MINE SONAR: Raytheon Co. and the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command have finalized an $11 million contract modification for the company's AN/AQS-20A mine hunting sonar systems, Raytheon announced Aug. 16. The modification brings the total value of the contract, awarded last September, to $104.9 million (DAILY, Sept. 19, 2005). Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will manufacture, test and deliver 11 new AQS-20A sets and associated support equipment and engineering services. The contract includes an option for 11 more systems, services and support equipment for 2007.
BAE Systems and Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. on Aug. 16 touted the Protector unmanned surface vehicle (USV) - as well as a new teaming with Lockheed Martin Corp. BAE officials noted last spring that they hope to get the USV into future iterations of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship mission packages (DAILY, April 4). The companies said Aug. 16 that they will demonstrate its force protection capabilities to the Navy, Coast Guard and other agencies in Little Creek, Va., San Diego and Washington in coming months.
NAVAL GUN: BAE Systems said Aug. 16 that Lockheed Martin Corp. has contracted for a second 57mm Mk 110 Naval Gun system for the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 3). The first system was delivered in March for the U.S. Navy's first LCS, Freedom (LCS 1). BAE said it will deliver the second system in the first quarter of 2008. BAE has two contracts for a total of three gun systems for the LCS program - split between Lockheed and General Dynamics Corp. - and an additional three gun systems for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program, run by Lockheed and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Lockheed Martin is developing a software tool that the company says will allow a single operator to control multiple, differing unmanned systems and integrate them with manned platforms. Developed with internal research and development funds, the Generic Unmanned Supervisory Segment (GUSS) has been tested at the company's Center for Innovation in Suffolk, Va., and in a U.K. laboratory, according to the company.
A new congressionally mandated study by RAND Corp. affirms the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) as the likely best solution for the nation's military space launch needs through 2020, and recommends greater service involvement to secure the program's future. With a string of successful launches, Lockheed Martin's Atlas V and Boeing's Delta IV EELVs "are a true success and are critical to national security," the study says. "The Air Force must rigorously protect this capability with resources adequate to sustain these programs."
A coalition of trade associations in Washington has sounded an alarm concerning an acquisition advisory panel's recommendations to change federal contracting for commercial products and services. The trade groups, including the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Defense Industrial Association, called the expert-derived, congressionally mandated recommendations "counterproductive" and said they were based on "incomplete, unsupported or inaccurate" findings.
The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program has held its week-long initial preliminary design review (IPDR), clearing the way for the platform-level PDRs that will begin later this year. FCS is developing 18 new manned and unmanned systems that will support the Army's future brigade. With almost 1,000 industry and government personnel in attendance last week in St. Louis, the IPDR was the program's most important technical milestone to date and its biggest review of the year, according to FCS Lead Systems Integrators Boeing and SAIC.
WATCHING BORDER: U.S. military forces are monitoring the border between Iraq and Iran to make sure no weapons, or materials that can be used for weapons, are being smuggled into Iraq, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Aug. 15. In the past, Iran has smuggled troops, weapons, or items that can be used to make weapons, like improvised explosive device parts, into Iraq, he said.
From September 2001 through last June, the Defense Department has seen an increase in the number of major acquisitions programs, from 71 to 87, as well as their total costs, from $790 billion to $1.613 trillion. According to the latest Selected Acquisition Report data, unveiled Aug. 10, the Pentagon's total cost of major acquisition programs has more than doubled since shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and through operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Lockheed Martin says that following the completion of its contractual obligations on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development program, the company is ready to dust off concepts for an unmanned JSF if service interest is there. Several years ago, the company put "significant effort" into developing two unmanned JSF concepts, according to Frank Mauro, vice president for advanced systems development at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
SHIP MAINTENANCE: Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp. said Aug. 15 that it has been awarded a $4.6 million contract modification by the U.S. Navy to perform alterations, repairs and pier side maintenance on the USS Ford (FFG-54). The work is set to be done at Naval Station Everett, Wash., from Sept. 20 to Dec. 6. The Navy first awarded a five-year contract to Todd Pacific in 2000. A five-year modification was added in 2005.
STOCK WATCH: MoneyandMarkets.com analyst John Burke said several defense-related stock prices are poised to move sharply higher due to new terror threats on airlines, armed conflicts in the Middle East, the showdown over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and the North Korean missile crisis. "While spreading geopolitical strife does not bode well for the broad market, it is greatly boosting demand for both conventional and anti-terrorist military hardware and technology," Burke said.
COUNTER-MANPADS: BAE Systems has received its contract to enter Phase III of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) program to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, also known as Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS). The contract, including options, is valued at more than $50 million. In Phase III, BAE will continue to refine its military-derived JetEye airliner protection system, which uses a low-power laser to blind the seekers of incoming missiles. JetEye flew on an American Airlines Boeing 767 in late 2005.
A Pentagon reprieve for the C-17 production line appears to be anything but likely, according to Defense Department officials. Boeing reiterated last week that unless it gets some kind of commitment from the U.S. Air Force or other foreign air forces for another 10 aircraft, or about $2 billion in work, it will start shutting down the line. But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Aug. 15 there's little chance the Defense Department will come through with an order or commitment on other planes.
Lockheed Martin is appealing the U.S. Army's decision to reject the C-130J as a potential competitor for the service's Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) plane, saying the Army ignores Air Force certification approvals. By ignoring its sister service's certifications, the Army is de-emphasizing the "joint" designation of the JCA program, which is supposed to be one of the driving features of the fleet, according to the Pentagon's Quadrennial Review (QDR).
RADIO GROUP: Harris Corp. of Rochester, N.Y., has been awarded a $5.4 million delivery order to provide the U.S. Navy one AN/URC-131H (V) high frequency radio group and a related installation kit, the Defense Department said Aug. 14. The work will be done in Rochester, N.Y., and is expected to be finished by July 2008. The contract was awarded by Space and Naval Warfare Systems, San Diego, Calif.
