The Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank organized in part by a former President Clinton chief of staff, said the Defense Department should support or even expand seven major weapons programs such as the B-2 heavy bomber and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter while killing another eight such as the DD(X) destroyer and the C-130J transport aircraft. The center on Jan. 24 released its "progressive quadrennial defense review," in part to provide an alternative plan to the DOD's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), which will be released next month.
Boeing is finally showing off one of its more poorly kept secrets. Its planners are polishing the design for an EP-3E-replacement signals intelligence aircraft for the U.S. Navy and a likely future offering for the international market. The new design, revealed Jan. 24, comes in response to the death of the Army/Navy Aerial Common Sensor contract offered by Lockheed Martin.
The National Defense Industrial Association is calling for increased funding for combat aircraft survivability technologies, analysis methodologies and test facilities. The Washington-based trade association for the defense industry has identified the issue as part of its 2006 legislative agenda for Capitol Hill.
Israel will upgrade its U.S.-built F-15 and F-16 fighters to allow them to remain in service until at least 2020, the Israel Defense Forces said Jan. 22. It estimated the cost to be in the "tens of millions of dollars." F-15 upgrades include replacement of electronic warfare systems and an improvement in the ability to carry advanced bombs, the IDF said. F-16s will get new control and inspection systems to match those of newer F-16-I models, deliveries of which began last year, as well as more advanced cockpit screens.
REBUILD CONTRACT: Oshkosh Truck Corp. of Oshkosh, Wis., has been awarded a $44.2 million contract to rebuild M1070 heavy equipment transporter trucks, M1074 and M1075 palletized loading system trucks, fuel tank assemblies and M1076 palletized loading system trailers, the Defense Department said Jan. 24. The work will be done in Oshkosh, Wis., and is expected to be finished by Nov. 30, 2006.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that NASA adopt a standardized "knowledge-based" acquisition approach at all of its centers as it tackles the challenges of returning astronauts to the moon and beyond.
U.S. efforts to develop, test and deploy effective ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems based on kinetic energy hit-to-kill technology have had "mixed and ambiguous results," and the actual wartime performance of one system already deployed, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile, is "similarly ambiguous," the Congressional Research Service has concluded.
LITTORAL TECH: The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems has chosen Science Applications International Corp. for a $33 million contract regarding maritime and littoral surveillance technologies. SAIC will provide program configuration management, technical services, systems engineering, algorithm development, hardware and software development, material analysis, data processing, testing, repair, installation, deployment, recovery and analysis. The work will be performed in San Diego, where the first Littoral Combat Ships will be based.
The U.S. Navy will propose a 14-ship Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), or MPF(F), as part of its long-term shipbuilding plans. The proposal includes a new class of 28,423-ton Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ships that carry 1,300 personnel and sail at up to 20 knots. Navy Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton III, program executive officer for ships, outlined the reworked MPF(F) to the Surface Navy Association's national symposium and said each squad would include three of the new MLPs.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on Jan. 13, 2006, a $341,302,911 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for UH-60L and UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters. The work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., 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 Oct. 4, 2000. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-02-C-0006).
The Homeland Security Department has officially combined all Customs and Border Protection (CBP) marine vessels, programs and personnel under the newly retitled Office of CBP Air and Marine. The move, announced Jan. 17, merges all the marine assets to mirror consolidation benefits expected by the previous combination of aviation assets from the CBP and the Border Patrol under CBP Air (DAILY, Nov. 30, 2005).
UNMANNED TRUCK: Oshkosh Truck Corp. unveiled an unmanned version of its Palletized Load System (PLS) vehicle Jan. 23 at the U.S. Army Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Component Technology Demonstrations in Yuma, Ariz. The driverless truck transported cargo between destinations seven miles apart in the Arizona desert. The unmanned navigational kit being applied to the PLS was tested at the 2004 and 2005 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenge races. Oshkosh is partnered with Rockwell Collins and the University of Parma, Italy, on the kit's development.
The awarding of a $2 billion, 10-year U.S. Air Force contract to one of three teams competing for the ground segment of the projected Transformational Satellite (TSAT) system is imminent, industry sources said Jan. 23. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are vying for the ground segment, called the Transformational Communications System Mission Operations System (TMOS), a secure, interoperable, high-capacity global communications network.
NAVAIR CONTRACT: The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC a one-year, $70.2 million contract option to continue providing supplies and services to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the company said Jan 23. Raytheon will work on aircraft support, mission planning, navigation systems, reconnaissance systems, aircraft armament equipment, and weapons data-link systems. The award is the fourth of four, one-year options in an original contract awarded in 2001. The contract could be worth up to $450 million.
The Defense Department said Jan. 20 that it would return milestone decision authority to the Air Force for 10 major programs that were stripped from it last March.
Lockheed Martin MS-2 Tactical Systems, Eagan, Minn., is being awarded an $18,568,372 firm-fixed-price delivery order (1305) under a previously awarded contract (N00024-98-D-5202) for replacement or repair of spares that comprise the AN-UYQ-79 advanced display system. This delivery order combines purchases for the Navy (95.73 percent) and the governments of Australia (2.3 percent); Spain (.88 percent); Egypt (.32 percent); Japan (.29 percent); Taiwan (.28 percent); and Korea (.2 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Co., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $33,267,307 firm fixed price contract modification. This action provides for C-5 AMP Production Lot IV Kits, Support, Spares and Maintenance Training Device Spares. The work will be complete in June 2008. At this time, total funds have been obligated. Negotiations were complete in December 2005. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (F33657-98-C-0006/P00161).
