ROCKETS CONTRACT: General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products of Charlotte, N.C., has been awarded a five-year contract worth about $900 million to produce 2.75-inch Hydra-70 rockets, motors and warheads, the company said May 5. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. System engineering and program management will be done at General Dynamics' Burlington Technology Center in Vermont. Final assembly and component subassembly will take place at General Dynamics facilities in Camden, Ark., and McHenry, Miss.
The House on May 5 approved the congressional compromise over the $82 billion fiscal 2005 supplemental spending measure and the Senate is expected to do the same next week. Three hundred and sixty-eight representatives voted for the H.R. 1268 conference report, and 58 voted against it. One lawmaker voted present.
San Diego-based General Atomics has chosen Lockheed Martin as weapon system integrator for the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS), Lockheed Martin said May 5. General Atomics' Photonics Division is contracted with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to work on the lightweight laser. Lockheed Martin will support General Atomics in developing and demonstrating the laser in a weapon system that can be integrated on several potential platforms.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program underwent a high-level review at the Pentagon May 5. Results of the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting may not be available for days or weeks. The DAB was expected to scrutinize the multiservice aircraft's progress toward a February 2006 critical design review and an August 2006 first flight. Excess weight has been a key issue, but program officials insist they have largely resolved the matter.
Two major studies that will influence purchases of U.S. tanker and transport aircraft are weeks or months away from being finished, even though they are already past their original due dates. A review of the Defense Department's overall mobility needs most recently was expected to wrap up in May but will now continue until "sometime after midsummer," a Pentagon spokeswoman said May 5, citing the need for more analysis. The Mobility Capability Study (MCS) was delayed earlier from March to April, and then from April to May (DAILY, March 17, May 2).
By late May or early June, NASA expects to complete a review of options for the Glory climate study mission, which include developing a standalone spacecraft or flying an instrument aboard a National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) spacecraft.
RESULTS: Orbimage of Dulles, Va., is projecting 2005 revenues of $50-60 million, which would be an increase of 62-93% over 2004 revenues, combined with operating losses of $2-12 million. The company estimates that it will spend roughly $474 million on its OrbView-5 satellite through its 2007 launch, of which the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is reimbursing $237 million. Since the award of the NextView contract, Orbimage has raised about $107.6 million in new cash equity, according to the company.
U.S. military forces have 31 five-ton gun trucks in Iraq but more are needed to save the lives of military personnel, a weapons laboratory official told the House Armed Services Committee on May 5. Steven DeTeresa of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said $40,000 removable armor kits added to cargo trucks in Iraq already have saved some lives against improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Vietnam-era troop transport vehicle, which sports multiple high-caliber machine guns, provides survivability and firepower that "far exceed" modern Humvees.
Aviation Technology Group Inc. has installed specially modified Williams FJ33-4-15M turbofan engines into a Javelin executive jet prototype, the company said May 5. "The team at ATG is focused on building the Javelin and hitting our milestones," Charlie Johnson, the company's chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The Government Accountability Office denied a protest from United Valve Co. of Houston, which said the Army Materiel Command improperly awarded a parts supply contract for UH-1 Huey helicopters to Chatsworth, Calif.-based Logistical Support LLC (LS). United Valve said the Army "unreasonably regarded LS as an approved source" for flutter dampeners used on Hueys. The Army awarded the company a sole-source contract for the work.
VEHICLE SERVICING: United Defense of Santa Clara, Calif., has been awarded an $8 million contract modification to service vehicles returning from Iraq, the company said May 5. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. The contract covers armored personnel carriers, self-propelled howitzers, artillery ammunition resupply vehicles, and Bradley Fighting Vehicles from the 1st Cavalry Division. The work will include vehicle inspections, replacement of damaged or worn parts, and annual upkeep. The work will be done at Fort Hood, Texas.
LCA ADVICE: A parliamentary defense consulting committee reviewed India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas this week, and said the Indian air force should expedite user trials to induct the aircraft early, according to the India Press Information Bureau. They also said the defense ministry should develop a marketing strategy for export sales of the aircraft.
EADS Defence & Security Systems of Amsterdam plans to buy the professional mobile radio business of Finland-based Nokia, EADS said May 4. Financial terms were not disclosed. The purchase's closing is expected before the end of 2005, pending regulatory approval, the company said. EADS would take over Nokia's PMR business, including its Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) infrastructure and terminals.
Australia soon will pick either the Boeing Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) or the Lockheed Martin Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) to equip its F/A-18 Hornet and AP-3C Orion aircraft, an Australian official said. A third candidate, Europe's Taurus, is no longer in the competition, said Air Commodore Graham Bentley, the Royal Australian Air Force attache at the Australian Embassy in Washington.
House Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) late May 4 shot a warning toward the Homeland Security Department - and the White House - by slashing $466 million off the Bush Administration's fiscal 2006 Coast Guard budget request for its Deepwater program and cutting funding back to its pre-Sept. 11 level.
Contractor teams are awaiting word from NASA on its new acquisition strategy for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which newly appointed Administrator Michael Griffin seeks to accelerate to close any gap in U.S. manned spaceflight capability following the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010. The front-runners in the competition are a team led by Lockheed Martin and a team led by Northrop Grumman and Boeing. The teams expect NASA to spend the next month or two re-evaluating the program before getting back to industry with the changes.
The U.S. Navy and Army have awarded Markland Technologies Inc. two contracts worth up to $36 million, the company said May 4. The first award, worth up to $11 million, was made by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. It is for system design, engineering support and systems integration for a new, unidentified land-based Marine Corps vehicle. It is the first award Markland has received from the Navy, the company said.
Despite Bush Administration requests, lawmakers negotiating the $82 billion supplemental spending measure decided to prevent the U.S. Navy from retiring the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier and competing the DD(X) destroyer program.
