General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Company, Inc., San Diego, Calif., was awarded on June 30, 2000 a $5,337,583 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for contractor logistics support from July through September 2000 for the Predator unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 2000. Solicitation issue date was Nov. 19, 1999. Negotiation completion date was June 27, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-4010).
The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.'s initial public offering received a tepid response in its first day of trading yesterday as investors grappled with the financial risks of the A3XX project. Investors who bought in at the IPO for 19 euros ($18), may initially rue their purchase. The shares, which trade on exchanges in Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid, closed down at 17.25 euros ($16.35). The price was, in fact, already discounted from original targets to draw in private and institutional investor.
BAE Systems is tapping the Internet to improve its management of human resources services and help other companies get a better grip on HR needs as well. The British defense giant is teaming up with Xchanging, a provider of e-enabled business-to-business (B2B) administration, to form an Internet-based HR company. The two have signed a letter of intent defining the scope of the 50-50 joint venture.
The U.S. Air Force's Satellite Assessment Center (SAC) at Kirtland AFB, N.M., has picked up a new area of evaluation in its continuing study of orbiting satellites: their vulnerability to lasers. SAC, part of the AF Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate, has taken on the new task in response to a new Dept. of Defense directive.
The European Association of Aerospace Industries' annual report points to a potentially bright future that eschews nationalism and embraces a pan-European flavor, but it says significant challenges remain. European companies, through rationalization and consolidation initiatives, are now more competitive and globally focused, said John Rose, chief executive of Rolls-Royce and chairman of the association.
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY and GE Power Systems will collaborate on power generation technology R&D. GE Power Systems plans to contribute $3.75 million to the interdisciplinary program.
Ducommun Inc.'s Brice Manufacturing subsidiary won approval from Airbus Industrie to offer the B1000 OEM passenger seat as Buyer Furnished Equipment (BFE) for all Airbus single-aisle aircraft.
BACK ON TRACK: Defense Secretary William S. Cohen leaves for China today for meetings with government and military leaders. The trip "is an indication that we're back to a full military-to-military relationship" since the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, a senior defense official says. "This is [Cohen's] first visit since several incidents last year, including the war in Kosovo and the accidental bombing -- and so it's a significant and important visit . . .
KICK ME: NASA bean-counters get set for remedial math classes after GOP staffers on the House Science Committee find a $590 million mistake in the agency's 1999 Financial Accountability Report. "Inattention to details such as using English or metric units [blamed for loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter] or making $590 million accounting errors indicate significant management problems continue to bedevil NASA," trumpets Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), the committee chairman.
The Senate has approved a resolution calling on the Air Force to write a plan to "modernize and upgrade the combat capabilities" of Air National Guard units that fly F-16A fighters. The "Sense of the Senate" resolution, approved June 30 as an amendment to the fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill, says the units should be enhanced so they can "assist in relieving the high operations tempo of active duty units."
STINGER CHANGE: The fiscal 2001 foreign operations appropriations bill that awaits House action would ease a prohibition on Stinger missile sales to countries bordering the Persian Gulf. The House Appropriations Committee's report on the bill says Stingers could be sold to Gulf countries if they're to replace Stingers that are nearing the end of their shelf life. Similar language is included in the Senate-passed foreign ops bill.
PROLIFERATION FALLOUT: Recent news reports that China is aiding Pakistan's missile program is getting varied reaction on Capitol Hill. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) says the news will play a role in the upcoming debate over a bill that would impose sanctions on China if it continues to help spread weapons of mass destruction.
PAY WHO? While the U.S. Air Force foots the bill for launching and maintaining GPS satellites, it isn't necessarily the primary user, says Chief of Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan. "We should have charged one buck for every GPS [usage]," he says. "One dollar and we wouldn't have this [funding] problem with GPS modernization." About eight months ago, when Ryan was vacationing, he hopped into a golf cart and a message popped up on a screen saying, "This is a GPS-equipped golf cart.
PRESSING ON: Despite a DOD Inspector General draft audit report stating that the V-22 will not pass OPEVAL before a Milestone III production decision because of 20-plus deficiencies, the program continues to achieve benchmarks. On June 26, all four of the Marine Corps' LRIP aircraft flew non-stop to East Coast destinations from China Lake, Calif. Three went to MCAS New River, N.C., where they will complete OPEVAL, and the fourth flew to NAS Patuxent River, Md., for other OPEVAL tests. The flights of some 2,100 n.m.
LOOKING EAST: Brazilian space officials plan a September meeting with their Russian counterparts to discuss possible cooperation in a number of areas as the South American nation tries to reinvigorate its space program. Possible areas of cooperation include Earth resources satellites; an upper stage for Brazil's Veiculo Lancador de Satelites (VLS) rocket, and use of Brazil's Alcantara facilities to launch Russian rockets.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CONN.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee's airland forces subcommittee and on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, announced Wednesday that he will seek reelection to a third term this year.
Northrop Grumman will pay more than $5.3 million to the U.S. government to resolve an F-16 radar system pricing dispute the company inherited when it bought Westinghouse's Electronic Systems Group several years ago. While Northrop Grumman agreed to the settlement versus extended litigation, it didn't admit any liability in the case. The dispute revolved around "divergent interpretations" of pricing parts under the Truth in Negotiations Act, a company statement said.
DIS-ORDER? In its latest of several reports on the Defense Dept.'s inventory management, the General Accounting Office looks at about $375 million worth of orders that exceeded requirements and finds that the orders didn't exceed requirements when the orders were placed. But the requirements often changed after the orders were placed, causing the items to exceed requirements, the GAO says. For example, the demand for helicopter control indicators fell from the original requirement of 184 to 107 after the order was placed, the GAO says.
The House International Relations Committee has voted to remove a requirement that Congress be notified about license applications to export U.S. commercial communications satellites to NATO countries, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and the Ukraine. The measure as originally proposed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) didn't include Russia and Ukraine. But the committee approved an amendment by Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) that added those two countries. Rohrabacher abstained on the Gejdenson amendment.
While the Dept. of Defense's computer systems and the networks it uses are vulnerable to cyberwarfare, the General Accounting Office has found that the risks of a successful attack are much greater at federal civilian agencies. GAO Senior Analyst J. Paul Nicholas said security audits by the agency have shown that 22 of the government's major agencies have significant computer security weaknesses. They range from poor access controls to sensitive systems to weak continuity or contingency plans.
LIFTOFF: A contender for the $10 million X-Prize space race has gotten off the ground with a 20-foot two-stage rocket that made it to 19,000 feet over Britain's Morecambe Bay. Fielded by Starchaser Industries of Cheshire, U.K., the Starchaser-Discovery rocket was designed to test the escape system for the company's planned Thunderbird piloted launch vehicle, and worked perfectly, according to Steven Bennett, Starchaser CEO.
Pacific Aerospace&Electronics Inc. won a follow-on order for ceramic capacitors from a European telecommunications company. Don Wright, Pacific Aerospace CEO, said the order from the company, which it didn't identify, is "another major step" in the company's expansion into the exploding telecommunications marketplace. "Our micro and miniature discoidal multi-layer capacitors are proven performers, meeting critical requirements for performance and cost efficiency."
Top NASA managers planned to meet today with their Russian counterparts to learn more about a Proton engine anomaly that could impact Wednesday's scheduled launch of the Zvezda Service Module to the International Space Station.
Australia, undergoing a major defense policy and budget review, has released a 40-page discussion paper inviting citizen input on what the country's future military should look like. "We're releasing a Public Discussion Paper that will examine key defense issues, and following it with an extensive public consultation process," said John Moore, Australia's minister for defense. The government has even set up a Website for public comment www.whitepaper.defence.gov.au/welc.htm.
