McLean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has been awarded a $13.5 million contract to provide scientific technical system, analytical and engineering support services for the Saudi Arabian navy's Command, Control and Communications (C3), the company said Oct. 25. The contract could be worth up to $144.6 million if seven one-year options are exercised, the company said.
Competing teams led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman continue to await the delayed downselect decision in the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) program, which team leaders hope will occur by the end of this year or early next year.
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL) of Cambridge, Mass., has been awarded a $100.3 million contract to provide tactical engineering support for the United States' and United Kingdom's MK-6 guidance system and guidance system test equipment for the Trident II missile system, the company said Oct. 25. To support the effort, CSDL will issue four subcontracts:
The U.S. Army is considering an early fielding of Northrop Grumman's Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 2006, according to company officials. In 2003 the Future Combat Systems (FCS) lead systems integrator team of Boeing and Science Applications International Corp. chose the RQ-8B Fire Scout as the FCS Class IV UAV, the largest UAV in the program. Northrop Grumman is contracted to deliver seven Fire Scout vehicles to the Army for fielding as part of FCS in 2008, in anticipation of initial operational capability (IOC) in 2011.
The U.S. Army, having completed its Future Combat Systems (FCS) design concept and integrated baseline review in the past three months, is developing the program's network software, FCS officials said Oct. 26.
Raytheon Co. said it delivered its 250,000th Paveway laser-guided bomb in ceremonies on Oct. 26. Deliveries of Raytheon-built Paveways began in 1968. Lockheed Martin has delivered 25,000 units. The company has been producing Paveways since early 2002, after getting approval to build the kits to compete with longtime supplier Raytheon (DAILY, March 1, 2001). Government officials have said that having two production lines saves money and keeps quality high.
IN PRODUCTION: Raytheon Co. has started full-rate production of the MK54 anti-submarine torpedo, the company said Oct. 26. Raytheon will deliver 51 MK54s and support services to the U.S. Navy under the consolidated procurement contract for fiscal year 2004. Including options, the five-year contract value may exceed $500 million.
The EA version of Aermacchi's SF-260, its primary trainer aircraft, has performed its first flight for the Italian air force, the company said Oct. 25. The flight lasted more than 70 minutes and allowed for functional checks of the engine, flight controls and airborne systems, the Finmeccanica Group-owned company said. The EA configuration includes a new avionics suite and improved cockpit ergonomics and maintainability.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is restructuring the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program to allow flight-testing to begin earlier than planned, the agency head said Oct. 26. Under the revamped program, the first flight-test would occur in 2007, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, MDA's director, who gave a speech to the George Marshall Institute. Flight-testing had been expected to start at least a year or two later than that.
Raytheon Co. will be the lead systems integrator for AN/BYG-1, the U.S. Navy submarine fleet's next-generation combat system, the company said Oct. 25. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will retrofit Los Angeles-class and Seawolf-class combat systems,. IDS will integrate the weapons control, tactical network subsystems and tactical control, which incorporate many advanced process build software algorithms. Raytheon also said it will ensure complete end-to-end functionality by providing coordination and integration.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was expected to receive an update Oct. 25 on efforts to develop and field the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system as a national shield against long-range ballistic missiles, officials said. Officials providing the briefing were slated to include Army Maj. Gen. John Holly, who heads the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) office that has been developing GMD, and Army Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen, whose Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) oversees forces that will operate the system.
Following an extensive analysis, the Army has doubled the amount of time between major inspections of the AH-64 Apache helicopter, increasing it from 250 flight hours to 500 hours. This move was made possible by more than two and a half years of analysis of Apache maintenance and reliability records, which showed that Apache crews often were spending time inspecting components needlessly, according to Apache program manager Col. Ralph Palotta (USA).
The U.S. Navy has approved Minneapolis-based United Defense Industries Inc.'s 57mm Mk 110 Naval Gun as the Close-In Gun System (CIGS) for the baseline design of the new DD(X) destroyer program, the company said Oct. 25. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Raytheon Co. will deliver its first Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S) low-rate initial production (LRIP) kits Oct. 29, John Baird, director of C2 Integrated Systems for Raytheon Network Centric Systems, told The DAILY. Raytheon will deliver five B kits, the command and control piece, to the Army for its UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and seven A kits, which are aircraft modification kits, Baird said. L-3 Communications produces the aircraft modifications and installs them on the aircraft.
The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has awarded Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings Inc. an $11 million contract modification to supply more vehicles to the U.S. Air Force and to provide more armor components for up-armored Humvees, the company said Oct. 25. The vehicles that Armor Holdings will deliver to the U.S. Air Force Security Police will have improvements such as gunner protection kits and supplemental armor, the company said. The work will be done in 2005 by the Aerospace and Defense Group in Fairfield, Ohio.
United Defense is developing a technology suite for soldier survivability, including a system to defeat incoming rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) without detonation and a system to defeat larger incoming threats while on the move, company representatives told The DAILY on Oct. 25.
NEW ENGINE: France's Turbomeca has developed the TM 1800, an engine designed for sea propulsion, electricity generation and other uses, the company said Oct. 25. The TM 1800, under development since late 2000, combines the advantages of diesel engines and gas turbines, the company said.
Raytheon Co. successfully fired five Extended Range Guided Munition ballistic rounds from a gun on Oct. 23, the company said Oct. 25. The tests, at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., showed that the propellant charge performed to expectations and achieved the predicted rocket motor ignition and burn rate, Raytheon said. The five-inch, rocket-assisted ERGM is aimed at allowing surface ships to provide fire support to on-shore forces.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The 100th center fuselage for a Eurofighter production aircraft is undergoing equipment assembly at EADS Military Aircraft's Manching, Germany, plant, the company said. The component will be part of the seventh Spanish single-seat fighter, EADS said.
Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke returned to Earth on Oct. 23 after a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), landing safely in Kazakhstan at 7:36 p.m. CDT.
Edgewood, N.Y.-based CPI Aerostructures Inc. has received an accelerated $7.1 million order from the U.S. Air Force under the T-38 Talon trainer aircraft program, the company said Oct. 25.
CLOSING THE GAP: Boeing is seeking international sales to fill a six-month gap in the production of the AH-64 Apache helicopter that is set to occur from March to September 2007, according to Al Winn, the company's vice president for Apache programs. "We do not want to shut the line down," Winn said at a press briefing held during the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in Washington on Oct. 25. The gap is shrinking, Winn said, and the company has until the middle of next year to fill it completely.
The U.S. Army still awaits an official waiver from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) that would allow it to buy nearly 6,000 MicroLight portable radios for dismounted soldiers, according to manufacturer Raytheon. OSD requires a waiver when a service wants to buy a radio system that is outside of the upcoming Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), even if the system is JTRS-compliant. MicroLight is the radio for the Army's Land Warrior program, according to Raytheon (DAILY, Sept. 14).
Aerojet of Sacramento, Calif., has conducted a successful hot-fire test program for a nontoxic reaction control engine (RCE) that would use liquid oxygen and ethanol as propellants, the company said last week. The RCE is being developed for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala., for possible use in the agency's new space exploration initiative. The testing validated the use of the engine in steady state and pulse mode, meaning it could be used for ascent, on-orbit and re-entry operations, the company said.
