Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., has agreed to buy information technology products and services provider the SYTEX Group Inc. (TSGI) for $462 million, Lockheed Martin said Feb. 18. The purchase, subject to government approval, is expected to close in early 2005.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 18 named its subcommittee chairmen for the 109th Congress, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) - a sometimes fierce critic of U.S. Air Force acquisition decisions - named to lead the Airland panel. Other new subcommittee chairs include Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Emerging Threats and Capabilities; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Personnel; and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Strategic Forces.
SLED TEST: Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems successfully conducted a sled test of an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) using a Broach penetrating payload, Lockheed Martin said Feb. 17. BAE Systems' Broach is a candidate for the ATACMS Block I Unitary system, which recently won a contract to produce the Block Is for the U.S. Army. The test, conducted in the United Kingdom, showed that the Broach warhead can be integrated into a ballistic missile and that its lethality is enhanced by high-speed impact.
BIG YEAR: The military will "work through three major processes that will have a far-reaching impact on our future force posture" this year, says Gen. Richard Myers (USAF), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
ANTI-FRAUD GROUP: U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty, who prosecuted former Boeing Co. executives Darleen Druyun and Michael Sears, says he's "spearheading a procurement fraud initiative to promote the early detection and prevention of procurement fraud associated with the increase in contracting activity for national security and other government programs." The Procurement Fraud Working Group will include representatives from agencies including the FBI, the National Reconnaissance Office and the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State and Transportation.
The tri-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program expects to receive final approval to enter its design and development (D&D) phase from the German parliament's budget committee in March. "It's our belief right now, from every indicator that we have, that ... most Germans in politics and in the ministry of defense are supportive of the MEADS program, understand the value of it, so we can expect a favorable approval," said Jim Cravens, president of MEADS International.
F-15K ROLLOUT: The Boeing Co. plans to hold a March 16 "rollout" ceremony in St. Louis to mark the completion of the first F-15K Strike Eagle, an F-15 variant being built for South Korea's air force. The fighter is expected to begin flight-tests a week or two before the rollout. Boeing plans to deliver a total of 40 F-15Ks to South Korea by 2008. Additional orders by Seoul are possible. The F-15K, a derivative of the U.S. Air Force F-15E, will perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
WHAT'S THE RUSH?: If the Quadrennial Defense Review won't start until March, why did the military decide to cut the planned buy of F/A-22 Raptors and the carrier fleet, asks Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.). "Is it not fair to say that our budgetary decisions are driving and taking precedence over our strategic precedence?" she asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week.
ORLANDO, Fla. - The U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is facing several key decisions about how the jet will be supported once it enters service early in the next decade, according to an official at prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
REPAIR AWARD: Anteon International Corp. said Feb. 17 that it was awarded a $15 million contract by the Naval Air Depot, North Island, Calif., for maintenance, repair, modification and overhaul services on F/A-18, H-60, H-53, E-2C/C-2, C-130, S-3B and AV-8 aircraft. The services will be performed at NADEP North Island and other field site locations.
CROSSBOW II: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $25 million follow-on prime contract for the Crossbow II program to provide classified maintenance and engineering support at various Air Force sites. The Crossbow II is a four-year, nine-month program that began on Jan. 1.
SECURITY DEALS: Titan Corp. of San Diego was among six companies awarded $49.9 million contracts late last year to install physical security equipment aboard Military Sealift Command and U.S. Navy ships, the company said Feb. 16. The other companies are Dataline Inc., MilCom Systems Corp., Science Applications International Corp., Signal Solutions and Titan Unidyne LLC. The deals came under a multiple-award contract by the U.S. Navy.
NASA's Space Flight Leadership Council has settled on May 15 as the target date for the space shuttle's return to flight, when Discovery will conduct the first of two scheduled test flights to evaluate new safety equipment developed in response to the Columbia accident. Although the launch date for STS-114 won't be finalized until late April, "we feel good about that date," NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach said during a teleconference Feb. 18.
Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles has agreed to buy information technology provider Integic Corp., Northrop Grumman said Feb. 18. Financial terms were not disclosed. The purchase is subject to regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in March or April, Northrop Grumman said. Integic Corp., of Chantilly, Va., specializes in enterprise health and business process management products. The company reported $161 million in 2004 revenues.
Defense, aviation and space company Saab of Sweden will devote a large part of its financial strength toward new international acquisitions and cut 1,500 jobs as Swedish development projects shrink, the company says. The move is outlined in Saab's 2004 annual report, released Feb. 17. The report points to planned reductions in Sweden's defense budget that the Swedish parliament agreed to in December. The report also says Saab will have to shed up to 1,500 jobs in 2005 and 2006 due to expected reduced orders.
LITTLE BIRD: Boeing and the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate will begin testing weapons on the company's Unmanned Little Bird helicopter in the coming weeks. The goal of the $1.6 million joint program is to refine the requirements for safe and accurate weapons firing from unmanned aircraft. Weapons being considered for testing include the Hellfire and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) missiles, as well as the GAU-19A gun. The Unmanned Little Bird is a modified MD 530F helicopter that Boeing began flying as a test bed in September 2004.
PARKER BUYS MARKWEL: Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland has acquired braided and spiral hydraulic hose products maker Markwel Hose Products PVT Ltd., Parker Hannifin said Feb. 18. Financial terms were not disclosed. Markwel has annual sales of about $13 million. The company has operations in Mumbai and Hyderabad, India. It has 350 workers. The buy is expected to be accretive to earnings in calendar year 2005. Parker manufactures major components of hydraulic systems.
Brazil's Embraer has signed an agreement with India's Defence Research and Development Organisation to support development of an airborne early warning and control system. The system will be based on three EMB 145 AEW&C aircraft and will be operated by the Indian air force.
NASA'S PROGRESS: NASA is making "solid, measurable" process in improving its safety culture, according to a new survey of NASA employees performed by Behavioral Science Technology (BST) Inc. of Ojai, Calif. A private company, BST has been working with NASA for the past three years to help the agency transform its safety culture in the wake of the Columbia accident. "Statistically and anecdotally, the progress is real, and the process is working faster than what has been achievable in many organizations," BST President R. Scott Stricoff says.
The Government Accountability Office told the U.S. Air Force on Feb. 18 to compete modifications to a Boeing weapons contract, the same day that a former Boeing executive was sentenced to prison for his part in the hiring and procurement scandal that led to the GAO decision.
As its space exploration plans become better defined, NASA hopes to assign enough work to sustain its work force close to its current level of 18,000, although for the time being the agency is budgeting for 2,000 fewer employees starting in 2007, according to agency officials.
Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated captive-flight tests of its multimode, air-to-ground terminal guidance seeker during exercises in December at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the company said Feb. 16. The exercises showed the seeker's ability to find, fix, track, target and engage tactical moving targets based on information sent by ground controllers through a data link, the company said.
The U.S. Air Force has been paying high prices to Boeing for spare parts for its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft partly because service officials didn't evaluate pricing information to get a better deal and didn't compete some of the equipment, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. Since late 2001, the Air Force has spent $1.4 million to buy three AWACS ailerons, $7.9 million for 24 engine cowlings and about $5.9 million for three radomes, which cover the surveillance aircraft's radar antennas.
BANGALORE - Bharat Electronics Ltd. has announced several contracts at the Aero India show held near here, including a $1.6 million deal with the government of Suriname to supply defense communication equipment and night-vision devices. The state-owned company also is said to be talking with Suriname's defense forces about supplying additional artillery combat command and control systems.
The Stafford-Covey Task Group is confident it will receive final information packages from NASA by the end of this month and complete its assessment of NASA's return to flight efforts by April, according to task group co-chair Richard Covey.
