LOCKHEED MARTIN NAVAL ELECTRONICS&Surveillance Systems has received a $175.3 million award under its multi-year contract to produce three Aegis weapon systems for the U.S. Navy. The Moorestown, N.J.-based Lockheed Martin unit will perform the work on site. The multi-year contract is part of a larger award to produce 13 systems for more than $926 million, plus an option for one more system.
FIRST COMMERCIAL flight of the Russian Rokot space launch vehicle has been delayed until March by a mishap during vehicle integrated electrical tests at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The vehicle's payload fairing was "damaged beyond repair " after it received and executed an inadvertent separation command, according to the German/Russian Eurokot Launch Services company. The vehicle, which includes a Breeze-K upper stage, was destacked for testing after the Dec. 22, 1999, incident.
New Skies Satellites, the Netherlands-based commercial spinoff from the Intelsat consortium, has selected Integral Systems Inc. to supply the primary and backup control facilities for its satellite network, Integral reported yesterday. Integral said it would also provide ground system hardware and software and three telemetry, tracking and control sites under its contract with New Skies, which also includes options for future satellite ground systems over the next five years.
Controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center switched on the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 Monday night, resuming the deep-space observations halted Nov. 13 when loss of a gyroscope robbed the spacecraft of its fine-pointing capability and sent it into a safe-hold mode. Since then spacewalking astronauts have spent three days replacing all six gyros on the Hubble, as well as upgrading other systems in an urgent mission designed to keep the valuable scientific data flowing.
Honeywell has bought Quantum Laser Corp., a repair facility specializing in the laser cladding of turbine blades, Honeywell's Aerospace Services unit reported. Quantum will become part of the Aerospace Services unit, and will work closely with its Greer, S.C., repair and overhaul facility.
Some 32 crates of alleged automotive spares seized by UK customs and intelligence officials at Gatwick International Airport while in transit to Libya, via Malta, late last year, were found to contain propulsion and other components for North Korean Nodong-1 increased-range versions of the Russian "Scud" surface-to-surface missiles. These were thought by British intelligence to have originated in Pyonyang, and were reportedly routed via Taiwan and London, in violation of arms and missile technology embargoes applied to the Libyan government.
Sirius Satellite Radio will complete the last phase in its effort to redefine its identity today as the company's stock begins trading under the ticker symbol SIRI on the Nasdaq. Sirius changed its name last November from CD Radio to more accurately reflect the company's strategy of building a digital satellite radio system. When the system launches at the end of the year, the company expects to offer 50 channels of commercial-free music and 50 additional channels of other new programming for a monthly subscription fee.
The Clinton Administration is planning to give the Colombian military 63 helicopters to assist in drug interdiction efforts. President Clinton has proposed giving the Colombian government 30 UH-60 Blackhawk attack helicopters and 33 UH-1N Huey utility helos as part of an expanded program for combating narcotics trafficking, a statement from the White House said yesterday.
Primex Technologies is downsizing and reorganizing its Aerospace&Electronics businesses. "This restructuring will improve our returns and competitive position in the space and electronics businesses," Primex Chairman and CEO James Hascall stated Monday.
The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics&Surveillance Systems, Moorestown, N.J., a five-year, $23.9 million contract to provide Navy ballistic missile defense systems engineering and integration support. Under the contract, the company will assist the Navy with initial development of a shipboard ballistic missile defense system. The company will provide the Navy with system engineering and integration, studies and analysis and development and fielding support, particularly on the Navy Theater Wide (NTW) program.
U.S. Air Force crews at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., are scheduled to launch the first Orbital Suborbital Space Launch Vehicle (OSPSLV) Friday night in a test designed to validate the recycled Minuteman II's performance as transportation to orbit. The OSPSLV combines a Minuteman II first and second stage motor with an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL third and fourth stage motor. Liftoff of the inaugural flight is scheduled for a three-hour window that opens at 9:54 p.m. EST Friday.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is blasting the Clinton Administration's positions on national security and vows the GOP-led Congress this year will remain committed to weapons modernization and force retention. Defending the GOP stance on defense, Hastert argues his party is not isolationist, but has had to act on certain issues where the White House has not been honest.
SYS was awarded a $21.6 million, multi-year contract to provide management, logistics and engineering support to the Port Hueneme Div. of Naval Sea Systems Command (PHD-NSWC). SYS reported the new contract will cover management consulting, information services and human resource support in addition to combat systems and facilities engineering. SYS has performed a variety of services for PHD-NSWC over the past eight years. The latest contract includes an initial base year and four option years.
FAA's Office of Airports and the Agriculture Dept.'s Wildlife Services have published a manual, described as the first of its kind in the U.S., to help airports deal with wildlife hazards at airports. FAA also has an understand with Wildlife Services to provide airports assistance in handling local hazards, including conducting hazard assessments and developing wildlife hazard management plans.
BAE Systems' decision to redesign the Sampson air defense radar system should translate into significant operational improvements for the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers, according to the company. The revised approach reconfigures the radar to produce a near-spherical design, which internalizes the two original arrays. The company said Monday tests have demonstrated the reconfiguration lowers wind resistance, facilitates manufacturing and improves performance consistency.
NASA's Ames Research Center and Lockheed Martin Space Operations have entered an agreement to collaborate on research projects at the NASA Research Park at Ames, the space agency reported. Under terms of the agreement, the Lockheed Martin unit will work with the NASA center on both research and development and education projects. The principal focus will be on astrobiology, an Ames specialty, with work on life and microgravity sciences, biotechnology, aeronautical and space technology development and information technology research also planned.
NASA should move quickly to set up a non-governmental organization (NGO) to oversee research activities on the International Space Station - including commercial activities - a panel of the National Research Council has recommended.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS) reported the company has signed a contract with the Italian government to provide two more C-130J aircraft for the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI).
The U.S. military continues to shrink, and as of the end of November -- the latest figures available -- the active forces are about a third smaller than they were a decade ago.
January 5, 2000 Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $43,537,250 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 3,420 MXU 650/B Air Foil Groups, 2,245 MAU 169 H/B Guidance Control Sections, and associated data, in support of the GBU 12 Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is April 1, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Dec. 29. 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-00-C-0005).
January 3, 2000 McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $15,780,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-99-C-1226 to provide funding for long lead materials for 42 FY-2001 F/A-18E/F aircraft. This does not constitute a multi-year procurement. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (60%) and Los Angeles, Calif. (40%), and is expected to be completed by 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.
DASA'S MILITARY AIRCRAFT DIV. and TEREM SHC, a Bulgarian company, have teamed to bid jointly for modernization and life-extension of MiG-29 fighters for the Bulgarian Air Force, DASA said. Meanwhile, the German-Russian joint venture MAPS has signed a product support agreement for four Romanian MiG-29s. MAPS was founded in 1993 to support the 24 MiG-29s in service with the German Air Force. DASA holds a 50% stake in MAPS.
