A depreciating dollar and a growing ruble that could increase the price of contracts - including for Su-30MKI jets and the aircraft carrier Gorshko - has Russia's government arms export company Rosoboronexport proposing a review of defense contracts with India.
ARMY AM General SPLO, South Bend, Ind., was awarded on May 14, 2007, a $23,098,788 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Frag 5 Field Kits for the M1152A1 and M1165A1 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. The work will be performed in South Bend and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2000. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (DAAE07-01-C-S001).
GLOBAL HAWKS: The U.S. Air Force is extending Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems $371.4 million more under an existing contract for five Global Hawk unmanned air vehicles, three mission control elements, three launch and recovery elements and other associated equipment. Already, $185.7 million has been obligated for the work, which will finish by March 2010, according to the Defense Department's May 18 announcement. Air Force solicitations began in March 2006 and wrapped up this month.
BOEING MACHINISTS: Machinists have ratified a three-year contract with Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in St. Louis. The deal covers 2,500 workers who are members of International Association Of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 837, and includes lump sum payments of $2,500 in 2007 and 2008. A 17 percent increase in pension benefits raises them to $70 per month per year of service as of July 1.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. - The international community is starting to show keen interest in procuring the proposed follow-on to the Super Stallion helicopter, the CH-53K, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Rick Muldoon, program manager for the H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters. Germany and France are among the countries actively seeking information about the K models, Muldoon said during a May 18 interview with The DAILY. The countries already have a data exchange agreement in place, he said.
MORE RETHINKING: "Complex" military challenges facing the United States will require all four military services to rethink the way forces are manned, equipped and deployed, according to a RAND Corp. study issued May 17. "U.S forces are being called upon to perform new missions far outside their normal repertoire, from confronting terrorism spawned by radical Islam to the possibility of fighting new nuclear powers," says Andrew Hoehn, director of RAND's Project Air Force and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy.
ANTISHIP MISSILE TRIALS: MBDA has completed qualification trials of its MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missile. The last firing, on April 28, included a littoral attack trajectory from more than 160 kilometers (99 miles) and more than double the overall range of the existing missile - two of the features of the upgrade.
AIR RAIDS: Raytheon will provide 16 Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Tower Systems with Base Defense Operation Centers for U.S. and coalition force protection in Afghanistan and Iraq under a $10.1 million U.S. Army contract. The contract calls for 16 "elevated sensor systems" - or airships - including remote operation capability, with delivery in June through September. The company also will provide a systems engineering approach on the RAID program that involves linking it to other existing Army systems and providing whole-life engineering support.
COOLER ASSEMBLIES: Raytheon has awarded France's Sofradir a multimillion dollar award to supply second-generation mercury cadmium telluride Dewar cooler assemblies for U.S. Army infrared detectors. Sofradir has identified the U.S. as a prime growth area.
The chairman of the House Armed services air-land forces subcommittee says it's not a good idea to sell the F-22 Raptor to Japan. In fact, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) says he's "a real reactionary" when it comes to the issue of selling sensitive defense technology - like the stealthy Raptor's cruise missile-detecting radar and wide-band data links - to foreign governments.
STAYING ALIVE: Astrobiology, which has seemed like the poor stepchild at NASA with Michael Griffin as administrator, has regained some ground under Alan Stern, the planetary scientist Griffin hired as the agency's new associate administrator for science.
GWOT SPENDING: With Congress poised to provide another $100 billion to DOD to fight what the Bush administration calls the Global War on Terror (GWOT) once differences with the White House over Iraq policy are worked out, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is tallying up all the GWOT funds Congress has provided the Pentagon so far. GAO says $454 billion has been allocated for GWOT from fiscal 2001 through last month.
The U.S. Navy and Marines have some points of disagreement regarding the mixture of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) that would be appropriate to the two services, said Gen. James Conway, Marine commandant. The Navy would like the Marines to buy mostly - if not entirely - carrier-version F-35s. The Marines say the short-take-off-and-landing (STOVL) version they have picked is better for their missions.
REVENUES UP: Inmarsat reported a 16 percent jump in revenues to $140.8 million for the first quarter, and a 24 percent surge in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company's Broadband Global Area Network, which entered service last year, generated revenues of $7.1 million in the first quarter and recorded 9,842 subscribers, reflecting strong demand for land-based aeronautical services.
NO CODDLING: Contrary to recent reports that flight restrictions would limit V-22 Osprey combat capabilities in Iraq, the U.S. Marines plan to put the tilt-rotor aircraft to the supreme battle test, says Gen. James Conway, Marine Corps commandant. "We're not going to coddle this thing," he says. "We're going to make it prove its worth to us." The Osprey is scheduled to travel to Iraq in August and be deployed there by September.
The VH-71 presidential helicopter systems development and demonstration (SDD) contract cost has increased to $2.4 billion from $1.7 billion due to aircraft changes and more testing needs, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. "The VH-71 Program has incurred additional cost due to modifications to the aircraft and additional testing that were not originally anticipated," Lockheed spokesman Greg Caires said.
Homeland Security Department Inspector General (IG) Richard Skinner told House authorizers May 17 that while investigators' relations with the U.S. Coast Guard have improved over recent months his office is still encountering difficulties with Deepwater contractors.
FAIR SHARE: Austrian firm Rite Approach Group is claiming it did not get its fair share of a commission paid to Rosonoboronexport for work the companies did for Russian armaments manufacturer Kazan Helicopters seven years ago. Kazan had contracted to pay a 16 percent commission - or $6.5 million - to Rite Approach Group and Rosonoboronexport for the work they did on 16 MI-17 helicopters for the Indian ministry of defense. India's supreme court has sent notices of the claim to the country's ministries of defense, finance, and home.
ISR FOCUS: The Pentagon is trying to figure out how to judge the effectiveness of weapons that don't blow up targets or smash them on impact. Determining the subtle effects of air-delivered weapons is becoming crucial as the U.S. Air Force acquires non-kinetic systems that don't rely on explosives or impact. For example, the military is struggling to quantify the assessment of high-power microwave pulse effects on important electronics, such as sensors or communications.
NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) will lose about 1,000 pounds of the mass it carries to orbit with a newly adopted redesign of the service module that flies just aft of the pressurized crew capsule. Orion also may save some more weight from an ongoing redesign of the boost protective cover that shelters the capsule during its ascent through the lower atmosphere, according to Skip Hatfield, NASA's CEV project manager.
MORE FIGHTERS: With an advanced combat acquisition on hold, the Brazilian air force is looking to purchase 9-12 additional F-5s to expand its ongoing fighter modernization program. Executives at Embraer, which is managing the upgrade, say they hope the deal can be clinched by the end of 2008, when modernization of the present 46-aircraft fleet is expected to be completed. At least 12 units have been delivered to date.
