Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Staff
SERVICES CENTER: NASA on May 9 awarded a 10-year contract worth up to $230 million to Computer Sciences Corp. of Falls Church, Va., to support the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC). The NSSC will be located at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and handle a variety of activities now being done at each NASA center and headquarters. Initial operations of the consolidated NSSC are set for October 2005. Human resources, information technology, procurement and financial management functions will switch to the NSSC from October 2005 through September 2008.

Staff
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) "strongly improved" its financial performance in the first quarter of 2005, mostly driven by improved earnings in the Airbus division, the company said May 9. EADS reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 657 million euros ($840 million), more than triple the 198 million euros reported for the same period in 2004. Revenues grew 16%, to 7 billion euros ($9 billion) due to "strong performance across all divisions," including the defense division, which also grew by 16%.

Staff
Pennsylvania State University is being awarded a $27.7 million task order for work on the Persistent Littoral Undersea Surveillance Network (PLUSNET) concept. PLUSNET is to be a semiautonomous network of fixed bottom and in-water mobile sensors for detecting and tracking diesel electric submarines operating in shallow waters typical of the Western Pacific. The submarines pose a potential threat to U.S. forces stationed offshore near a combat zone.

Marc Selinger
The Bell-Boeing team competing for the U.S. Air Force's Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) program believes its offering could be fielded early because the tiltrotor aircraft would need few modifications to perform the PRV mission.

Staff
Lockheed Martin Corp. was not a member of the AgustaWestland team that competed for the South Korean presidential helicopter program. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. announced May 6 that its S-92 helicopter won that competition over the AgustaWestland EH101, as reported in the May 9 issue of The DAILY. The EH101 is the base of the US101, which in January was chosen over the Sikorsky VH-92 to stock the next fleet of U.S. presidential helicopters.

Michael Bruno
The U.S. aerospace and defense industry responded to the global marketplace and expanded internationally, so U.S. leaders should tread lightly regarding domestic requirements, Lockheed Martin Senior Vice President Robert H. Trice told lawmakers recently on Capitol Hill. The industry last year provided a trade surplus of $32 billion. "If cross-border relationships are anti-American, the defense industry didn't get the memo," he said.

Staff
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is adding forensic auditors to its Office of Special Investigations to create a larger, "high-impact" unit for addressing government programs of concern. The unit, led by GAO's Greg Kutz, will focus on selected high-risk areas within federal agencies and financial management of government programs. The Defense Department has eight high-risk areas of its own, and shares in another six across the government, far more than any other federal entity (DAILY, Jan. 26).

Staff

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Northrop Grumman Corp. has placed a purchase order with Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., to produce the company's first Hunter II unmanned aerial vehicle, Northrop Grumman said May 9. The order will serve as a test and demonstration system, the company said. The Hunter II will be built at Aurora's manufacturing facility in Starkville, Miss.

Staff
MAINTENANCE: CAE Inc. of Montreal has been awarded a 15-year contract worth Canadian $45 million (U.S. $36.3 million) to provide maintenance and support services for the NATO Flying Training in Canada program, the company said May 9. The contract was awarded by Bombardier Military Aviation Training of Mirabel, Quebec. CAE will provide a range of support services for five flight training devices: three T-6A FTDs and one Hawk FTD located at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Moose Jaw, and one Hawk FTD at CFB Cold Lake.

Staff
Defense Solutions LLC will rebuild 77 T-72 main battle tanks and other vehicles for Iraq's army under an agreement with Iraq's Ministry of Defense, the company said May 9. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Led by its Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program, United Industrial Corp. posted a 31.7% gain in net sales and a 195% jump in net income for the first quarter of 2005, the company said May 9. Net sales from continuing operations for the first three months of 2005 rose to $107.5 million, compared with $81.6 million for the same period of 2004, the company said. First quarter 2005 net income rose to $12.7 million, or 84 cents a share, compared with $4.3 million, or 32 cents per share, the year before.

Staff
TANK REPAIRS: General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Mich., has been awarded a $25.2 million delivery order to service M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) tanks returning from Iraq, the company said May 9. The order is part of a $56.3 million contract and was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command. General Dynamics will modify, repair and service the vehicles and reissue them to Army units before their next deployments. The work is set to start in June 2005. It will be done in Lima, Ohio, Eynon, Pa., and Sterling Heights.

Staff
Congress should return NASA's aeronautics budget to 1998 levels to help assure the United States' leadership in aviation, a report by the National Institute for Aerospace says. NASA needs an average five-year annual increase of $885.5 million in its aeronautics budget, the report says, which would roughly double what the agency has requested for aeronautics for fiscal 2006 (DAILY, Feb. 8).

Staff
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a contract protest from Madison Research Corp. (MRC) of Huntsville, Ala., that contended that the Air Force improperly awarded a support contract to COLSA Corp., also based in Huntsville. The contract was for assisting the Air Force in research, developing, acquiring, testing and maintaining aircraft and munition systems at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and other locations.

By Jefferson Morris
As part of its effort to accelerate the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), NASA has advanced the selection of the CEV prime contractor by more than two years, from late 2008 to early 2006.

Staff
DEFENSE SPENDING: The federal government's defense-related outlays through April were about 8% higher than in the same period last year, $273 billion versus $254 billion. That's a rate of growth well below the double-digit increases recorded in the past three fiscal years, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest monthly federal budget review. Including spending from the $82 billion supplemental appropriations measure expected to get Senate approval this week, CBO estimates that fiscal 2005 outlays will total $2.5 trillion.

Michael Bruno
Integrated Coast Guard Systems LLC, the joint venture leading work on the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization effort, is pushing ahead with work despite a growing dispute between the White House and Capitol Hill over funding the program. ICGS, a combination of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., has issued a broad industry announcement (BIA) seeking suppliers with technologies and products that could support Deepwater. The BIA was issued May 4.

Staff
Kaman Corp. of Bloomfield, Conn., posted a 291% jump in net earnings and a 7.3% hike in net sales in the first quarter of 2005, the company said May 6. First quarter '05 net earnings were $4.7 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $1.2 million, or 5 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2004. Net sales for the first quarter of 2005 were $263.3 million, compared with $245.2 million in the first quarter of 2004.