ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $395,462,993 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the research, development and testing for the Engineering Change Proposal in support of the Abrams tank. The work will be performed in Sterling Heights and Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2020. The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-12-C-0322).
CYBER ACTION: Despite near-unanimous agreement about the need to shore up U.S. cyber defenses, Congress has not been able to agree on the details of cybersecurity legislation. Now Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is among the lawmakers calling on President Barack Obama to address the issue through his executive authority.
Lockheed Martin is not planning to notify its employees of layoffs related to the potential $1 trillion in federal spending cuts due to take effect Jan. 2. The company’s decision is in response to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) telling contractors the government will assume liability for businesses that do not warn employees of layoffs related to massive potential budget cuts known as sequestration.
EADS and BAE Systems are facing even stronger headwinds for their merger plans 10 days ahead of the Oct. 10 deadline, with the CEO of major EADS shareholder Lagardere issuing a public statement demanding significant changes to the negotiated arrangements. Lagardere CEO Arnaud Lagardere says that “despite the industrial and strategic logic attributed to it, this plan has not yet demonstrated that it was creating value for EADS.” Therefore “Lagardere considers that the merger conditions between EADS and BAE Systems are currently unsatisfactory.”
BRUSSELS — Astrium Services will procure military satcom services on behalf of five European nations as part of a three-year agreement with the European Defense Agency (EDA), the first such contract awarded under EDA’s new European Satellite Communications Procurement Cell (ESCPC) initiative.
TOURS, France — An Australian-led high-speed propulsion research team is preparing to begin assembly of a scramjet-powered hypersonic demonstrator, following design changes to improve vehicle stability during its upcoming attempt at a Mach 8 flight test.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing the chemistry to convert seawater into jet fuel. The most promising process, the Navy says, would catalytically convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas directly to liquid hydrocarbon fuel used as JP-5, a process being developed and honed by the NRL. If such a process can be practically developed, the effect on Navy fuel logistics would be significant.
Securely transporting data is proving to be a costly mission for the U.S. Navy, and a recent government report says the service needs to do a better job. “Telecommunications services,” which include data storage on tapes, compact disks and other devices, ranked 12th among all Navy expenses between 1999 and 2009 with about $8.2 billion in contracts and contract modifications, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of contracting data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian unveiled a 2013 budget Sept. 28 that freezes defense spending at the 2012 level of €31.4 billion ($40 billion) while awaiting completion of a forthcoming defense strategy and new military program law early next year. Launched in July 2012, the new planning document “will end the gap between strategy and unrealistic spending,” the ministry stated in a news release.
French President Francois Hollande has approached Germany with the idea of creating a joint blocking minority stake in the new company that would be created as a result of the proposed merger of BAE Systems and EADS, according to industry sources. That status could be achieved as a result of various complex transactions and would ensure more government influence beyond the golden share proposal suggested by EADS CEO Tom Enders.
David Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways, has joined the Dallas-based ISTAT Airlink Advisory Council. Barger also is chair of the FAA's NextGen Advisory Committee and a member of the board of governors and treasurer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
EADS and BAE Systems are scrambling on several fronts to put together their proposed merger, and while decisions in favor or against the deal are being made in Paris, London and Berlin, Washington is playing an important role, too. BAE Systems executives believe any threat from the merger to its special security agreement (SSA) with the U.S. government would be a “deal breaker,” says an industry official close to the talks. Each SSA is tailored to the specific business of a particular company.
Irkut, a subsidiary of Russia's United Aircraft Corp., began flight tests of the twin-seat Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter with two aircraft in late September.
Ginger Wierzbanowski (see photo) has been named VP-space, missile defense, advanced technology and ground programs at Northrop Grumman Corp., Falls Church, Va., succeeding John R. Landon, who is scheduled to retire at year-end. Wierzbanowski has been VP-government relations and was legislative assistant to the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Nearly everyone knows that the U.S. is the largest arms exporter in history, selling or donating more weapons and defense services abroad than any other nation. But did you know that the U.S. also is the world's single-largest financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction? Since 1993, the State and Defense departments, the U.S.
David Davenport (see photo) has been promoted to VP and regional operations manager of New York LaGuardia Airport-based FlightSafety International from manager of the Savannah (Ga.) Learning Center. Fabio Miguez was promoted to manager of the Columbus (Ohio) Learning Center from manager of the Detroit Metro/Toledo Center. He succeeds Chip White, who moved to the Gulfstream Learning Center. Daniel MacLellan has been promoted to regional operations manager and will continue as manager of the Dallas/Fort Worth Learning Center.
