5/4/99 NASA KSC; General Information: Solicitation Number: Forum; NAIS Posted Date: May 04, 1999; CBDNet Posted Date: May 04, 1999; Response Date: Jun 16, 1999; Classification Code: SP - Special Notices; Contracting Office Address NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
The U.S. Army will have to make do with the aviation platforms already in its fleet for 10 to 15 more years, according to the generals who lead the service.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense unveiled its LINK UP program, designed to keep military pilots in service for a longer period of time and ultimately help them secure second careers in the civil sector after their military service ends, the MOD reported last week.
FLIGHT SAFETY SERVICES won a $225 million contract to provide one C-5 weapons system trainer to the U.S. Air Force. The contract includes operation and maintenance on the C-5 aircrew training system.
5/4/99 NASA JSC... General Information: Solicitation Number: NAS15-10110; NAIS Posted Date: May 4, 1999; CBDNet Posted Date: May 4, 1999; Response Date: Jun 2, 1999; Classification Code: 99 - Miscellaneous; Contracting Office Address: NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BG
Astrolink LLC will receive a $900 million down payment from founding partners Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, TRW Inc. and Telespazio to begin construction of a new broadband constellation that will require an estimated total of $3.6 billion to reach its break-even point.
The Intelligence Community is trying to revalidate its databases to avoid future incidents like the inadvertent bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on Friday, DOD and IC officials said yesterday. Defense Secretary William Cohen adamantly told reporters the bombing of the Chinese Embassy by a U.S. aircraft was a mistake. It was due to reliance on targeting maps not updated since the embassy moved to a new location in 1996, he said. The map used for targeting was prepared in 1992.
May 4, 1999 Lockheed Martin Fairchild Systems, Syosset, N.Y., was awarded on April 30, 1999 a $14,020,613 face value increase to a fixed-price-incentive contract to provide for 87 AVQ-37 Steerable Television Systems, associated data, and warranty, applicable to the B-52H aircraft. Expected contract completion date is 12 to 24 months after exercise of option. This is a modification to an existing contract. Therefore no solicitation date was issued. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (F09603-96-C-0522-P00006).
May 5, 1999 General Electric Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, is being awarded a $9,954,800 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 164 fan blade modification kits applicable to the F101 engine on the B-1 aircraft. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is Aug. 31, 2002. Solicitation issue date was Nov. 12, 1998. Negotiation completion date was April 22, 1999. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity (F34601-97-G-0002-0315).
Moody's Investors Service confirmed the debt ratings of Litton Industries Inc. and changed the company's rating outlook to negative, Moody's reported Friday. Moody's also will continue its review of the debt ratings of Newport News for possible upgrade. The moves follow Litton's proposed takeover of Avondale Industries Inc. for about $525 million in cash and of Newport News Shipbuilding in an equity based transaction worth approximately $1.3 billion (DAILY, May 10).
Despite a series of recent space launch failures, and $1.7 to $2 billion in losses last year, space insurance experts do not foresee an immediate rise in launch insurance rates or a drop in the direct-insurance capacity. Pressure is rising, however, and capacity in the reinsurance market has already shrunk. Future losses, particularly of the heavily insured Thuraya satellite this fall, could force changes in the market as a whole.
Raytheon won a $135 million contract to make or upgrade 177 Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IIIBs and Block IVs for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Arlington, Va., Raytheon reported. The contract includes procurement of 71 SM-2 Block IIIB all-up-rounds (AURs), SM-2 Block IIIB ordnance alteration kits for upgrading 63 SM-2 Block IIIs to the IIIB configuration, 43 SM-2 Block IV AURs, 84 AN/DKT-71A telemetric data transmitting sets and spares, shipping containers and handling equipment.
The long-awaited Russian Service Module for the International Space Station will be known henceforth as the long-awaited Zvezda module. That's the official name for the combination propulsion module/crew quarters that may actually finally be shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome this week. Zvezda means "Star" in English, and it is also the name of the Russian company that produces spacesuits, space life support systems and, for the military market, ejection seats.
The Senate Appropriators plan to act this week on their version of the White House's $6 billion request to pay for Kosovo operations and humanitarian relief efforts. There seems to be more pressure in the Senate against moves to significantly boost the request. The House last week, in a 311-105 vote, passed a $13 billion emergency spending bill, more than doubling the White House request. Some senators have also proposed creating offsets to cover the Kosovo cost, rather than simply providing an emergency supplemental.
Newly promoted Marine Maj. Gen. Michael A. Hough takes charge of the Joint Strike Fighter program office today, after pinning on his second star Friday. He replaces Air Force Maj. Gen. Leslie F. Kenne, who is slated to command the AF Materiel Command's Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass.
Russia has plans to start training an actor - Vladimir Streklov - for a one-week mission to shoot a film on the Mir orbital station, which suggests the State Committee on Cinematography (Gosfilm) may finance extended Mir operations beyond the original August Mir deorbit date. Streklov is scheduled to begin work at the Star City cosmonaut training facility on July 1, a process that normally takes at least a year.
A full-scale virtual airport tower that can safely simulate a variety of potentially dangerous scenarios has been installed at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, the agency said. The tower, an accurate approximation of real towers found at the largest airports, will support NASA and aviation industry efforts to combat airline accidents and reduce airport gridlock. It will also help cut the high cost of air traffic delays to travelers, airlines and airports.
Airmen at Keesler AFB, Miss., will set their clocks forward on Tuesday and Wednesday to help the Air Force determine if it is ready for Y2K. The installation-wide test will include systems common to military bases, including phone switches, management systems and heating and air conditioning units. The clocks will rollover to several key dates: Sept. 9, 1999; Oct. 1, 1999; Jan. 1, 2000 and Feb. 29, 2000.
