EADS Astrium services says it hopes to wrap up a deal to purchase French space agency CNES’ share in remote sensing specialist Spot Image this year, but acknowledges it will be a challenge.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium Washington, DC AVIATION WEEK’S Laureate Awards were conceived 51 years ago to recognize the extraordinary achievements of individuals and teams in aerospace, aviation and defense. Today, this formal dinner and Awards ceremony is the industry’s premier event — attracting scores of industry pioneers and thought leaders from around the world.
COUGAR ORDER: Force Protection announced last week that it received an order for six Cougar 6X6 troop transport vehicles and four Buffalo route clearance vehicles for the Italian Defense Ministry. Under the contract, vehicle production will occur only at the company’s Ladson, S.C., facility and is scheduled for completion by July 2008, with spare parts and field support coverage continuing through mid 2009. The heavy ground vehicles feature a V-shaped-hull popularized by the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles rushed to U.S. forces in Iraq last year.
NEW DELHI – As India gears up to modernize its military, EADS will be focusing on the Indian air force’s Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program and the army’s tactical communication system, says Stefan Zoller, CEO of the company’s defense and security division. EADS is offering the Eurofighter Typhoon for the 126-aircraft MMRCA procurement. In its bid for the tactical communication system the company has joined forces with Tata Advanced Systems.
FINAL PROPOSAL: The Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) for the Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) released its Final Proposal Revision (FPR) request on Feb. 25. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have only two days to submit their responses to the FPR, the award for which is anticipated in the first quarter of 2008.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ Tactical Aircraft program, known as the Air ASW, Assault and Special Missions program executive offices, have undergone “some restructuring,” according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). In December, Navy acquisition leadership evaluated the program executive office (PEO)/program management activity (PMA) structure and decided they wanted to achieve a “more effective distribution of the programs,” NAVAIR said Feb. 25.
PARIS – The crash last year of a Swedish air force JAS 39 Gripen has been linked to the design of the fighter’s ejection seat handle. The Gripen crashed April 19 near the Vidsel test range in Sweden at the end of a dive-bombing training flight. The pilot was coming in to land when the canopy blew off. The pilot then reached for the ejection handle, but before he could reach it the seat was activated. The pilot came down unharmed.
The decision between Boeing and Lockheed Martin designs for the Pentagon’s Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) program is being delayed by at least one month to June, according to Boeing officials. TSAT, a constellation of five satellites with one spare to provide jam-proof Internet protocol communications through space, was cut in the fiscal 2009 budget request by about $4 billion through 2013. The slip in an award date reflects time needed to make adjustments to the TSAT schedule.
Despite assurances from DOD that its demand for satellite communications will remain insatiable, commercial satcom providers doing business with the military face uncertainty over the next few years as long-planned military-owned satcom systems come online and expected troop drawdowns reduce demand. The last five years have seen strong growth in DOD’s appetite for commercial bandwidth, according to USAF Maj. Gen. James Armor (ret.), former director of the National Security Space Office.
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons program executive office has split a program management activity (PMA) group into three separate acquisition programs and created a fourth PMA. Two efforts of PMA-263 were separated into their own acquisition programs: the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems program (PMA-262) and Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air Systems program (PMA-266) were created. The Navy Unmanned Combat Air System program, now known as PMA-268, also was established.
TOKYO – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries marked its eighth consecutive successful H-IIA launch from Tanegashima Space Center on Feb. 23, orbiting Japan’s Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS).
DDG-51 CONTRACT: Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support of Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $9.85 million U.S. Navy contract for DDG-51 Class Machinery Control System and Universal Engine Controller engineering, software, logistics, training, and fleet support services. The work will be split evenly between facilities in Philadelphia and Orlando, and should be complete by Jan. 2013.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - NASA is analyzing two separate solid rocket booster parachute failures that occurred during the launch of Atlantis earlier this month and assessing their possible effect on Endeavour’s STS-123 mission, planned for a March 11 liftoff.
PAVED WAY: Raytheon said it has been awarded more than $100 million worth of contracts since January by Asia-Pacific countries for its Paveway family of precision-guided munitions. The company – which battles rival Lockheed Martin for international Paveway business and even trademark issues – further proclaimed a record-setting $300 million worth of Paveway bookings for last year. Lockheed says its Paveway guidance kits draw on key technologies and components from the training rounds but meet more stringent live-weapon and aircraft interface specifications.
PARIS – EADS has finally closed a deal to sell refueling aircraft to the United Arab Emirates. The Airbus A330-based offering has long been the preferred bid in the UAE’s program, but details were taking longer to iron out than initially expected. Terms were still not agreed to at the time of the Dubai air show in November. However, EADS managed to come to terms in time to generate one last bit of good news before the Pentagon picks its winner for the KC-X program, expected this week.
The chances that the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor production line could be further extended through foreign sales are looking more remote, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying he is “not optimistic” about the prospects. Speaking with the media Feb. 23 while visiting Australia, Gates said the Pentagon has not given serious consideration to selling Raptors to Japan. And while he did say he would start looking at a possible sale to Australia, Gates said he does not expect the law to allow such a transaction.
April 15-17, 2008 Broward County Convention Center Fort Lauderdale, FL Military and industry leaders assemble in a unique Working Group Seminar designed to develop a realistic plan of action to improve readiness, availability, cost, and cycle time for U.S. fighters, airlift/tanker, rotor wing and complex electronic aircraft.
Taiwan should be allowed to pursue more robust requests for U.S.-provided defense goods and services, like an erstwhile bid for F-16s, as well as develop better cruise missile and antisubmarine defenses, according to an expert panel of scholars and analysts in the U.S. capital.
Lawmakers this week line up to take their first whack at the Bush administration’s official fiscal 2009 regular budget submissions for the Defense Department and other security agencies as authorizers and appropriators begin annual hearings on Capitol Hill. Department secretaries and the top uniformed officers from the armed services are scheduled to appear, among other officials, and each could encounter difficult questions from legislators of both political parties. SASC hearing
ARMY BAE Systems Land and Armaments Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., was awarded on Feb. 15, 2008, an $8,423,780 firm fixed price contract to purchase 952 Bradley Urban Survivability Kits, Hotbox Restraint Kits. The work will be performed in York, Pa., with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2008. The reporting contract office is TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich. Contract Number: W56HZV-05-G-0005.
The Pentagon is “confident” after days of analysis that a single Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) intercepted the fuel tank of an inoperable intelligence satellite last week, virtually eliminating potential danger to life on the ground. The fuel tank was holding hydrazine, and government officials were concerned that if the tank re-entered the atmosphere intact it could threaten human life.
CLUSTER BOMBS: Washington officials released a document Feb. 15 outlining U.S. policy on cluster munitions, including its opposition to a new international treaty banning the use of cluster munitions. But while official U.S. opposition to the cluster bomb ban is well known, U.S. policy on cluster munitions is complex, according to Center for Defense Information analysts based in the capital. Their analysis of U.S.
SUPPLEMENTAL SPENDING: The House Appropriations Committee is preparing to move on the next installment of war funds as early as March, according to an aerospace and defense trade group. The allocation is expected to be at least $100 billion and would include the balance of appropriations that President Bush requested last fall for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other purposes, according to the National Defense Industrial Association.
The Google X-Prize has drawn its first 10 registered contestants for prizes totaling $30 million for whoever lands a rover on the moon by Dec. 31, 2012. X Prize Chairman and CEO Peter H. Diamandis says the contest has drawn 567 expressions of interest from 53 nations since being announced six months ago (DAILY, Sept. 14, 2007).
