The U.S. Marine Corps' ranking aviation executive said yesterday that the program to remanufacture older AV-8B day attack aircraft to the AV-8B II radar-equipped night attack configuration has cut the Harrier accident rate in half, and appealed to a House National Security subcommittee to increase the conversion rate.
With the House National Security Committee's procurement and research and development subcommittees working toward markup of their portions of the fiscal 1997 authorization on April 30, the parade of lobbyists is well underway, and many are former congressmen. Former Rep. Marvin Leath, the Texas Democrat who came close to defeating the late Les Aspin in a Democratic Caucus vote for the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee, is a registered lobbyist and has Lockheed Martin, Thiokol and United Defense among his clients.
NEGOTIATORS meeting in Europe to try to get France to sign a memorandum of understanding on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program broke off talks yesterday, but plan to continue today, a Pentagon spokeswoman said. Germany, Italy and the U.S. stand ready to sign a statement of intent in support of the program (DAILY, April 16). Officials say France wants at least another month to decide whether it will join the program or bow out.
TRW INC. has completed a 384-band hyperspectral imager that will be flown on NASA's "Lewis" satellite later this year. The instrument is expected to provide much more detailed data than existing multispectral imagers, which image the earth in only a few wide color bands. Company officials said the new device should be able to distinguish between types of trees and identify minerals within its 30-meter spatial resolution.
Monthly financial reports of the Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF) didn't fully disclose $5.4 billion in adjustments made to the fund's accounts receivable and payable balances, a General Accounting Office report concluded. GAO said that DBOF's managers don't have "timely, accurate and complete data" on cash balances for individual business areas.
PRESSURE SYSTEMS INC., City of Commerce, Calif., said it has shipped to TRW a 22-inch-diameter titanium tank for Taiwan's Rocsat-1 scientific satellite. PSI said the tank will dispense hydrazine propellant for station-keeping to maintain the satellite's orbit of 324 miles. TRW Space and Electronics Group developed Rocsat-1 for the Republic of China's National Space Program Office. Its launch, scheduled for April 1998, will be Taiwan's first space launch.
General Electric Aircraft Engines formally launched development of a 100,000 lbst. version of its big new GE90 turbofan, dubbed the GE90-100B, aimed at certification in 1999, but for now the engine's only apparent application is growth versions of Boeing's 777 widebody twin. "The airlines have made clear that they require higher thrust GE90 versions to maximize the 777's capability," said GE90 program chief Russ Sparks yesterday in a prepared statement.
Northrop Grumman yesterday announced the appointment of William O. Brackney and Wylie B. Smith Jr. vice presidents of its Electronic Sensors and Systems Div., Baltimore, acquired from Westinghouse earlier this year. Brackney will become VP for business operations with responsibility for technical services, logistics and capital resources, material, contracts, business development and planning, domestic marketing, quality assurance and reengineering. He previously served as VP for business management for Northrop Grumman's B-2 program.
JOHNS HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY brought in the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) science satellite for NASA $3.6 million under budget. Launched Feb. 17 after a 26-month development cycle under the agency's "faster-better-cheaper" Discovery program, the actual cost of NEAR was about $108.4 million. The contract to develop the spacecraft was awarded based on an estimated cost of $112 million in 1992 dollars.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Naval Systems Division, Cleveland, Ohio, is being awarded a $15,191,650 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-95-C-6190 to exercise an option for 150 Mk. 48 ADCAP MODS guidance and control kits, 150 Mk. 48 MODS torpedo propulsion upgrade kits, 150 exercise fuel tank upgrade kits, and proofing support. Work will be performed in Cleveland, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by July 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
The U.S. Air Force's Space&Missiles Systems Center intends to consolidate the existing six contracts for Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft and sensor production into two new contracts, one with Aerojet and one with TRW. The center said in an April 15 Commerce Business Daily notice that it is negotiating with the two companies, and that it intends to release a formal solicitation on April 29.
Hughes Aircraft Company, El Segundo, California, is being awarded a $7,853,839 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, time and material contract for the acquisition of an infrared sensor to be mounted on top of a Type 22 periscope on a 688 class submarine. This contract contains options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of the contract to $34,507,008. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by January 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Kaman Aerospace Corp. has won a second contract to demonstrate the ability of its commercial K-MAX "aerial truck" helicopter to resupply U.S. Navy ships. As part of this second vertical replenishment (VERTREP) demonstration contract, Kaman will fly two of the helicopters for about a 30-day period with an option for additional 180 days, the company said. Total contract value to support Military Sealift Command, including options, is about $5.7 million.
Raytheon Company, Equipment Division, Sudbury, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $7,789,411 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the close-down of the Trident II (D5) Mk. 6 Electronic Assembly (EA) Production Program at the Raytheon Company to include the delivery of associated guidance systems equipment, government furnished material, government furnished equipment, and related items. Work will be performed in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by October 1997. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Dynamics Research Corporation, Andover, Maryland, is being awarded an increment (appropriation number and dollar value will be issued with each task order) as part of a $33,000,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (task order) contract for programmatic and technical support services (contracted consulting services) in support of the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri and Andover, Maryland in accordance with task order requirements, and is expected to be completed in April, 2001.
McDonnell Douglas Corporation, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded a $7,971,655 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-89-C-0107 for the procurement, integration, and installation of additional alternate mission equipment for the Kuwait Air Force's F/A-18 program under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by December 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
TRW will build 19 Battlefield Combat Identification Systems (BCIS) for the U.S. Army under a $6.5 million contract, the company said yesterday. It said the systems will support upcoming force demonstrations.
Japanese residents around the U.S. Air Force base at Yokota last week filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. and Japanese governments on noise pollution, marking the first such suit brought directly against the U.S. Some 3,138 residents living around the base filed their suit April 10 in Tokyo's District Court. Six previous cases were filed against the Japanese government for noise from U.S. military aircraft, but this time the U.S. government itself is being challenged.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Electronic Systems Group, Baltimore, Maryland, is being awarded a $11,604,570 firm fixed price contract modification for Post Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) Support for the implementation of necessary software design changes and enhancements into the existing E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Radar System Improvement Program software baseline. This also provides for maintenance support of the System Integration Laboratory. Contract is expected to be completed in September 1997.
The U.S. Air Force plans on about April 29 to release its call for the move into the next phase of the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program. The engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase will result in a downselect from the current two competitors to one.
The U.S. Air Force isn't likely to pursue an effort to make the Joint Direct Attack Munition more accurate than already planned, leaving the program office with a much diminished product improvement budget.
Textron Marine and Land Systems, New Orleans, Louisiana, is being awarded a $28,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-93-C-2202 to provide design, development, installation and testing of modifications to Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) and LCAC system components. Work will be performed in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is expected to be completed by December 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Vitro Corp., a subsidiary of Tracor, Inc., said yesterday it plans to buy the Aegis ship system business of Litton subsidiary PRC. The value of the contract wasn't disclosed, but Tracor said the sale is expected to be completed by the end of April, subject to certain approvals. Litton earlier this year purchased PRC for about $425 million in cash from Black&Decker Corp. PRC, an information technology company based in McLean, Va., had estimated 1995 sales of about $720 million.
Analysis&Technology, Incorporated, North Stonington, Connecticut, and GPS Technologies, Incorporated, Middletown, Rhode Island, are being awarded a $34,225,269 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee provisions contract for engineering and technical services to support Seawolf non-propulsion electronics and New Attack Submarine Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Systems Programs. The total estimated level of effort is 871,425 hours. Work will be performed in Newport, Rhode Island, and is expected to be completed by April 2001.
GE Aircraft Engines will study a new 51,000 lbst.-class engine concept for Airbus Industrie's planned stretch of the A340 under an "exclusive" arrangement unveiled yesterday that mirrors a similar deal worked out a year ago between the European consortium and Pratt&Whitney covering the Advanced Ducted Prop, or ADP. The airplane Airbus has in mind would carry 375 passengers some 7,000 nautical miles with entry into service early in the next decade. The A340- 600 would be a 20-frame stretch to accommodate another 75 passengers without sacrificing range.
