NASA has decided to proceed with a proposal by Italy to build two pressurized nodes for the International Space Station in a three-way barter deal that will give the European Space Agency a free ride to space for its Columbus laboratory module and will allow Italy to make up some of the industrial return deficit it has accumulated with ESA.
Raytheon E-Systems, Richardson, Texas, is being awarded an $18,485,999 firm-fixed-price contract to procure one Frequency Surveillance System (FSS) for the U.S. Army. Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas, and is expected to be completed by November 2000. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 47 proposals solicited and one offer received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61339-97-C-0030).
Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla., won a $72 million follow-on contract from the U.S. Army for advanced avionics for the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, Harris announced. The original contract began in 1991, and the follow-on increases the value to $170 million. The work involves integrating new technology on the fiber-optics networks and computer processing involved in performance of the helicopter.
McDonnell Douglas and three Israeli partners will demonstrate an advanced terrestrial solar power plant for commercial applications under a $5.3 million grant from the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission (USISTC). Under the arrangement between USISTC, McDonnell Douglas, Ormat Industries Ltd., Rotem Industries Ltd, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, a 300-400 kilowatt system will be built at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. The deal was announced yesterday at Huntsville, Ala.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $8,743,626 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-94-C-0058 for five composite horizontal stabilators for T-45A aircraft and to fabricate and furnish 49 retrofit stabilators and related hardware. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by October 1999. Contract funds in the amount of $809,595 would have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.
Less than a month after Greenwich Air Services Inc. and UNC unveiled plans to create a $1.8 billion maintenance and repair powerhouse (DAILY, Feb. 18), General Electric moved to acquire them both for about $1.5 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.
Raytheon Electronics Systems will produce 385 AIM-120B/C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) under a $133.6 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center Air-to-Air Joint Systems Program Office, Eglin AFB, Fla., Raytheon announced. The contract includes delivery of associated spares and services. Raytheon has made, or is under contract to make, more than 4,550 AMRAAMs.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems completed in-flight refueling demonstrations of the C-130J airlifter, the company announced Friday. A flight test crew, using the first of 25 C-130J-30s ordered by the U.K. Ministry of Defense for the Royal Air Force, completed the first ever air-to-air refueling of the advanced technology Hercules. Lockheed Martin said the test was accomplished in two flights using an RAF VC-10 tanker over the Atlantic Ocean east of Charleston, S.C.
Computing Analyses Corp., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $12,013,660 increment as part of a $43,051,484 cost plus fixed fee contract for management information support services (computers). Work will be performed in Arlington, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 5, 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 43 bids solicited on Aug. 15, 1996, and one bid was received. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Information Systems Command, Fort Huachuca, Ariz. (DABT63-97-C-0004).
The Hughes AGM-65H Maverick missile with an improved TV seeker has passed U.S. Air Force operational testing, clearing the way for an initial 1,400 AGM-65Bs to be upgraded to the new configuration. "We met all [test] objectives," Lt. Col. Mark Billingham, AGM-65H program manager said in a telephone interview. The AGM-65H had to at least meet performance requirements of the "B" variant of the air-to-surface missile and "in most cases exceeded them," he said.
The Boeing Co. team developing the Airborne Laser for the U.S. Air Force has been given the go-ahead to begin building hardware for the laser. Team member TRW, responsible for the laser itself, reported yesterday that the AF approved the concept of the Flight-weight Laser Module (FLM).
The Arsenal Ship concept being demonstrated in a U.S. Navy fleet experiment includes the most advanced land-attack missiles in the service's plans, Navy officials said. Lt. Ross Mitchell, Third Fleet cruise missile officer, said in a telephone interview from the command ship USS Coronado that the Arsenal ship, which would carry a load of surface-to-surface missiles, is represented by the destroyer USS Benfold in the ongoing Marine Corps "Hunter Warrior" exercise.
Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Arlington, Va., is being awarded an $8,597,007 ceiling-priced order for 14 types of long-lead spares for V-22 Osprey aircraft. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Philadelphia, Pa., and is expected to be completed by July 1999. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-97-G-002N) (Order 0002).
Litton Industries Inc., Woodland Hills, Calif., completed its acquisition of SAI Technology (SAIT), a division of Science Applications International Corp., Litton announced yesterday. SAIT, La Jolla, Calif., provides and integrates commercial off-the- shelf mobile computing equipment and systems, and has annual sales of about $90 million
THE U.S. NAVY'S F/A-18E/F strike fighter program has received the endorsement of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, a Navy official told The DAILY. The program came up for review last Friday during a JROC meeting on tactical aviation. The endorsement sets the stage for a favorable Defense Acquisition Board review later this month, the official said.
FIRST BELL BOEING V-22 aircraft built in the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the program flew in airplane mode for the first time March 6, the team said. The flight, at Arlington, Tex., came a month after first flight on Feb. 5. Bell Boeing said the rotor system was incrementally moved from helicopter mode to airplane mode, starting at 60 degrees nacelle angle, moving to 30 degrees, then 10 degrees, and then zero.
An Atlas IIA booster launched the TEMPO direct broadcast satellite early Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., after three days of delays because of bad weather and technical problems with both the Lockheed Martin rocket and the satellite control center in Palo Alto, Calif. The Space Systems/Loral FS-1300 platform lifted off shortly after 1 a.m. EST Saturday en route to its geostationary transfer orbit.
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL said it won a $15.7 million production contract from the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., for the KC-135 avionics upgrade program. In October 1995, a Rockwell team won a $35 million contract for the C/KC-135 Pacer CRAG (Compass, Radar and Global positioning system) upgrade of more than 600 aircraft. Rockwell delivered three fully upgraded KC-135s in October 1995. The potential value of the contract is more than $250 million.
The Pentagon's decision to launch its first Space-Based Infrared System-Low in fiscal 2004 means the choice between teams led by TRW and Boeing won't take place until FY '00, according to the Air Force. Congress initially ordered a first launch in 2002, and last year the AF said that would have meant an EMD downselect in FY '99. But now the Pentagon says a FY '02 launch carries too much risk, noting that even a launch in FY '04 makes SBIRS-Low - formerly known as the Space and Missile Tracking System (SMTS) - a "high-risk" program.
Chile's Phalcon airborne early warning system isn't about to be used in the war on drugs, says Clark. "The Chileans don't feel that they need to put their military in support of their police force" for counterdrug operations.
NRO is conducting a regular schedule of rigorous quarterly financial and performance reviews, Hall says. He tells members of the Senate Armed Services Committee he is confident NRO has the tools to avoid financial management problems. The agency is "painfully aware of the difficulties" it had in the past, he says. The "previous NRO had Army, Navy and Air Force accounting systems that didn't speak to each other," he says. "We can't work it that way in the new NRO."
Malaysia Airlines signed a memorandum to order up to 15 777-200X airliners if Boeing Co.'s board approves a production go-ahead for the type. The -200X, with higher thrust engines, would have a range of 9,800 statute miles compared to the 8,225 miles of the -200IGW (increased gross weight), the first of which was delivered last month to British Airways. Dan Heidt, senior VP of Boeing, said Malaysia is the "first of what is expected to be a large number of leading global airlines to announce their intent to purchase the new 777X."
The House National Security Committee in a few weeks will release a report on readiness, says Chairman Floyd Spence (R-S.C.). He says several members have been visiting U.S. military bases and facilities, interviewing everyone from the top generals to the soldiers in the field to their spouses.
Revenues of the French aerospace industry jumped to 108.4 billion French francs in 1996, up 7.2% compared with the previous year, and says another 7% increase is expected in 1997. The share of the military sector continues to dwindle, and civilian sales continue to grow. Civilian sales represented 59% of the total last year, compared with 54% in 1995 and 33% a decade ago.
