A story in the Oct. 29 issue of The DAILY gave an incorrect breakdown for Joint Strike Fighters to be built by Lockheed Martin in the program's next phase. The company will build 22 aircraft: 14 for flight testing and eight for ground and lab testing.
British forces in the Persian Gulf area have been redeployed following the completion of the major desert exercise "Sair Sareea" (Swift Sword) II in Oman. Most of the United Kingdom forces have begun their return to the U.K., but some 200 special operations troops of the Royal Marines' No. 40 Commando are remaining for possible assault operations in Afghanistan.
Members of Missouri's congressional delegation say they will push to ensure that The Boeing Co.'s St. Louis-based military division receives a significant share of the Joint Strike Fighter work even though Lockheed Martin Corp. won what the Pentagon has called a winner-take-all contract. Although some analysts have described the effort as an uphill battle, the lawmakers argued that they have a strong case for Boeing's involvement.
Boeing officials say their biggest worry about losing the Joint Strike Fighter contract isn't the short-term loss of revenue, but the possibility of losing design and manufacturing talent within the company for future projects. "For 2002, the overall revenue will be lowered by about $1 billion, to $55 billion," Boeing Chairman and CEO, Phil Condit, told a group of defense reporters and financial analysts during an Oct. 26 press conference. But "it does not change our guidance on margins or on cash flow," he said.
October 26, 2001 Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $21,514,200 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-98-C-0122) to exercise an option for 10 spare T56-A-427 turbine engines for U.S. Navy E-2C aircraft. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and is expected to be completed in September 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Tom Ridge, director of the Office of Homeland Security, named Adm. Steve Abbot (ret.) to be the office's deputy director on Oct. 29. Abbot, who retired as a four-star admiral in May, is currently serving as executive director of Vice President Cheney's national preparedness review, which is aimed at strengthening readiness for acts of domestic terrorism. Abbot's last military assignment was as deputy commander-in-chief of the U.S. European Command during the Kosovo conflict.
The Republic of Korea wants to buy 45 AGM-84-H Standoff Land Attack Missiles-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) systems and Taiwan has requested 40 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Oct. 26.
CONTRACTS: Honeywell has been picked to supply avionics for the new Dassault Falcon 7X business jet and for the engineering and developament phase of the C-130 avionics modernization program, work it said could be worth more than $1 billion over the life of both agreements.
The launch of India's Insat-3C communications satellite, initially scheduled for mid September, has now been put off until next year, sources at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said. The satellite has been delayed because Arianespace is revamping its Ariane 5 booster after a combustion problem cropped up during a July launch (DAILY, Aug. 8). An inquiry board said the problem was due to an abnormally high pressure gradient in the booster's combustion chambers.
SPAR AEROSPACE LTD. will supply, install and integrate a commercial Global Positioning System in 32 CC-130 Hercules aircraft for the Canadian Department of National Defence. The contract is worth $3.8 million. The GPS system to be installed is FAA approved, allowing the navigation of commercial airways, according to Spar. Work will be done over the next 16 months at Spar's facility in Edmonton, Alberta.
India will likely finalize an agreement to lease four Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range bombers from Russia when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visits Moscow in early November. India and Russia have discussed such a lease since late 1999, and Russian Vice Premier Iliya Klebanov made preliminary arrangements for it during his visit to India in mid-October.
House and Senate negotiators on the fiscal 2002 VA-HUD-NASA appropriations bill have tentatively agreed to reject House language that would have added $275 million to the Bush Administration's budget request to develop the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station, a congressional source told The DAILY Oct. 29. House negotiators were willing to drop their language after receiving new information that NASA has not fixed management problems that have contributed to $4.8 billion in ISS cost overruns, the source said.
October 25, 2001 McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., is being awarded an $8,971,800 delivery order amount as part of firm-fixed-price contract DAAH23-99-G-0014 for parts applicable to the AH-64 Apache helicopter. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., and completion is expected by Aug. 5, 2004. This is a sole source contract initiated on March 20, 2001. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-99-G-0014).
October 26, 2001 KSD Inc.*, Banning, Calif., is being awarded $7,031,060 as part of an estimated $21,354,388 (total includes two option years) firm-fixed-price contract for 1,268 strap assemblies for the main rotor applicable to the AH-64 Apache helicopter. Work will be performed in Banning, Calif., and completion is expected by July 30, 2003 (base year). This is a sole source contract initiated on Feb. 23, 2001. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-02-C-0041).
B/E Aerospace is marketing a reinforced cockpit door for commercial aircraft that the company says will comply with all current and future FAA regulations regarding security, crew escape, and rapid decompression. By April 2002, all airlines must submit a plan to the FAA on how they plan to retrofit their entire fleets to comply with new security regulations. That retrofit must be complete by April 2003.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s win in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition positions the company to dominate the fighter market beginning in 2008, as the Defense Department begins to replace aging A-10s, F-16s, early model Navy F/A-18s, and the Marine Corp's AV-8B. The final JSF production contract could be worth "in excess of $200 billion," said Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, speaking at the Pentagon Oct. 26.
Daniel W. Paterson, president of Lockheed Martin Aircraft&Logistics Centers, retired after more than 30 years with the company. NASA, Washington, DC David Saleeba has been appointed director of the newly formed Office of Security Management and Safeguards. Glenn Mahone has been named Acting Associate Administrator for Public Affairs. Dr. Arun K. Sehra has been named director of Glenn's Aeronautics Directorate. Dr. Gary T. Seng has been named director of Glenn's Aeropropulsion Research Program Office.
X-VEHICLE ADVOCATE: Walker says the U.S. should be doing more work on X-planes. He is particularly disappointed with the recent decision by the Air Force and NASA not to continue the X-33, which was intended to demonstrate a single-state-to-orbit launch capability (DAILY, March 2, Sept. 7). "There is a need for us to do some projects that have a fairly short time frame but are very, very risky, high-tech kinds of programs that may in the end never fly," Walker says.
Bill Walthall has been appointed to the newly formed position of vice president, Customer Relations. Brian Gora has been appointed president, Landing Gear Systems. Theunis Botha has been appointed vice president and general manager, Landing Gear Systems.
