Leading congressional Democrats are providing their imprimatur to the Defense Department's push for prompt global strike (PGS) capabilities, but not exactly the way armed service proponents may have expected. Under the fiscal 2008 Defense Appropriations Act, which President Bush signed Nov. 13, Congress provided $100 million in a new PGS program element within the DOD-wide research, development, test and evaluation budget.
The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program's next and long-delayed major contract, the Airborne Maritime Fixed (AMF) portion, should be awarded at the end of February 2008, Boeing officials said Nov. 9.
Despite troubles at home with its initial Littoral Combat Ships for the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin's effort to provide the Israeli navy two modified Littoral Combat Ships, known as LCS-I, is inching forward.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sustained a protest by Earl Industries against the award of a U.S. Navy contract for Perry-class frigate (FFG-7) maintenance and repair to a joint team of Marine Hydraulics and Tecnico Corp. GAO accuses the Navy of not "reasonably" assessing Earl Industries' "superior technical merit." Additionally, GAO felt the Navy "accepted the awardee's work allocation in its cost proposal, but that allocation was inconsistent with the firm's allocation of work in its technical proposal."
ARMY RTKL/KLING (Joint Venture), Baltimore, Md., was awarded on Oct. 31, 2007, a $52,129,284 modification firm-fixed-price contract for the final design package for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, East Campus. The work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 23, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 11 bids solicited on Dec. 30, 2005, and one bid was received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Md., is the contracting activity (W912DR-06-C-0011).
UNCOMMON SENSOR: Raytheon declared Nov. 12 that the U.S. Army has tapped it to provide a common sensor payload for manned and unmanned aircraft in a program that could represent more than $1 billion in potential sales. The initial $11 million order to Raytheon is part of an indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract award that includes options up to $1.2 billion. The program calls for design and development, testing and air vehicle integration of a variant of Raytheon's Multispectral Targeting System.
IDF UAV: Elbit Systems said it received a new Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) order. The roughly $30 million deal includes developing, manufacturing and supplying new and improved UAV systems, as well as upgrading existing UAV systems. Development and supply are scheduled to last at least three years, the company said.
Expedition 16 crewmates Dan Tani and Peggy Whitson are ready to shift the new Harmony pressurized node to its final position on the International Space Station (ISS) after moving the forward pressurized mating adaptor (PMA-2) from the spot on the Destiny laboratory it has occupied since 2001.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $14 million contract to demonstrate integrated airframe technologies for its Future Responsive Access to Space Technologies (FAST) program.
The Senate has approved a pro-competition federal acquisition reform bill promoted by the chamber's moderates that would fall short of stricter changes pushed by Democrats elsewhere but which congressional scorekeepers contend would nonetheless lower federal procurement costs for goods and services.
NORTH CAROLINA COMING: Sea trials for the newest Virginia-class submarine, North Carolina (SSN 777), are scheduled for later this month with delivery to the U.S. Navy in December, according to Northrop Grumman. The company's Newport News unit is teamed with General Dynamics Electric Boat to build the first 10 ships of a planned class of 30 boats. The flagship USS Virginia (SSN 774) was delivered in 2004.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has built a new large-scale, indoor antenna testing facility at the company's Linthicum, Md., plant and is set to evaluate the performance of the new Cobra Judy S-band phased array antenna there.
The final U.S. Air Force/Northrop Grumman Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning spacecraft is undergoing initial checkout and positioning in geosynchronous orbit following a spectacular night liftoff Nov. 10 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket. The vehicle's three Pratt & Whitney RS-68 engines and single upper-stage Pratt & Whitney RL10B-2 engine performed perfectly after the 8:50 p.m. EST liftoff on nearly 2 million pounds of thrust from Launch Complex 37.
Pentagon program management - a longtime concern of groups like Rand Corp. and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) - is starting to get some attention from the Defense Department where it counts most: the checkbook. Program management/support services has broken into the top 15 products and services for Pentagon spending for the first time this decade, according to an Aerospace Daily computer analysis of DOD contracting data through August 2007.
Satellite services provider Intelsat on Nov. 9 reported a three percent increase in its third quarter 2007 revenue as compared to the same period last year, to $546 million. Last year's third quarter revenues were $528.5 million. In a teleconference to announce its third quarter results, the company also said 2007 earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were $404.5 million. Net loss for the time period was $42.6 million.
NEW DELHI - India represents one of Northrop Grumman's largest potential growth markets for defense products in Asia, according to John Brooks, vice president for business development at Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems and president of Northrop Grumman International Inc. Expanding its presence in India with the recent opening of its office in New Delhi with two full-time representatives, the company has appointed Commodore (ret.) Gyanendra Sharma, managing director for India, and Joe Parsley, vice president for India and South Asia.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made the last stop of his Asian tour in Japan, where he, along with Japanese Minister of Defense Ishiba, reaffirmed the importance of the military links between the two countries.
RRW & NPR: Final fiscal 2008 defense authorization language from Congress will include a House provision calling for a blue-ribbon panel to further study the Bush administration's Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), as well as an accelerated Senate provision demanding a new nuclear posture review by fiscal 2009, says a key congressional negotiator. Democrats, enticed by RRW's potential to shrink the nuclear arsenal and save costs, are wary of administration advocacy, as well as foreign opinions that might consider the RRW a new nuclear weapon.
Inmarsat has concluded an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to operate an advanced L-band payload on the agency's AlphaSat telecom technology mission. The agreement, signed Nov. 8, will allow Inmarsat to offer up to 14 MHz of L-band frequency adjacent to L-band spectra already offered on the Inmarsat-4 (I-4) new-generation telecom satellite system brought into operation last year, Chairman/CEO Andrew Sukawaty said Nov. 9 in presenting third quarter results.
