AUSTRALIAN HORNETS: Australia announced March 6 that it would buy 24 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet multirole aircraft for about $6 billion over 10 years as it awaits the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is facing the prospect of program delays due to tightening appropriations. Besides the 24 aircraft, the deal includes initial support and upfront training for aircrew and maintenance personnel. "The JSF is the most suitable aircraft for Australia's future combat and strike needs," the Australian government said in a statement. "Australia remains fully committed to the JSF.
In a move that would further expand its presence in the U.S. aerospace market, Britain's Meggitt plc has struck a tentative agreement to acquire aircraft wheels and brakes supplier K&F Industries for $1.8 billion.
PANEL REVIVED: Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's recently revived investigative panel, says he'll unveil the subcommittee's first project this week. The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was recreated by Democrats in January after they won control of the House. Meehan and Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, the panel's senior Republican, have scheduled a March 6 news conference to announce their plans.
A Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc. report on Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) engine acquisition being shared around Washington by Pratt & Whitney concludes that a second JSF engine will increase lifecycle costs and that any savings generated by competition will be more than offset by lower order quantities and inefficiencies stemming from split procurement.
On April 5 United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to discuss with industry the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) consent order regulating the merger and how it will be enforced. The ULA joint venture conducts U.S. government launches on Atlas and Delta rockets. Since ULA parent companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both satellite makers, the merger raised competition concerns, particularly on the part of Northrop Grumman and fledgling launch provider SpaceX (DAILY, Oct. 5, 2006). Corporate firewalls
FLIGHT TRAINING DEVICES: Indra will develop flight training devices for Eurocopter EC135s under a deal between the Spanish electronics company and the EADS helicopter unit. The flight training devices, to be operational at mid-year at American Eurocopter and Eurocopter Deutschland in Dnoauwoerth, Germany, will include six-degree of freedom, full-motion simulators.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) annual ballistic missile defense (BMD) system concept review could be out as early as April. In the review, MDA tries to decide how to weave its various BMD programs together to provide the best shield possible for missile defense. "We bring all of our programs together and make sure they are integrated," said MDA spokesman Richard Lehner. One change in this year's report will be the mobile capabilities for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI).
DOD GROWTH: Because funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities related to the war on terrorism is eliminated after 2009 in President Bush's latest budget proposal, the Defense Department's budget authority would fall from $625 billion proposed for 2008 to $536 billion in 2012, according to a March 2 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). With funding for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other global antiterrorism activities excluded, proposed funding for DOD would grow by $53 billion from 2008 to 2012.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne is considering an option to continue C-17 transport buys - a major win for Boeing - but at a sharply lower production rate than desired by the company. Boeing turned up the political pressure to get more business for its Long Beach, Calif., production line last week when the company publicly issued a letter to suppliers informing them that long-lead parts and supplies will not be purchased without a Pentagon commitment beyond the 190 platforms now on order.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $107,269,507 cost-plus-award fee and cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification. This contract modification will extend the contractor's authorization to provide F-22 sustainment from Jan. 31, 2007 through Feb. 28, 2007 and Jan. 31, 2007 through April 30, 2007. At this time, $80,452,130 has been obligated. The work will be complete in December 2009. Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-05-C-2850/P00041).
NASA is exploring alternatives to retention bonuses as the primary means of keeping talent in place as it looks forward to the end of the space shuttle program in 2010. Bonuses are a standard method for retaining workers in the final days of a program. NASA has done a number of benchmarking studies for other programs that have closed down operations, including the Titan IV rocket, according to Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier. 'Other tools'
ORLANDO, Fla. - Richard J. Millman, Bell Helicopter Textron's new president and CEO, says he's confident that when the correct "management processes and talent are put in place," the company will overcome existing commercial and military program issues. Millman replaced Michael Redenbaugh in January. Bell recently announced cancellation of the Model 417, claiming the single-engine aircraft failed to meet performance projections. Millman also says he is tackling schedule and cost problems with the H-1 program for the U.S. Marine Corps.
RR300: Rolls-Royce introduced the RR300 on March 2 at the Heli-Expo show in Orlando, Fla. The engine is rated at 240-300 shp and weighs less than 200 pounds. It uses a two-spool design based on the 250 series powerplant. Specific fuel consumption is estimated to be 0.755 pounds/hp at a cruise power setting of 220 shp, according to the company. Launch customer for the RR300 is Robinson Helicopter Co. For its proposed R66 five-place aircraft, Rolls-Royce officials say the company also has sales agreements with Schweizer Aircraft, Enstrom helicopters and MD Helicopters.
EELV AWARD: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $108 million firm-fixed-price contract for launch services using an Atlas V Launch Vehicle under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program for launch of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF)-1 satellite. The work will be finished by February 2009, the Pentagon said in a Feb. 28 announcement.
Canceling the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and replacing it with U.S. Air Force F-16s and Navy F/A-18s could save tens of billions of dollars in coming decades but would result in a lack of capabilities now prioritized by the Defense Department, a Congressional Budget Office report on federal appropriations options has suggested.
NAVAL AIR TOO: Amidst the sturm and drang over potentially increased Navy shipbuilding and systemic acquisition problems, top U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officials are pushing to raise the profile of naval aircraft too. The department's secretary and chief acquisition official, along with the chief of naval operations and the Marine commandant, freely declare their ongoing requirement for respective versions of the Joint Strike Fighter - despite proposed budget cutbacks (DAILY, Feb. 6).
SEASPARROW MISSILES: Raytheon Co. has been awarded a $23.7 million contract to buy long lead material for production of Evolved Seasparrow Missiles for NATO countries and Foreign Military Sales customers, the Defense Department said March 5. ESSM production will be for Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, United States, and the United Arab Emigrants. The work is set to be finished by February 2010. The contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command.
CATBIRD MODIFIED: The Cooperative Avionics Test Bed (CATBird), formerly a Lufthansa Airlines Boeing 737-300, recently underwent extensive airframe modifications by BAE Systems in Mojave, Calif. The aircraft will undergo a massive installation of mission systems sensor suites at Lockheed Martin's facilities at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, where it landed on March 2. When completed, the aircraft will fly thousands of mission profiles designed to emulate sensor systems on the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
