Pratt&Whitney and the U.S. Dept. of Justice have reached an agreement on a 1995 case involving an investigation of fraud in U.S. military aid funds to Israel. P&W said yesterday that it is returning funds to the U.S. government that it has held for several years but never claimed, as well as interest on the money. Similarly, it said, profit it received on certain subcontracts, and interest, is also being returned. It didn't say how much money was involved.
The U.S. Air Force expects Lockheed Martin Vought Systems to face competition for the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System advanced concept technology demonstration program following release of a sources sought notice earlier this year, program official Maj. David Jacques says.
A Russian Zenit 2 booster carrying a Cosmos satellite crashed shortly after launch Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. It said that the engines in the first stage of the liquid fuel rocket switched off in the 48th second of the flight, and that it crashed 15 miles from the launch site. There were no injuries.
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex., has awarded two $4 million contracts to Boeing Space Systems Div. and Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems and Services Inc. to conduct phase one studies on an integrated operations architecture for NASA space operations. The agency said this is the first step in a planned consolidation of communications, command and control, and deep space tracking resources. It said the intent is to cut costs by reducing the management structure.
Despite the threat of losing almost 500 F/A-18E/Fs from its planned 1,000 aircraft buy, the U.S. Navy is satisfied with recommendations of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review because it preserves its ability to shape future tactical aircraft modernization plans.
The British government has delayed until next year the downselect between Hughes Aircraft Co. and Matra British Aerospace for development and production of the Future Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (FMRAAM). John Spellar, the Defense Ministry's parliamentary under secretary of state, told Parliament yesterday of the slip in a written response to questions. FMRAAM is being developed for the Eurofighter as its beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM).
NASA has selected Col. Leonid Kadenyuk of Ukraine as the primary payload specialist on the planned November 1997 launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia as mission STS-87. Kadenyuk, selected as a Russian cosmonaut in 1976, will fly on the fourth U.S. Microgravity Payload flight. He will become the first Ukrainian to fly on the U.S. Space Shuttle. Another Ukrainian, Dr. Yaroslav Pustovyi, has been chosen to serve as an alternate payload specialist.
Moscow and Beijing have reached a preliminary arrangement to jointly develop new types of weapons, Russian Defense Ministry officials told Itar-Tass. China is interested in Russia's "up-to-date" defense technologies, Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, chief of the department for international military cooperation at the Russian Defense Ministry, told the news service. However, he said, not all of China's requests may be permitted by the Russian legislature.
The Pentagon will request less for procurement in fiscal years 1999 and 2000 than projected just three months ago as a result of the Quadrennial Defense Review, released yesterday, but the $60 billion procurement target to be reached by 2001 nominally stays intact.
Hughes Aircraft Co., Fullerton, Calif., is being awarded a $22,325,000 face value increase to a firm fixed price contract to provide for acquisition, test, and installation of four Regional and one Headquarters Earth Stations applicable to the Royal Saudi Air Force Fixed and Mobile Satellite Earth Station Wide Area Network. Contract is expected to be completed April 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This effort supports foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia.
Motorola, Inc., Government Space Systems Div., Scottsdale, Ariz., is being awarded a $5,675,634 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for one Engineering Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Transponder and three Flight Unit TDRSS with diplexer and band reject filter in support of the Space Station. Work will be performed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by July 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with six proposals solicited and two offers received.
Primex Aerospace Co., Redmond, Wash., is being awarded a $22,650,847 firm fixed price contract to provide for 181 Store Management Test Sets applicable to the F-16 aircraft. These sets are used to verify system voltages on the aircraft's armament systems. Contract is expected to be completed June 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were two firms solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began January 1997; negotiations were completed April 1997.
An anti-trust lawsuit by PanAmSat Corp. against Comsat Corp. was dismissed Friday by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, PanAmSat said yesterday. The dismissal affirms a decision of last fall by a U.S. district court judge. PanAmSat said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cited Comsat's immunity from anti-trust laws because it is part of the multi- national Intelsat consortium. The same argument was used by the lower court (DAILY, Oct. 28, 1996).
The Quadrennial Defense Review has failed to place enough emphasis on intelligence, according to the National Defense Panel set up by Congress to critique the Pentagon's six-month long self-evaluation. "As the asymmetric challenges of the future increase the complexity of warfare, the importance of [human intelligence] and other intelligence disciplines will likely grow," the panel says in its report released yesterday. However, it said, "It is not apparent that the QDR has assessed the importance of these systems for the future."
Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is being awarded a $19,373,897 face value increase to a contract to provide for production support activities associated with reconfiguration and launch acceleration of Titan IV Launch Vehicle 13. The work will be performed at Lockheed Martin Corp., Denver, Colo. (40%) and United Technologies Corp., San Jose, Calif. (60%). Contract is expected to be completed May 1997. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
The Army has overstated its Longbow Hellfire missile requirement by more than 8,300 by making computational errors and using questionable assumptions in its calculations, the General Accounting Office reports. Computational errors and use of questionable assumptions have resulted in a potential overstatement of 7,145 missiles, GAO says in "Army Acquisition: Longbow Hellfire Missile Procurement Quantities Significantly Overstated" (GAO/NSIAD-97-93).
LAUNCH OF A DELTA II booster carrying the Thor II communications satellite, scheduled for yesterday, was slipped until today because of bad weather, McDonnell Douglas said. There are two potential launch windows on May 20 of 43 minutes and 51 minutes, respectively, during a 185-minute time period beginning at 6:39 p.m. and ending at 9:45 p.m. EDT.
Hughes Aircraft, Naval and Maritime Systems, Mukilteo, Wash., is being awarded a $6,690,546 cost-plus-award-fee contract to design, produce, and install a fixed shallow water training range consisting of hydrophones and cabling for the Navy's RANGES program. Work will be performed in Mukilteo, Wash., and is expected to be completed by September 1998. Contract funds in the amount of $6,690,546 will have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 57 proposals solicited and two offers received.
ARINC, Annapolis, Md., is being awarded a $16,681,732 cost- plus-fixed-fee contract for Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Engineering Support services. Work will be performed in Panama City Beach, Fla. (92%), and Annapolis, Md. (8%), and is expected to be completed by May 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 101 proposals solicited and four offers received.
EUROCOPTER CONSORTIUM and Intertechnique of France plan what they describe as the first attempt to fly a helicopter nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. The flight, by a single-engine Eurocopter Ecureuil helicopter refueled five times using a system developed by Intertechnique, is scheduled to leave Teterboro, N.J., on June 6 and arrive at Le Bourget Airport near Paris the following day.
Lockheed Martin has held on to its ranking as the top U.S. defense contractor and McDonnell Douglas is second again, according to a list of 100 major Defense Dept. contractors released by the Pentagon. Lockheed Martin won almost $12 billion worth of DOD business during fiscal 1996, an increase of about $1.5 billion over last year's total (DAILY, April 30, 1996). This was the first year the list reflected Lockheed Martin's acquisition of Loral's defense business.
The U.S. is laying the groundwork for another Great Engine War, with lot-by-lot competition to power successive production buys of Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, executives on the Alternate Fighter Engine team said here. General Electric Aircraft Engines, Allison Engine Co. and parent Rolls-Royce are already in talks with the JSF program office covering Phase III of the AFE schedule - turbofan technology maturation - and the companies hope to have a contract in hand before the end of this year.
Bell Helicopter, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $10,343,000 firm fixed price letter contract for retro-fit, Lot VI, for the Kiowa Warrior Aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 15, 1992. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command, St. Louis, Mo. (DAAJ09-97-C-0159).
Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $18,088,722 modification to a firm fixed price and time and materials contract to exercise the option for Lot XIV production of 13 each OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 28, 1996. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command, St. Louis, Mo. (DAAJ09-96-C-0139).
Restructuring the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program will allow it to be more common with the Navy Theater-wide system, according to the Quadrennial Defense Review, released yesterday. "This restructure will improve the stability of the program, lower its risk and allow us to explore increased commonality between the interceptor missiles and kill vehicles used in THAAD and the Navy Theater-Wide system," the QDR says.
