Hughes beat out Lockheed Martin to build and deliver simulator systems to support the U.S. Army's Force XXI modernization plan under a contract that could be worth $53 million. Arlington, Tex.-based Hughes Training received a $16.8 million cost plus incentive fee contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Battle Lab Reconfigurable Simulator Initiative (BLRSI) program, with options for another $36 million, the company said Friday.
Malaysia Airlines, as expected, has selected Boeing for a major air transport order, while United Airlines has ordered two more 747-400s. The Malaysian carrier ordered 15 777-200s and -300s and 10 747-400s valued at $4 billion. It also took options on three more 747s and two more 777s. Deliveries are to begin next year and continue through 2001. The 777s will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines and the 747s by Pratt&Whitney turbofans.
January 2, 1996 GEC-Marconi Systems Corporation, Wayne, New Jersey, is being awarded a $6,088,000 face value increase to a firm fixed price contract for 10 Class 2/2H Terminals applicable to the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS). Contract is expected to be completed September 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic System Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (F19628-95/C0056, P0004).
Boeing reached tentative agreement Friday on two four-year collective bargaining contracts with the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association (SPEEA) that represents 22,000 engineers and technical workers. SPEEA began contract negotiations with Boeing 11 months ago. Agreement on benefits had already been reached, and the final days of talks focused on wages and compensation issues.
There's one soft spot in the booming electronics industry: defense/commercial guidance systems. Although overall industry employment rose 5.6% to 2.5 million from September 1994 to September 1995, according to an American Electronics Association survey, the guidance segment dropped 9.1% to 182,300. The big winner? Computer programming and services, up 13.7% to 274,000 for the year.
HOUSTON ASSOCIATES, Silver Spring, Md., won an $11.5 million contract for integration, installation, operation and maintenance of the Defense Simulation Internet for the Advanced Information Technology Services Joint Program Office. The contract, awarded Dec. 22 by the Defense Information Services Agency National Capital Region, covers $5.7 million for a nine- month base period plus three three-month option periods.
A medical database developed since the Persian Gulf conflict will enable Army doctors on the scene in Bosnia to tap into the expertise of medical experts back in the United States to diagnose casualties of the forces now deployed, according to Lt. Gen. Alcide M. LaNoue, surgeon general of the Army.
Up-to-the-minute information on the military operations in Bosnia is now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.dtic.dla.mil/bosnia/. Known as BosniaLINK, the Web site contains operation maps, fact sheets, etc., and is hyperlinked to NATO and State Dept. information services. Bosnia information is also available on the multipurpose DOD site, DefenseLINK, at http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/.
RAYTHEON CO.'s Electronic Systems Div., Bedford, Mass., on Dec. 7 received two contract from U.S. Army Missile Command totaling $17 million for new equipment training on the Patriot missile system for Kuwait.
First flight of Europe's big new Ariane V booster has been targeted for May 7, 1996, after a successful qualification test of the cryogenic main stage Dec. 15 at the space center in Kourou, French Guiana. The European Space Agency says the stage fired without problems for 10 minutes, 29 seconds. A second qualification test of the main stage is planned this month, ESA said.
The U.S. Army was very pleased with the performance of the RAH-66 Comanche in last week's first flight even though the aircraft only spent about 30 minutes airborne. Brig. Gen. James R. Snider said Friday in an interview that in their debriefing, the pilot described Comanche as "the smoothest helo he's ever flown." The Boeing-Sikorsky built prototype had little vibration and certainly less vibration than helicopters currently in production, he said.
The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp. an $11.6 million contract to build and operate a seismic network worldwide. The Global Seismograph Network, headquartered at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, N.M., will carry data from 125 seismograph stations in 62 nations. Designed to advance scientific understanding of the earth's interior for earthquake research, the network will measure earth movements from earthquakes and explosions for later analysis.
The JAST program office will use a March wargaming session to develop an early concept of operations for the Joint Strike Fighter. The Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program office has been running a series of campaign wargames that are aimed at better warfighting decisions. During the next campaign - which will run from March 24 through March 29 - the concept of operations will be modelled for the first time, the JAST office said in its newsletter last week.
CHAIRMEN JAMES SENSENBRENNER Jr. (R-Wis.) of the House Science space subcommittee and Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) of the House Appropriations VA, HUD and independent agencies subcommittee were trying Friday to schedule a quick trip to Moscow this week to discuss the impact of Russia's funding and manufacturing difficulties on the International Space Station with top space officials from the Russian government and industry (DAILY, Dec. 18, 19, 22, 26).
The U.S. Air Force's main ballistic missile defense program hasn't been affected by the Pentagon's attempt to reign in spending on BMD and is slated to continue development as planned, a senior Air Force official said.
CAE-LINK CORP., Binghamton, N.Y., received a $5 million increase to an earlier contract for a calendar year 1996 update of the Aircrew Training Devices of the B-2 aircraft to conform with modifications made to the aircraft. The contract was awarded Dec. 22 by U.S. Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Bidding for the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration will have to include an "irrevocable fixed price" for 3,000 decoys - 1,500 each for the Air Force and Navy, says Bill Scheuren, the Advanced Research Projects Agency's MALD program manager. Although a 3,000-unit buy is expected, even if neither of the services opts to procure the decoy as many as 48 units will remain in inventory as a residual capability after completion of the ACTD.
