SIGHT REPAIR: Kollsman Inc. will repair telescopic sight units on AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters under a $14 million delivery order under a previously awarded contract, the U.S. Department of Defense said Oct. 24. The work will be performed in Merrimack, N.H., and is expected to be completed by December 2006. The company is only one of two sources approved to repair the sight units, the DOD said.
Columbia Helicopters of Portland, Ore., is buying eight retired Vertol CH-113 Labrador helicopters from the government of Canada, the company said. The Labradors, which had been used for search and rescue missions, will join 15 others in Columbia's fleet of heavy-lift helicopters. The first three already have arrived, the company said Oct. 20. The company also operates Vertol 107-II and Model 234 Chinook helicopters for its logging, construction, fire-fighting and oil exploration support work.
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has taken delivery of the first revamped U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter and UH-1Y Huey utility helicopter. The aircraft are destined for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., to begin operational evaluation training, according to Textron's Bell Helicopter. Navair said over the summer that pilots and aircrew were already training for the review (DAILY, Aug. 10).
The U.S. Army plans to deploy a partial version of Northrop Grumman's Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar system at eight forward operating bases in Iraq. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the C-RAM. Under a $38 million contract awarded in August, the company first will deploy a mortar-attack warning capability.
READY TO GO: DIRECTV's Spaceway 2 satellite has been fueled at the European Spaceport in French Guiana, one of the final steps in the preparation for its upcoming Ariane 5 launch, Arianespace said Oct. 24. The 5,990-kilogram (13,200-pound) Spaceway 2 is to be dual-launched with PT Telkom Indonesia's 1,930-kilogram (4,246-pound) Telkom 2 satellite on Arianespace's heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA. The launch is set for Nov. 9.
NAVY Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $30,213,037 ceiling priced order under previously awarded contract (N00383-04-G-025N) for repair of various components of the AH-1W and UH-1N aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by December 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (Order 7004). ARMY
The U.S. Navy has signed naval nuclear propulsion work awards worth hundreds of millions of dollars recently. Bechtel Bettis Inc. received a $480.7 million modification to an earlier contract for Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, West Mifflin, Pa. Likewise, KAPL Inc. received $138.6 million for Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Schenectady, N.Y. No work completion date or other additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts, the Defense Department said in an Oct. 20 announcement.
PRAGUE - Czech aircraft producer Aero Vodochody probably will go into bankruptcy if a final attempt to rescue the state-owned company through privatization fails, Czech deputy prime minister Martin Jahn has told The DAILY. Jahn's comments on the future prospects of the Czech Republic's largest aerospace company came during a press trip for foreign journalists organized by the Czech internal investment agency CzechInvest. The government recently announced that it
Engineering and information technology company MTC Technologies of Dayton, Ohio, reported record revenues for the third quarter of 2005, but delayed announcing its 2006 financial guidance pending a new acquisition. Raj Soin, the founder and chairman of the board, said the company had its "first $100 million quarter," with revenue of $101.2 million, a 36.7 percent, or $27.2 million, increase over the same period last year.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has relented in an effort to use the defense authorization bill to push for an independent panel to consider the response to Hurricane Katrina, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in turn said the legislation could come back to the chamber floor by Oct. 28.
SOFTWARE: NASA has selected Northrop Grumman Information Technology-TASC to provide scientific software services, the agency said Oct. 24. The work covers hig-performance computing programs for the Software Integration and Visualization Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Md.
SOLD: Boeing has completed the sale of its operations in Arnprior, Canada, to Arnprior Aerospace, a subsidiary of Consolidated Industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The site had been part of Boeing Canada Technology Ltd., a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 370 employees in Arnprior build precision-machined metal parts and sheet metal subassemblies for Boeing jetliners.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a second request for information to Lockheed Martin and Boeing about their proposed United Launch Alliance merger. The companies believe the RFI is intended to give the FTC more time to consider the complex merger proposal and make an antitrust ruling. The companies already resubmitted their filing on ULA last month to give the FTC an additional 30 days, which ran out on Oct. 24.
Howitzer Contract: General Dynamics' Spanish subsidiary, General Dynamics Santa Barbera Sistemas of Madrid, will supply Spain's army with 70 155/52 APU SBT howitzers, the company said Oct. 24. The work will be done under a EUR 181 million (USD $216.2 million) and includes 66 units of a new, improved version of the towed/self-propelled howitzers, the company said.
The House is poised to consider a bill to establish a governmentwide aerospace revitalization panel to develop a national strategy for aerospace work force recruitment, training and cultivation. The bill, first introduced in February by Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) and now counting at least 28 cosponsors, would establish an "Interagency Aerospace Revitalization Task Force" to develop a government strategy for aerospace work force development.
NAVAL SUPPORT: ManTech International Corp. announced Oct. 24 that it won a U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command award for engineering, technical, and management services for Navy unmanned vehicles, training ranges, air-to-air/air-to-ground weapons, and aerial target shipboard combat systems. If fully exercised, the five-year contract could be worth almost $35 million. Subcontractors are Applied Techniques Corp. and HiPK.
NASA closed the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Wilma, the aerospace agency said Oct. 24. Facilities and launch pads have been secured, the payload bay doors of the three space shuttles were closed, and the New Horizons spacecraft, slated for launch on Jan. 11, was placed inside its protective transportation canister, NASA said.
A U.S. Air Force F/A-22 Raptor sustained significant engine damage while preparing to fly during the fighter program's first practice deployment. The Lockheed Martin-built stealthy jet was engaged in "pre-flight ground operations" at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, late Oct. 20 when its right Pratt & Whitney F119 engine sucked in an undisclosed type of foreign debris, an Air Force spokeswoman said Oct. 24. The incident, in which no one was injured, is under investigation, and the extent of the damage is under review.
Aftermarket aviation parts supplier Aviall Inc. of Dallas said its net sales for the third quarter of 2005 grew 13 percent to $334 million, although its military and government sector sales dropped 4 percent "due to softening of demand and select military part shortages."
