The House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations passed a fiscal year 1998 foreign operations bill of $12.2 billion, $4.6 billion less than the president's request. The bill differs substantially from the Senate version, which provides $16.7 billion, nearly the amount requested. The Senate bill has passed full committee and is slated to move to the floor soon after Congress returns from July 4 recess on July 7. The full House Appropriations Committee must approve the subcommittee bill.
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY of U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS operations at Tinker AFB, Okla., was celebrated last weekend at the base by the 552nd Air Control Wing.
On June 25, 1997, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) awarded a contract for U.S.-Israel Boost Phase Intercept System (IBIS) Risk Mitigation to Wales, Ltd of Israel. The total contract value is $34.020 million, of which the U.S. share is $25.515 million and the Israeli share is $8.505 million. This is a sole source contract to Wales, Ltd under a cooperative arrangement between the U.S. and the Israeli Ministry of Defense for follow-on risk mitigation work on the IBIS program.
The U.S. Army plans to upgrade the radar on some of its RC-7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low-Multifunction planes to increase their intelligence gathering capabilities.
A version of the U.S. Navy's ship-defense Standard Missile-2 is expected to be test fired as a target for other missiles later this summer, and at the same time demonstrate its potential use in the ground attack mode. The test firing, known as the near-term demo, is slated to take place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., but an exact date hasn't been set, an industry official said.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., McDonnell Aircraft Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $230,000,000 advanced acquisition contract for long lead items for the Fiscal Year 1998 Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP II) of F/A-18E/F aircraft. The exact quantity of aircraft to be procured in FY-98 will be in accordance with the final resolution of the National Defense Authorizations Act and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for 1998. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (64%), and Hawthorne, Calif. (36%), and is expected to be completed by November 2000.
The U.S. Army plans initial operational test&evaluation (IOT&E) of the first of several parts of the Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Common Sensor (IEWCS) in spring 1998, the service's program manager for signals warfare said yesterday.
Lockheed Martin wants to make at least three successful intercepts with the Theater High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) missile in five tries by late next year. So far, the missile has failed in four attempts to intercept a target. The goal was described in a letter to Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House National Security research and development subcommittee.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $18,828,428 modification to definitize the advanced acquisition contract to support the FY94 Flight Test Program for the F/A- 18C/D aircraft to a firm-fixed-price contract. This contract involves purchases for the government of Switzerland under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program. Work was performed in St. Louis, Mo. (67%), and Hawthorne, Calif. (33%), and was completed in December 1996. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year.
Battlespace, Inc., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $5,065,658 cost-plus- fixed-fee term contract for engineering services to support the development of an interoperable Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) Tactical Control System (TCS). Work will be performed in Arlington, Va. (80%), San Diego, Calif. (10%), and Norfolk, Va. (10%), and is expected to be completed by June 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, Ft. Worth, Texas, was awarded on June 20, an $81,956,858 firm fixed price contract to provide for six F-16C aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed December 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Solicitation began September 1996; negotiations were completed June 1997. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-96/C-0034).
The U.S. Air Force has successfully tested an improved Rafael/Lockheed Martin AGM-142 standoff missile at Eglin AFB, Fla. The test, on June 18, was "a perfect mission," Frank Robbins, the AF's director of the precision strike system program office, said in an interview. The test follows several captive carry missions and is expected to be the only firing to support the product improvement known as Product Enhancement Program (PEP) II.
United Technologies Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., is being awarded a $485,000,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for kits to upgrade the F100-PW and 200 engines to the F100-PW-22E configuration for use on the F-15 and F-16 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed June 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one proposal received. Solicitation began March 1997; negotiations were completed June 1997.
The U.S. Air Force is looking for a contractor to demonstrate the ability to precisely strike a target almost anywhere on the globe with a non-nuclear earth penetrating weapon that would travel at about 4,000 feet per second, the Phillips Laboratory said in a July 1 Commerce Business Daily notice.
The Joint Strike Fighter program office is initiating a competition for about $2.8 million worth of research and development work for prognostics and health management systems for early detection of engine and electronic failures.
AAI/Engineering Support Inc., Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded on June 24, a $26,028,628 cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for concurrency upgrades to two suites of Maintenance Training Devices in support of the C- 17 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed June 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 18 firms solicited and five proposals received. Solicitation began February 1997; negotiations were completed June 1997.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Bethpage, N.Y., is being awarded a $42,256,912 firm-fixed-price contract for the fabrication and installation of 10 EA-6B Wing Center Sections. Work will be performed in St. Augustine, Fla., and is expected to be completed by June 2000. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (N00019-97-C-0020).
The U.S. Marine Corps isn't planning to retire its KC-130F aerial tankers ahead of time because indications they might be aging faster than expected aren't holding up. Earlier this year, a Marine maintenance depot reported more fatigue and corrosion on a KC-130F than expected (DAILY, March 21). That led officials to consider retiring the planes ahead of schedule rather than paying increasingly large maintenance bills to keep them flying.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) lost contact with its Advanced Earth Orbiting Satellite (ADEOS) yesterday and said there was little chance it will be regained.
Hughes Training, Inc., Dallas/Ft. Worth Int'l Airport, Texas, is being awarded a $28,272,487 firm-fixed-price w/award fee contract to provide for on-site/on-call Contractor Logistics Support and Training System Support Center support through September 2002 for training systems associated with the F-15 aircraft. The work will be performed at the Government furnished Simulator/Training facilities for the F-15 aircraft at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Contract is expected to be completed September 2002.
Boeing North American, Inc., Seal Beach, Calif., was awarded on June 20, a $216,479,859 cost plus award fee contract to provide for the Defensive System Upgrade Program in support of the B-1B aircraft. This program will upgrade the aircraft's electronic countermeasures system. The work will be performed at Boeing Defense&Space Group, Seattle, Washington. Contract is expected to be completed February 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Solicitation began September 1996; negotiations were completed May 1997.
Electronic Data Systems has won a contract to supply Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with a satellite-based air traffic control system that promises to increase the efficiency of aircraft movements between Europe and North America. The #53 million deal, signed Thursday, is the first to be awarded by Britain's Labor government under the "Private Finance Initiative" (PFI), whereby no public-sector capital investment is involved.
NASA has cleared the Space Shuttle Columbia to launch on a 16-day microgravity science mission tomorrow after analysis showed its tail structure, while weaker than the other three Shuttle orbiters, is not endangered by the environment it will face.
