Northrop Grumman Corp. is building the first RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle in Palmdale, Calif. This photo, taken in late July, shows the UAV's assembly work to be less than 50% complete. As of Aug. 26, the RQ-4B was about 70% assembled, according to a company official. Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
HELO WORK: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has awarded LaBarge Inc. of St. Louis contracts worth more than $9 million to provide wiring harnesses, printed circuit card assemblies and sensor assemblies for various models of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, LaBarge said Aug. 26. At least two-thirds of the equipment is scheduled to be shipped during LaBarge's current fiscal year. Work has begun at LaBarge's Huntsville, Ark., Joplin, Mo., and Tulsa, Okla., facilities.
Boeing and BAE Systems said Aug. 29 that their teamed effort for the U.S. Air Force's B-52 Stand-Off Jammer program will draw from their work on other electronic warfare programs, including the EA-18G and Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) programs.
Intelsat and PanAmSat have signed a merger agreement under which Intelsat will buy PanAmSat for $3.2 billion, giving the company a combined fleet of 53 communications satellites. Intelsat will either refinance or assume $3.2 billion in debt from PanAmSat and its subsidiaries. Shareholders owning approximately 58% of PanAmSat's shares have agreed to vote in favor of the combination, according to Intelsat. The companies hope to receive regulatory approval and close the merger in six months to a year.
HUMVEE ARMOR: Humvee manufacturer AM General of South Bend, Ind., has awarded Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., a $16.2 million contract to provide armor components for two types of the vehicle, Armor Holdings said Aug. 29. Armor for the M1151 and M1152 Up-Armored Humvee will be supplied for both the vehicle manufacturing process and a separate package that can be added later. The work will be done in 2006 by Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group in Fairfield, Ohio.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $998,000 contract to help the service integrate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems in manned and unmanned aircraft, the company said Aug. 29.
C4ISR SUPPORT: Scientific Research Corp. of Atlanta beat out two competitors to provide up to $27.6 million in integrated systems engineering support services over five years to the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, S.C. The company will provide system engineering, software integration, configuration management, test, fleet introduction, product improvement, quality assurance, and life cycle management support for various C4ISR requirements, programs and projects, the Navy announced late Aug. 26.
Of the top six federal entities responsible for two-thirds of all federal contracting - including the military services and the Defense Logistics Agency - only the Air Force and the Army have issued compelling-reason waivers over the past two years to keep doing business with contractors identified for suspension, debarment or lesser administrative agreements.
The Military Sealift Command has decided on Maersk Line Ltd of Norfolk, Va., part of international shipping concern A.P. Moller-Maersk, to operate and maintain the U.S. Navy's eight fast sealift ships, the fastest cargo ships in the world. The $26 million award, competitively procured with more than 50 proposals received, was announced late Aug. 26. With four annual options, the deal could be worth almost $135 million.
DARPA & NGA: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will hold an industry workshop on Sept. 7 in Arlington, Va., to discuss DARPA/NGA partnerships. The two organizations recently signed a memorandum of agreement "to seek areas where DARPA technology developments could enhance NGA missions," DARPA says. The workshop will focus on the "hard problems" the agencies will tackle together, with associated calls for industry white papers.
The Base Closure and Realignment Commission on Aug. 26 bucked the Pentagon and decided to keep open two targeted air facilities, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. By a vote of 8-1, the BRAC panel rejected the Defense Department's recommendation to shutter Ellsworth and move its 24 B-1 bombers to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. Commissioners said the move would not save any money while leaving the 67-aircraft B-1 fleet more vulnerable since they would all be based at Dyess. Politicians teamed
DOWNBEAT: Demand for satellite transponders for the Asia-Pacific region is "sluggish," says Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings of Hong Kong, which says its sales are down 19% for the first half of the year. Prices have stabilized for major customers, but "there are instances of competitors resorting to giveaway pricing in certain markets," the company says.
Sept. 3 - 5 -- The Cleveland National Air Show, Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland, Ohio. For more information call (216) 781-0747 or go to www.clevelandairshow.com. Sept. 5 - 8 -- 9th World Summit for Satellite Financing, Hotel Intercontinental, Paris, France. For more information email euroconsult, [email protected] or go to www.euroconsult-ec.com. Sept. 8 - 9 -- Next Generation Tactical Data Links, "Opportunities and Requirements," Holiday Inn Tysons Corner, McLean, Va. For more information go to www.technologytraining.com.
Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., has been awarded a five-year, $291 million contract to supply the U.S. Army with combat helmets, the company said Aug. 25. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Natick, Mass., on behalf of the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Air Force Col. John Insprucker, system program director for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, hopes the proposed merger of Atlas and Delta rocket operations will make the vehicles more competitive on the commercial market and take pressure off the service as it continues its "assured access" policy of maintaining two distinct launch fleets.
The Naval Air Systems Command has given Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. of Stratford, Conn., $43.3 million more to draft requirements definition and engineering studies for the Marine Corps' Heavy Lift Replacement Program by April 2006. The latest contract addition - the second such delivery order since December - comes as the Corps faces a heavy lift crunch due to wear and tear from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and is de-mothballing older helicopters.
JASSM TEST: The U.S. Air Force is tentatively slated to conduct the next flight test of the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 2. The Lockheed Martin-built stealthy cruise missile has been successful in seven of nine tests conducted so far this year (DAILY, Aug. 4).
Boosted in part by its tactical vehicle systems segment, Stewart & Stevenson Services Inc. of Houston said Aug. 25 that it posted sharp gains in sales and net earnings in the second quarter of fiscal year 2005.
NEW FACES: With a slew of decisions last week over the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment process by the independent commission reviewing the Defense Department's proposals, the lineup of senators opposing and supporting the process likely will change. Gone could be loud BRAC opponents like Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) after the commission saved Ellsworth Air Force Base in his state. Meanwhile, the newly angered include Sen.
SDB TESTS: Four Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) hit their ground targets Aug. 25 after being released from two separate carriages on a U.S. Air Force F-15E, according to the Boeing Co., SDB's prime contractor. The drops wrapped up developmental testing of the small smart weapon, which is due to begin operational testing in October 2005 and be fielded starting in October 2006 on the F-15E.
TESTING, TESTING: The European Space Agency is testing the first Galileo satellites, part of the Galileo System Test Bed. The payload of the GTSB-V2/B satellite, being developed by Galileo Industries, is being subjected to a space-like environment to demonstrate the performance of its payload, which includes an extremely accurate atomic clock.
WARNING SYSTEM: EADS Defence Electronics has installed the Helicopter Laser Radar (HELLAS) obstacle warning system on two Thailand air force helicopters used to transport VIPs, the company said Aug. 25. The work was done on a pair of Bell 412 EP helicopters at Lop Buri air force base north of Bangkok, where pilots and mechanics were also trained and test flights performed. Each helicopter was equipped with an additional liquid crystal display screen in the cockpit and a video camera was fitted to the sensor.
