Boeing Confirms Use Of Wichita Facility If KC-X Won
Filed under: Boeing, Congress, KC-X, KC-X Tanker News, Kansas, Syndicated Industry News
Boeing’s (BA) Wichita, KS plant has supported may of their military programs over the years. In their last bid for the KC-X proposal the 767 aircraft would have been modified to become the new tanker there. In October the company would no longer make that commitment to using the Wichita plant. The company had discussed using a lower cost plant to do the work with an eye to lowering their overall cost. This obviously was a blow to the employees and the political supporters of the work being done there.
Now Boeing announced yesterday that at least some of the military conversion of the aircraft will be carried out in Wichita. This will gain them even further support from some key Senators and Congressmen as well as there unions. In many ways the company had no real choice. The Wichita plant has long been established, can do the work and needs it. The announcement makes sense at this time.n
Oklahoma Congressional Delegation Not Happy with FCS Decisions
Filed under: BAE Systems, Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Proposal, Restructuring, Services, U.S. Army, development program
In yet another story of Congressional reaction to the decisions by Secretary Gates in next year’s budget. The one recommending cancellation of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) manned vehicles had the Oklahoma Senators and Representatives expressing strong reservations. The Oklahoman writes that Senator Inhofe who has been a strong supporter of the Non-Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS) system blames President Obama for this plan. The system would be assembled at a BAE plant in Elgin, OK. This is yet another example of how even though the Pentagon may propose cuts or ending programs Congress will have the ability to keep them going through adding funding in the Appropriations bill. Inhofe has always supported the system which was planned to enter into limited production in the near future. The FCS vehicles are planned to be lighter, faster and more fuel efficient then the current suite of heavy, tracked vehicles used by the U.S. Army. They would make up for there lack of armor through speed and reaction time. The FCS envisioned a heavily networked system that would allow greater situational awareness that would help U.S. troops engage faster. This decision by Gates is just one of several that will end up being decided in Congress.
VH-71 Suffers Cost Breach and Connecticut is Lobbying
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Connecticut, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Proposal, Restructuring, Services, Sikorsky, States, U.S. Navy, UTC, commercial aviation, development program, production program
The Connecticut Post reports that the VH-71 new Presidential helicopter program suffered a “Nunn-McCurdy” cost breach. There are two levels of this breach and the higher one, a 25% increase, requires the Secretary of Defense to certify the program is still required for the U.S. national defense. The fine Senators and Congressmen from Connecticut have pricked up their ears at this development and want to meet with DoD to discuss canceling the program and giving it to Sikorsky. The contract with Lockheed Martin has seen considerable cost growth due to requirements creep since the contract was awarded. This has required wholesale changes to the EH-101 platform selected. Hence the great increase in cost and schedule for the program. Of course the DoD will have to weigh the savings if another vendor proposes something cheaper with the time required to restart the program. With a new administration it is conceivable that the contract could be canceled and started over, like ARH, but it probably won’t happen.
Lockheed Talks Up F-22 to Save Jobs
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Proposal, U.S. Air Force, production program
The International Herald Tribune reports that Lockheed Martin has been making the case to continue production of the advanced aircraft. The aircraft has reached the end of its orders and is waiting for President Obama to decide if more are required. The Defense Department had last year placed an order for the long lead materials for another four aircraft. The company has been pressing for an order of 20 more in 2009. The company claims almost 100,000 jobs are related to production of the aircraft and several Senators and Congressman have written on the program’s behalf to the administration. The decision needs to be made by 1 March to exercise the option on the contract.
Congress protests DDG-100 cancellation
Filed under: Congress, Federal Budget Process, General Dynamics, Maine, Massachusetts, Northrop Grumman Corp., Restructuring, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
Recently the US Navy announced that it was not going to continue the DDG-100 program. Two ships are under construction by Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. Not unexpectedly the Senators from the affected states, mainly Massachusetts and Maine, have protested. See an article here. The major recent the Navy cites is the continued cost growth of the program. The first two were projected at under $4 B each, but now the estimates are over $5.5 B. Other than the shipbuilders, Raytheon is the most affected company as it was building the combat system of sensors for the ship. The Navy intends to continue production of the DDG-51 class instead. Read more
Congress begins political war to overturn KC-45 decision
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, EADS, Northrop Grumman Corp., U.S. Air Force, commercial aviation, logistics
Based on this story run in The Hays Daily News, Senators and Congressmen from the losing states are beginning the process to use politics to overturn the KC-45 award to Northrop-Grumman and EADS. Unfortunately there are Senators and Congressman from the states that stand to gain from the award. Read more
Kansas pulls for Boeing
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, EADS, Federal Budget Process, Northrop Grumman Corp., U.S. Air Force, commercial aviation, logistics, production program
Another article in a local paper, here the Kansas City Star, about the economic effect of the KC-X contract. The article spells out the economic effect of the win to the Wichita, KS area. Similar articles have been running in the Alabama papers about how great the win by Northrop-Grumman and EADS would be to the Mobile area. Read more
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