment order, Thales said. France's Thales will provide its full avionics suite, including cockpit displays and communication, navigation and surveillance systems, which it said would boost the aircraft's capability.
S-92 ACCEPTED: Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI) has accepted its second Sikorsky S-92, the company said Dec. 16. The aircraft was flown to PHI's Lafayette, La., facility to join the other S-92 in supporting deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Sikorsky has offered a variant of the S-92 for the presidential helicopter competition, which is expected to be decided in January.
Gen. Larry R. Ellis (USA-Ret.) has been named to the board of directors. Ellis most recently was commanding general, United States Army Forces Command, Atlanta.
Despite delays, NASA's Deep Impact team is confident of launching its mission by Jan. 28, which it must do to successfully rendezvous with and smash into comet Tempel 1 next July.
The U.S. Air Force said it is set to award risk reduction contracts of about $1.25 million to each of the four competitors most likely to bid for the Personnel Recovery Vehicle, the planned follow-on to the aging HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter. "The four contracts are planned to be issued to Northrop Grumman, Bell-Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky," according to an Air Force notice in the Dec. 14 issue of FedBizOpps.
A senior Pentagon official warned the unmanned aerial vehicle industry Dec. 15 that UAVs could lose favor with the U.S. military if concerns about affordability and interoperability are not resolved. Michael Wynne, the Defense Department's acting acquisition chief, told Shephard's UV North America conference that UAVs are poised to be the "wave of the future" but face several "potential pitfalls."
Eurocopter subsidiary Australian Aerospace delivered the first two Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters to the Australian army on Dec. 15, the company and Australian defense ministry said. The ARH1 and ARH2 Tigers were built in France and delivered to Australian Aerospace on Nov. 23. The company then reassembled them and conducted flight-tests before delivering them to the army.
INTERESTED: As many as 10 countries are interested in buying the joint Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Times of India News network said Dec. 14. At least three "trusted nations" have been shortlisted to get the new weapons, the network said, quoting sources in India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
The French army will receive 72 truck-mounted Caesar howitzers under a 300 million euro ($402 million) contract awarded to France-based tank and weapons systems manufacturer GIAT Industries, the company said Dec. 13. GIAT also will supply and manage spare parts and provide maintenance and operational support. Eight nine-gun batteries will be ready for use by 2011.
BLACK HAWK MODS: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. will provide eight Army Black Hawk helicopters under a $245 million contract modification, the Department of Defense said Dec. 13.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., a $29.7 million contract to provide 10 AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) systems for its MH-60R multimission helicopter, the company said Dec. 15. The ALFS is an undersea warfare sensor for the MH-60R. It detects submarines and provides tracking, localization, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection, the company said.
