NATO's three newest members are all investing in aerospace equipment as they try to integrate their militaries into the alliance, but funding is lacking for some of their most ambitious modernization plans, the Congressional Budget Office says in a new paper.
Lockheed Martin said it has begun testing a laser guidance system that it plans to bid in a $64 million program to buy about 4,000 guidance kits for GBU-16 Paveway II bombs. The kits, which convert standard bombs into laser-guided weapons, are needed to replace stocks drawn down during Operation Allied Force in Kosovo last year. A request for proposals is slated for release before the end of the year, and a contract is anticipated next March.
TITAN CORP., San Diego, won a contract worth up to $21 million from the U.S. Navy. Its Titan Systems Corp. subsidiary will handle test and evaluation, as well as independent verification and validation, of the C4I systems at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego.
The MV-22 Osprey has passed operational evaluation (OPEVAL) following a fix to its Blade Fold Wing Stow (BFWS) system that the U.S. Navy said makes it suitable for shipboard operations. The service had previously declared the MV-22 Osprey operationally effective and suitable for land-based operations only, but not sea-based missions - a large part of the Marine Corps' job for the 360 tiltrotor aircraft it plans to buy (DAILY, Oct. 16).
Boeing finished upgrading the hardware on the first NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft under NATO's Mid-Term Modernization Program ahead of schedule and under budget. The next step is installation of mission computing software and the engineering, test and evaluation phase. Flight test qualification is slated to begin in January 2001.
SPACEPORT FLORIDA has picked Lockheed Martin Technical Operations to support operations, maintenance and marketing at the Cape Canaveral spaceport's Launch Complexes 20 and 46. The company will provide technical and programmatic support for development and launch of suborbital and orbital launch systems at the state-run complexes. The contract runs for one year, with annual renewal options.
L-3 Communications Corp., Communications Systems East, Camden, N.J., is being awarded an $18,293,923 firm-fixed-price contract for three and a half AN/STC-2 (V) Integrated Voice Communications Systems (IVCS) for DDG 96, 97, 98, and a replacement for the damaged switching center for the DDG 78. The AN/STC-2 (V) IVCS is a processor controlled, militarized voice communications system that is capable of providing reliable, survivable, interior voice communications service in Navy combatant ships.
A fire in an engine bay preceded the ditching of a Royal Navy Merlin helicopter Oct. 27 off the west coast of Scotland, according to London press reports over the weekend. The crew of five was rescued virtually unharmed.
Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $23,300,000 (not-to-exceed) firm-fixed-price contract to provide for long lead components, parts, and material in support of the acquisition of five F-15E aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Aug. 31, 2004. Negotiation completion date was Nov. 1, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Michael Craver (937) 255-4428 is the POC. Contract Number: F33657-00-C-0013-P00003.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Tex., is being awarded a $5,580,030 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for upgrade of software on 44 AN/APG-68 fire control radar systems in support of the F-16 aircraft. This effort supports foreign military sales to Egypt. Expected contract completion date is Dec. 30, 2003. Solicitation issue date was Jan. 25, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Oct. 31, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Sylvia Baker, (937) 656-6080 is the POC.
Boeing Co., Seal Beach, Calif.; and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., are being awarded a $16,000,000 (each contractor) firm-fixed-price contract to provide for architecture studies in support of the Global Positioning System III program. These studies represent the first phase in the development of the global positioning system to support military and civilian users for fiscal years 2010 through 2030.
SpaceDev, the Poway, Calif.-based commercial space business start-up, narrowed losses in the third quarter of fiscal 2000, posting a net loss of $14,000 compared to a net loss of $1.1 million in the same period a year ago. "The company's continuing financial improvements during the first nine months of 2000 reflect management actions taken to improve the company's operating market," said Chairman and CEO Jim Benson. "We are focused on building a financially sound business, and these results indicate we are on the right track."
Rolls-Royce, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts "to meet market demands," is targeting a number of operational shifts that will result in the loss of as many as 1,300 jobs. "The reduction in jobs in 2001 will continue at a rate no greater than in the last year or so," said CEO John Rose. "But in the reorganization program as a whole, there will be different impacts in different locations and it is inevitable that some activities will decline and others will rise."
NASA'S GODDARD Space Flight Center has completed on-orbit verification of the NOAA-16 polar-orbiting weather satellite and turned the spacecraft over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Launched Sept. 21, the Lockheed Martin spacecraft is expected to enter service early in January, after NOAA checks out associated data processing systems. The second in a series of five polar-orbiting weather satellites with advanced imaging and sounding capabilities, it is expected to improve weather forecasting and environmental monitoring worldwide.
RAYTHEON will provide satellite command and control systems for the JCSAT-8 spacecraft scheduled for launch late next year. The Lexington, Mass.-based company will deliver legacy telemetry, commanding and ranging (TCR) software to JSAT Corp. of Tokyo, which owns the satellite. JCSAT-8 is scheduled to replace JCSAT-2 providing coverage to Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
Last week's congressional election results have increased the jockeying for positions on committees that handle aerospace issues, with Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) now angling to succeed defeated Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) as ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.
NASA WILL LAUNCH two Earth-observing satellites from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Nov. 18, weather and technology permitting. A Boeing Delta is scheduled to orbit the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) and SAC-C spacecraft at 1:24 p.m. EST. Built by Swales Aerospace, Beltsville, Md., EO-1 is a testbed for smaller, lighter and cheaper instruments, while SAC-C is a collaboration between the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, France and Italy. EO-1 is intended to fly in formation with Landsat 7 to generate "paired scene" images.
NERA, a Norwegian specialist in wireless broadband system and equipment, will supply a pilot broadband satellite connection system to Telenor under a contract announced Friday. The Bergen, Norway-based company will provide a two-way high-capacity multimedia connection through Telenor's existing digital broadcasting satellites, using the DVB-RCS standard, that will supplement terrestrial connections in small towns and rural areas.
Raytheon Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $8,777,961 modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00024-00-C-5399 for the production of FY 00 Standard Missile-2 Block IV spare steering control units, booster assemblies, and thrust vectoring actuators. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by December 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.
Rolls-Royce, Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded an $82,350,000 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed price contract N00019-95-C-0209 to exercise an option for 34 MV-22 AE1107C turboshaft engines (installs), eight MV-22 AE1107C turboshaft engines (spares) for the Marine Corps and three CV-22 AE1107C turboshaft engines (spares) for the Air Force. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and is expected to be completed by March 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
AM General Corp., AM General Division Headquarters, South Bend, Ind., is being awarded a firm-fixed-price contract in the amount of $191,866,379, with an estimated cumulative total of $2,381,229,105 if all options are exercised, for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), with associated kits, plus training and field service representative support. Work will be performed in Mishawaka, St. Joseph, Ind., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract.
Boeing hopes to resume flying its X-32A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft today, following a three-week hiatus to fix a problem involving the hydraulic system. Lockheed Martin's X-35A, meanwhile, may make its first supersonic flight today. Although Boeing officials were set to start flying again last Friday (DAILY, Nov. 13), the X-32A team opted to run some additional checks and is now planning to lift off from Edwards AFB, Calif., today, weather permitting.
A crew of five astronauts will undertake the most dramatic space construction job to date early next month when they deliver and install the first of the big solar arrays that will power the laboratories of Space Station Alpha.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a $39,525,834 modification to firm-fixed-price multi-year contract DAAJ09-97-C-0005, for six Black Hawk UH-60L helicopters, technical publications, system engineering, project management, and flight safety parts program. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 30, 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 17, 1995. The U.S.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems, Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $7,670,629 delivery order amount as part of an estimated $32,670,700 firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for Intermediate New-Generation Targetry Systems (INGATS). Subsequent delivery orders that may be issued will be scheduled as requirements are identified. The contractor will install INGATS live-fire training ranges at the following sites, both inside and outside of the continental United States: Fort Hood, Texas (18.75%); Camp Ripley, Minn.
