Lockheed Martin Space Systems will take the lead as prime contractor in a "National Team" with Hughes Space and Communications and TRW to build the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (Advanced EHF) highly secure military communications satellites envisioned as a follow-on to the Milstar system.
Raytheon Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $43,267,330 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 3420 MXU 650/B Air Foil Groups, 2245 MAU-169H/B Guidance Control Sections, and associated data, in support of the GBU-12 Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb. Expected contract completion date is July 1, 2001. Negotiation completion date was May 2, 2000. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-00-C-0005-PZ0003).
ALL QUIET ON THE ITALIAN FRONT? The U.S. National Missile Defense plan didn't cause the stir some were expecting at last week's NATO ministerial meeting in Florence, but the idea didn't seem to win any friends, either. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said there seemed to be "some understanding" where the U.S. is going with NMD and Washington's continued commitment to the ABM treaty. But Daniel Plesch of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) said Albright faced a "wall of concern and criticism" and didn't change any opinions. Not one U.S.
The Australian government announced additional funding of over A$41 million ($23.4 million) for the second stage of redevelopment work at the nation's only naval air station, HMAS Albatross in Nowra.
A400M EXPORT: Airbus expects to capture an export market for 200 A400M military airlifters if it gets a "strong home base of 155 initial orders" from seven European Union nations and Turkey, according to David Jennings, the consortium's marketing chief. The program won't be launched without orders from Germany, but he doesn't expect any problems. "German industry is 100% behind us," he says. Jennings sees some strong immediate leads in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Middle East. The program could get a go-ahead by year-end, Jennings says.
Nine companies will split work in a $15 million NASA effort to start setting requirements for a second-generation reusable launch vehicle as the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center moves toward a 1995 competition for a follow-on to the Space Shuttle fleet.
'USEFUL EXERCISE': Australia's Defense Forces wouldn't increase surface fleet air warfare capabilities by buying U.S. Navy Kidd class destroyers because they don't have enough long-term value for the money, according to the country's Defense Capability Committee. At the same time, Defense Minister John Moore said the evaluation process was a "useful exercise" in figuring out how to develop an effective air warfare capability.
The British Ministry of Defense has decided to delete the cannon from all but the first 55 of the 232 Eurofighters slated for the Royal Air Force, saying missiles can do the job. We think it's a questionable move, simply because combat is unpredictable and aircrews should have every possible weapon at their disposal. Air Vice Marshal Steve Nicholl, joint services capabilities manager (strike) at the MOD, made the recommendation to the agency's most senior management group. He seems to have it precisely wrong.
MARS INPUT: NASA plans to issue a request for information to the aerospace industry early next month seeking input on its robotic Mars exploration program over the next two decades, given the ongoing shakeup following last year's two mission failures. Industry will be asked for ideas on orbital remote sensing, surface exploration, "scouting" and aerial exploration, subsurface exploration, in-situ scientific analysis, sample return, planetary protection and telecommunications. NASA also wants information on how the robotic work can lead to human exploration.
TRW Inc. will network its flight training system under a new five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract worth $284.7 million. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, awarded the business to TRW. "This network of simulators will provide the Air Force increased training hours at significantly reduced cost and allow for team training long before deployment to a theatre of operation," said Michael Papay, program manager for DMT.
SHARPEN YOUR PENCIL: The House Appropriations Committee wants the Defense Dept. to sharpen its pencils and write reports in the coming months about a host of aerospace-related programs. The panel, in a report accompanying the fiscal 2001 defense spending bill it approved last week, says it wants status reports on the Air Force's spare and repair parts program, with an emphasis on the C-5.
STATION 'COLLABORATION': Look for an announcement Friday on the first commercial activity in the U.S. portion of the International Space Station. NASA has scheduled a press conference with Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and Joe Rothenberg, head of the Office of Space Flight, to outline an "unprecedented public-private partnership for multimedia and space imagery." NASA bills the deal as "a major multimedia collaboration," so it's no surprise the event will be at Ames Research Center, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley.
Air Command Systems International, a joint venture between Raytheon Co. and France's Thomson-CSF, won four NATO Air Command and Control Level of Capability I (ACCS LOC1) contracts for work associated with validation sites in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. The combined value of the contracts is about $125 million. The ACCS LOC1 program, a replacement for NATO's Air Defense Ground Environment, covers software and testing, development of national adaptation software and validation of the LOC1 system at four sites.
Raytheon Co. won a $300 million contract from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for technical and logistics support with its Patriot and Hawk air defense systems. The contract covers technical assistance at Patriot and Hawk sites and service depots, training on maintenance and operation for the equipment, as well as logistics help for spares and modifications though December 2002.
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector won a U.S. Air Force valued at about $99 million for work on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which tracks the earth's meteorological, oceanographic and solar-geophysical environment. The contract, from the AF's Space and Missile Systems Center, covers service and software and hardware support -- including visible and infrared cloud imagers, a microwave and ultraviolet imager and space environment monitors -- on 13 sensors through November 2004.
JSF OPTIONS: As deliberations about how to proceed with the Joint Strike Fighter program continue, Pentagon officials are working under the winner-take-all approach. Recommendations of a group studying the subject for defense acquisition chief Jacques Gansler will be released "soon." Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy de Leon was slated to visit Boeing and Lockheed Martin JSF facilities in Palmdale, Calif., on May 29 for briefings on the companies' CTOL variants.
DRS Technologies has opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Johnstown, Penn. The company built the facility for its Laurel Technologies unit, an electronics manufacturer. The 130,000 square-foot plant will boost DRS Laurel Technologies' production capacity for current programs and give it room to grow.
Raytheon's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system recently demonstrated its ability to help generate a single integrated air picture (SIAP) in an exercise at and around Fort Stewart, Ga. CEC, being developed under a U.S. Navy contract by Raytheon Data Systems, St. Petersburg, Fla., is intended to provide real-time integration of fire control quality sensor data into a single composite data source that can be used by ships and aircraft to engage missiles attacking a fleet.
Robinson Laboratories Inc., a unit of Herley Industries, was tapped by Raytheon and DaimlerChrysler to supply microwave components for the multi-national Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) program. RAM is designed to defend auxiliary and combat ships by engaging anti-ship cruise missiles. Herley, based in Lancaster, Pa., is a microwave technology company.
CEC LIVE-FIRE: As the U.S. Navy moves closer to incorporating Raytheon's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) into its standard battle plan, it has completed a live-fire exercise off Puerto Rico to confirm how it works. The exercise, which wrapped up earlier this month, included the USS John F. Kennedy battle group, drones and live missiles, according to Raytheon officials. Although Vice Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of the U.S.
The U.S. Marine Corps has fixed discrepancies found in operational evaluation of its Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System (ATARS) and expects a positive decision soon for low rate production of the last five systems.
The House Appropriations Committee is raising concerns about the Joint Ejection Seat Program and several other multi-agency or multi-service initiatives.
Hawker Pacific Aerospace of Sun Valley, Calif., signed an $8.5 million, multi-year deal with Atlantic Coast Airlines and ACJet. Under the six-year agreement, Hawker Pacific Aerospace will provide brake overhaul on ACA/ACJet's fleet of Fairchild 328 jet aircraft in Sun Valley. This is the company's second support deal for Fairchild 328 jet operators.
