Moves by the U.K.'s Babcock International engineering services group to widen its military base have resulted in a 60.9 million pound ($87.7 million) bid for two of the Hunting group's four defense equipment and support subsidiaries. With an operating profit of 5.8 million pounds on a 55.2 million pound turnover in 1999, these are being offered for disposal to allow Hunting to buy the U.S. Vinson company and further its aim to become the world's biggest supplier of oil and gas drill casings.
BAE Systems has joined with Boeing to form a consortium for the Ministry of Defense's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) project, a private finance initiative program potentially worth 5 to 7 billion pounds ($7.2 to $10 billion). BAE Systems was one of three international contenders shortlisted for the project. The program calls for providing a complete air-to-air refueling (AAR) service to the RAF - including contractor ownership, management and maintenance of the aircraft - plus provision of training facilities and some personnel, for 25 years.
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $25,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for procurement, certification and installation of Global Positioning System Integrated and Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum system hardware and software in support of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The work is expected to be completed October 2002. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began October 2000; negotiations were completed December 2000. This effort supports foreign military sales to France.
Today, the Air Force is modifying an "other transaction" with Northrop Grumman Corp., San Diego, Calif. It is an $84,000,000 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee contract. This action definitizes pre-engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) support for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle program. This effort encompasses transition efforts related to non-recurring engineering and diminishing manufacturing source materials required before proceeding to EMD.
Undersea Sensor Systems Inc., Columbia City, Ind., is receiving a $7,751,931 firm-fixed-price contract for 17,742 AN/SSQ-53F sonobuoys and associated data. The AN/SSQ-53F sonobuoys are dropped from various airborne platforms and utilized for search and detection of submerged submarines. Work will be performed in Columbia City, Ind. (80%) and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada (20%), and is expected to be completed by January 2003. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the fiscal year.
Raytheon Co. has been awarded an $89 million not-to-exceed contract by the U.S. Army for 1,007 Stinger Block 1 missiles and equipment for foreign military sales to Italy, Greece and the U.K., the company announced Monday.
U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to support U.S. proposals for a National Missile Defense (NMD) program, at least in principle, when he meets President George W. Bush in Washington on Friday. But more active U.K. participation - including access and upgrades to Britain's long-range radar early-warning station at Fylingdales, in northern England, as part of the planned NMD system - is meeting strong opposition from some senior British politicians and military leaders.
LOCKHEED MARTIN Missiles and Fire Control - Dallas successfully fired an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block 1 missile from the new Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) upgraded launcher, the company announced. The flight occurred at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $105,511,641 cost-plus-award-fee letter contract modification for repair and restoration of USS Cole. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by February 2002. Contract funds in the amount of $500,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (N00024-01-C-2302).
The release of a General Accounting Office (GAO) report that found considerable shortcomings with the Marine Corps MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft should be taken with a grain of salt, according to Pentagon sources familiar with the program. While the report faults the V-22 program for inadequate testing and evaluation, specifically in areas where the Bell Boeing aircraft is susceptible to vortex ring state, the Marines defend their beloved program. Several program insiders told The DAILY to consider the source and bias of the report.
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), co-chairman of the House Electronic Warfare Working Group, plans to push for increased EW spending later this year, a spokesman told The DAILY yesterday. Pitts, a former EW officer in the Air Force, is concerned about shortfalls across the military in electronic attack and protection capabilities, spokesman Gabe Neville said. Among Pitts' concerns is identifying an eventual successor to the Navy's aging EA-6B Prowler, the only airborne radar jammer available to protect Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy aircraft.
The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $16,652,011 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost type line items contract for organizational, selected intermediate and as an over and above item, limited depot level maintenance for aircraft operated by the Adversary and Strike Squadron based at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev. Work will be performed in Fallon, Nev., and is expected to be completed by February 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
THE BFGOODRICH CO. of Charlotte, N.C., has received a follow-on order from the U.S. Air Force to supply advanced wheel and carbon brake systems for the balance of 750 F-16 Block 32 and prior aircraft. This order completes a contract award originally announced in November 1999. The total contract is valued at about $30 million, and follow-on deliveries are scheduled to begin in August 2001.
The government of Israel has signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the U.S. Dept. of Defense for the purchase of nine AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, the Boeing Co. announced Monday. Once government-to-government negotiations are completed through a foreign military sales agreement, the U.S. Army will contract with Boeing for the Israeli aircraft and equipment. The company estimated the whole program could be worth up to nearly $500 million, including aircraft, ordnance, spares, training and support.
Orbital Imaging Corp., the commercial remote sensing unit of Orbital Science Corp., has halted its March 1 interest payment and set about restructuring some $225 million in 11 5/8% Senior Notes that mature in 2005. Orbimage, as the unit is known, said it has retained Rothschild Inc. as a financial advisor to help it restructure the obligations. The company also is pursuing other sources of capital with Orbital Sciences, its largest shareholder, and other, according to an announcement issued Feb. 15.
LOCKHEED MARTIN NAVAL ELECTRONICS&Surveillance Systems has received a $182.5 million award from the U.S. Navy as part of its multi-year contract to produce three Aegis Weapon Systems, the company announced last week.
EUROPE*STAR and FRANCE TELECOM have completed their deal setting up the new Stellat joint venture, which will provide fixed satellite services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The new company will use France Telecom's orbital slot at 5 degrees West longitude for its planned Stellat 5 satellite, an Alcatel-built spacecraft which will replace France Telecom's Telecom 2 platform (DAILY, Sept. 26, Oct. 19, 2000).
Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Oswego, N.Y., announced here it has entered into a joint effort with the U.S. Air Force to conduct an extensive modification program to add precision attack capability to the entire fleet of A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
F-22 CONFIDENCE: Acting Air Force Secretary Lawrence J. Delaney says he looking forward to the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting for the F-22 to enter low rate initial production (LRIP). Although the date has yet to be set and will likely not take place until the Defense Dept. has completed its top-to-bottom review, Delaney sees smooth sailing ahead for the plane in the new Administration.
BAE Systems won more than $33 million worth of contracts from Lockheed Martin for continued production of its Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) avionics systems for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the company announced last week. The contracts were issued to the company's Advanced Systems unit in Greenlawn, N.Y., and will support avionics requirements for the upgraded F-16 block 50/52 aircraft, Greece's Peace Xenia program and other F-16 aircraft.
LITTON INDUSTRIES' Guidance&Control Systems Division will supply an inertial measurement unit for NASA's planned Europa Orbiter under a $13.7 million contract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Litton unit will base the hardware destined for Jupiter's frozen moon on its new "Scalable SIRU" line of gyroscope products, which already has 27 different systems in space. JPL wants an IMU that can withstand the harsh radiation environment at Europa, since it will be the sole sensor for spacecraft attitude during the critical orbit insertion maneuver.
F-22/JSF MIX PROMOTION:The U.S. Air Force, criticized for seemingly quieting its support on the Joint Strike Fighter, is once again vocalizing its promotion of the high/low mix of F-22/JSF the service planned all along. "The capability of [the JSF] is just a perfect fit for that high/low mix and we truly expect that it will not only be a most significant platform for the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines, but also for our allies," says Acting AF Secretary Lawrence Delaney. He tells The DAILY, "That's always been our position.
DEFENSE EXPORTS: The U.S. plans to restore Canada's exemption under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow license-free transfers of many unclassified defense goods and technology to Canada. The U.S. suspended the exemption in April 1999, saying Canada lacked adequate safeguards to prevent transfers to third countries. Canada is making several changes to address U.S. concerns, including harmonizing its export control list with the U.S. munitions list
DREAMTIME HOLDINGS has picked Panasonic high-definition television gear to use in fulfilling its contract with NASA to provide HDTV production services on International Space Station Alpha and the space agency's field centers. Selection of Panasonic's AJ-HDC27A camcorder and AJ-HD150 DVCPRO HD studio video tape recorder follows NASA's selection of the 720p HD format for its broadcast and archiving activities, Dreamtime said last week.
EXPERIMENTAL SHIP: Lockheed Martin is marketing an experimental ship called the Slice, a four-legged boat that's small but has the speed of long vessels, says Mike Cassidy, the company's vice president of naval electronics and surveillance systems. The Slice was originally devised to provide high-speed ferry service in the Hawaiian islands, but it also has the potential to be a small combat ship, among other uses, Cassidy says. The Pentagon has not yet established a requirement for the ship.
