NEW YORK — Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter is encouraging lower-tier suppliers to consider consolidation, though the Pentagon will not support further mergers and acquisitions among the few prime contractors left in the defense sector.
LONDON — Britain’s new chief of defense materiel, Bernard Gray, has embarked on a major review of program costs. Gray, who took the role in January after heading an independent panel highly critical of defense procurement, is “doing an in-depth study” of the cost of the acquisition program the Defense Ministry has on the books, the ministry’s permanent undersecretary, Ursula Brennan, tells Parliament’s defense committee. The review should help the ministry enter future spending planning rounds with greater certainty, she says.
MOVING UP: The U.S. Air Force’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite has reached a perigee of more than 13,350 km. (8,295 mi.) on its slow journey to geosynchronous orbit 35,888 km. over the Earth. The bipropellant liquid apogee engine made by IHI Aerospace failed after an August launch, crippling the satellite’s ability to quickly reach orbit. Air Force officials say that the satellite’s electric Hall Current Thrusters have achieved more than 1,400 hr. of successful operation since launch; these are being used as the backup plan to slowly reach orbit.
A hefty entry in the next round of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev-2) seed-money effort would be able to lift 44,500 lb. of payload to the International Space Station, enough for any of the commercial crew capsules under development as potential space shuttle replacements.
LONDON — The U.K. government has formally pulled the plug on its £6 billion ($9.6 billion) search-and-rescue helicopter (SAR-H) outsourcing effort and is going back to the drawing board to assess how to meet the requirement. The private finance initiative has been in trouble since late last year, when procurement irregularities came to light on the eve of a formal contract signature with the Soteria consortium, comprising CHC Helicopter Corp., Thales, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Sikorsky, offering the S-92.
LONDON — Saab is the latest Western aerospace and defense company looking to cement its industrial ties in India and to secure defense contracts by establishing research and development (R&D) capacity there. The Swedish manufacturer on Feb. 8 announced plans for an R&D center in Bengaluru with 100-300 engineers. The company’s president and CEO says there will be a continuous flow of work to the facility.
NEW DELHI — India’s Maini Global Aerospace is about to ink an agreement with Marshall Aerospace to provide structural components for the extended-range fuel cells of the Indian navy’s Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The agreement is due to be signed Feb. 11 at the Aero India show in Bengaluru. Maini is scheduled to make the first delivery of initial subsets in April. “This is a test of performance of Indian capability,” says Naresh Palta, Maini CEO. “Once we do that, it is clear that we can take onboard [large] programs.”
THIS YEAR: Wall Street is not bracing for much fresh news from the fiscal 2012 defense budget request, expected out Feb. 14, although analysts and industry are more uncertain about the outcome of to-be-determined 2011 appropriations. In a note to clients, analyst Robert Stallard of RBC Capital Markets notes that further continuing 2010 spending levels would mean a real, immediate hit to defense companies’ expectations. Plus, “a Congress focused on spending cuts could pass a subpar FY11 budget, and chip away at FY12 in the same style,” Stallard and others say.
LONDON — On the eve of the Aero India air show in Bengalaru, Russian Helicopters has opened a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in a joint venture with its Indian partner Vectra. India is a huge market for helicopters, but the center is designed to have broader appeal. The company notes that more than 200 Russian-made helicopters are in use with the Indian military.
LONDON — Bell Helicopter is looking at emerging government and civil requirements as it aims to expand the customer base for the Bell 429 in India. The first Indian customer, charter operator Span Air, took delivery Feb. 8 of its first Bell 429, configured in a VIP arrangement. Most Bell 429 sales in the country are currently made in the corporate market, but there are hopes that emergency medical services, for instance, will open up soon, says the company’s Asia-Pacific director, Sameer Rehman.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s director is encouraging Japan to solidify plans to jointly produce the 21-in. SM-3 Block IIA ballistic missile killer to meet a tight fielding deadline in 2018. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, MDA director, says that preparations must be made for stateside industry to produce the U.S./Japanese SM-3 IIA if the partners are unable to come to an agreement on production plans for the Raytheon-led interceptor.
Hawker Beechcraft has selected Salina, Kan., as the location for AT-6 training if the light-attack version of its T-6B Texan II turboprop trainer is chosen to equip the Afghan air force. The company is competing against Embraer with the Super Tucano to supply 20 Light Support Aircraft (LSA) to Afghanistan and potentially 15 aircraft to the U.S. Air Force for use in training foreign air forces.
FMS RECOUPMENT: A Washington watchdog says Congress should immediately request a new audit on collecting foreign military sales recoupment fees, as the revenue could be helpful in cutting federal deficits. “Recent collection figures on recoupment fees are hard to come by because no member of Congress has requested them of late,” say Taxpayers for Common Sense.
BENGALURU, India — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony is urging technologists, engineers, scientists, academia and industry to create a strong, indigenous technological base. “No country, no matter how friendly it is, will share its best technology,” he says. “What we get through the various technology transfers and so on is not always the best. They are definitely not of ‘A’ grade — not even ‘B,’ maybe ‘C.’ This is a reality and the only way to counter this is to become self-reliant, and the government would back any efforts in this direction.”
NEW DELHI — Northrop Grumman says that if India purchases the company’s E-2D airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft at the same time as the U.S., it will gain a price benefit from economies of scale. India’s current requirement is for one squadron of four AEW&C aircraft, with two more as options. It is believed the Indian navy will require 12 in the coming years.
United Space Alliance, NASA’s Houston-based shuttle prime contractor, plans to lay off nearly 700 workers in early April as the three-decade-long spaceflight program moves closer to retirement. The joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin currently counts 6,350 workers at NASA’s Kennedy, Johnson and Marshall spaceflight centers in Cape Canaveral, Houston and Huntsville, Ala., respectively.
ARMY The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, Mesa, Ariz., was awarded on Feb. 2 a $69,875,696 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for 14 new build AH-64D war replacement aircraft. The work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-05-C-0274).
ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Jan. 31 an $18,086,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. The award will provide for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 software modernization development for the United Arab Emirates. The work will be performed in Grand Prairie, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2013. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-07-G-0001). NAVY
LONDON — The U.K.’s plans to phase out its TriStar fleet have prompted the Defense Ministry to scrap an expansive cockpit upgrade program. The goal now is to do just enough to keep the aircraft compliant with air traffic management (ATM) rules.
AIR FORCE Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, was awarded a $203,039,359 contract modification to cover sustaining services including logistics support, program management support, engineering services, spares and technical data in support of the C-130J propulsion systems, which include the AE 2100D3 engine and R-391 propeller systems. This modification is to exercise option four, year five. At this time, $49,557,415.99 has been obligated. WR-ALC/GRBKA, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8504-07-D-0001 0500).
The introduction of advanced, man-portable air-defense weapons to the Taliban along with Chinese trainers will demand new tactics and other adjustments to protect U.S. strategic airlifters, says Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, head of U.S. Transportation Command.
