AAI Corp. reported completion of flight and ground testing of the Common Automatic Recovery System (CARS), which allows full autonomous landings of the Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle. The work, AAI said yesterday, was carried out under contract to Pioneer UAV Inc. The company now will begin fielding production units of CARS, integrating it into each of the Pioneer ground control stations.
Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter team reported its use of new computer-aided design technologies to cut time and cost on the program. The team said it is using the tools to develop models and simulations to reduce the total design and manufacturing time by more than 50%. "These models totally eliminate the need for dimensional drawings and provide a single, unambiguous digital data source for the geometric definition of parts," said Guy S. Gordon, JSF producibility manager.
Signal Technology Corp. said it has signed an initial $500,000 contract for the AN/ALQ-135(V) Band 1.5 Tactical Electronic Warfare System for Northrop Grumman's Defensive Systems Div. Shipments of the system, to be used on the F-15 fighter, are slated to begin in March 2000, Signal Technology said. Future contracts will require subsystem fabrication, which could exceed $6 million, the Danvers, Mass., company said.
A group of senators has warned Defense Secretary William Cohen not to make cuts in theater missile defense (TMD) programs and to proceed with the on-schedule fielding of both the Army Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Navy Theater Wide (NTW) systems. The senators, led by Arizona Republicans Jon Kyl and John McCain, were responding to reports that Pentagon budget planners are mulling a shift of funds from NTW to keep THAAD on schedule, or other options to slip one of the programs or both.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall last week accused the White House Office of Management and Budget of "zeroing out" his repeated requests for additional resources to investigate aviation accidents and thereby placing in jeopardy the "safety of the American people." Hall made the charge in remarks describing actions the NTSB has taken on recommendations in a Rand study on ways to improve aviation accident investigations. One of the findings was that the board's staff and facilities are "stretched to the limit."
Northrop Grumman, Sunnyvale, Calif., is being awarded a $61,775,261 multiple award, cost-plus-award-fee contract for the program definition and risk reduction phase of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) Program. This phase of the program will consist of the development of a full-scale, reduced-length, fully integrated prototype EMALS, which will replace the current generation of steam catapults in CVNX aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, Calif. (90%) and Lakehurst, N.J. (10%), and is expected to be completed by September 2003.
Charles Stark Draper Lab, Cambridge, Mass., is being awarded a $14,255,000 cost-plus-fee contract to provide for development of a computer based integrated engineering environment to support the replacement of existing technologies due to the aging problems for the MK-6 guidance system; inertial component engineering to address specific features of current instruments and alternate technologies for accelerometer and gyro technology; and to monitor radiation-harden technology, including stellar technology.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Melbourne, Fla., was awarded on Dec. 3, 1999, a $7,700,986 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for interim contractor support from December 1999 through November 2000 for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) prime mission equipment. Expected contract completion date is November 2000. Solicitation issue date was April 22, 1999. Negotiation completion date was Nov. 19, 1999. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (F09603-00-C-0012).
Boeing said its Joint Strike Fighter team has conducted the first test flight of JSF avionics in a modified 737-200 airliner. The Dec. 9 flight, from Seattle, began five months of integrated avionics testing intended to significantly reduce technical risk in JSF avionics development by letting engineers evaluate and troubleshoot the avionics systems before they are installed in the JSF.
Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Arlington, Va., is being awarded a ceiling priced $33,000,000 order for procurement of low rate initial procurement Lot 4 spares for the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. This procurement totals 1,176 spares ranging from adapters, clamps, and bolts to control panels and hydraulic motors. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by January 2002. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
NASA may be ready to sign deals with private media companies by "late spring" of next year for commercial activities on the International Space Station, including some that could give private companies exclusive rights to Station programming if they make a "significant" investment that upgrades the orbiting lab's capabilities.
General Electric Aircraft Engines, Lynn, Mass., is being awarded a $10,578,700 requirements contract for 590 afterburner flameholders for the F404 engine used on the F/A-18A/B aircraft. Work will be performed in Lynn, Mass., and is expected to be completed by September 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with two proposals solicited and two offers received. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00393-97-D-005M).
Rolls-Royce-Allison, Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $9,095,516 delivery order amount as part of firm-fixed-price contract DAAJ09-97-D-0202, for the purchase of 28 engines (250-C30R/3), 28 engine containers (R/3), 12 months of in-house engineering support and contractor field service representatives in support of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Apr.
CACI International, Arlington, Va., said it has won a five-year prime contract potentially worth $13.5 million to help the U.S. Navy install and implement the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) electronic defense system on Navy ships and at shore facilities. CACI said the award is its first as prime contractor for the Port Hueneme Div. of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, having previously supported the organization as a subcontractor. CACI will perform the work principally at its offices in the Port Hueneme area.
Boeing reported ahead-of-schedule delivery to Lockheed Martin of an updated F-22 avionics flight test package. Boeing, which is responsible for integrating the F-22's advanced avionics, said the Block 1.2 avionics is slated to be installed on aircraft 4004 and support engine run testing. That aircraft will be the first F-22 to fly with integrated avionics.
Pratt&Whitney Canada and China National South Aero-Engine Co. (SAEC), China's leading manufacturer of small gas turbine engines, have opened a joint venture manufacturing plant in Zhuzhou, China. P&WC has a 49% share of the venture, first announced in the spring of 1998. The company will manufacture many of the components used in P&WC engines in service in China and elsewhere.
General Atomics, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $59,938,100 multiple award, cost-plus-award-fee contract for the program definition and risk reduction phase of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) Program. This phase of the program will consist of the development of a full-scale, reduced-length, fully integrated prototype EMALS, which will replace the current generation of steam catapults in CVNX aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (90%) and Lakehurst, N.J. (10%t), and is expected to be completed by September 2003.
Space Shuttle managers decided to push ahead toward a Thursday-night launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on a 10-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, after United Space Alliance Ground crews completed an untried launch-pad changeout of a dented liquid hydrogen line over the weekend. Crews replaced the line, tested it for leaks and began closing out the aft engine compartment by Sunday. Managers decided yesterday morning to begin the countdown at 1:30 a.m. EST today for a launch at 9:18 p.m. EST Thursday.
Raytheon Systems Co., Bedford, Mass., is being awarded a $65,621,047 modification to firm-fixed-price contract DAAH01-95-C-0446 for the manufacture and installation of kits, and the manufacturing of spares for the Patriots REPIII/CDI-3 Programs. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass. (81%); Tewksbury, Mass. (10%); El Paso, Texas (3%); Bedford, Mass. (2%); Quincy, Mass. (2%); and El Segundo, Calif. (2%), and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Sept.
Israel's BVR Systems won a $43 million contract to provide its EUHD fifth- generation rangeless ACMI system to the Republic of Korea Air Force. Under the contract, BVR will supply airborne pods to be carried by front-line combat aircraft, ground debriefing stations, real-time tracking and positioning equipment and other related services. The airborne pods are inside training air-to-air missile shells adaptable to any type of combat aircraft, the company said.
A converted Titan II ICBM launched a new U.S. military weather satellite Sunday, and the satellite was reported doing well 24 hours later. Liftoff of the Lockheed Martin Titan II from Vandenberg AFB came at 12:38 p.m. EST Sunday, and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) block 5D-3 spacecraft aboard deployed normally and used its kick motor to reach its final orbit.
Raytheon E-Systems, Waco, Tex., is being awarded a $30,276,266 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, F09603-93-C-0322-P00074, to provide for 112 Class IVB Modification Kits to upgrade the All Weather Landing System and Autopilot System on the C-130 and C-141 aircraft. These kits will install a digital Automatic Flight Control System, a Control Display System, and a Ground Collision Avoidance System. Expected contract completion date is Aug. 31, 2001. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity.
BOEING said it has delivered the 100th AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter to the U.S. Army. The helicopter was delivered during a ceremony this week at the company's facility in Mesa, Ariz.
Confirmation of initial Royal Air Force plans to deploy its planned 232 Eurofighters was announced yesterday by U.K. Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon. The announcement follows the signing of initial four-nation production contracts last September, which included the first batch of 55 for the RAF.
