The Defense Dept. yesterday announced its recommendations to the independent Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) which include closing and restructuring 146 bases. The recommendations will save "some $18 billion over the next two decades," Secretary of Defense William Perry said. "These recommendations, though painful, are necessary to achieve the levels of readiness and modernization we need within the budget we have," Perry said.
Canada's participation in the International Space Station project is coming into question again in light of plans announced yesterday by that nation's government to vastly cut its spending on space activities. Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin is proposing a budget that would slash spending on space programs from $226 million (U.S. dollars) to $106 million in 1994-95, Reuters reported yesterday from Ottawa.
'SPIRIT OF KANSAS' is the name of the fifth operational B-2 bomber, the U.S. Air Force said. The plane will officially receive the name during ceremonies at McConnell AFB, Kan., on May 20. AF Air Combat Command said the name was selected to honor the role of Kansas-based aerospace companies in development and manufacture of the stealth bomber.
-- LORAL FEDERAL SYSTEMS, Owego, N.Y., has received a $21.3 million contract from the U.S. Postal Service, Merrifield, Va., to produce and install 125 systems that will read hand-written and machine-printed addresses on mail. Deliveries will begin in August 1995, and installation is expected to be completed in November 1996.
Passage of a balanced budget amendment will lead to a reduced defense budget and undermine the Pentagon's strategy of being able to nearly simultaneously fight two major regional conflicts, Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington yesterday. Shielding the defense budget from overall cutbacks in government spending will not be possible if the amendment passes both houses of Congress, Shalikashvili said.
A "second space age" is dawning that will see private industry taking over the direction of space exploration as the U.S. and other governments deal with "grim" short- and long-term budget pictures, participants in the 33rd Goddard Memorial Symposium predicted yesterday. David W. Thompson, chairman and chief executive of Orbital Sciences Corp., characterized the coming space era as one in which economic gain will motivate exploration and technology development instead of the "diplomatic and military" conflicts of the Cold War.
-- HUGHES SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS CO. is expected to sign a contract Thursday to build a new telecommunications satellite for Japan's Space Communications Corp. The model HS-601 is slated for launch in mid-1997. Space Communications is expected to procure the launch on its own.
NASA has picked a $59 million Lockheed proposal to map the moon's surface composition as the next flight in its Discovery series of "faster- better-cheaper" science payloads, choosing to "complement" data supplied by the Pentagon's Clementine probe instead of using Clementine technology to probe asteroids and comets. The space agency also picked university missions to probe Venus, a comet and the sun for further study leading to selection for one of them for funding in six to nine months. Overall NASA reviewed 28 proposals for Discovery missions beyond Earth orbit.
The munitions division of the U.S. Air Force's Wright Laboratory Armament Directorate is considering a sole source contract for the advanced development Hard Target Smart Fuze (HTSF) program. Motorola's Government Electronics Div. has been pegged as the likely contractor. The contract is part of the HTSF's envelope expansion program, a Feb. 13 Commerce Business Daily notice said. Over the course of the HTSF development, Motorola has acquired knowledge of the system which requires a "non-competitive acquisition" process, the CBD notice said.
An agreement on British participation in the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program will be finalized in the next 60 days, Maj. Gen. George K. Muellner, JAST program director said last week. The U.K. "is pretty solidly on-board" Muellner told the National Training Systems Association last Wednesday. Closure of a cooperation agreement with the Royal Navy can be expected in the next 60 days, he said, and the Royal Air Force is expected to join JAST a little bit later. Muellner said talks on JAST participation by four other allies are on- going.
The Canadian Land Forces are negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army's Communication and Electronics Command (CECOM) to become the first international link in the Army Interoperability Network (AIN), said Col. D.L. Dempster, the project manager for the Canadian armed forces Tactical Command Control and Communication System (TCCCS). AIN is a communication network that links battle labs, contractor facilities, and a number of other locations to allow exchange of data and system testing through virtual relocation.
Fokker Aircraft yesterday unveiled a sweeping restructuring that would cut employment by more than 20%, close one production plant, and rework supplier contracts in a bid to reverse years of losses and climb back into black in 1996.
Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being a awarded a $11,694,956 cost-plus- award-fee contract for planning yard services for DDG 51 Aegis Class destroyers. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by September 1995. Contracts funds will not expire at the end current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-95-C-2804)
General Dynamics Corporation, Electric Boat Division, Groton, Connecticut, is being awarded a $111,638,021 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for continued submarine design and development efforts in support of the New Attack Submarine (NSSN) Program. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by February 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-95-C-2103).
Hughes Missile Systems Company, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a not-to- exceed $5,501,585 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-94-C- 5322 to exercise options for 10 SM-1 Block VIA All-Up-Round (AUR) missiles and spare missile components for the government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales Program (FMS). Work will be performed in Highland Park, Arkansas (4%), and Tucson, Arizona (96%), and is expected to be completed by October 1996. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. is investing $25 million in a venture led by Lockheed Corp. that is planning to orbit a commercial remote sensing satellite with one-meter resolution in 1997. Mitsubishi's investment allows the venture, Space Imaging, Inc., to complete its first round of equity financing, Chief Financial Officer Ron Forkel said yesterday. Space Imaging is planning to contract with Lockheed to build two one- meter resolution satellites, one for orbit and one backup.
Holland's Fokker Aircraft has frozen the basic concept of a hoped-for all-new 130- to 140-passenger jetliner, and program managers presented the plans to the company's management board last week for the first time, a Fokker spokesman said Friday.
Kaman Aerospace Corporation, Bloomfield, Connecticut, is being awarded a $31,000,000 letter contract for long lead materials and services to upgrade 10 SH-2F helicopters to SH-2G(E) helicopters for the Arab Republic of Egypt under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by June 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Despite the push for acquisition reform at the Pentagon, the U.S. Air Force's recently released draft solicitation for the Non- Developmental Airlift Aircraft (NDAA) is laden with expensive federal acquisition activities that are sure to drive up the price of an airplane that was supposed to be relatively cheap and easy to buy, a top Boeing executive says.
The U.S. Air Force's Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, N.M., has awarded Kaman Sciences Corp. a $9,643,000 contract for the High Altitude Balloon Experiment (HABE) that will include support of flight mission operations. The HABE program is part of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organizations attempt to demonstrate the ability to acquire a missile target during the boost phase of its flight. It consists of the development of two payloads, two flight experiments, and ground testing.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Electric Systems Group, Baltimore, Maryland, is being awarded a $17,000,000 face value increase to a fixed- price-incentive-firm contract. This contract provides for changes in the requirements of the User System Interface and the schedule portion of the Requirements, Development, Planning and Evaluation effort for the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed December 1995. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Loral Defense Systems - Akron, Akron, Ohio, is being awarded a $12,068,661 contract to change previously awarded long lead material requirements contract N00024-89-C-3204 to a definitzed contract for FY 94 Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missile requirements, spare parts and associated engineering services. The new cumulative value of the contract, including previously obligated funds, is $54,068,661. Work will be performed in Akron, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by December 1996. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
McDonnell Douglas Government Aerospace, Transport Aircraft, Long Beach, California, is being awarded a $15,880,000 face value increase to a fixed- price-incentive-firm contract. This contract provides for Second Evaluation Period (1 June 1994 - 31 December 1994) Award Fee for the Lot V C-17 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed September 1995. Contract funds of $15,880,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contacting activity (F33657-92-C-0031, P00057).
