The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat unit a $1.35 billion contract modification for construction of the eighth Virginia-class submarine and advance procurement for the ninth and 10th subs. But the company said Jan. 30 that the work was expected and would not alter its plan to slash its work force as the Defense Department has scaled back its submarine plans. "It is not unplanned work. For that reason, it will not affect the number of layoffs the company will make over the next two years," General Dynamics said.
EADS North America said Jan. 30 that if chosen, it would eventually produce the UH-145 rotary wing aircraft, the company's offering for the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), at the American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Miss. Earlier in the day, EADS and Airbus executives, along with federal and state government officials, participated in a groundbreaking ceremony in Mobile, Ala., to begin construction on a new Airbus engineering center.
Since September 2001, the Congress and President Bush have provided about $323 billion in appropriations for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other Defense Department antiterrorism activities, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Total obligations by the end of last September reached about $254 billion. But that amount does not include obligations for classified activities or for coalition support, which are not included in DOD's obligation reports.
LONDON -- While Britain launches the first of its Type 45 destroyers, HMS Daring, on Feb. 1, industrialists are warning it will take much more planning to keep the U.K. naval sector well afloat. In the near-term, British industry's shipbuilding order book will be filled with eight Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyers and two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers. But beyond 2015, the volume of work is likely far lower.
The Army notified Congress Jan. 26 of proposed reductions to both end strength and force structure, according to Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Plans call for cutting the Army Reserves and the Army National Guard from 205,000 and 350,000, respectively, to their current strength of about 188,000 and 333,000. The Army is also trimming the number of planned brigade combat teams from 77 in last year's estimate to 70, he said.
Pratt & Whitney and the NASA Langley Research Center are beginning test firings of the hypersonic Ground Demonstration Engine (GDE-2) at the NASA Hampton, Va., facility.
The Naval Sea Systems Command has tacked on $6.8 million more to a Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. contract for the post-shakedown availability (PSA) of the amphibious transport dock ship LPD 17, recently commissioned the San Antonio.
The Government Accountability Office reported Jan. 27 that between 2000 and 2004, U.S. defense exports averaged $11.5 billion a year versus imports of $1.8 billion per year, while Foreign Military Sales (FMS) averaged $12.6 billion against $1.5 billion in U.S. purchases of foreign military products. During the same period, Defense Department purchases of defense articles and services from foreign companies have dropped from 2.4 percent to 1.7 percent of all such DOD purchases.
ACCORD: Boeing and officials of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have reached a preliminary contract agreement to end a nearly three-month strike involving about 1,500 workers in three states, the company said Jan. 30. Ratification votes for IAM Locals 725, 2766 and 44 located in Alabama, Florida, and California are set for Feb. 1. If the contract is approved, workers would return to their jobs as early as Feb. 6. The strike began Nov. 2, 2005.
January 25, 2006 AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Group, Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a $56,709,462 firm fixed price and cost plus fixed fee contract modification. This undefinitized contractual action will support the F119 Engine Lot 6. At this time, $42,532,095 has been obligated. The work will be complete by March 2006. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8611-05-C-2851/P00003). ARMY
The U.S. Air Force has chosen Lockheed Martin Corp. over Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. for a $2 billion award for the Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) Mission Operations System (TMOS), the Defense Department announced late Jan. 27. The 10-year contract for the TMOS will link the TSAT program to the Global Information Grid (GIG), the U.S. military's protected Internet-like network, and is expected to start operations in 2014, Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
WING NUTS: The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 25 rejected Space-Lok Inc.'s protests of the Defense Logistics Agency's award to UFC Aerospace for self-locking barrel nuts used in repairing U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter wings. Space-Lok argued that an agency supply center improperly awarded the contract based on a 210-day delivery schedule, and that UFS could not meet the timeline.
GREENVILLE, Texas -- Britain's new Astor ground surveillance radar aircraft has some hidden, next-generation information warfare and radar weapons effect potential.
LONDON -- U.S. and European land-system manufacturers are looking to a series of meetings set for February and March to clarify significant issues outstanding in a 14 billion-pound armored vehicle acquisition. The British Defense Ministry is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the likes of BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin to discuss elements of its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) program.
Boeing officials are waiting to see the details of the long-awaited analysis of alternatives (AOA) for recapitalizing the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker fleet, hoping it will pave the way for the service to "outline a program path forward." John Sams, vice president of Boeing Air Force Systems, said Jan. 30 he hopes the Air Force would be able to issue a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year.
Lockheed Martin Corp. said Jan. 30 that it successfully flight-tested the Air Force-led Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) from B-1 and F-16 aircraft, making for 11 successful flight-tests out of the last 13. The two flight-tests, Jan. 25 and Jan. 27, respectively, come as the company also is working on a maritime-interdiction software upgrade for the weapon, according to Mike Inderhees, Lockheed Martin JASSM program manager. The upgrades could boost sales to the U.S. Air Force and even Australia, he told reporters in a teleconference.
The Army will test its Future Combat Systems at Fort Bliss, Texas, because of its "immense" training areas and proximity to White Sands Missile Range and Biggs Army Airfield, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Carl Ey said. Three brigade combat teams are scheduled to move to Fort Bliss from Europe as part of the base realignment and closure process, and one of them will become the FCS Evaluation Brigade Combat Team (EBCT). The team will begin forming in March 2007.
