AMSTERDAM — The boards of EADS and BAE Systems were due to meet Oct. 9 to determine whether they should call off the planned merger of the two companies or extend a deadline that expires Oct. 10. The German government has been emerging as the biggest hurdle to an agreement on the massive deal. BAE Systems has to apply for an extended deadline by the afternoon of Oct. 10. Such extensions usually are granted, and would give the two companies 28 more days to forge a deal and come to terms with the three governments.
TEL AVIV — Elbit Systems and Northrop Grumman are collaborating to develop a terrain-following/terrain-avoidance (TF/TA) system to improve tactical, low-level flight safety for military transports. The TF/TA system has already been selected for integration into an ongoing C-130 Hercules upgrade program. It could help pilots carrying out combat search and rescue or Special Operations Forces missions.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Boeing is expecting a sole-source contract for the initial U.S. Air Force purchase of Laser-Guided Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) weapons, according to Kristen Robertson, who heads the program for the company. The service announced its intent Oct. 4, and the initial buy is for use on the AC-130W gunship employed by Air Force Special Operations Command.
The Defense Department’s needs for U.S. Navy intelligence have focused funding on aircraft — especially UAVs — and submarine-related programs, according to recently declassified and released budget documents. The military intelligence programs’ fiscal 2010 budget justification for Congress indicates long-term Pentagon interest and funding programs that likely persist not only through this fiscal year but into the future.
The Pentagon is wasting money because of the way it handles hundreds of millions of dollars invested in single-bid contract awards, a recent Defense Department Inspector General (IG) report says. “The services have not realized potential cost savings associated with increased competition and recompeting $390.9 million in contract modifications,” IG says in its Oct. 4 report. “DOD also cannot accurately assess the percent of improvements in DOD [by] achieving effective competition,” IG reports.
As a step toward a lightweight, multifunction radar for rotorcraft, Northrop Grumman will demonstrate a compact anti-brownout sensor using millimeter-wave active-array technology under a $33.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. To be demonstrated in 2014, the Multifunction Radio Frequency (MFRF) sensor will use silicon-germanium transmit/receive tiles arranged in modular sub-arrays that will be combined to produce an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar operating in EHF band at around 90GHz.
Despite recent concerns about developing homegrown security and defense forces in Afghanistan, establishing those types of units can be vital to counterinsurgency efforts, according to the Rand Corp.
The FAA will contract with Pratt & Whitney to modify an F117 turbofan engine—the military version of the PW2000—for a volcanic ash study involving NASA and the U.S. Air Force (USAF). P&W’s F117 powers USAF’s C-17 four-engine military transport aircraft, one of which will be used for the study, which is scheduled to start in March. The ground will inject ash into the modified engine.
Airbus’ research and development efforts on titanium alloys will include a focus on the creation of new alloys with improved machining capabilities and mid- and high-temperature resistance and better fatigue and damage-tolerance properties. The manufacturer’s senior VP-material procurement, Eric Zanin, speaking yesterday at the Titanium 2012 conference in Atlanta, also said Airbus is looking to reduce titanium’s buy-to-fly ratio to lower the amount of the metal needed for each part.
While the U.S. Air Force has ruled out oxygen system or cockpit contaminants as the cause for recent F-22 Raptor pilot breathing issues, toxic chemicals and by-products remain a concern for jet operations, according to the recent service report on pilot oxygen issues. The service should not only continue to monitor contamination issues, the report says, but look at installing filters and sensors that the pilot On-Board Oxygen Generation System (Obogs) system now lacks.
Click here to view the pdf 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S. Navy, Air Force Aircraft Under The CR ($ in thousands) 2013 U.S. Defense Spending: Funding for U.S.
Iran recently revealed four copies of its Ra’d (Thunder) surface-to-air-missile (SAM) system, with each transporter carrying three Taer (Bird) missiles. Iran very likely did not develop this missile indigenously, but its configuration defies clear determination of its parentage, which is likely either Russian or Chinese. Iranian military officials told the Fars News Agency that the Taer has a range up to 50 km to an altitude of 75,000 ft. and that it was currently in production for the Iranian armed forces.
The Pentagon is continuing its efforts to buy its replacement Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) under a different purchasing strategy from the way the Defense Department developed and procured the initial fleet. The U.S. Marine Corps and Army took some heat for the way they first bought JLTVs to meet rapid development and acquisition needs for protection against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as terrain conditions in recent military conflicts.
FRANKFURT — Two days ahead of an important regulatory deadline for the proposed merger of EADS and BAE Systems, another roadblock has appeared in the form of a major BAE shareholder publicly slamming the deal.
ARMY HELLFIRE Systems L.L.C., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $403,484,222 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure various models of HELLFIRE II missiles. The work will be performed in Orlando, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2014. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-11-C-0242). NAVY
The U.S. Pacific Fleet established Navy Expeditionary Combat Command NECC Pacific (NECC PAC) this month to provide administrative control for the service’s forces assigned to the area. The move reinforces the Navy’s interest in bolstering its expeditionary forces while highlighting the Pentagon’s refocus on the Pacific region. The Navy calls the establishment of NECC PAC “a signif existed since NECC’s establishment in 2006.”
WIN-T: The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems a $346 million delivery order to procure the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 (Inc 2) network for additional Brigade Combat Teams and Division Headquarters units, according to the company. The contract follows the Pentagon’s decision to authorize the service to continue fielding WIN-T Inc 2 as part of the Army’s Capability Set 13 deployment. Initial fielding began Oct.
A $33 million program to demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling to extend the endurance of high-altitude unmanned aircraft has been ended by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) without achieving its goal of transferring fuel between two Northrop Grumman Global Hawks in flight.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pa., was awarded a $185,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the performance based logistics services in support of the CH-47 Chinook helicopters and rotor blades. The work will be performed in Ridley Park, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2017. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-D-0196).
NAVY Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $100,444,236 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-10-C-2118) to exercise an option for continued lead yard services for the Virginia-class submarine program. The work will be performed in Groton (93%), Newport, R.I. (1%), and Newport News, Va. (6%), and is expected to be completed by September 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
ARMY Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded a $59,034,271 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to support the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor. The work will be performed in Andover, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (DASG60-98-C-0001). NAVY
U.S. Naval Supply Systems (Navsup) Command this month awarded a $218.4 million Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract to Bell-Boeing for the V-22 Osprey, the first such award designed to serve both Marine Corps and Air Force variants of the tiltrotor.
