December 21, 2001 Boeing, McDonnell Aircraft and Missile System Aerospace Support, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $88,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for non-recurring support equipment sustaining integrated logistics support for the F/A-18E/F. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in December 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity (N00019-02-C-3036).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $1,328,792,000 firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for the purchase of 52 additional F-16D aircraft, increase of funding for other financial costs and increased funding for contractor management of contractors furnishing equipment as government-furnished equipment. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be complete November 2008. This effort support foreign military sales to Israel.
December 20, 2001 United Technologies Corp., East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded $18,000,000 firm-fixed price contract modification to extend the long lead procurement for 26 rate initial production Lot 2 engines and field support through Jan. 31, 2002. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be complete January 2002. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-1240, P0007).
Boeing, McDonnell Aircraft and Missile System Aerospace Support, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $88,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for non-recurring support equipment sustaining integrated logistics support for the F/A-18E/F. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in December 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity (N00019-02-C-3036).
The weaponization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be the major headline grabber in the coming year, largely as a result of operations in Afghanistan, according to Daryl Davidson, executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
The Pentagon's lead acquisition advisory committee, the Defense Acquisition Board, has approved low-rate initial production for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), undersecretary of defense E.C. "Pete" Aldridge told reporters Dec. 21 at the Pentagon. The JASSM, produced by prime contractor Lockheed Martin, was developed by the Navy and Air Force as a cost effective, long-range cruise missile. JASSM has stealth characteristics and uses a global positioning system/inertial navigation system for precision guidance.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, precision guided munitions and military transformation are expected to be high on the 2002 congressional agenda as lawmakers look for lessons learned in Afghanistan. Military space programs, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force's new leasing plan for aerial refuelers and the International Space Station are also likely to receive plenty of Capitol Hill scrutiny in the coming year.
Congress has agreed to fully fund the Bush Administration's request for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) after receiving warnings that a House-proposed cut would jeopardize the Defense Department's ability to observe and forecast weather around the world. The final version of the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill matches DOD's $157.4 million request for the weather satellite system. The bill was approved by a House-Senate conference committee Dec. 18 and by the full House and Senate Dec. 20.
Use of unmanned aerial vehicles in Afghanistan, particularly the Global Hawk, is prompting ideas about how such vehicles might someday be used to help defend the United States. The contribution of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk to the search for Osama bin Laden - flying at 65,000 feet for several days at a time, peering down with a variety of sensors - indicates that it also might be able to continuously monitor approaches to the U.S., observers say.
The V-22 Osprey, which has remained grounded since a December 2000 that killed four Marines, will return to the air for a new flight test program beginning in April 2002, Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge said Dec. 21. At a Pentagon briefing, Aldridge announced he will allow the V-22 to resume flying next year, although he repeated his longstanding concerns about the suitability of tiltrotor technology.
The Senate Dec. 20 unanimously confirmed Sean O'Keefe, former deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, as the new NASA administrator. O'Keefe succeeds longtime NASA chief Dan Goldin, who resigned Nov. 17.
The Pentagon's lead acquisition advisory committee, the Defense Acquisition Board, has approved low-rate initial production for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), undersecretary of defense E.C. "Pete" Aldridge told reporters Dec. 21 at the Pentagon. The JASSM, produced by prime contractor Lockheed Martin, was developed by the Navy and Air Force as a cost effective, long-range cruise missile. JASSM has stealth characteristics and uses a global positioning system/inertial navigation system for precision guidance.
LONDON - Britain is providing financial assistance of about 12 million pounds ($17.4 million) over three years to help Russia scrap its chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, under a new treaty signed Dec. 20. With Russia, the U.S. and 140 other states, the United Kingdom is a member of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which is the first international arms control agreement to prohibit an entire category of weapons and provide detailed verification measures.
Issues relating to export control licenses will be among the biggest facing the U.S. aerospace industry during the next year, according to Joel Johnson, vice-president of international affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association. But America's war on terrorism will pose new challenges for export controls, not just for next year, but also for several years thereafter, he said.
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Dec. 21 it has settled several antitrust lawsuits that subsidiary Litton Industries Inc. filed against Honeywell International Inc. 11 years ago. Under the terms of the settlement, Honeywell will pay Northrop Grumman $440 million in cash, of which $220 million will be paid in 2001 and the rest in July 2002. Litton - which was bought by Northrop Grumman earlier this year - filed the lawsuits in 1990.
The V-22 Osprey, which has remained grounded since a December 2000 that killed four Marines, will return to the air for a new flight test program beginning in April 2002, Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge said Dec. 21. At a Pentagon briefing, Aldridge announced he will allow the V-22 to resume flying next year, although he repeated his longstanding concerns about the suitability of tiltrotor technology.
Aerospace Industry Sales by Product Group Calendar Years 1986-2002 (Millions of dollars, current dollars) Aircraft Total Civil Military a Year Total Sales 1986 $106,183 $56,405 $15,718 $40,687 1987 110,008 59,188 15,465 43,723
MOSCOW - Russia's Space Troops launched Kosmos-2383, a US-P ocean reconnaissance satellite, Dec. 21, placing the 7,000-pound spacecraft in a 230-mile circular orbit using a Tsyklon-2 booster. The satellite, part of the EORSAT constellation, is equipped with electronic intelligence (ELINT) equipment to monitor foreign fleets.
Next year will be the make-or-break year for several military aircraft programs both in the U.S. and Europe, according to aircraft analysts. Unless some programs receive substantial orders or funding commitments, they may be discontinued, with the investment community responding accordingly.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, precision guided munitions and military transformation are expected to be high on the 2002 congressional agenda as lawmakers look for lessons learned in Afghanistan. Military space programs, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force's new leasing plan for aerial refuelers and the International Space Station are also likely to receive plenty of Capitol Hill scrutiny in the coming year.
Lockheed Martin has received a $17.6 million Air Force contract for continued work on the Powered Low Cost Autonomous Attack Submunition (LOCAAS), designed to detect a target such as a tank or missile site, overfly it, and launch a warhead at it. The contract, awarded Dec. 20 by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., calls for additional flight testing.
Next year will be the make-or-break year for several military aircraft programs both in the U.S. and Europe, according to aircraft analysts. Unless some programs receive substantial orders or funding commitments, they may be discontinued, with the investment community responding accordingly.
The weaponization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be the major headline grabber in the coming year, largely as a result of operations in Afghanistan, according to Daryl Davidson, executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
