Rockwell Collins Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a $5,848,834 modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-00-C-0115 to exercise an option for the production of 121 AN/ARC-210(V) Electronic Protection Radio Systems (28 RT-1556B/ARC, 38 RT-1747D/ARC, and 55 RT-1794C/ARC radios), including ancillary equipment and associated support. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. NAVY Reserve (116 systems (28 RT-1556B/ARC, 30 RT-1747D/ARC, and 58 RT-1794C)); the U.S.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Dallas, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $104,000,000 modification (not-to-exceed for this letter contract modification is $212,400,000) as part of cost-plus-incentive-fee contract DAAH01-98-C-0062, for low rate initial production of missiles and for ground support for Patriot Advanced Capability. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas (50%); Huntsville, Ala. (30%); Camden, Ark. (7%); Lufkin, Texas (5%); Clearwater, Fla. (3%); The Netherlands (3%), and Germany (2%), and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2003.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $12,192,544 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for definition of architecture development and experimentation in support of the Affordable Moving Surface Target Enhancement II (AMSTEII) program. This program will investigate and demonstrate affordable solutions for targeting moving surface threats using both seeker-less and seeker equipment weapons. Expected contract completion date is Nov. 15, 2001. Solicitation issue date was June 21, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Nov. 16, 2000.
Northrop Grumman Corp., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded a $95,000,000 (maximum) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity. This contractor will be the first of three participating in the Air Vehicles Technology Integration Program (AVTIP). This effort provides for research of new technologies that will provide affordable, revolutionary capabilities to the warfighter. The developments will provide for cost effective, survivable aerospace platforms capable of accurate delivery of weapons and cargo worldwide.
Electro-Optics Industries Ltd., Rehovot, Israel, is being awarded a $5,750,400 firm-fixed-price contract for 48 forward looking infrared pod receiver-transmitters in support of F/A-18 C/D aircraft. Work will be performed in Rehovot, Israel, and is expected to be completed by February 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two proposals solicited and two offers received. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-01-C-A006).
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen is heading to Brussels for a NATO defense ministerial this week, where one of the issues will be sorting out the relationship between NATO and the European Union's emerging military ambitions.
JUST CHECKING? On at least two occasions in recent weeks, Russian jets flew near the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in the Sea of Japan, the Pentagon reports. On Oct. 17, a Su-24 Fencer, a supersonic bomber used as a reconnaissance and electronic warfare platform, was involved. On Nov. 9, it was a Su-27 Flanker fighter-bomber.
AIR BEARS: The pace of Russia's deployment of Bear bombers near Alaska has picked up recently, according to Defense Dept. spokesman Ken Bacon. "The Russian military training has dropped off considerably since the end of the Cold War, and it's in the last couple of years, they've begin to do some more Bear flights than we had seen in the past," he says.
PAC IT UP: William Reynolds, executive director of the National Defense Political Action Committee, is leaving the group Dec. 15 to seek a staff job on Capitol Hill. The PAC, formed earlier this year, supports military veterans who run for Congress and are deemed to support a strong national defense. Under Reynolds' management, the group backed a slate of winning candidates in last month's elections, including the three incoming House Republicans chosen by their peers to lead the freshman class. The PAC hasn't announced Reynolds' successor yet.
MISSILE MANIA: Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee's Asia panel, says that North Korea's missile development continues "without restraint," despite recent improvements in U.S.-North Korean relations. "North Korea's short-range missile program poses a security threat to Japan, South Korea and U.S. forces stationed in the region," Bereuter says.
Kodak Earth Imaging Products (EIP) in teaming up with DeLorme Inc., a provider of mapping software and online mapping systems, to provide Web imaging technology and mapping applications online. The goal is to make images more accessible, in terms of accuracy and speed, as the remote sensing industry transitions to receiving and purchasing images over the Internet. Kodak also inked a five-year agreement with Skyline Software Systems to develop joint business initiatives for 3D-earth imagery.
Matra BAE Dynamics, a subsidiary of EADS and BAE Systems, picked Cincinnati-based Structural Dynamics Research Corp.'s Metaphase Product Knowledge Management and Accelis e-Business Integration software to solve data management needs for $4 million. Matra BAE Dynamics aims to cut product development time and cost with Metaphase, and will use Accelis for its collaborative product commerce (CPC) push, forming the core shared data environment of major projects like Meteor and Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS).
The Dept. of the Navy e-business operations office is looking for pilot proposals to develop and implement e-business schemes. The office will provide money and consulting services for efforts aimed at improving business practices and the quality of work and life in Navy and Marine Corps. The goal is to apply the latest technologies.
In contrast to a recent Defense Dept. report that called the Bell-Boeing MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft "operationally unsuitable," the Commandant of the Marine Corps said he believes the aircraft is "ready for prime-time." "I don't think that any of the observations or criticism I've heard are out of the envelope, especially as contrasted to those of any other new aviation products that come into the inventory," Gen. James L. Jones told The DAILY yesterday.
Kaman Aerospace Corp. marked a milestone in its SH-2G(A) helicopter program for the Royal Australian Navy, completing functional testing of the system that helps the pilot secure the aircraft to the deck of a ship immediately after landing.
Long-standing controversy over the findings of a Board of Enquiry into the crash of a Royal Air Force Boeing CH-47D Chinook HC.2 in June 1994 that killed all 29 aboard, attributing the accident to "gross negligence" by the two pilots, has been re-opened by comment in the latest Commons Committee of Public Accounts report, issued on Nov. 29.
Lockheed Martin IMS won a $260 million deal to upgrade Orange County's telecommunications infrastructure, handle e-government initiatives and manage the Southern California county's data center. Lockheed Martin said the award will enable it to "dramatically grow" its government e-business.
Marine Corps officials expressed confidence that the MV-22 Osprey is ready for full-rate production, despite a Nov. 17 Dept. of Defense report that found the tiltrotor aircraft "operationally unsuitable" as tested (DAILY, Nov. 30). Evaluation of the aircraft for fleet introduction has not been without its hitches. In October, the Dept. of the Navy declared the MV-22 operationally effective and suitable for land-based operations, but not for sea-based missions (DAILY, Oct. 16).
Volvo Aero has launched Customer Adapted Product Support (CAPS), an information technology-based engine maintenance initiative geared to provide early warning of trouble by monitoring engine status. With CAPS, Volvo Aero can also customize maintenance and product support. The system was developed with Volvo Aero's military unit, but the company sees broad applications in the commercial aviation and transport sectors as well. DynCorp already uses Volvo Aero's Maintenix system to boost service and maintenance efficiency on the U.S. Army C-12 aircraft.
Charges by Britain's Commons Public Accounts Committee in its most recent report, issued Wednesday, that the Ministry of Defense was willing to accept the waste of some 60 million pounds ($85 million) on sub-standard military equipment, were strongly rejected by Defense Procurement Minister Baroness Elizabeth Symons. She said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the MOD regarded it as acceptable to have to pay that amount in additional costs because sub-standard equipment was accepted from contractors.
The U.S. Army will have to pad its ranks by 40,000 to 60,000 soldiers if tomorrow's requirements are to be adequately fulfilled, Gen. John W. Hendrix, commander of Army Forces Command, said yesterday. "The question is, is the future going to be the same as the last decade? I don't know, but I don't see a quick exit from any of the things we're doing," Hendrix told reporters at a breakfast in Washington. Even today, he said, the Army is "stretched."
The next president needs to give more attention to homeland defense and should consider giving the National Security Council a greater role in coordinating programs among other agencies, former Defense and State Dept. official Joseph Nye said yesterday. Nye, currently dean of Harvard University's JFK School of Government, offered those opinions during a panel discussion at a CNA Corp. conference in Arlington, VA, on defense issues the new presidential administration will face.
U.S. Army training centers and schools with aerospace functions have had to grapple with a host of equipment-related challenges, including helicopters with safety-related problems, aircraft simulators that aren't up to par, and a shortage of training devices for the Patriot missile defense system, according to readiness reports obtained by The DAILY.
Aerospace Hardware Exchange (AHX) this month is launching beta trials of its B2B marketplace for aerospace hardware. The site, www.ahxonline.com, will be fully transactional after the trials. The initial focus is the fastener supply chain. According to AHX Group Inc., Aerospace Hardware Exchange's parent company, the hardware market, which represents 5% of the cost of new building new aircraft, provides over 50% of the number of parts. More than 20 firms have committed to use AHX once it's live.
Rolls-Royce yesterday delivered the first Pegasus Mk107 engine to the Royal Air Force, 11 months after winning a firm order of 120 million pounds to upgrade 40 engines to the Mk107 standard. An option to upgrade 86 more engines is worth an additional 230 million pounds to Rolls-Royce. The first phase of the program, Rolls said, is scheduled to be completed by 2004.
