Synectics Corp., Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $24,900,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide for the Multi-Intelligence and Information Technology Exploitation (MIITE) program. This effort will provide technology applications to Air Force operational mission requirements in 78 intelligence and information technology related areas. There were 26 firms solicited, and four proposals were received. Expected contract completion date is May 2002. Solicitation issue date was July 22, 1998. Negotiation completion date was Dec. 23, 1998.
A Titan IVB rocket launched a classified payload for the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Saturday morning at 2:36 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Lockheed Martin said the launch, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex Four East (SLC-4E), was the 28th Titan IV launch and the ninth from the California base. Three Titan IV failures in the past nine months have led to the loss of a Milstar satellite, a Defense Support Program early warning platform and a classified NRO payload.
Rolls-Royce Allison, Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $6,131,360 priced basic ordering agreement order for procurement of 11,950 turbine engine vanes used on the T56 engine supporting C-130, E-2/C-2 and P-3 aircraft. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and is expected to be completed by January 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (F34601-98-G-0011) (Order GB56).
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on May 18, 1999; Printed Issue Date: May 20, 1999 ... PART: SPECIAL NOTICES; OFFADD: Office of Space Launch, SAF/SL, 2420 Vela Way, Suite 1467-A5, El Segundo, CA 90245-4659 ...
The FAA yesterday issued airworthiness directives to Boeing 737 operators requiring them to check for cracks in part of the valve system of the rudder power control unit. On May 22, the agency ordered inspections of Boeing 727s to determine if electrical arcing had burned a hole in conduits carrying fuel pump wiring through fuel tanks. Both conditions are thought to have caused fatal crashes.
The U.S. Air Force, following engine failures that have caused seven F-16s to crash since November, is asking Congress to add $100 million to the fiscal year 2000 budget for engine repairs. The money, which is already earmarked for F-16 engine repair in the out-years, would be pushed forward to the current budget proposal in order to develop and install the fixes sooner, an AF spokesman said.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has directed the Pentagon to include a near-term flight experiment for the Space Based Laser (SBL) program and ensure that a number of technical milestones are met on the Airborne Laser (ABL) effort. SASC added $25 million to the DOD budget for SBL, but included a number of provisions. It directed DOD to develop an "objective system design," including the development, testing and operation of a prototype SBL. The provision requires DOD to structure the SBL Integrated Flight Experiment (IFX) to include:
The company also gets about half of its airfoil revenues from spares, and Callan forecasts about 7% annual growth for the segment, since pending retirements of older aircraft will not have a major effect on spares growth. While several blocks of 727s, DC-9s and older 737s could be retired over the next several years, most of Howmet's spares revenue comes from newer engine types, which are expected to grow.
The Defense Science Board recommends in a recently released report that the Pentagon fully fund efforts to develop "tethered aerial observation" vehicles. They could be helium filled balloons, small helicopters or ducted-fan vertical take-off and landing systems using radio frequency or a physical tether as a link to laptop computers. The Navy Space and Warfare Center is testing a system that could carry weapons as well as sensors.
The U.S. Marine Corps has selected a contractor to develop Dragon Warrior, a close range tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, according to a spokesman for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab says. The name of the winner, however, is being held until negotiations are completed in the next two weeks.
With Senate and House defense authorizers finished with their versions of the fiscal year 2000 defense bills, the defense appropriators are ready to take a stab at it. The authorizers added $8.3 billion to the president's defense spending request, and appropriators should fall very near that level. This week the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee marks up its version. Their House counterparts may hold off until Congress returns from a week long Memorial Day recess on June 7.
Lockheed Martin is designing an alternative to the secondary multifunction cockpit displays now being used in the F-22 flight test vehicles and six Lot 1 production models. An U.S. Air Force spokesman says the replacement is "currently under development" and will preclude use of liquid crystal flat panel displays made by dpix-Planar. Company officials hint that technology and supplier bases play a role in the move.
Lockheed Martin continues flying both F-22 Raptor test aircraft under flight restrictions imposed by U.S. Air Force. Pilots are not allowed to perform maneuvers with high g loads in the planes until 80 stiffeners are added to the aft fuselage of each. Both will be grounded sometime in June while the fix is installed, says a company spokesman. They will resume full flight testing by July.
The U.S. Army and the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Joint Program Office have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that sets the stage for an Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract award in March 2000. The $3.6 billion pre-production contract will run through 2006 and covers design and fabrication of 13 Comanche helicopters with production Mission Equipment Package capability.
The Senate on Thursday passed a $12 billion emergency supplemental bill to cover the cost of military operations over Yugoslavia and humanitarian relief efforts in Kosovo. The House passed the bill earlier in the week. House and Senate appropriations conferees this month agreed to the $12 billion measure, more than doubling the White House's $6 billion request.
Woodward Governor Co.'s Aircraft Engine Systems Group won a contract from Pratt&Whitney Canada to supply the integral fuel pump on the PW200, PT6C and PT6T-9 families of turboshaft engines for helicopters and other applications. The engines are installed the Eurocopter EC135, Bell 427, Agusta A109 Power, Agusta Bell Model AB139 and PZL-Swidnik W-3 Sokol, Woodward said. The PT6C-67A is being developed for the Bell Agusta 609 Tiltrotor.
Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems, Philadelphia, won a contract potentially worth $116.7 million to design, develop and deliver the Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System.
Decisions in the U.K.'s ASTOR surveillance radar competition and Israel's fighter buy, which are imminent, will be followed by Turkey's attack helicopter decision and the U.K.'s BVRAAM decision, says Callan. Before the year ends, Kuwait should make a choice on its C4I competition, and Australia should pick a winner for its Project Wedgetail.
Moody's Investors Service assigned a Baa1 senior unsecured long-term debt rating to TRW Inc.'s proposed $3 billion note and debenture issue. Proceeds will be used to partially refinance TRW's $6.7 billion debt- financed acquisition of LucasVarity.
The U.S. Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile tomorrow is slated to try yet again to intercept a target. THAAD has missed in its six tries so far. The program's problems have had no effect on its funding on Capitol Hill, with House and Senate authorizers supporting the program in the FY '00 bills they marked up this month. In fact, lawmakers told DOD to forget its plan to pit the Army missile against the Navy's Theater Wide missile to see which is mature enough to proceed at a faster pace.
While 61% of Howmet International's 1999 forecasted revenues are derived from aerospace, the company may not see a major fall from a commercial downturn, since only 25% of revenues are tied to new commercial aircraft, Byron Callan, Merrill Lynch aerospace analyst, says. While forecasting that airfoil sales for new large civil aircraft will fall 20-25% between 1999 and 2002, Callan says Howmet will offset the decreases by increased outsourcing of certain engine OEMs and continued growth in regional and business jet airfoil demand.
The GOP leadership in the Senate wants to get the defense appropriations and authorization bills wrapped up by the end of the week. Hill aides are confident the authorization legislation will push through rather easily, but are more skeptical about the appropriations bill. There are some sticking points over Kosovo funding restrictions that could result in a veto threat.
Private-sector managers struggling to meet the "faster-better-cheaper" demands of the modern marketplace can profit from the lessons of Pathfinder, the NASA probe that enthralled the nation in July 1997 with a stream of spectacular images and measurements collected in an ancient flood plain on the rocky surface of Mars, according to a top Pathfinder program official.
The U.S. Air Force must implement a stop-loss policy, which prevents active duty personnel from leaving the service, in order to continue current operations over Yugoslavia through the summer, said a former commander of the Air National Guard. Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd (ret.) said, " ... if we don't implement stop-loss we are going to lose so many pilots that between now and September we will not be able to do the Kosovo operation."
