ARMORED VEHICLES: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has awarded Textron Marine and Land Systems of New Orleans a $9.6 million contract modification for 27 armored security vehicles. The work will be performed in New Orleans and is expected to be completed by Feb. 17, 2006. The sole-source contract was initiated on Sept. 23, 1994.
SPACE RENDEZVOUS: More than 200 space business professionals are expected to attend the first Colorado Space Rendezvous on Dec. 8 at the Colorado History Museum in Denver. Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton heads a group of Colorado leaders in government, business and academia participating as speakers and panel members. "It is a perfect time for Colorado's space-related commercial, civil, academic and military organizations to get together and discuss how we can grow and move forward as a community," Norton says. Those participating include Gen.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 2 -- Aircraft Survivability 2004, "Surviving in the Networked Battlespace," Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. For more information go to www.ndia.org. Dec. 1 - 2 -- Light Armored Vehicles, "Supportability and Survivability in War Zones," Hilton Washington, Washington, D.C. For more information call 1-800-882-8684, email [email protected] or go to www.idga.org. Dec. 2 - 3 -- The 14th Annual Aircraft Acquisition Planning Seminar, Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information go to www.conklindd.com.
NASA AND CHINA: NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe will meet with his Chinese counterpart Laiyan Sun in Washington on Dec. 2. O'Keefe was "gratified" to find China among 30 countries that participated in a recent conference where they presented their ideas on how they can participate in NASA's space exploration plans. The Dec. 2 meeting is "just a preliminary discussion," O'Keefe says. "There's no specific agenda of any agreements. It's more an exchange of views." While working out the details of possible cooperation, NASA is keeping in close touch with the U.S.
HELPING COMPETE: Legislation approved by Congress to insure American commercial space companies against third-party catastrophic losses will "help the United States compete in an increasingly sophisticated worldwide orbital transportation market," the Aerospace Industries Association says. Congress approved the legislation last week and it is awaiting President Bush's signature (DAILY, Nov. 18). The bill extends the law under which the government insures launch companies to 2009, which "levels the playing field for U.S.
Adm. David E. Jeremiah (USN Ret.) and Paul G. Stern have joined the board of directors. Jeremiah has been serving on ManTech's advisory board since 1994. Stern has founded two investment companies and served as a senior executive for a number of high technology companies. Gen. Thomas C. Richards (USAF Ret.) has been elected chairman of the advisory board.
2004 FMS: Deepwater-related foreign military sales activity in 2004 included selling an operations analysis and simulation study to Bahrain, receiving notice of interest in the Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle from India and Australia, and a request from Israel to work on the common hull mechanical and electrical design for the Maritime Security Cutter Medium," says Danielewski. Sri Lanka also has inquired about the price and availability of the Eagle Eye and the Bofors Defence 57mm Mk3 gun, he says.
MOUS AND FMS: The U.S. Coast Guard expects to sign memorandums of understanding with Australia and the United Kingdom for collaboration on the Deepwater modernization program's Eagle Eye vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, says Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, the program executive officer for Deepwater. The MOU with Australia is to be signed in December, and the one with the U.K. in January. Negotiations on an MOU with France are under way. "The Deepwater Program already has MOUs with Canada and Germany to work on the Eagle Eye.
Robert D. Weaver has been appointed to the board of directors. Weaver is a director and the president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Crownbolt, a privately held national distributor of fasteners and hardware.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and the U.S. Air Force and Navy have for the first time tested the company's Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) against moving maritime surface targets. The $10 million, two-day maritime demonstration, called "Resultant Fury 2005," was held Nov. 22 and 23 off the coast of Hawaii by the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).
The Pentagon's recently established Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) is focusing much of its attention on accelerating the purchase of items designed to detect or counteract improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to JRAC Director Robert Buhrkuhl. "We've been working a lot of key things in the classified area on the IED Task Force," Buhrkuhl told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon Nov. 24. The task force requested the JRAC's participation, and the office is assisting with nine classified counter-IED programs.
NO LAYOFFS: NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe envisions no layoffs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, although he expects the space shuttle work force to shrink naturally by attrition after the orbiter returns to flight. "I know of no specific plans ... to target a drawdown anywhere," he says, responding to recent press reports that job cuts might be imminent. However, current work force levels are not expected to last. "This is the first time in anybody's memory ...
HOLIDAY REPRIEVE: The U.S. Army is delaying the release of a request for proposals for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) until about Nov. 28 so contractors won't have to spend the Thanksgiving holiday working on their proposals, says an Army source. The final RFP had been scheduled to be released in the third week of November. The ARH, a commercial-off-the-shelf aircraft intended to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, is to have a short system development period of about 12 to 18 months. The Army plans to buy 368 of the helicopters.
CONFERENCE: NASA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is hosting the ninth annual Mentor-Protege Conference in Washington on Dec. 1. The program is aimed at giving small and disadvantaged businesses subcontracting opportunities with agency contractors.
Sikorsky's contract to deliver H-92 helicopters to the Canadian Air Force was signed Nov. 23, after a delay caused by an unsuccessful protest by losing bidder AgustaWestland. Canada picked a Sikorsky Aircraft-led team last summer to replace its aging Sea King helicopters. The first of 28 Sikorsky H-92s - the military variant of the company's S-92 - are to be delivered in 2008, with the rest to follow at one-month intervals. The work is worth C$5 billion ($4.2 billion), Sikorsky said.
NATO has signed a memorandum of understanding with the governments of France, Italy and the United Kingdom for 15 years of satellite communications, beginning Jan. 1, the alliance said Nov. 23. The system will be used to support NATO's deployed forces, and will be provided through France's Syracuse, Italy's Sicral and the U.K.'s Skynet satellite constellations. The program will be coordinated through a joint program office in Paris, NATO said. NATO will buy upgrades to its current ground equipment through international competition.
Engineering and design firm Gibbs & Cox Inc. of Arlington, Va., has completed its Phase 1C design studies in its bid to work on Australia's SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer project, the company said Nov. 22. Gibbs & Cox also has submitted a proposal to be the preferred ship designer for Phase 2 of the project. The firm said it won't release details of its offer because the design is part of a competitive selection.
A protest from Geo-Seis Helicopters Inc. of a Navy award for air logistics services was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Nov. 22. Geo-Seis had been doing the work, but Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska Inc. won the new, one-year contract. Geo-Seis complained that Evergreen's proposal for the work was deficient, but the GAO concluded that the Navy's decision was "reasonable."
A competition to upgrade or replace the U.S. Air Force's aging KC-135 tankers could take as little as six months or as long as several years, depending on the option chosen, a service official said Nov. 23. Holding a competition to replace the engines on the KC-135Es, the oldest aircraft in the KC-135 fleet, would take roughly six months, while soliciting and evaluating proposals for a new commercial derivative aircraft, such as a Boeing 767 or Airbus A330, would probably take at least 18 months, said Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur.
Northrop Grumman plans to add 100 engineering, manufacturing engineering, and manufacturing support jobs to its St. Augustine, Fla., facility, which produces equipment for the company's Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems unit. Philip A. Teel, the sector vice president of AEW&EW Systems, said the move was warranted because "for the past few years, our business area has grown significantly." The jobs are expected to be filled by next summer.
Congress has instructed NASA not to close any wind tunnels during fiscal year 2005 and is requiring the agency to restructure its wind tunnel fees to ensure competitiveness with facilities in Europe. "Rates charged to U.S. airframe, engine and component manufacturers are significantly higher than facilities in Europe," says an FY '05 omnibus spending bill, approved by the House and Senate Nov. 20. "The conferees are concerned that the impact of such high fees will drive U.S. companies and jobs overseas and result in the closing of NASA's wind tunnels."
On Nov. 23, Arianespace transferred the Ariane 5 G rocket to be used for the Dec. 10 launch of the Helios IIA spacecraft to the Final Assembly Building at the company's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. In addition to Helios IIA, Flight 165 will orbit six small satellites - four developed by the French defense procurement agency to validate technologies for a future space-based electronic intelligence system; the French space agency's Parasol small satellite; and a Spanish small satellite called Nanosat.
