AIR FORCE Raytheon, McKinney, Texas (FA8620-06-G-4041, DO 001211), is being awarded a $44,032,247 contract modification for the Reaper/Predator Program. This contract modification is for Multi-spectral Targeting System, Target Location Accuracy, High- Definition Video and Targeting Improvements. The location of the performance is McKinney, Texas. The work is expected to be completed by July 17, 2015. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WIIK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
Talk of restarting the production line aside, the true financial focus now and in coming years for the U.S. Air Force will be aimed at maintaining the nation’s stealthy F-22 Raptor. For fiscal 2012, for example, the Air Force is spending about $803.4 million to modify and sustain the Raptor, compared to $132.2 million to produce the F-22, according to data provided by Avascent050, an online market analysis toolkit for global defense programs.
Boeing has confirmed a $1.9 billion U.S. Navy order for 11 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which the company describes as a “stepping-stone to full-rate production.” The order represents the manufacturer’s third low-rate initial production award, and follows two in 2011 that combined for 13 aircraft. The new order will take the Navy’s total fleet to 24, as part of an overall plan to acquire 117 as replacements for the Lockheed Martin P-3.
AIR FORCE Telephonics Corp. Farmingdale, N.Y. (FA8730-12-C-0007), is being awarded a $60,082,968 firm-fixed-price contract award for the production of 19 UPX-40s to include hardware installation kits, installation support, manufacturing and sustainment support. The location of the performance is Huntington, N.Y. The work is expected to be completed by Oct. 19, 2018. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/HBSK, Hanscom AFB, Mass.
TOO CONFIDENT: Analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) believe aerospace and defense executives may be “overconfident” in the information security practices at their respective organizations, given the trends of information security budget slashing, rising security incidents and accelerating technology development. The survey of more than 200 executives found that “72% of respondents are confident that they have instilled effective security behaviors into their organization’s culture, yet most do not have a process in place to handle third-party breaches,” PwC says.
Click here to view the pdf F-22 Spending Profile Fiscal 2008-2017 ($ in thousands) F-22 Spending Profile Fiscal 2008-2017 ($ in thousands) Type of Expense Sum of $Ks FY08 Sum of $Ks FY09 Sum of $Ks FY1
With Congress gone and no deal to prevent a nearly $1 trillion across-the-board budget cut from taking effect next January, a group of senators is laying the groundwork for proposals to delay the penalty known as sequestration.
A report destined for the German parliament’s economics committee lists numerous concerns about the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems. The Ministry of Economics report says the proposed golden shares, which are supposed to give governments veto rights on key strategy questions, are not absolutely certain to provide the kind of protection to state interests that EADS and BAE Systems claim. The report also questions the legality of issuing golden shares to three governments under current European law.
It is not certain that the U.S. national airspace system (NAS) will be ready to accommodate unmanned aircraft by the deadline set by Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. In February, Congress set a series of deadlines to accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the NAS. In a recent report, GAO says FAA “has missed one deadline and could miss others.”
The U.S. Coast Guard needs to get a better handle on its major development and spending plans, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “The planned cost and schedule of the Coast Guard’s portfolio of major acquisitions is unknown because of outdated acquisition program baselines and uncertainty surrounding affordability,” says the Sept. 20 report.
Thanks to early supervision and a tight working relationship between the U.S. Navy and contractor General Dynamics NASSCO, the service’s Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) vessel is set for manufacturing, the service says. “The Navy worked very closely with General Dynamics NASSCO to identify cost savings early in the MLP design work while pursuing a concurrent design and production engineering approach,” the Navy says in a recent blog.
No one ever accused South Korea's Agency for Defense Development of lacking ambition. But as it pushes ahead with its effort to indigenously develop a stealth fighter, the agency faces renewed accusations of a lack of realism, and it is simply being overlooked when it comes to funding.
As Tom Enders tells employees in a letter, he is convinced that the planned merger of EADS and BAE Systems offers a “singular chance.” But there is a problem: Investors are notably uninspired and European governments lukewarm. There is a real possibility that the deal may still fall through.
Using cockpit simulators for a Brazilian air force F-5 in Porto Alegre and an F/A-18E/F at its military aircraft headquarters in St. Louis, Boeing has demonstrated how it can link a network of simulators across distances as great as 5,000 mi. Boeing has been strengthening its manufacturing and technology ties with Brazil for several years in a number of areas, but nowhere more so than in its drive to demonstrate advanced systems capabilities and win the Brazilian air force's F-2X fighter competition.
Africa needs engineers as much as doctors to stop people dying needlessly, according to Ivor Ichikowitz, a South African industrialist and founder of aerospace and defence company, Paramount Group.
NEW DELHI — India successfully conducted a development test of its nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile on Sept. 19 from a military base in the eastern state of Odisha. The missile will be introduced into service next year after undertaking one more developmental trial, a defense ministry official says.
