CRAF CONTRACTS: The U.S. Air Mobility Command this week awarded an estimated $2.3 billion in contracts to civil air carriers, slightly more than the $2.2 billion awarded last year. One again, the Alliance and FedEx teams captured the bulk of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) contracts, with each team expected to earn more than $1 billion. The FedEx team also includes Atlas and its subsidiary Polar, and Air Transport International. The Alliance team includes Evergreen and World Air subsidiary North American.
Although final appropriations for fiscal 2007 remain unfinished, Congress is on the verge of calling for far more ingrained use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for U.S. border security.
ARMY Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, was awarded on Sept. 11, 2006, a $285,379,911 firm-fixed-price contract for production of the improved target acquisition system. The work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Dec. 22, 2005. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-06-C-0490).
Lockheed Martin is working on a computer processor system that would combine the anti-air warfare (AAW) capabilities with the ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities in one Aegis radar system, company Aegis Development Programs Director James Sheridan said Sept. 15. The company is developing a Multi-Mission Signal Processor (MMSP) that would take the custom-developed systems and blend them in a scaleable, open architecture system that could cut costs down by half, Sheridan said.
The new crew of the International Space Station is en route to the orbiting facility following launch early Sept. 18 of the Soyuz capsule that will double as a fresh station lifeboat for the next six months.
With congressional negotiators finalizing defense authorization and appropriations for fiscal 2007, programmatic tradeoffs borne of tightening budgets, such as with the Joint Strike Fighter, are beginning to take form. A congressional compromise over the policy bill is expected any day now, as both the House and Senate already have indicated a willingness to curb production and keep alive an alternative engine program, as well as help pay for other likely moves such as approving a multiyear F-22A Raptor production contract with Lockheed Martin Corp.
KC-130T: The first upgraded KC-130T Hercules aerial refueling aircraft is headed for "a few months" of flight-tests and should return to Marine Corps Aerial Refueler Squadron 234 in Fort Worth, Texas, in early 2007. Naval Air Systems Command officials announced Sept. 18 that the first upgraded KC-130T has been delivered to the Marines by Lockheed Martin Corp. at its Greenville, S.C., plant.
ARMY AM General L.L.C., South Bend, Ind., was awarded on Sept. 7, 2006, an $88,619,583 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for M1151A1 with Kit B, M1152, and M1165 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. The work will be performed in South Bend and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007. 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).
MORE AIRCRAFT: Military leaders in Afghanistan need more air capability, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Sept. 18. Specifically, helicopter and lift platforms are needed. "We'll be able to do things more quickly," he said. The capabilities wish list includes a squadron of attack helicopters and another two or three C-130s, U.S. European Commander and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Gen. James Jones said at a Sept. 7 briefing. Helicopters are very hard to generate in the alliance because they're maintenance intensive and expensive, Jones said.
NASA's aeronautics mission directorate is evaluating more than 700 research proposals from 110 universities and 120 other organizations and plans to begin making awards next month. Out of its $724 million total budget request for fiscal 2007, the aeronautics directorate has budgeted $50 million to fund external research. "We're looking to make awards starting in October, probably the majority into November," Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Lisa Porter told The DAILY.
The international Solar-B mission is set to launch Sept. 23 from Uchinoura Space Center in Japan, when it will begin a three-year mission to gather data on the sun's magnetic field that could one day improve space weather prediction. Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Solar-B is a collaboration between the space agencies of Japan, the U.S., the United Kingdom and Europe. Following launch, Solar-B will enter a polar orbit that will put it in continuous sunlight for nine months of the year.
The Pentagon is expecting to conduct a competition for one of the key sensors to go on the beleaguered National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
General elections set for late November in the Netherlands could have important implications for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project and the fate of Dutch aerospace champion Stork. The PvdA, the Dutch labor party which is leading in the polls in the run-up to the Nov. 22 election, has suggested the country should scrap its participation in the project.
WIND TUNNEL TESTING: NASA Langley Research Center has completed wind tunnel testing of the Bell Boeing Quad Tiltrotor model - representing a C-130-sized aircraft - at its transonic dynamics tunnel. A 1/5th scale model (213-inch fuselage and 91-inch diameter rotors) began its joint Bell, NASA, U.S. Army research laboratory program on June 27. The model has powered forward and aft rotors, pylons, nacelles and dynamic wings. The testing investigated the effects of interference from the forward wing and rotor on the rear wing and rotor.
FIGHTER RFPS: With India's new combat aircraft buy still ill defined and Saudi Arabia poised to sign off on the Typhoon, Dassault Aviation chief executive Charles Edelstenne is pinning hopes for a Rafale export breakthrough on Greece and Switzerland. Edelstenne says the Swiss recently issued a request for information, which is expected to be followed by a request for proposals (RFP) in 2007-08. A Greek RFP, still dependent on confirmation of a new five-year defense spending plan, is anticipated in 2008.
NAVAIR PROMOTIONS: The U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Mullen, announced Sept. 18 that Rear Adm. (selectee) Peter Williams is being assigned as program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md. Williams follows Rear Adm. David Venlet, who is headed for a third star as the next Navair commander. Mullen also announced that Rear Adm. (lower half) William Shannon III is being assigned as assistant commander for logistics. Shannon is now assistant commander for acquisition and operations.
British-headquartered BAE Systems has delivered a robust set of interim results for the six-month period that ended June 30. Sales stood at 8.2 billion pounds ($15.36 billion), up 21 percent from the same period in 2005. Operating profit also climbed to 653 million pounds from 488 million.
ARMY Esterline Armtec Countermeasures Inc., Coachella, Calif., was awarded on Sept. 8, 2006, a $27,124,592 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for M206 and MJU-7A/B IR countermeasure flares. The work will be performed in East Camden, Ark., and is expected to be completed by May 30, 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were two bids solicited on Aug. 4, 2006, and two bids were received. The U.S. Army Field Support Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W52P1J-04-C-0096).
