Engineering and information technology provider MTC Technologies Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, said Aug. 16 that it has been awarded a five-year, $10 million contract to provide maintenance and technical support to the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.
SONAR SYSTEMS: Thales UK said Aug. 16 that it has won a GBP 17 million (USD $30.7 million) contract extension from the British defense ministry to provide two more long-range anti-submarine Sonar 2087 systems for the Royal Navy's Type 23 frigates. The systems are set for delivery in 2010. Six other systems are being supplied under the current contract and two already have been installed for testing on the HMS Westminster and HMS Northumberland. A third ship, the HMS Richmond, will be outfitted in late 2005.
Saab Avitronics has been awarded an SEK 1 billion (USD $132.6 million) contract to produce radar warning equipment for German Tornado aircraft, the company said Aug. 16. The radar is part of a major upgrade of the German Tornado fleet. The contract is a follow-on order to a program that began in 2001. Deliveries are set to start at the end of 2006 and continue until 2009. The contract was awarded by EADS Deutschland on behalf of Panavia Aircraft. Saab Avitronics was formed through a merger of SaabTech of Sweden and Avitronics of South Africa.
Liftoff of GOES-N has slipped to the evening of Aug. 16, the last available day at Cape Canaveral, Fla., before the team will have to renegotiate a new launch date with range officials. If the launch is scrubbed again, "we're going to have to work with the Air Force range to see what other launches the delays may have affected," Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva told The DAILY Aug. 16.
HUMVEE CONTRACT: Armor Holdings Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., has received a $45.5 million contract to provide the U.S. and Iraqi militaries with additional M1114 up-armored Humvees, the company said Aug. 16. The vehicles will go to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Iraqi armed forces. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. The work will be completed in 2006.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is involved in several studies that could substantially affect the course of missile defense when they are finished in the coming weeks and months, the agency head said Aug. 16.
The Northrop Grumman-led DD(X) destroyer National Team has completed the DD(X) deckhouse test article, the company announced Aug. 15. The carbon fiber deckhouse was designed to maintain the ship's stealthy profile and was tested to make sure it fits within its radar cross-section specification, the company said.
RADAR AGREEMENT: Australia and the United States have signed a joint agreement to further develop Australian active phased array radar technology, Australia's defense department said Aug. 16. Both countries will share the development costs, technical expertise and benefits of the technology, which is being developed by CEA Technologies Pty Ltd., based in Fyshwick, Australia, Defence Minister Robert Hill said in a statement. The total development cost will be about $30 million over three years.
The U.S. Army may have to recompete some work for its Robotic Systems Joint Program Office, the Government Accountability Office said in upholding a protest of a support services award. The Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) decided to bundle some support work, including for the robotics office, and awarded a blanket $130 million, five-year contract to Sverdrup Technology last year. However, the robotics work previously had been done by Sigmatech of Huntsville, Ala., a small business.
Ducommun AeroStructures Inc. will continue to produce C-17 aluminum fuselage panels under a $15 million follow-on contract from Boeing, the company said Aug. 15. The award extends current production and deliveries into 2007, the company said. "As prime contractors and first-tier subcontractors look to reduce their cost structures, I believe Ducommun is increasingly well positioned to capitalize on further significant off-load opportunities from our key customers," Joseph C. Berenato, chairman and CEO of parent company Ducommun Inc., said in a statement.
Moog Inc. said Aug. 15 that it has completed its purchase of FCS Control Systems for EUR 37 million (USD $45.7 million). Moog, based in East Aurora, N.Y., builds precision control components and systems for military and commercial aircraft. Amsterdam-based FCS designs and builds electromechanical and electrohydraulic flight and vehicle simulation equipment for the aerospace and automotive industries.
The transition of the Army's Future Combat Systems to a more traditional contract structure has not resulted in any additional cost or schedule delays, according to the Army. FCS is being switched from an Other Transaction Authority contract to a traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation contract due to congressional concerns that the OTA structure does not provide the appropriate level of taxpayer protection for a program whose total cost is expected to top $108 billion.
PHALANX AMMO: Alliant Techsystems (ATK) said Aug. 15 that it will supply 20mm ammunition to the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center for the Navy's Phalanx systems, used to defend the fleet against missile attacks. The Mk244 Enhanced Lethality Cartridges use a heavier tungsten core, producing more kinetic energy upon impact than the Phalanx's regular ammunition, ATK said. The contract, worth $10 million initially with a total potential value of $23 million, marks the first use of the round, ATK's newest, the company said.
A long-awaited rebound in the commercial communications satellite market will help push the market's worth to $25.4 billion over the next decade, according to a new study from Forecast International. The study predicts that 224 satellites will be constructed for geostationary or medium-Earth orbit. However, only 29 low-Earth orbit satellites will be built during the period, with a market value of $114 million. These primarily are for providing mobile communications.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said Aug. 15 that it has completed its avionics technology update of the U.S. Navy's Group II E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. The Mission Computer Replacement Program's objective was to replace the E-2C early warning aircraft's 1960s-vintage mission computer. The system was replaced with Northrop's Reconfigurable Processor for Legacy Avionics Code Execution (RePLACE), designed to replace aging system hardware without the time-consuming software recoding usually involved, the company said.
After delaying the spacecraft's launch two weeks for additional checks, Boeing, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are completely satisfied that GOES-N's communication system will work properly in orbit, the company says. Originally set to launch on July 29, GOES-N now is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., during a window lasting from 6:32 p.m. to 7:06 p.m. EDT on Aug. 15.
The Department of Defense has once again agreed with Government Accountability Office recommendations to improve the coordination of combatant commanders' needs for munitions and their purchase by the military services, after the GAO found that an earlier DOD effort fell short.
The U.S. Navy's P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program has scheduled its preliminary design review (PDR) for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 4, according to an industry source. The PDR had been tentatively slated for September, but that was designed to give the program something to work toward and was not considered a firm date, the source told The DAILY Aug. 11. MMA is intended to be a 737-800ERX jet modified to perform anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare and reconnaissance. Boeing is the prime contractor.
