Major Defense Department acquisition programs decreased in cost by $72.8 million, or .005%, since the end of December, the DOD said Aug. 16 in releasing the latest Selected Acquisition Reports. Most of the reduction came from the National Airspace System modernization program, aimed at replacing air traffic control systems with digital systems. Its cost was reduced by $59.5 million, to $1.4 billion, "due primarily to a refinement in the Navy's cost estimate," the DOD said in the new report, which covers through June 30.
ACQUISITION: Lockheed Martin U.K. Holdings Ltd. said Aug. 16 that it has agreed to purchase United Kingdom-based Insys Group Ltd., which supplies military communications systems, weapons systems and advanced analysis services. Financial terms were not disclosed. The purchase is expected to close later this year. London-based Lockheed Martin U.K. Holdings Ltd. will manage Insys in coordination with Lockheed Martin Electronic Systems, based in Bethesda, Md. Insys is headquartered in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, U.K. Lockheed Martin U.K. Holdings Ltd.
Studies on Air Force tanker modernization and the Defense Department's mobility needs have experienced delays. Both efforts had been expected to wrap up by late summer but are taking longer than projected. The tanker study, or analysis of alternatives (AOA), is now expected to be released in about mid-October, a government official said Aug. 16. The Mobility Capability Study is now due to be finished sometime this fall, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., reported its tenth successive quarter of increasing revenue with its financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2005. Revenues increased 58%, to approximately $1.9 million during the quarter, compared with $1.2 million for the same quarter in 2004, the company said. The increase mostly was due to execution on current contracts, including a second task order from the Missile Defense Agency valued at approximately $8.3 million.
Lockheed Martin has received a $55 million contract from the United Kingdom for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), the first international sale of the system, the company said Aug. 16. The contract, procured by the U.K. under a Foreign Military Sales agreement, calls for delivery of the rockets to be completed by March 2007. Lockheed Martin has received three contracts, worth a total of $290 million, to produce more than 2,000 GMLRS rockets, and expects production to continue beyond 2020.
Australia has chosen U.S.-based engineering and architectural firm Gibbs & Cox Inc. as the preferred designer for its navy's $6 billion Air Warfare Destroyer program, the country's defense ministry said Aug 16. The Arlington, Va., firm's plan, based on the U.S. Navy's DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class destroyer, won out over German company Blohm + Voss and Spain's Navantia. AWD team
Northrop Grumman has completed Block 20 upgrades for the E-8C Joint Surveillance target Attack radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft, the company announced Aug. 16. The Block 20 upgrade uses commercial off-the-shelf technology from companies such as Mercury Computer Systems and Compaq to achieve an "open-systems" configuration that will allow cheaper hardware and software upgrades in the future, the company said.
General Dynamics has acquired Tadpole Computer, the company said Aug. 16, and will fold it into the General Dynamics C4 Systems unit. Cupertino, Calif.-based Tadpole, which provides Unix-based computing platforms for military, government and commercial operations, has 60 employees. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
JETS DELIVERED: Brazilian business jet maker Embraer has delivered three Legacy Executive aircraft to India as part of a five-aircraft deal, the company said Aug. 16. India selected Embraer to provide the aircraft for its executive service in 2003 (DAILY, June 27, 2003). Two of the Legacy aircraft delivered will be used by the Indian air force and one is for the country's border security force, Embraer said. Embraer plans to deliver the remaining aircraft in October.
Engineering and information technology provider MTC Technologies Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, said Aug. 16 that it has been awarded a five-year, $10 million contract to provide maintenance and technical support to the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.
SONAR SYSTEMS: Thales UK said Aug. 16 that it has won a GBP 17 million (USD $30.7 million) contract extension from the British defense ministry to provide two more long-range anti-submarine Sonar 2087 systems for the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates. The systems are set for delivery in 2010. Six other systems are being supplied under the current contract and two already have been installed for testing on the HMS Westminster and HMS Northumberland. A third ship, the HMS Richmond, will be outfitted in late 2005.
Saab Avitronics has been awarded an SEK 1 billion (USD $132.6 million) contract to produce radar warning equipment for German Tornado aircraft, the company said Aug. 16. The radar is part of a major upgrade of the German Tornado fleet. The contract is a follow-on order to a program that began in 2001. Deliveries are set to start at the end of 2006 and continue until 2009. The contract was awarded by EADS Deutschland on behalf of Panavia Aircraft. Saab Avitronics was formed through a merger of SaabTech of Sweden and Avitronics of South Africa.
Liftoff of GOES-N has slipped to the evening of Aug. 16, the last available day at Cape Canaveral, Fla., before the team will have to renegotiate a new launch date with range officials. If the launch is scrubbed again, "we're going to have to work with the Air Force range to see what other launches the delays may have affected," Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva told The DAILY Aug. 16.
HUMVEE CONTRACT: Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., has received a $45.5 million contract to provide the U.S. and Iraqi militaries with additional M1114 up-armored Humvees, the company said Aug. 16. The vehicles will go to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Iraqi armed forces. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. The work will be completed in 2006.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is involved in several studies that could substantially affect the course of missile defense when they are finished in the coming weeks and months, the agency head said Aug. 16.
The Northrop Grumman-led DD(X) destroyer National Team has completed the DD(X) deckhouse test article, the company announced Aug. 15. The carbon fiber deckhouse was designed to maintain the ship's stealthy profile and was tested to make sure it fits within its radar cross-section specification, the company said.
RADAR AGREEMENT: Australia and the United States have signed a joint agreement to further develop Australian active phased array radar technology, Australia's defense department said Aug. 16. Both countries will share the development costs, technical expertise and benefits of the technology, which is being developed by CEA Technologies Pty Ltd., based in Fyshwick, Australia, Defence Minister Robert Hill said in a statement. The total development cost will be about $30 million over three years.
The U.S. Army may have to recompete some work for its Robotic Systems Joint Program Office, the Government Accountability Office said in upholding a protest of a support services award. The Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) decided to bundle some support work, including for the robotics office, and awarded a blanket $130 million, five-year contract to Sverdrup Technology last year. However, the robotics work previously had been done by Sigmatech of Huntsville, Ala., a small business.
Ducommun AeroStructures Inc. will continue to produce C-17 aluminum fuselage panels under a $15 million follow-on contract from Boeing, the company said Aug. 15. The award extends current production and deliveries into 2007, the company said. "As prime contractors and first-tier subcontractors look to reduce their cost structures, I believe Ducommun is increasingly well positioned to capitalize on further significant off-load opportunities from our key customers," Joseph C. Berenato, chairman and CEO of parent company Ducommun Inc., said in a statement.
Moog Inc. said Aug. 15 that it has completed its purchase of FCS Control Systems for EUR 37 million (USD $45.7 million). Moog, based in East Aurora, N.Y., builds precision control components and systems for military and commercial aircraft. Amsterdam-based FCS designs and builds electromechanical and electrohydraulic flight and vehicle simulation equipment for the aerospace and automotive industries.
