The defense industrial base is not overly consolidated and current competition is sufficient to avoid stifling innovation and hurting warfighters, the U.S. Defense Department told Congress in its latest annual industrial capabilities report. DOD has identified more than 800 companies with relevant industrial base capabilities. Last year, it reviewed 32 proposed acquisitions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino provisions of the Antitrust Improvement Act to identify the affect on national security and defense industry capabilities.
NEW DELHI - India's navy has decided against buying six Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 carrier-borne early warning aircraft, saying they are too large for the service's needs and aren't a good fit for India's aircraft carriers. The aircraft requires a catapult launch, but India's carriers, including the Admiral Gorshkov, being bought from Russia, don't have them.
A high-level Pentagon panel met March 29 to consider whether the Air Force F/A-22 Raptor is ready to begin full-rate production. The Defense Acquisition Board had not concluded its session at press time. Results of the meeting may not be available for days or weeks. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is building almost two F/A-22s a month in Marietta, Ga., a figure that could rise to almost three a month under full-rate production.
LANDING SYSTEMS: Lancaster, Pa.-based Herley Industries Inc. announced March 28 that it received a $3.3 million contract modification to supply Tactical Instrument Landing Systems (TILS) for U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. TILS is a new aircraft carrier-landing design that began as an initial multiyear contract for the Super Hornet.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has won two new contracts worth $23 million for production of additional AN/AAR-47 missile warning systems, the company said March 29. The electro-optical AAR-47, installed on U.S. and allied transport aircraft and helicopters, is a battle-proven system credited with saving numerous aircraft and aircrews from attack by heat-seeking, shoulder-fired missiles, the company said.
Fueled by its transformation efforts, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is expected to lead the federal government's information technology spending this fiscal year with $7.2 billion, according to the government IT consulting company Input. That will grow to $8.4 billion in fiscal 2010, Reston, Va.-based Input said.
COUNTERMEASURES: Northrop Grumman Corp. delivered the first five production units of its AN/ALQ-135 electronic countermeasures system to the Boeing Co. for use on F-15Ks bound for South Korea's air force, the company said March 29. The latest configuration of the AN/ALQ-135 has speed and memory enhancements, and uses microwave power module transmitter technology to cut weight and boost performance, Northrop Grumman said. Deliveries for the Korean F-15Ks have begun, and will continue through early 2008, Northrop Grumman said.
CPI Aerostructures Inc. of Edgewood, N.Y., reported March 29 that its fourth-quarter revenue rose 38.5% compared with the same period in 2003, reaching $9 million. For the year, the company said revenue increased 11% to $30.3 million, compared with $27.3 million for 2003. The company builds structural aircraft parts, mainly for the U.S. Air Force, and also provides engineering, technical and program management services.
DRS Technologies Inc. has been awarded a $49 million contract to provide an upgraded targeting system for the U.S. Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the company said March 29. The Improved Bradley Acquisition Subsystems (IBAS) allows gunners to fire from greater ranges, helping keep U.S. soldiers safer and enhancing the ability to destroy enemy targets, the company said.
The U.S. Coast Guard has released a long-awaited Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan, but two powerful U.S. senators already are criticizing it for not addressing what they believe is an insufficient fiscal 2006 budget proposal, as well as the slowness of the recapitalization effort.
NASA is working on a low-cost transceiver for launch vehicles that would allow them to relay telemetry to the ground through the agency's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).
The U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) is seeking research and development proposals for the development of new centerline turboshaft engines for use in future manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Army won't issue a formal request for proposals, other solicitation requests, or more information regarding these requirements, the AATD said March 29. The period of performance for the program is about 43 months. Proposals are due May 15 and the government anticipates awarding contracts by July 30.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended the U.S. Navy's new shipbuilding plan March 29 and said he is making progress toward filling high-level jobs at the Pentagon. While the 30-year shipbuilding plan projects the Navy will have a fleet of 260-325 ships (DAILY, March 24), well short of the 375 that some lawmakers say is needed to defend the United States and sustain the industrial base, Rumsfeld said the document had to balance funding demands across the Defense Department.
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) is soon to acquire broader technology transfer authority to quickly deploy industry research and development initiatives. For this purpose, it is establishing an Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA), the command said March 24.
GREENBELT, Md. - Before the end of spring, NASA plans to select the sequence of robotic orbiters and landers it will send to the moon to pave the way for astronauts to return by 2020. The Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) will mark the first spacecraft launches directly supporting NASA's new vision for space exploration. Starting with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in 2008, NASA expects to launch roughly one robotic lunar mission each year, all to be managed by Goddard Space Flight Center here.
Space and defense contractor SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., reported its fourth straight quarter with operating profit on March 29, but interest expense on a revolving credit line pulled its overall earnings into the red. Revenue for the year was up 65%, to $4.9 million, compared with $3 million for 2003. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $1.4 million, up 60% from the same period in 2003.
The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded Goodrich Corp. contracts to provide 28 diagnostic kits on CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, the company said March 29. Financial terms were not disclosed.
NASA has rescheduled the launch of its Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) mission for April 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Several previous launch attempts in October and November 2004 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 (DAILY, Nov. 17, 2004). All those issues have been resolved.
ARMY AM General L.L.C., South Bend, Ind., was awarded on March 23, 2005, a $24,416,957 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for M1113s and M1097A2s for the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. Work will be performed in South Bend, Ind., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2000. The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
Boeing is distancing itself from a news story last week in which a company executive was reported as saying the Delta IV expendable rocket could be reintroduced into the commercial market as early as the end of this year.
Cyclone Aviation Products Ltd., a subsidiary of Haifa, Israel-based Elbit Systems, has completed its purchase of Israel Military Industries Ltd.'s Aircraft Systems Division for $7 million, Elbit Systems said March 27. The acquisition was first announced on Jan. 4.
REFLECTORS: Northrop Grumman Corp.'s AstroMesh deployable reflector system successfully deployed aboard Inmarsat's I-4 satellite, which launched March 11, the company said. This is the first of three reflectors delivered by Northrop Grumman's Astro Aerospace unit for satellite builder EADS Astrium, and the fourth AstroMesh to be deployed in space, the company said March 28.
