AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a cost plus fixed fee, indefinite delivery, requirements contract with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Herndon, Va., for $9,656,256. The contract action will provide HQ AMC/A5Q requirements for improved survivability in combat operations. At this time $200,000 has been obligated. 55 CONS/LGCD, Offut Air Force Base, Neb., is the contracting activity (SP0700-03-D-1380). ARMY
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would make it harder for lawmakers to slip funding for pet projects into appropriations bills at the last minute with little public oversight.
NAVY American Science and Engineering Inc., Billerica, Mass., is being awarded a $67,391,360 firm fixed priced contract for the manufacturing and production of 66 AS&E Z-Backscatter (ZBV) Military Trailers. The work will be performed within the continental United States and is expected to be completed by the end of January 2010. Contract fund will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was sole sourced procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity (M67854-09-C-5017).
AIR FORCE The Air Force is awarding a cost plus award fee contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, San Diego, Calif., for $13,474,949. The contract is for engineering, manufacturing and development activities in support of the Global Hawk Program. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-01-C-4600, P00288). NAVY
Navistar Defense has inked its first Canadian military contract for 1,300 so-called military commercial off-the-shelf (MILCOTS) vehicles. About 600 vehicles will be delivered during fiscal 2009, with the remaining units to be delivered in FY ’10 under the $231 million deal.
STOOD UP: The U.S. Air Force officially stood up a provisional Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Bolling Air Force Base Jan. 12. The command will be temporarily located at the Washington, D.C., base, and headed by a provisional commander: Brig. Gen. James Kowalski. Kowalski will be responsible for helping identify a final location for the command and identifying manpower and resource requirements.
The U.S. Air Force has once again gone on the offensive to retain the combat, search and rescue (CSAR) mission following recent comments by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young that sparked further questions by the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).
ORLANDO, Fla. – NASA is planning wind tunnel tests of low-noise hybrid wing/body configurations as it pushes to enable the introduction of a new generation of highly fuel-efficient large aircraft as early as 2020. Boeing has been studying blended wing/body (BWB) aircraft for years, in the belief they could burn 20-30 percent less fuel than conventional tube-and-wing airliners because of the aerodynamic and structural efficiency of the flying-wing design (Aerospace DAILY, July 7).
FUTURE SHOCK: Directed-energy warfare may be taking another step toward operational status. DE Technologies was awarded a $6.9-million Navy contract to continue development of an offensive directed-energy warhead for the service’s compact rapid-attack weapon. Part of the project involves investigating technologies used for small-diameter shaped-charge warheads and will conclude with delivery of a shaped-charge design and liners for a full warhead development model.
PRODUCTION STARTS: Korea Aerospace Industries has begun final assembly of the first unit in the KUH helicopter program it is undertaking with Eurocopter. Rollout is scheduled for August.
SECOND GUESSING: Modus Operandi, a software and IT company, will furnish the U.S. Army with an information analysis system to help intelligence specialists predict enemy behavior on the battlefield. Identification of patterns in behavior is considered the key to disrupting operations. Data involving military events will be automatically extracted from native language texts. That is expected to significantly reduce manual processing of intelligence that slows military response time.
ORLANDO, Fla. Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hopes to recover the spent first stage of its Falcon 1 launcher as early as the upcoming fifth test flight, says CEO and chief technical officer Elon Musk. The successful recovery of the used first stage is an important milestone for SpaceX, which is determined to reduce the cost of access to space in part by increasing the re-usability of rocket sections. The second stage also is designed to be recovered, though this is a more serious technical challenge, Musk says.
January 27-28, 2009 Sofitel Miami Miami, FL This in-depth, case study driven management forum will showcase Viable Strategies to Drive Meaningful Cost-Reduction and Improve Operating Efficiencies Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call +1.212.904.4483. Click here to view the pdf
NAMING NAMES: President-Elect Barack Obama plans to nominate William J. Lynn III to be deputy secretary of defense, Robert F. Hale to be the DOD’s comptroller and chief financial officer, Michèle Flournoy to be undersecretary of defense for policy and Jeh Charles Johnson to be general counsel. The leader of the Senate, which will have to confirm the nominees, sounded a favorable response. “I am pleased with the high caliber of nominees for senior Department of Defense positions that the President-elect nominated today,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says.
ISR WINGS: The latest increment of the U.S. Air Force’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) transition involves redesignating the 480th and 70th Intelligence Wings at Ft. Meade, Md. — home to the National Reconnaissance Office — as ISR wings. The change broadens their scope beyond signals intelligence to include all elements of ISR for ground, air, space and cyberspace missions.
PRIME DIRECTIVE: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is allocating additional funding to support apprenticeships. During a visit to propulsion manufacturer Rolls-Royce in Derby last week, Brown announced that the engine company will take on a further 50 apprentices in addition to the 170 already planned for 2009. The cost of the further 50 will be met by the government. A further £140 million pounds ($212 million) is being made available to support apprenticeships, with the target to add 35,000 more places across industry.
GOOD DUTY: The U.S. Navy has decided where to base its 84 new all-jet Boeing P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft that will replace turboprop-powered Lockheed Martin P-3 patrol aircraft. Five standard and one fleet replacement squadron will be at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla. Four squadrons will fly out of NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., where the Navy also keeps its electronic attack fleet of EA-6Bs, EA-18Gs and EP-3Es. And three squadrons will operate from Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and NAS North Island, Calif.
Boeing has seen a steady trickle of jobs leave its Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) unit since early 2008 while Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) experienced robust jobs growth last year. Now BCA will be a jobs loser in 2009.
NAVAL NET: DGA has contracted with EADS Defense & Security to supply a high-speed Internet communications system for French naval surface ships, aircraft and submarines. The €240-million award covers development and deployment of the Internet protocol network, modernization and digitalization of V/UHF assets and a five-year support package. The so-called Rifan 2 initiative will see the system installed on 116 vessels and 64 aircraft, including Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft and NH90 frigate helicopters.
