The fiscal 1997 defense appropriations act freezes the status of the Joint Missile Defense Program Office as part of the Army Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., and requires the Defense Dept. to submit a report to Congress justifying its planned consolidation of the JMD in the office of Under Secretary of Defense Paul G. Kaminski.
BOEING DEFENSE AND SPACE GROUP, Seattle, received an $8.1 million increase to a contract for redesign of the Electronic Support Measure Interface Unit and Computer Processor (IU/CP) on the E-3 AWACS aircraft. The contract, announced Sept. 30 by the Dept. of Defense, was awarded by the Air Force's Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
LOCKHEED MARTIN, Fort Worth, Tex., received a $9.6 million contract for risk reduction effort and test articles as follows: 30 16S350 pylons applicable to the F-16 aircraft, and 43 magazines and 30 launcher/controllers applicable to the AN/ALE-50(V)2 countermeasures system applicable to the F-16. The contract, announced Sept. 24, was from the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center. The Defense Dept. said the work will be performed at E-Systems Goleta Div. (65%) as well as Lockheed Martin, Fort Worth, Tex. (15%) and various other locations.
Engineers at Kennedy Space Center have decided to replace the two forward windows on the Space Shuttle Columbia out of fear they may not be structurally sound, a move that may impact the scheduled Nov. 8 STS-80 mission to refly the Wake Shield Facility. A KSC spokesman said Friday replacing the windows will add about a week to the time Columbia must spend in the Orbiter Processing Facility. Columbia was to have been rolled to the Vehicle Assembly Building yesterday.
LOCKHEED MARTIN will take an F-16 fighter to Hungary later this year for an in-country demonstration as it continues to court business from former Eastern Bloc nations. The F-16 will be leased from Spangdahlem AB, Germany. Lockheed Martin has already taken an F-16 to the Czech Republic and Poland. Also competing for Eastern European business are McDonnell Douglas with the F/A-18, Sweden with the Gripen and France with the Dassault Mirage 2000-5.
LOCKHEED MARTIN Tactical Systems Co., Akron, Ohio, won a $5.2 million modification to a contract for AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning Set components, including 178 AN/AAR-47 Computer Processors (Navy 124, Air Force 54), 223 AN/AAR-47 Control Indicators (Navy 169, Air Force 54), and 430 AN/AAR-47 Optical Sensor Converters (Navy 214, Air Force 216). The Dept. of Defense, announced the contract Sept. 23. It was awarded by Naval Air Systems Command.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS, Kilgore Operations, Toone, Tenn., won a $15.1 million contract Sept. 30 from the U.S. Army Armaments, Munitions and Chemical Command for 656,496 MJU-7A/B infrared flares.
The U.S. Air Force's Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) got approval from the Pentagon's acquisition chief to enter engineering and manufacturing development. Paul Kaminski signed the acquisition decision memorandum last Thursday, an Air Force spokesman said. All program issues were resolved earlier last week in a pre-Defense Acquisition Board meeting, eliminating the need for the formal DAB to convene, he said.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) will soon launch a development program aimed at building small satellites to meet the rising demand for such platforms worldwide. NASDA said it hopes to launch a five-foot-high, 1,100 pound smallsat by 22001. The program will also develop a smaller platform measuring 20 by 20 inches for piggyback launches. As many as four such mini-satellites could be carried to orbit in a space between the second stage and the payload bay of the H-II launch vehicle, along with a normal payload.
U.S. NAVY'S Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 137 (VAQ-137) was reactivated Oct. 3 at NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., under command of Cdr. Ronald C. Plucker. The squadron, commissioned in 1973 and disestablished in 1994, is back as the third of five new EA-6B squadrons to be commissioned in response to retirement of the Air Force EF-111 tactical jamming aircraft. The Navy said VAQ-137 will transition next February to operational control of Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1), and will begin training for deployment aboard the USS George Washington (CVN 73).
Hughes Aircraft Co. won a $13.1 million contract to upgrade operations of the U.S. Air Force Combat Climatology Center. The three-phase, two-and- a-half year program calls for Hughes Information Technology Systems, Bellevue, Neb., to replace the mainframe computers at Scott AFB, Ill., and the Asheville, N.C., operations.
MARTIN ELECTRONICS, INC., Perry, Fla., got a $16.8 million contract for 437,664 MJU-7A/B infrared flares and 417,500 M206 infrared flares. The Defense Dept. announced the contract on Sept. 30. It was awarded by the U.S. Army Armaments, Munitions and Chemical Command.
KAMAN SCIENCES CORP., Colorado Springs, Colo., won a $5.4 million Naval Research Laboratory contract for technical research, analysis and computer programming support for a variety of electronic warfare research and development activities. The Dept. of Defense announced the contract on Sept. 26.
RAYTHEON E-SYSTEMS, Goleta, Calif., received a $6.1 million contract for 120 AN/ALE-50 decoy assemblies for the U.S. Air Force and 200 mass models (decoy dummies) for the U.S. Navy (150), and the U.S. Air Force (50). The contract, awarded by Naval Air Systems Command and announced Sept. 25, combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force (90%), and the U.S. Navy (10%).
Top Pentagon acquisition officials yesterday approved the Marine Corps plan to upgrade the AH-1 Cobra helicopter with a new four-bladed rotor system, but deferred the more controversial decision to upgrade the Marines' UH-1N Hueys with the same rotor system. Pentagon officials in a Defense Acquisition Board readiness meeting early yesterday approved modification of around 183 AH-1Ws. The program includes the four-bladed rotor system, new drive trains and hydraulic systems, sources told The DAILY.
September 30, 1996 Rockwell International Corporation Rockwell International Corporation, Richardson, Texas, is being awarded a $7,061,134 face value increase to a firm fixed price contract to provide for upgrade of the Bus Interface Unit on four E-4B aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed September 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity (F34601-87/C-3142, P00096).
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a motion yesterday by Honeywell to delay the return of Litton's patent infringement suit against Honeywell to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for a new trial on financial damages owed to Litton. In related antitrust litigation decided in July, the district court upheld a jury verdict that Honeywell attempted to monopolize the commercial market for inertial reference systems used to navigate aircraft. The judge ordered a new trial to establish the amount of damages payable to Litton by Honeywell.
