In a move that shows the U.S. Army's confidence in the procurement plan for its Comanche helicopter, the service has decided to retire its current scout attack helicopter as much as 11 years earlier than planned and has funded some improvements. The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, made by Bell Helicopter Textron and first delivered to the Army a decade ago, is part of the service's Aircraft Modernization Plan as it transitions to its objective force (DAILY, April 6). The current plan is to phase out the aircraft from fiscal year 2005 to 2013.
The X-35B demonstrator, one of Lockheed Martin's entries in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition, has just completed a program of accelerated mission testing (AMT) on its new short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion system (see related story on Page 1). The AMT is a government-monitored durability evaluation in which the STOVL propulsion system hardware is subjected to twice the number of operating profiles it will encounter during actual flight testing.
The first vehicle in the Russian-built Proton M rocket series lifted off at 11:47 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 6, carrying a satellite for the Russian government, International Launch Services announced over the weekend. The Ekran-M satellite successfully separated from the rocket's Breeze M upper stage into geostationary orbit about seven hours later, according to ILS. Upgrade to Proton K vehicle
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS (ATK) has been awarded two contracts worth $15 million from the U.S. Army Operations Support Command, Rock Island, Ill., to produce medium-caliber training ammunition for use by tactical aircraft, the company reported.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS, INC. has opened an office in Colorado Springs, Colo. The office will serve as the focal point for the support of the company's U.S. Air Force business.
BAE Systems Information and Electronic Information Inc., Nashua, N.H., is being awarded a time and material/requirements contract (an appropriation number and dollar value will be issued with each delivery order) with an estimated cumulative total of $9,900,000. The contractor will provide engineering and technical services to support the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasure/Common Missile Warning System (ATIRCM/CMWS).
House Armed Services Committee ranking Democrat Ike Skelton (Mo.) has introduced a bill aimed at improving the nation's ability to prevent, defend against, and respond to terrorist attacks involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, cyber or conventional weapons.
The U.S. Navy recently began F/A-18E/F Super Hornet flight testing of the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System, technology that allows airplane crews to aim weapons and sensors by looking at targets, the Boeing Co. announced. The U.S. will install the JHMCS on Air Force F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighters as well as the Super Hornet, according to Boeing. A Boeing-Vision Systems International team is developing the system, and it is being overseen by the U.S. Joint Program Office at Ohio's Wright-Patterson AFB.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boeing Co., is being awarded a $381,350,277 five-year requirements letter contract for procurement of 22 items supporting the F/A-18 and four items supporting the AV-8 aircraft. Support items include horizontal stabilizer, ailerons, flaps, hook subassembly, pylon, strakes, canopy, and windshield. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by December 2007. Contract funds will not expire by the end of the current fiscal year.
Raytheon Co., Goleta, Calif., is being awarded a $54,577,779 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for the following in support of the AN/ALE-50(V) towed decoy system applicable to the F-16 aircraft: 2,477 decoys, 111 1x2 launchers/controllers, 80 magazines, and associated warranties. Work is expected to be completed by October 2003. Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is the contracting activity (F33657-96-0036-P00046).
The broad defense spending categories with the most impact on the aerospace industry would receive a small net increase under a fiscal 2002 budget proposal released April 9 by the Bush Administration. The research and development budget would jump $3.6 billion, from $40.8 billion in FY 01 to $44.4 billion in FY 02. But procurement spending would decline $2.6 billion, from $62.1 billion in FY 01 to $59.5 billion in FY 02. Combined, procurement and R&D would be $103.9 billion in FY 02, an increase of $1 billion or less than 1 percent.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $152,663,000 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for three month (April-June 2001) advance procurement in support of low rate initial production of thirteen F-22 aircraft and associated equipment. The work will be performed at the Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash. (52%); Lockheed Martin Corp., Ft. Worth, Texas (35%); and other locations. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-0020-P00003).
Two years after heartbreaking, back-to-back failures of two U.S. probes, NASA is on its way back to Mars this week after a flawless launch over the weekend of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. "The spacecraft seems to be performing beautifully and we're right on our timeline," said David Spencer, mission manager at the U.S. space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boeing Co., is being awarded a $5,560,000 delivery order under a basic ordering agreement for repair support of various systems at the Avionics Repair Facilities at Naval Air Station Lemoore and Naval Air Station Cecil Field. Avionic systems repaired at these sites include APG-65 radar, heads up display, and forward looking infrared radars. Work will be performed in Lemoore, Calif. (50%) and Cecil Field, Fla. (50%), and is expected to be completed by October 2001.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector has delivered the first qualification focal plane assembly (FPA) for integration in the U.S. Air Force's Space-Based Infrared Systems-high (SBIRS-high) program, the company announced April 9. The FPA is the primary infrared sensor for the SBIRS-high system, and is the key component that will allow SBIRS-high to detect and track missile launches around the world, the company said.
The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded Raytheon Co. a $9.5 million contract to develop and produce two representative launchers for the Complementary Low Altitude Weapon Systems (CLAWS), the company announced April 9. The two production representative CLAWS launchers produced during the 24-month program are intended to validate performance and integration requirements.
Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $148,343,332 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, to provide for the low rate initial production in support of 59 T-6A Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems (JPATS) aircraft. The work is expected to be completed by January 2004. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity (F33657-00-C-2192-P00002).
McDonnell Douglas Training Systems, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $47,150,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for six Distributive Mission Training Systems I support of the F-15 aircraft, associated spares, and contractor operator maintenance instructor support for one year. The work is expected to be completed June 2005. Solicitation began January 2001; negotiations were completed March 2001. This effort supports foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00/C-0041).
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a 10-year, $601 million contract to GE Aircraft Engines to provide hardware upgrade kits for 1,202 J85-5 engines powering the USAF fleet of 509 T-38 "Talon" supersonic jet trainers. The upgrade kits are being produced at GE's Lynn, Mass., engine production facility, where the J85 engine was first developed more than four decades ago. Delivery of the kits is scheduled to begin later this year.
President Bush intends to nominate Douglas Jay Feith to be under secretary of defense for policy, the White House announced April 6. He is currently the managing attorney with Feith and Zell, P.C., in Washington, D.C. Feith served from 1984 to 1986 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy and was special counsel to Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle from 1982 to 1984. Feith is a graduate of Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center.
CAE's new operation in Tampa, Fla., CAE USA, has been awarded a $35 million U.S. contract by the Israeli Ministry of Defence to design and build a HU-60/CH-53 helicopter Aircrew Weapon Systems Trainer (HAWST) for the Israeli Air Force.
NASA officials are "looking for efficiencies" as they head into fiscal year 2002 with a relatively flat budget, so they can continue work on the International Space Station Alpha, revamp advanced aeronautics research and continue a program to develop new launch technologies. Some programs will be sacrificed, space agency administrator Daniel Goldin told reporters on April 9 at the NASA budget briefing to outline the agency's $14.5 billion spending plan, which is only 2% above last year's budget.
SURVEILLANCE STUDY: The U.S. and China plan to convene meetings of military experts to examine "all aspects" of the April 1 crash between a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance plane and a Chinese F-8 fighter jet, says Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.). The meetings, which are part of an effort to lessen U.S.-Chinese tension over the crash, will include a look at how reconnaissance missions should be performed in the future to avoid more accidents. Warner says such missions are dangerous but essential.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS, Inc., of Lanham, Md., has been awarded a contract from EchoStar Communications Corp. to provide the primary and backup control software for the EchoStar VII, VIII and IX satellites, scheduled for future launch. EchoStar VII is a Lockheed Martin A2100 satellite, while EchoStar VIII and IX are both Space Systems/Loral FS1300 satellites. EchoStar's existing control center, also provided by Integral Systems, will be expanded to incorporate the three additional satellites.
After years of restructuring, the RAH-66 Comanche program appears to be on a smoother, albeit demanding, path toward engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) as the U.S. Army begins its transition toward its objective force. Comanche, produced by a Boeing/Sikorsky team, was built to meet the tenets of the objective force. It will eventually be the replacement for scout and light attack helicopters in the Army.
