Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a $4,535,817 modification to firm-fixed-price contract DAAJ09-97-C-0005 to purchase 15 External Tank System (ETS) "A" Kits and technical support from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 30, 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 25, 1999. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AND HONEYWELL have scheduled special shareholders meetings for Sept. 1 to approve their proposed merger. The record date for determining shareowners entitled to vote on the merger is July 22. In addition to shareholder approval, the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. The AlliedSignal meeting will be held in Morristown, N.J., and Honeywell's meeting will be held in Minneapolis.
Raytheon Systems Co., McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a not-to-exceed $34,000,000 ceiling-priced contract to manufacture 83 spare parts for the AN/AAS-44(V) radar system used on H-60 aircraft. The spares include turret assemblies, electronic units, and hand controls. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be completed by March 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
After more than a year of negotiations and design work, Teledesic signed a deal last week making Motorola the prime contractor to build its ambitious broadband telecommunications satellite system. It also announced an agreement with Lockheed Martin's International Launch Services unit to buy up to eight launches each on Atlas V and Proton M rockets to orbit a portion of the constellation.
Raytheon Systems Co., St. Petersburg, Fla., is being awarded a $13,091,057 modification to firm-fixed-price with economic price adjustments and time and materials contract DAAB07-97-C-J437. This is to exercise the second year option for 106 Joint Tactical Terminals from the low-rate initial production and full-rate production contract for Joint Tactical Terminal/Common Integrated Broadcast Service Modules (JTT/CIBS-M).
Interactive Television Corp., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $24,593,665 cost-plus-award-fee, contract for the development of the naval fires control system which is a software program designed to coordinate and manage digital information in an at-sea battle environment. The program will automate the firing functions on Arleigh Burke class destroyers and Ticongeroga class cruisers. Work will be performed in Arlington, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2002. Contract funds in the amount of $3,800,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Silicon Valley Group, Inc., Wilton, Conn., is being awarded, an estimated $7,870,007 cost-reimbursable, cost-sharing contract for research, development and engineering processes that will be used by industry to mass produce advanced semiconductors. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn. (90%) and San Jose, Calif. (10%), and is expected to be completed by June 2002. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured through a Broad Agency Announcement with 77 offers received and 25 were selected for award.
Boeing Defense and Space Group, Seattle, Wash., is being award a $21,450,000 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, F34601-97-G-0005-0024-04, to provide for 18 aerial refueling booms applicable to the KC-135 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is July 2000. Solicitation issue date was March 13, 1998. Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Military Aircraft Systems Division, St. Augustine, Fla., is being awarded an $8,137,492 ceiling amount delivery order against a basic ordering agreement for airframe changes of 8 F-14 aircraft under the F-14 upgrade program. Work will be performed in St. Augustine, Fla., and is expected to be completed by December 2000. 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 (N00019-96-G-0013).
Applied Data Technology Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $5,713,365 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, F08626-98-C-0021/P00004, to provide for development of modifications to incorporate data recording capability into the Air Combat Training Systems at Eielson and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Expected contract completion date is Oct. 2000. Solicitation issue date was Feb. 19, 1999. Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity.
The U.S. is urging the European Commission (EC) to adopt industry-developed standards for third-generation wireless communications, and indicates it would move to address problems with market access if Europe adopts more restrictive standards.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense is expected to make a final recommendation on the proposed Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in early fall, following further work and discussion with key stakeholders, U.K. Defense Secretary George Robertson told Parliament last week.
DirecTV Inc. and the National Association of Broadcasters have come to a compromise agreement on issues governing the boundaries between the satellite and broadcasting industries. The two groups agreed that satellite companies could provide local channels to households at zero copyright fee but would be required to negotiate retransmission agreements with each local broadcaster.
The Globalstar "Big LEO" satellite communications constellation is a step closer to its regional startup after a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle orbited four more of the company's low-Earth orbit communications satellites early Saturday.
Raytheon Systems Co., McKinney, Texas, was awarded on July 2, 1999, a $44,876,732 (base year total) firm-fixed-price contract with a cumulative total of $237,031,632 if all options are exercised, for Tube Launched Optically Tracked Wire-Guided (TOW) Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) full rate production.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems has won a U.S. Air Force contract worth about $267 million over 10 years to modify and operate formal school training for C-130 aircrews. About 12,000 students per year are expected to train at five Air Force bases in the U.S. and three remote sites, the company said yesterday. A sixth domestic facility is scheduled to begin operation in 2000.
A top Russian official yesterday predicted Kazakhstan would lift its ban on space launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome "in two or three days," apparently clearing the way for a critical mission designed to keep the Mir orbital station stable until it is deorbited early next year. Ilya Klebanon, a vice prime minister, told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency his government had prepared a series of measures designed to soothe relations between the two former Soviet republics in the wake of last week's Proton-M launch failure.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on July 8, 1999; Printed Issue Date: July 12, 1999 ... PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SERVICES; CLASSCOD: A-Research and Development-Potential Sources Sought; OFFADD: Naval Research Laboratory, Attn: Code 3230, 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20375-5326 ... SOL N/A; DUE 072699; POC Marvin Levenson, NRL Code 8231, (202)767-0694, Fax (202)767-6429.
EATON CORP. said it has sold 1.625 million shares of its common stock to J.P. Morgan&Co. at $92 per share, giving it $147 million. The money will be used to pay down a portion of short-term debt, most of which was incurred by the acquisition of Aeroquip-Vickers for $1.7 billion (DAILY, April 9). Eaton previously said it expected to fund about 20% of the acquisition with equity. In March, Eaton said it would sell its Fluid Power and Engineered Fasteners divisions and apply the proceeds to the cost of the acquisition.
CHARLES P. (PETE) CONRAD, the third man to walk on the moon, died late Thursday of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident in Ojai, Calif. He was 69. A Navy test pilot who was selected for the second class of NASA astronauts in 1962, Conrad commanded Apollo 12 and also few on Gemini 5 and 11 and the first Skylab mission. After retiring from NASA and the Navy in 1974, he held a number of jobs in private industry, including McDonnell Douglas vice president and head of commercial and military sales for Douglas Aircraft.
General Electric reported record earnings of $2.82 billion on record sales of $27.41 billion in its 1999 second quarter. A year ago, GE posted profits of $2.45 billion on sales of $25.07 billion. The company also set a record with a 19.3% operating margin, up from last year's 18.1%. The growth reflects the increasing benefits from the Six Sigma quality initiative, the company said.
Additional Tomahawk land attack missiles would appear to be required by the U.K., following confirmation Friday by Defense Secretary George Robertson of Royal Navy plans to equip all 12 of its attack submarines by 2008. Robertson made his announcement when welcoming the crew of HMS Splendid, the RN's first Tomahawk-armed submarine, on their return to Faslane following NATO duty in the Adriatic. An unspecified number of Tomahawks were launched by HMS Splendid against targets in Yugoslavia during the 78-day Operation Allied Force.
...IN WITH THE NEW: Gansler also favors discarding outdated parts rather than continuing to pay top dollar for military-unique subsystems. When a radio with tubes breaks, for example, "you have two choices," he says. "You can fix it or throw it out. Throwing it out is the right choice." He says the Pentagon "must be able to put new systems in [platforms] within the technology cycle," estimated to be 18 months long.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CHALLENGE: Fighting as an alliance poses some unique challenges for intelligence assets, according to Keith Hall, director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Talking to reporters last week, he said that "...increasingly as we move into the future we are going to need to find ways to take information - even if it comes from very sensitive sources and methods - and find ways to sanitize it, if you will, and find ways to utilize it depending upon the coalition partners we are working with."
Simula Inc., Phoenix, won a series of four contracts collectively valued at nearly $1 million from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for crew cab occupant safety enhancements, Simula reported. The programs are designed to increase soldier protection, obtain recommendations for revisions to vehicle operational requirements, and remove or alter potential hazards that can injure occupants during accidents. Simula Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Simula, will perform the work.
