January 3, 2000 McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $15,780,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-99-C-1226 to provide funding for long lead materials for 42 FY-2001 F/A-18E/F aircraft. This does not constitute a multi-year procurement. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (60%) and Los Angeles, Calif. (40%), and is expected to be completed by September 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.
DASA'S MILITARY AIRCRAFT DIV. and TEREM SHC, a Bulgarian company, have teamed to bid jointly for modernization and life-extension of MiG-29 fighters for the Bulgarian Air Force, DASA said. Meanwhile, the German-Russian joint venture MAPS has signed a product support agreement for four Romanian MiG-29s. MAPS was founded in 1993 to support the 24 MiG-29s in service with the German Air Force. DASA holds a 50% stake in MAPS.
January 3, 2000 Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $74,096,971 cost-plus-award-fee option for lead yard class services on the DDG 51 class AEGIS destroyer program. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and is expected to be completed by January 2001. Funding to be provided at option award is $32,006,941. Contract funds in the amount of $1,135,955 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity (N00024-96-C-2800).
The Administration sent its list of rescissions to Capitol Hill yesterday, inflicting a $1 billion hit on the Dept. of Defense including cuts to a host of procurement programs. NASA also received a $51.8 million cut in the package, which includes $25 million from science, aeronautics and technology; $23 million from human space flight, and $3 million from mission support.
L-3 Communications will purchase the assets of Raytheon's flight simulation and associated training division for $160 million in cash, Raytheon reported yesterday. The Training Devices and Training Services (TDTS) unit employs than 2,600 employees and provides integrated simulator training products. Raytheon stated the sale is consistent with the corporate strategy of focusing on its core businesses.
Army Space and Missile Defense Command last month activated the first battalion dedicated to bringing space capabilities to the warfighter and providing theater ballistic missile defense early warning. The goal of the battalion is to work closely with commercial companies and SMDC Battle Labs to move the latest space technologies out to the warfighters, Col. Tim Coffin, the new battalion's commander, told The DAILY in an interview yesterday.
A Russian review panel has blamed poor workmanship for last October's failure of a Proton space launch vehicle, but it remained unclear yesterday what the impact would be on planned Proton launches of the Zvezda Service Module to the International Space Station and commercial satellites booked on Proton by International Launch Services (ILS).
General Dynamics' Computing Devices Canada Ltd. won a contract worth about $27 million from Canada's National Department of Defense to design and integrate Air Traffic Control (ATC) and communications systems for Canada's 8 Air Communication and Control Squadron (8ACCS). The system is composed entirely of commercial off-the-shelf technology (COTS), making it flexible and cost-effective, GD said. The system is designed to take advantage of open standards and will allow the Canadian Air Force to deploy globally and interface with local and allied forces.
NASA has named 16 experts to the panel headed by retired Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President A. Thomas Young that will review the agency's Mars exploration program in the wake of last year's failures of the two probes most recently launched to the Red Planet.
Boeing Co. announced the adoption of two core engineering computing standards based on the CATIA and ENOVIA software products for application company-wide. CATIA is used for mechanical design and ENOVIA is for virtual product and process management. "Boeing is aggressively becoming the aerospace industry's leader in applying advanced information technologies to its manufacturing operations," said Nick Donofrio IBM senior VP, Technology and Manufacturing.
The government of Italy has contracted with Lockheed Martin for two additional C-130J aircraft, bringing the number on order by the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) to 20. "This order from Italy for additional C-130Js is obviously a great vote of confidence in the aircraft, and we are delighted," said Tom Burbage, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems. "With the Royal Air Force in the U.K. current receiving its fleet of C-130Js, it is rapidly becoming the aircraft of choice to meet operational airlift requirements for nations in Europe."
January 5, 2000 TRW Inc., San Bernardino, Calif., was awarded on Dec. 30, 1999, a $28,882,020 modification to a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract, F42610-98-C-0001, to provide for engineering services through September 2003 in support of the Propulsion System Rocket Engine Life Extension Program for the Minuteman missile system. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 31, 2003. Solicitation issue date was Dec. 3, 1999. Negotiation completion date was Dec. 28, 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, (F42610-98-C-0001).
President Clinton's budget for next year calls for four new C-130Js and $30 million for a C-130J flight training simulator at Little Rock AFB, Ark. Two of the new C-130Js are for the U.S. Air Force and two for the Marine Corps, Clinton said. The cost of one C-130J, built by Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga., is $49.8 million in 1999 dollars, the Air Force says.
Globalstar announced plans yesterday to sell common stock in a public offering to move ahead with its global mobile telephony system. The telecommunications company already has enough financial resources to finish deploying its low-Earth orbit satellite digital telecommunications system. A company press release noted proceeds from the deal will potentially be used to fund additional marketing and promotional efforts as Globalstar accelerates roll-out plans, or to repay debt.
John Hamre, the deputy secretary of defense, gave Defense Secretary William Cohen his resignation last week, the Defense Dept. confirmed yesterday. Hamre is leaving March 31, 2000, to become president and chief executive officer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a public policy think-tank located in Washington. Cohen is recommending Rudy de Leon, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to President Clinton for nomination as Hamre's replacement, Pentagon officials confirmed.
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) will design and build an advanced Ka-band satellite for the planned iSKY global broadband satellite network under a contract announced yesterday. The new satellite was the third in one day for SS/L, which also announced that Intelsat had exercised options for two more Intelsat IX spacecraft. The iSKY satellite will operate at 109.2 degrees West longitude after its scheduled 2001 launch. The advanced platform will have on-board power exceeding 10 kilowatts and carry 41 spot beams to cover North American.
Dassault Aviation officials have confirmed the company plans to separate its commercial and military divisions. The French aircraft manufacturer does not plan to establish the divisions as independent legal entities and will continue to report earnings on a consolidated basis, according to press reports from Paris. The civilian unit will be known as Falcon and the military division as Defense. Dassault said it expects cost-savings from the transaction.
Israeli airline El Al selected Roll-Royce's Trent 895 engines over those of U.S. competitors, Pratt&Whitney and General Electric Co. for its new Boeing 777 jetliners, despite heavy lobbying from U.S. officials. Rolls-Royce reported Friday the company won a contract worth about $75 million to supply engines for three Boeing 777s on order for El Al. El Al is expected to use the aircraft for long-haul destinations and will begin to take delivery on the aircraft in January 2001.
