TOP TEN: Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman remained the top three contractors in 2003 in dollar volume of prime contract awards from the U.S. Department of Defense, DOD said Feb. 11. Lockheed Martin had $21.9 billion in contracts, up from $17 billion in 2002. Boeing had $17.3 billion, up from $16.6 billion, and Northrop Grumman had $11.1 billion, up from $8.7 billion. General Dynamics Corp. went from fifth place to fourth, with $8.2 billion. Making big jumps were Halliburton Co., which went from 37th place in 2002 to No.
NEW DELHI - India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a $105 million agreement with GE Aircraft Engines of the U.S. for 17 F404-GE-IN20 engines to be used in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), also known as Tejas. It's India's second defense deal with the U.S. since Washington lifted military sanctions on New Delhi in September 2001. DRDO Director General Vasudev Aatre told The DAILY that engine deliveries will begin in 2006. The agreement calls for lifetime spares support and maintenance, he said.
BAE Systems is "prepared to execute immediately" if the U.S. Army asks it to produce Common Missile Warning Systems to help protect helicopters, according to Chris Ager, a business development manager for the company in Nashua, N.H. The Army has completed a plan, funded at $28 million in the fiscal 2004 defense supplemental, to outfit its helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq with the best possible electronic countermeasures to deflect heat-seeking missiles.
BOEING AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT, McLean, Va. John B. Hayhurst, president of the company, is retiring April 1. GENERAL DYNAMICS, Falls Church, Va. Gen. John M. "Jack" Keane (U.S. Army, ret.), the former vice chief of staff of the Army, has been elected to the board of directors. GREEN HILL SOFTWARE, Santa Barbara, Calif. Daniel P. Burnham, the former chairman and CEO of Raytheon Co., has been elected to the board of directors. INNOVATIVE LOGISTICS TECHNIQUES, McLean, Va.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s defense programs are growing, especially in the area of information technology, Robert Stevens, the company's president and chief operating officer, said Feb. 11. "We've had improved growth margins in the areas of defense, intelligence, homeland security, and most importantly, government information technology. All the budget lines are indicating growth in these areas and we are well positioned in these markets," Stevens said at the SG Cowen 25th Annual Global Aerospace Conference in New York.
The launch of the Defense Department's experimental TacSat-1 micro-satellite has been delayed about two months, DOD officials said Feb. 11. The liftoff had been scheduled for March (DAILY, Dec. 4, 2003), but it is now slated for May 13 because the launch preparations are taking more time than expected, according to a spokesman for Ret. Navy Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, director of DOD's Office of Force Transformation, which is sponsoring the satellite initiative.
Human error, not aging aircraft, is the most significant factor in military aviation accidents, a panel of military commanders told House Armed Services Committee members Feb. 11. The panel met to review the U.S. Department of Defense's progress in identifying the cause of an escalating number of accidents and update members on the strategies to reduce or eliminate Class A mishaps, which are crashes or collisions that cause $1 million or more in damage, loss of the aircraft or death or permanent injury (DAILY, May 21, 2003).
JSF WORK: Two additional Australian companies have won contracts for work on the Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin selected Thales Training and Simulation of Sydney to provide technical assistance for the design and integration of the JSF Integrated Training Centre and Varley of Tomago will design, build and test a landing gear fixture.
SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST: The Bush Administration's next supplemental appropriations request for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq likely will go to Congress around Jan. 1, according to the Defense Department.
SAN DIEGO - MCI, the largest communications supplier to the U.S. government, wants to expand its military business, according to a company official. MCI has provided network and administrative services supporting command and control based out of the United States, but "we are now going for more of an international reach," John West, the executive branch manager for DOD Services with MCI Government Markets, told The DAILY.
Several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee told service officials Feb. 10 that they are concerned about the maintenance of aircraft and other military hardware. At a hearing on the $401.7 billion fiscal 2005 budget, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said he is disturbed by reports that the U.S. Department of Defense contracted with Russia to use Antonov An-124 aircraft for strategic airlift 125 times.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is leading an industry team to compete for the first phase of the Air Force's Space Based Radar (SBR) system, the company announced Feb. 10. Northrop Grumman has chosen the Boeing Co., Raytheon, General Dynamics and BAE Systems to compete for a two-year, $230 million study contract. The Air Force is expected to award two such contracts in May. Scheduled for launch in 2012, SBR is to be a constellation of spacecraft providing radar coverage of the entire Earth.
The Defense Department needs to do a better job overseeing weapon system programs if it wants to reduce the number of bumps in the acquisition process, according to the head of a major aerospace company. Ronald Sugar, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman Corp., said Feb. 10 that DOD should be more scrupulous in sticking to its own program schedules, including the release of requests for proposals (RFPs).
The organizers of the $10 million X Prize competition expect a winner this year, according to spokeswoman Diane Murphy. The purpose of the X Prize is to jump-start the suborbital space tourism industry by promoting innovation and competition. Twenty-seven teams from seven countries have entered the competition since 1995, when it was established, according to Murphy. "This year we do expect to have a winner," Murphy said during a presentation at FAA headquarters in Washington Feb. 9.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Shareholders in ailing Czech aerospace company Aero Vodochody voted Feb. 10 to oust Antonin Jakubse, the chairman of the board. The decision came a day before the Czech government is due to consider a proposal that could end Boeing's effective control of the company. The move to remove Jakubse came at the behest of Boeing's Czech arm, Boeing Ceska, according to Viktor Kucera, Aero's vice-president of marketing and sales.
7E7 CCS: The Boeing Co. has picked Smiths Aerospace to provide the Common Core System (CCS) for the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner, the company said Feb. 10. The CCS would be the "backbone" of the aircraft's computers, networks and electronics, Smiths said, and the work eventually could total more than $1 billion.
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is developing crew safety guidelines for reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) that cover qualification and training, environmental systems and human factors. The guidelines currently address only flight crew members and avoid the thornier issue of passenger safety, according to Ken Wong, an aerospace engineer with AST.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Czech defense officials have asked their Russian counterparts to consider supplying Mi-24 and Mi-17 helicopters instead of military transport aircraft as partial payment of Russian debt. The Czech defense ministry told The DAILY Feb. 9 that its officials have asked for an unspecified number of "basically modernized" helicopters instead of three transport planes.
Elbit Systems Ltd. of Haifa, Israel will provide Common Data Entry Electronics Units (CDEEU) for F-16 aircraft under a $32.6 million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Ogden Air Logistics Center, the company said Feb. 10. A total of 694 units will be procured for USAF requirements and another 609 for Foreign Military Sales requirements, the company said. The CDEEUs act as an interface between pilot data entry and cockpit displays.
