The Pentagon is continuing its efforts to buy its replacement Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) under a different purchasing strategy from the way the Defense Department developed and procured the initial fleet. The U.S. Marine Corps and Army took some heat for the way they first bought JLTVs to meet rapid development and acquisition needs for protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as terrain conditions in recent military conflicts.
FRANKFURT — Two days ahead of an important regulatory deadline for the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems, another roadblock has appeared in the form of a major BAE shareholder publicly slamming the deal.
ARMY HELLFIRE Systems L.L.C., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $403,484,222 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure various models of HELLFIRE II missiles. The work will be performed in Orlando, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-11-C-0242). NAVY
The U.S. Pacific Fleet established Navy Expeditionary Combat Command NECC Pacific (NECC PAC) this month to provide administrative control for the service’s forces assigned to the area. The move reinforces the Navy’s interest in bolstering its expeditionary forces while highlighting the Pentagon’s refocus on the Pacific region. The Navy calls the establishment of NECC PAC “a signif existed since NECC’s establishment in 2006.”
WIN-T: The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems a $346 million delivery order to procure the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 (Inc 2) network for additional Brigade Combat Teams and Division Headquarters units, according to the company. The contract follows the Pentagon’s decision to authorize the service to continue fielding WIN-T Inc 2 as part of the Army’s Capability Set 13 deployment. Initial fielding began Oct.
A $33 million program to demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling to extend the endurance of high-altitude unmanned aircraft has been ended by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) without achieving its goal of transferring fuel between two Northrop Grumman Global Hawks in flight.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded a $185,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the performance based logistics services in support of the CH-47 Chinook helicopters and rotor blades. The work will be performed in Ridley Park, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2017. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-D-0196).
NAVY Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $100,444,236 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-2118) to exercise an option for continued lead yard services for the Virginia-class submarine program. The work will be performed in Groton (93%), Newport, R.I. (1%), and Newport News, Va. (6%), and is expected to be completed by September 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
ARMY Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded a $59,034,271 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to support the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor. The work will be performed in Andover, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (DASG60-98-C-0001). NAVY
U.S. Naval Supply Systems (Navsup) Command this month awarded a $218.4 million Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract to Bell-Boeing for the V-22 Osprey, the first such award designed to serve both Marine Corps and Air Force variants of the tiltrotor.
While the Pentagon has continued to invest heavily in the logistics of transporting war support and other equipment, a recent government audit report says the Defense Department (DOD) needs to hone those efforts, particularly when it comes to pre-positioned materiel.
FRANKFURT — Just days before the Oct. 10 deadline for merger negotiations between EADS and BAE Systems, there is still no sign that the companies and relevant European governments have developed a common strategy to proceed with the consolidation effort. An agreement by the deadline looks increasingly unlikely. BAE Systems could apply for an extension, but industry sources say the manufacturer is opposed to such a move.
CHOOSING APACHE: The Indian government has chosen the Boeing AH-64D Apache Block III in a competition for 22 new attack helicopters. As expected, the AH-64D beat out the only other contender, Russia’s Mi-28 NE, which is understood to have fallen short of requirements during field evaluation trials last year. Air Chief Marshal Norman Browne, India’s air force chief, said Oct. 5, “We have finalized our selection of the Apache. Contract negotiations and other discussions will now commence.” A final deal is expected to be worth $1.5 billion.
The six-month stopgap funding bill Congress passed before leaving town upends Pentagon planning for nearly every line of the procurement and research budgets, essentially freezing billions in fiscal 2013 money unless a defense appropriations bill is passed.
Warfighters have long desired rapid, autonomous aerial cargo delivery to the battlefield. Now the U.S. Navy is developing an app for that. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin and Aurora Flight Sciences late last month to develop such technology, which would allow Navy and Marine Corps units operating under hostile conditions to call in an unmanned cargo rotorcraft via a smartphone-like device.
NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) soon will have determined the winner of its heavy-lift helicopter competition, based on lifecycle costs, and the winner should be decided within a few months, according to a senior defense ministry official. The contenders are Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook and Russia’s Mi-26. The IAF already operates four Mi-26s Meanwhile, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne on Oct. 5 said 75% of the IAF’s modernization program will be complete by 2022.
NETANYA, Israel — Cyberdefense specialists in Israel are looking for ways to protect networks that control critical infrastructure from attacks like the Stuxnet worm discovered in 2010 that infiltrated Iranian nuclear facilities. The networks that control many crucial industrial and manufacturing processes were once considered largely immune to cyberattack. But now researchers have found there are often obscure Internet connections in virtually every automated network.
While they may disagree on energy policy, crucially for the aviation industry President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney do agree that a national program designed to expand the production of biofuels should continue. As the Pentagon and airlines try to bridge the gap between the technical feasibility and commercial availability of advanced biofuels as drop-in replacements for fossil fuels, government support for scaling up both feedstock and fuel production is proving critical—and controversial.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is proposing a framework for how Congress can reach a deal on $4 trillion in deficit reduction next year, but he will not be on Capitol Hill to reach the compromise. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, tried to prevent last year's budget penalty from taking place, but he will not be around either. And Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) helped broker deals on two transportation bills in 2011. But by January, he will be gone, too.
President Barack Obama's widely panned debate included criticism for his lack of interest and intensity. The lackluster performance extended to the few areas in which aerospace and defense entered the discussion, as Obama opted to ignore messages that resonate with Americans in favor of dusting off an old battle that never took off. And his attacks on Mitt Romney's proposal to spend 4% of GDP on defense during a time of tight budgets went nowhere.
