NUCLEAR STUDY: Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has named two members to a congressionally mandated advisory panel examining nuclear security: former Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) and T.J. Glauther, former deputy energy secretary. The “Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the National Security Enterprise” will eventually comprise 12 members.
ARMY BAE Systems – Ordnance Systems Inc., Kingsport, Tenn., was awarded a $780,802,473 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the manufacture and supply of Insensitive Munitions Explosives. The work location will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 29, 2017. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-12-D-0037).
Success in the Army’s growing catalog of work in linking manned and unmanned aviation assets could lead the service to reduce is reliance on helicopters, potentially impacting the planned buys of Boeing Apache AH-64Es and future Armed Aerial Scouts.
Lockheed Martin is planning additional air- and ground-launched tests of its stealthy Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (Lrasm) under development for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and the Office of Naval Research.
GROUND FORECAST: The West’s simultaneous withdrawal from Afghanistan and fiscal austerity efforts at home will eat into the MRO business for ground combat vehicles, according to one consulting group, but the industry may not see its worst fears realized. Visiongain sees the global military ground vehicle MRO market at $5.66 billion this year, and it should continue to achieve “strong and stable” growth.
The Senate passed its budget resolution March 23 before leaving for its Easter and Passover recess, setting up the next phase in the ongoing battle over deficit reduction.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Australia’s air force chief is still optimistic that his country will eventually order 100 Lockheed Martin F-35s, even though the government is currently looking at ordering 24 additional Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets in light of delays with F-35 development.
It will take another year for export control reforms aimed at easing the path for the U.S. satellite industry to take effect, which is time enough for manufacturers and others affected by more than a decade of onerous International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to push for additional changes.
The U.S. Navy’s first Mobile Landing Platform MLP-1 USNS Montford Point successfully completed builder’s sea trials March 20 in San Diego, proving the vessel’s propulsion, ballasting, communications, navigation and mission systems, as well as related support systems meet requirements. The milestone is not only an accomplishment for the program of a new ship concept, but also for the Navy itself, which has had some issues lately with developing other new first-of-class vessel concepts.
THE PENTAGON — While no program is guaranteed protection during these days of fiscal austerity, the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) acquisition plans are as safe as any other from substantial cuts, says Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, director of Navy staff and the head of the special LCS Council of service admirals.
Contract-tower program supporters are appealing to the FAA to limit the number of airport tower closures set to start April 7 due to across-the-board budget cuts. Senate leadership rejected the efforts of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) to keep the FAA from closing up to 189 contract towers and restore funding for the program in a short-term spending bill that passed Congress last week.
It's difficult to smuggle explosives into areas that are monitored by sensors or bomb-sniffing dogs. Research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a U.S. Energy Department facility in Richland, Wash., could make it virtually impossible, especially with military-grade explosives that have extremely low vapor pressure. PNNL scientists developed a real-time vapor-detection technique for explosives that is reportedly accurate in the parts-per-quadrillion (ppq) range—similar to or more sensitive than a dog's sense of smell.
Immediately after Congress passed a spending bill last week to fund the government for the rest of fiscal 2013, lawmakers' attention has turned to the fiscal 2014 budget. While Congress continues to wrestle with how to reduce the federal deficit and overturn sequestration before its potential consequences become a chilling reality, that does not mean it will be any easier to agree on spending Pentagon dollars. Last year, Congress thwarted Air Force plans to put Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft in storage.
Heavy-lift helicopter specialist Erickson Air-Crane is acquiring operators in the U.S. and Brazil in a move to diversify from its niche in firefighting into a global aviation services business. The acquisition of Oregon-based Evergreen Helicopter (EHI) and Air Amazonia of Brazil for up to $350 million will double Erickson’s revenues and operating earnings. The deals will also take the Portland, Ore.-based company into new commercial and government markets, halving its dependence on seasonal firefighting revenues.
Inspired by two Roman palaces, the National Building Museum was constructed in the 1880s with the dual purpose of housing the U.S. Pension Bureau and providing “a suitably grand space for Washington's social and political functions.” On March 7, nearly 300 aviation and aerospace luminaries from around the globe gathered in the cavernous building for Aviation Week's 56th annual Laureate Awards.
Beechcraft is showing little sign of backing down from its fight for the Light Air Support (LAS) contract, filing suit in the Court of Federal Claims to object to the U.S. Air Force’s decision to move ahead with work on the program during a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of the LAS contract award.
