UNITED ARAB EMIRATES has selected the General Electric F110 engine to power its new fleet of 80 F-16 Block 60 jets, GE said yesterday. The action, GE said, also marks launch of a new derivative of the engine, the F110-GE-132. GE described it as a higher-thrust version of the F110 fighter engine. Deliveries are slated to begin in 2002. "The UAE selection solidifies an important engine development program for us," said Russ Sparks, vice president and general manager of GE Aircraft Engines' Military Engine Operation.
Andrew K. Ellis has joined the Government Relations office in Washington, D.C. as vice president, Aircraft&Missiles Programs. He will be responsible for leading the development and execution of government relations strategies and issues related to the Department of Defense and in support of the Aircraft&Missiles business unit headquartered in St. Louis, Mo.
Robert Rangel, currently deputy staff director, has been named staff director. He will replace Andrew K. Ellis, who has taken a position with The Boeing Company.
Gregory S. Churchill has been named vice president, Business Development for Rockwell Collins Government Systems. He will be responsible for business development and marketing activities, including the management of marketing services, communication systems marketing, integrated applications and navigation systems marketing, and customer support engineering. He will also provide strategic and business planning support.
Steven P. Gavenas has been named senior vice president, New Business Development. He will be responsible for spearheading new services and applications for the next generation in radio.
With only two F-22 test aircraft delivered so far and little more than 500 flight test hours flown, the U.S. Air Force's latest aircraft has completed only 13% of the planned total flight test hours, the General Accounting Office said in a report released yesterday.
The Pentagon must exploit Internet telecommunications technology to meet U.S. warfighters' information needs, according to a report by a Defense Science Board (DSB) task force. Task force members found the Defense Dept.'s vision, understanding of requirements and acquisition strategy for the present and future communications infrastructure lacking, but said the subject is vital.
NASA managers believe Russia has enough Soyuz and Progress vehicles to support human occupation of the International Space Station and reoccupation of the Mir orbital station this year, along with adequate ground resources to control two inhabited stations simultaneously, but after that the prospects become uncertain.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Federal Systems Owego Company, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a ceiling price $37,200,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the upgrade of two SH-60B aircraft to the SH-60R configuration. Work will be performed in Owego, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by February 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-00-C-0249).
The avionics division of ITT Industries won a $7.5 million follow-on order for 31 High Power Remote Transmitter (HPRTs) to outfit U.S. Army MH-47E and MH-60K Special Operations helicopters with electronic protection from radio-frequency (RF) threats. The HPRT is designed to work with ITT's AN/ALQ-136A(V)2 pulse jammer and Northrop Grumman's AN/ALQ-162 continuous wave jammer and is compatible with the Army's next-generation countermeasure suite, the AN/ALQ-211 SIRFC (Suite of Integrated RF Countermeasures), also contracted to ITT Industries.
The British government yesterday approved a "launch investment" of $837 million to Airbus Industrie consortium member BAE Systems for development of the 550-seat A3XX superjumbo airliner. Airbus is expected to decide in October whether to launch the $10 billion program.
An article in The DAILY of March 13, page 383, incorrectly stated that the House Science Committee endorsed NASA's "faster-better-cheaper" approach in its response to the fiscal 2000 budget request. The committee was addressing the FY '01 budget.
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES said its Pratt&Whitney unit has agreed to purchase the engine maintenance center of Braathens ASA in Stavenger, Norway, which specializes in the overhaul and repair of CFM56 engines, which are made by General Electric and Snecma. The center provides services not only to Braathens' fleet of 737s, but also to several other European airlines.
Dynamics Research Corp., Andover, Mass., won a subcontract for over $25 million to support the U.S. Air Force's Air Armament Center (AAC) at Eglin AFB, Fla. DRC is a subcontractor to Macaulay Brown, the small business winner on the Technical Acquisition Management Support (TAMS2) contract. The TAMS2 contract has a three-year base with two one-year options built in, which could potentially be worth up to $125 million. The AAC is charged with developing and testing new aerial weapons.
A pair of NASA reports on last year's Mars probe failures has cautioned that faster and cheaper doesn't necessarily mean a space mission will be better, unless project managers focus more on the mission's outcome as well as on the means to set it in motion.
An experimental U.S. Energy Dept. Earth monitoring satellite and a Russian communications satellite made it to orbit over the weekend following launches by an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus solid-fuel rocket and a Russian Proton liquid fuel vehicle.
Russia plans to launch two new telecommunications satellites for the Intersputnik consortium to upgrade and expand service, Intersputnik reported. Built by NPO-PM in Krasnoyarsk, the two Express-A satellite buses will carry communications payloads supplied by France's Alcatel Espace. Express 6A is to be launched this month on a Proton rocket flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, with Express 3A set for orbit in June.
General Electric Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, is being awarded a $17,651,470 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, F33657-94-D-2000-0097, to provide for 105 Digital Electronic Control kits and 128 Mechanical Electronic Control kits applicable to the F110GE129 engines on the F-15 and F-16 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Jan. 31, 2001. Negotiation completion date was Feb. 14, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Lufthansa Technik and Malev Hungarian Airlines said they are setting up a new company in Budapest to overhaul narrrowbody aircraft. The new company, Lufthansa Technik Budapest Kft., will be owned 85% by Lufthansa Technik and 15% by Malev. It will operate out of a hangar now occupied by Aeroplex of Central Europe, which is 100% owned by Malev. Operations are expected to begin early next year.
NASA is mounting a top-level push to expand its "partnership" activities with universities, the U.S. Defense Dept. and other federal agencies as a way to stretch its budget and avoid spending duplication within the government, according to the official assigned to do the job.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded an $8,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-99-C-1069 to provide engineering support for the incorporation of avionics upgrades into the SH-60R aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by October 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
General Electric Aircraft Engines, Lynn, Mass., is being awarded a $9,863,828 firm-fixed-priced basic ordering agreement order to procure 24,476 high pressure turbine blades used on the F-404 engine on the F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in Lynn, Mass., and is expected to be complete by February 2003. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (F34601-97-G-0002).
China Northern Airlines has ordered 10 A321s, according to Airbus Industrie. The order was placed through the China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Corp. The 10 planes are part of a 30-aircraft package ordered by China Northern in 1997. Airbus has sold another A320 to China Eastern, three to China Northwest, three to China Southern and four to Sichuan Airlines.
Honeywell Inc., Clearwater, Fla., was awarded on March 7, 2000, a $6,735,040 option to a firm-fixed-price contract, F33657-99-C-2040-P00016, to provide for 104 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (EGI) units applicable to the Army AH-64 helicopter. Expected contract completion date is April 30, 2002. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
