Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Patuxent River, Md., is being awarded a $25,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-96-C-0054 to procure long lead items and materials associated with the manufacture and delivery of a five FY 98 MV-22 low-rate-initial-production aircraft. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Penn. (50%), and Fort Worth, Texas (50%), and is expected to be completed in November 2000. Contract will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas., was awarded on Dec. 12, 1997, a $33,033,579 indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for 961 (estimated quantity) towed decoy pylons applicable to the AN/ALE-50(V)2 countermeasures system on the F-16 aircraft. Funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began February 1997; negotiations were completed November 1997.
McDonnell Douglas Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $177,112,046 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-97-C-0046 to exercise an option to procure 12 AV-8B aircraft for the FY98 production year, integrated logistics support, sustaining engineering, contractor engineering and technical services, publications management contractor support, modification kits, spare and repair parts, program sustaining support, and associated technical, administrative and financial data. Work will be performed in St.
California Microwave, Airborne Systems Integration Division, Belcamp, Md., is being awarded a $10,091,377 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee, cost- plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for definit-ization for purchase and installation of the Airborne Mission Equipment Subsystem (AMES) on two Airborne Reconnaissance Low - Multi-function aircraft. Work will be performed in Hagerstown, Md. (90%); and Belcamp, Md. (10%), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The U.S. Air Force has scrapped plans to enhance seven KC-135R tankers with sophisticated communications equipment for use by the unified commanders-in-chief. The service said in electronic message to industry that "after further review of the CINC support mission," it wouldn't pursue the program. Air Force officials indicate that the move was prompted by congressional pressure.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has ordered the Ministry of Defense to transfer all operations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the civilian Russian Space Agency within two years. The move completes a process that started in August 1994, when the Russian government ordered a split in control of launch and support facilities between the Ministry of Defense and the RSA, which had been established in February 1992.
Swissair will order six additional Airbus A330-200s in the last quarter of 1999 and nine A340-600s in 2002, according to SAirGroup, the Swiss airline's parent company. The group also took 23 options on aircraft from the A330/340 family. Swissair is investing 2.1 billion Swiss francs (US$1.5 billion) in a fleet renewal program starting in the fall of 1998. Beginning next September, it will replace eight A310s with nine A330-200s.
Fairchild Corp. plans to retire all its public debt after a redemption in early 1998 of $238.6 million in high yield debentures. The company said the debt will be retired through a combination of the redemptions, recent asset sales, completion of a three million share primary stock offering and a new credit facility.
Congress is likely to get an early request from the Clinton Administration for a supplemental appropriation, perhaps as early as February, congressional appropriations sources said yesterday. The new session of Congress starts in late January, with the House returning on Jan. 26 and the Senate on Jan. 27, the day of President Clinton's State of the Union address.
Arete Associates, Sherman Oaks, Calif., is being awarded a $7,891,437 cost- plus-fixed-fee contract for the development of a ruggedized version of the Streak Tube Imaging Lidar (STIL) for mine identification. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $9,288,563. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by January 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through a Broad Agency Announcement.
NASA officials yesterday disputed a Florida congressman's contention that the agency's Space Shuttle operations prime contractor plans to cut about 600 workers in his district, saying any final cuts will come only after a review of the impact of the cuts on Shuttle safety.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Rolling Meadows, Ill., was awarded on Dec. 12, 1997, an $8,618,154 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 5 shipsets of the AN/ALQ-135 Internal Countermeasures Set in support of the F-15E aircraft. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-95/C-0064, P00011).
Turkish Airlines will receive 49 Boeing 737-800 airliners under an agreement signed last week at the White House. The package, announced in October, includes 26 firm orders and 23 options with a total value of $2.5 billion.
Russia's Progress M-37 cargo vehicle, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz-U rocket Saturday, docked with the Mir space station yesterday carrying supplies for the crew and a new gasket to seal a leaky airlock hatch. The Progress capsule also delivered consumables and equipment for an upcoming French visit now scheduled for February. Overall the craft carried 2.5 metric tons of cargo to Mir. The new gasket will be installed in a planned spacewalk Dec. 30.
The U.S. Navy is launching a program to develop an engine to replace the Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle's current powerplant. "The primary objective of the replacement propulsion and power system is to be a form, fit and function replacement for the current [Fichtel&Sachs] SF2-350 engine with improved reliability and performance," Naval Air Systems Command said in a message on its electronic contracting site. After testing, the engine will be certified for use on the Pioneer.
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $99,060,000 ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded contract N00019-97-C-0179, to exercise an option to procure 12 additional AH-1W helicopters and logistics support for the Taiwan Army under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by February 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Shareholders of BFGoodrich Co. and Rohr Inc. yesterday approved the $1.3 billion merger of the two companies, BFGoodrich said. Rohr shareholders will receive 0.7 shares of BFGoodrich common stock for each share of Rohr common stock owned. David L. Burner, BFGoodrich chairman and chief executive officer, said "The merger makes us a stronger competitor and allows us to expand our capabilities to provide customers with integrated aircraft systems and services."
In their final launches of 1997, a European Ariane 4 sent the latest Intelsat communications satellite on its way to geostationary orbit Sunday while a U.S. Delta II orbited another five satellites for the Iridium low- Earth orbit communications constellation Saturday. The Ariane 42L was launched at 7:17 p.m. EST Sunday from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou. It carried Intelsat 804, destined for service over the Indian Ocean region.
Executive Jet Inc. ordered 24 Falcon 2000 business jets worth $500 million from Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. for the company's NetJets aircraft fractional ownership program. Delivery of the jets will begin in the first quarter of 1999. In the last three years, Executive Jet has ordered 250 new aircraft worth $3.5 billion for its fractional ownership program.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. plans to orbit eight Orbcomm "little LEO" communications satellites today on a Pegasus XL launch delayed earlier this month when the FAA suspended the company's launch license. The company's L- 1011 carrier plane, flying from Wallops Flight Facility, Va., is scheduled to release the winged booster over the Atlantic at about 2 p.m. EST, triggering a launch and deployment sequence the company said will take about an hour. Originally scheduled for Dec.
Smiths Industries Aerospace said its first production crash survivable solid state recorder system for the U.S. Army is being installed on several helicopters. It said the service is installing the Voice and Data Recorder (VADR) on the AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk, OH-58 Kiowa Warrior and CH-47 Chinook. The system recently was installed on Great Britain's version of the AH-64 Longbow Apache, the WAH-64. SIA, Grand Rapids, Mich., has firm orders for VADR with backlogs to 2003.
Defense ministers of Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain signed an agreement in Bonn yesterday for production of the Eurofighter 2000. Two memorandums containing provisions for the start of production of 620 of the fighters were signed by the four ministers.
MAG AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES INC., Compton, Calif., is being sold to Zodiac S.A. of Paris by Castle Harlan of New York. The transaction is valued at $180 million. MAG Aerospace supplies vacuum and recirculating sanitation systems for commercial and commuter aircraft, and has a significant share of this market for trains and buses. Zodiac makes aircraft passenger seats and escape chutes, helicopter floats, flexible fuel tanks and parachute systems.
Data Link Solutions, a Limited Liability Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $5,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00039-96-C-0038 for the Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) - Fighter Data Link (FDL) program. The contractor will configure, test, certify, and deliver six MIDS FDL Common Configuration Terminals for the Air Combat Command's F-15 Eagle platform.
