Facing extended use of aging aeronautical systems due in part to declining budgets, the U.S. Navy is eyeing a five-year "FastTrack" program, worth up to $450 million to industry participants, which would help the military services and defense agencies find or reverse-engineer increasingly obsolete parts and systems on legacy aircraft.
Higher sales of corporate jet and commercial aircraft components sparked a boost in sales and net income for St. Louis-based LMI Aerospace Inc. in the second quarter of 2005, the company said Aug. 10.
LIFT FAN THRUST: United Technologies will get $8 million more from the U.S. Navy to work on the Lift Fan Thrust Improvement Program. The program is supposed to "define an enhanced short take-off and vertical landing propulsion system with the ability of delivering additional thrust to support potential future growth" of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's air system. The Naval Air Systems Command announced the modification increase to the company's East Hartford, Conn., military engines unit late Aug. 9. Navair said the work should wrap up in December 2006.
James B. Comey has been named senior vice president and general counsel, effective Oct. 1. He will replace Frank H. Menaker Jr., who will retire at the end of January 2006. James M. Loy has been elected to the board of directors. Loy was a deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security; an administrator for the Transportation Security Administration; and commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The European Commission has cleared the creation of United Launch Alliance, the proposed Lockheed Martin/Boeing joint venture that would merge the operations of the two companies' Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle fleets, under European Union Merger regulations. The commission has decided that the creation of ULA does not increase the risk of a monopoly on launch services. Lockheed Martin and Boeing hope to secure U.S. approval for the merger by year's end (DAILY, May 4).
POSTED: President Bush on Aug. 9 appointed Eric Edelman to be undersecretary of defense for policy while Congress was in recess, a move that could raise the ire of Democrats. A spokeswoman for Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the top minority member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), told The DAILY that Levin favored Edelman continuing through the normal confirmation process. But Sen.
Gen. Donald J. Kutyna (USAF Ret.) has been named to the board of directors. Kutyna was commander in chief of North American Aerospace Command, U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command.
AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq - U.S. Marines have turned to civilian contractors for maintenance of helicopters on site in Iraq to save the time and money associated with sending them stateside for major overhauls. Boeing, Sikorsky and BellAero have set up shop with the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS-26) at Al Asad Air Base in the heart of western Iraq to perform scheduled maintenance on CH-46s, CH-53s and H-1s, respectively.
GLOBEMASTER CEREMONY: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) welcomed the first C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to March Air Reserve Base, Calif., on Aug. 9. Seven more C-17s are scheduled for delivery there. The congressman, an advocate for basing the military transport aircraft in his district, said such placing ensures the base remains "significant" to U.S. defense. "There is no better aircraft than the C-17 to support combat, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions worldwide," Calvert said.
A new study predicts an expenditure of $6.4 billion over the next decade on the research, development and production of key land and naval electro-optical systems. The study, by Forecast International of Newtown, Conn., estimates that some 363,779 systems will be produced through 2014.
RADIOS: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has selected Rockwell Collins to provide radio equipment for the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS), the company said Aug. 10. FNARS will use Rockwell's high-frequency URG-III product line to transfer voice and data communications between local and federal governments during emergencies. The contract is worth $21.5 million over the next five years and marks FEMA's first buy from Rockwell Collins.
AIR DEFENSE TRAINING: AAI Corp. will provide the Netherlands army with an air defense training system under a $13.8 million contract, the company said Aug. 10. The 15-year contract for the Advanced Moving Target Simulator (AMTS) system also includes logistics support. Hunt Valley, Md.-based AAI said it will develop, install, and test a computer-generated environment inside a 64-foot in diameter dome in which gunners and crew chiefs will be trained to use Stinger missiles against enemy aircraft.
The launches of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration GOES-N spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Fla., are proceeding as scheduled despite recent technical problems. MRO is set to lift off on an Atlas V rocket during a one hour and 45 minute window opening at 7:50 a.m. EDT Aug. 11. Originally scheduled for Aug. 10, liftoff was pushed back 24 hours while engineers tried to assess the health of a Redundant Rate Gyro Unit (RRGU) on the rocket after a similar unit failed in manufacturer testing.
A General Electric Co. laboratory in Niskayuna, N.Y., has won an $11.1 million contract from the U.S. Navy for research and development of active screening and imaging for "shielded special nuclear materials," as well as ultra-large field-of-view X-ray imagers for cargo radiography.
The U.S. Navy wants one of iRobot Corp.'s Robotic Gator autonomous unmanned ground vehicles, according to a contract announcement from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center. On July 11, the SPAWAR posted a decision online to award iRobot a sole-source contract for one of the vehicles, as well as for Run Flat Tires. A contracting official could not be reached for more information Aug. 10.
