Excess payments - and underpayments - to contractors continue to be a problem at the Dept. of Defense, the General Accounting Office says in a new report. Defense contractors repaid the government $670 million in fiscal year 1999 and $901 million in fiscal year 2000 that they had been overpaid for contracts, according to the GAO report. The money wasn't always repaid quickly, however - at least 39 percent of the money owed wasn't repaid within 30 days, according to the GAO.
THE BOEING CO. yesterday denied published reports that it will soon announce the cancellation of the proposed 747X project. A development team met Monday. "Ultimately, the market will decide the timing," a spokesman said. Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit said last year the 747X is a three-airplane program, including a stretched passenger airplane, a stretched freighter airplane and an unstretched passenger airplane (DAILY, Dec. 20, 2000).
Offering backups - to its own rockets - is a key part of International Launch Services' business strategy, company president Mark Albrecht said Tuesday at the Satellite 2001 conference in Washington. ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International. Formed in 1995, it provides launch services to customers worldwide on both the American Atlas and Russian Proton rocket families.
Telenor of Norway will acquire Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications' COMSAT Mobile Communications operations for $116.5 million in cash, the two companies announced yesterday. The acquisition, which positions Telenor as a major global satellite mobile operator, is subject to regulatory approvals.
Raytheon said it was awarded an $8.3 million initial development task from NASA's Ames Research Center for the Airport Surface Management System. The system will be used to help air traffic controllers and air carriers manage the movement of aircraft on the airport. Raytheon said it will lead to improved capacity, efficiency, flexibility and safety, Aerospace Daily affilate Aviation Daily reported.
Lockheed Martin Millimeterwave Technologies Inc. (LMMTI) has given BAE Systems a contract for more than $30 million to manufacture millimeterwave transceivers for the Longbow Hellfire Missile System, BAE Systems announced Monday. The missiles will be deployed on U.S. Army AH-64D and United Kingdom Army WAH-64 Apache helicopters.
Ball Aerospace&Technologies Corp. has met a major milestone in its Battlefield Ordnance Awareness (BOA) Program, which it is developing for the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, the company announced Monday. Ball Aerospace completed two airborne data collects during field tests at the Aberdeen, Md., test center recently. The company integrated the BOA laboratory system with an aircraft and operated it from the air platform while tanks and artillery were being fired at long-standoff ranges.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is confident that the DD-21 next-generation destroyer will survive Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's strategy review, despite speculation the program might be cut as the Bush Administration looks to save money to pay for other priorities, a spokesman said yesterday.
An Atlas III rocket provided by International Launch Services (ILS) has been selected to launch the latest in a line of mobile communications satellites for the U.S. Navy, ILS announced yesterday. ILS will launch the Navy's UHF Follow-On (UFO) F-11 satellite in 2003 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The satellite was built by Boeing Satellite Systems Inc., which has contracted for the launch with ILS under its delivery-in-orbit contract with the Navy.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $142,587,393 contract modification, for additional year of support for the Falcon 2020 program to provide for continuous on-site, off-site, and on-call engineering services from March 2001 to February 2002. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42620-97-D-0010-P00021).
The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command has picked a team made up of the Boeing Co. and Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Canada, to provide training targets for live-fire training of tactical Patriot missile units. The Excalibur target system is made up of a solid propellant booster and an inert second stage "dart" carrying a Boeing-designed Radio Frequency Signature Augmentation System (RF SAS). The target flies a ballistic trajectory profile that may be tailored to simulate various threats.
While the Aegis sensor suite aboard the USS Philippine Sea has meant a leap of technology to the Enterprise Battle Group, the item that tops the wish list of the battle group commander is sensor accuracy that's even better. Rear Adm. Henry G. Ulrich, III, told The DAILY what he would most like to see enhanced in the battle group he commands are "sensors. All kinds of sensors. [Because], the more sensors I have, the more information I have."
Jackson and Tull, Washington, D.C., and Dynacs Inc., Palm Harbor, Fla., are being awarded a $49,900,000 cost-plus-fixed fee contract (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) for a program to provide integration, demonstration, and validation services in support of spacecraft being developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Detachment 8 at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is the contracting activity (F29601-01-D-0076, F29601-01-D-0077, and F29601-01-D-0078).
Spectrum Astro announced the Spectrum Astro/Northrop Grumman Space Based Infrared System-low team has successfully completed its Ground Demonstration Implementation Review (GDIR), a major milestone in the SBIRS-low Program Risk Reduction phase of the program. The purpose of the GDIR was to present the team's progress to the U.S. Air Force, including the status of its preparation for implementing the Ground Demonstration Program (GDP), the company said.
FLIR Systems, Inc., Portland, Ore., is being awarded a $126,137,228 firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for up to 125 new Navigational Thermal Imaging Systems (NTIS) with a laser designator or upgrades to AN/AAQ-22A Shipboard Airborne Forward Looking Infra-Red Equipment (SAFIRE) and AN/AAQ-22C Star SAFIRE NTIS, over a five year period.
Litton PRC Inc., of McLean, Va., is being awarded a $7,010,871 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering and technical services to support the development, integration and implementation of programs and changes or improvements to programs assigned to the Space and Naval Warfare Center San Diego, C41 Programs Office. The systems to be supported include but are not limited to: TAMPS, Tomahawk, MDS, APS, TMPC, JSIPS-N, DPL, IPL, etc. This contract includes a base period of performance and an additional four one-year options.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $30,100,096 firm fixed price contract for seven Predator unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles. At this time $19,837,034 of the contract funds have been obligated. Aeronautical Systems Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-4040).
Northrop Grumman Corp., Integrated Systems Sector, Airborne Ground Surveillance Battle Management System, Melbourne, Florida, is being awarded a $168,931,956 fixed-price-incentive (firm-target)/cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, for procurement of long lead items in support of one Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft. At this time $162,531,956 of the contract funds have been obligated. Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity(F19628-00-C-0023-PZ0007).
The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $59 million contract for low-rate initial production of the Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM) system, the company announced yesterday. The system incorporates high-sensitivity receivers and off-board countermeasures to provide an electronic warfare defense for U.S. military aircraft against current and future threats from radio-guided missiles, according to a company spokesman.
EarthWatch Inc. of Longmont, Colo. has announced plans to launch the world's highest-resolution commercial imaging satellite onboard a Delta II rocket this October. Originally designed to provide 1-meter resolution imagery, the QuickBird 2 satellite will increase its resolution by lowering its orbital altitude from 373 miles (600 kilometers) to 280 miles (450 kilometers).
Northrop Grumman, Belcamp, Md., is being awarded a $10,000,000 increment as part of an estimated $27,400,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for aircraft purchase, aircraft modification, prime mission equipment, non-recurring engineering and integration and testing. Work will be performed in Belcamp, Md.(45%), and Hagerstown, Md. (55%), and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on March 10, 2001. The U.S.
Orchard Park, N.Y.-based Radiant Energy Corp. (RAC) has developed a new de-icing technology that uses infrared energy to melt ice and snow from aircraft surfaces. Already in place at Newark International, Buffalo-Niagara International, and Rhinelander/Oneida County Airports, RAC's Infratek de-icing facilities offer several advantages over traditional glycol de-icing, according to Bruce R. Nobles, president and CEO of RAC subsidiary Radiant Aviation Services, Inc.
Arch Chemicals, Inc., Lake Charles, Louisiana, is being awarded a $102,204,000 requirements contract, three year basic and two option years, firm fixed price contract, for support of a range of Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration systems including the Titan and Delta launch system, MX missiles, the F-16 aircraft, and the Space Shuttle. At this time $27,050,288 of the contract funds have been obligated. Detachment Three, Warner-Robbins Air Logistics Center, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity (F09603-01-D-0135).
Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $14,216,000 delivery order amount as part of a $45,385,000 (total for all lots) firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for Lots IV, V, and VI of the Safety Enhancement Program for the modification of 64 aircraft and six Category B Trainers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 5, 2005. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on July 22, 2000. The U.S.
The Bush Administration should double NASA's aeronautics budget over the next four years to help the U.S. aviation industry fend off a strong challenge from Europe, according to a coalition of aeronautics researchers and citizens. Boosting that budget to $1.4 billion by fiscal year 2005 would reverse recent NASA aeronautics research and development budget cuts, which have trimmed one-third from the program, said Roy Harris Jr., the technical adviser to the NASA Aeronautics Support Team (NAST).
