KC-X haunts CSAR-X
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Boeing, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, GAO, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Proposal, Protest, Sikorsky, U.S. Air Force, commercial aviation, production program
With the decision to punt on the KC-45 recompete by the current administration there are some worries that this might affect the CSAR-X contract as well. Last word was that the announcement of who won the new GAO ordered competition would come sometime this Fall. Now some of the competitors; Sikorsky, Augusta Westland and Boeing; are concerned that perhaps this decision will delay the announcement of the winner. Boeing had won a contract only to have a protest upheld by GAO for the USAF not applying their criteria correctly.
See this short AP article for more.
India goes with AW for new VIP aircraft
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Contract Awards, India, Military Aviation, Sikorsky, commercial aviation, production program
Like the US Navy, India awarded a contract to Augusta Westland for their new VIP transport helicopter. The contract is worth about $300 M. Sikorsky was one of the unsuccessful bidders with their S-92 aircraft. The EH-101 selected will offer a larger cabin, although it is a more expensive aircraft. US companies have been trying hard lately to break into the Indian market as that country has turned away from its traditional English and Russian suppliers. India has also made a great effort to begin developing a sophisticated, indigenous arm suppliers.
See The Hartford Courant article about this contract here.
US Air Force to award CSAR-X recompete soon
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Boeing, Contract Awards, GAO, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., Proposal, Protest, Sikorsky, U.S. Air Force, UTC, commercial aviation, development program, production program
In a contract that has fallen to the back burner recently due to KC-45 events, the Air Force announced that they would complete the recompete for the CSAR-X by September. Contract award would be soon after. The CSAR-X contract to replace the HH-60 PaveHawk aircraft was originally awarded to Boeing with a variant of the CH-47. Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin protested and won with the GAO ruling that the Air Force did not apply the selection criteria properly. The whole contract was recompeted with Boeing, Sikorsky and Lockheed resubmitting bids.
For more see this article at www.pressconnects.com for the Binghamton area.
SAC sliding Canadian contract
Filed under: Canada, Contract Awards, Military Aviation, Sikorsky, UTC, production program
The story out of Canada is that the contract to buy 28 H-92 aircraft from SAC is sliding to the right. There are also rumors of cost increases. The Canadian government is threatening to cancel the contract if delays and cost increases are true. Normally for a contract like this to buy an established system starts experiencing slips or cost growth there are usually requirement changes or the contractor didn’t really provide what the customer desired. There is no word yet on what has happened. It may be that Sikorsky was just a little aggressive in their schedule.
Army awards option for UH-60 aircraft
Filed under: Contract Awards, Sikorsky, U.S. Army, production program
The Hartford Courant announced that Sikorsky was awarded a contract option for 6 UH-60M and 2 HH-60. This is probably a FMS option, but no details were given. Usually the full years of aircraft are bought in the Fall after Congress passes the Defense Appropriation Bill. An incremental award during the Fiscal Year may be due to FMS or the receipt of supplemental funding. A key part of any defense procurement contract is that the more you buy in a year the cheaper they are, so it also might be to get the Army a price break.
EADS and Tata ink agreement
Filed under: BAE Systems, EADS, India, Sikorsky, Tata, commercial aviation
Tata just does not make the cheapest car in the world, but has now begun forging agreements with foreign defense companies to bid on Indian contracts. See The Financial Times for more on this. Tata has joined with EADS to begin preparation for bidding on a communication contract. They have signed with Sikorsky to make helicopter cabins, and is also in talks with BAE. This is a sensible way for the large company to begin getting into the defense business. Of course, with the US companies the export controls may limit what they can do.
Connecticut politicians lobby for Sikorsky for VH-71 contract
Filed under: Contract Awards, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, U.S. Navy, commercial aviation, development program
A group of 11 Congressman, mainly from Connecticut, wrote a letter to DoD asking for the Lockheed contract be canceled and put out for re-bid. See Hartford Courant for more. The hope is that Sikorsky will win the recompete. Read more
FY09 Defense Budget Good to Sikorsky
Filed under: Federal Budget Process, Sikorsky, development program, production program
This analysis from The Connecticut Post Online shows that Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is doing well. The budget will buy over 100 helicopters and provide money to modernize others. This is not surprising as Sikorsky makes the UH-60 and CH-53, both of which just underwent a block upgrade. The UH-60M and CH-53K are also individually more expensive then previous models. The US Military needs new and improved helicopters. The Army is flying the crap out of the UH-60 in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marines are using the V-22 to supplement the 53 in its various roles, but in many parts of the war helicopters are it.
Boeing and USAF attempt to mend ways
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Protest, Sikorsky, U.S. Air Force, production program
In this detailed article from The Washington Post, the relationship between the Air Force and Boeing is examined relative to the Darleen Druyun scandal. The complete article is here. Ms. Druyun was the senior Civil Servant in the Air Force’s acquisition office. She was negotiating for a job with Boeing while representing the Air Force in contract negotiations. That is about the biggest, and simplest, conflict-of-interest a government employee can have. Ms. Druyun’s daughter also some how ended up with a job at Boeing as well. The fall out from the case led Ms. Druyun to go to jail, and Boeing to pay a large fine and make a lot of promises.
The article is discussing two major awards the Air Force will make soon for two new aircraft. The KC-X to supplement the aged KC-135; and a new rescue helicopter - the CSAR-X. Boeing and Druyun got into trouble over an attempt by the Air Force to lease replacement tankers in 2002. Boeing had won the CSAR-X contract with a version of the C-47, but the GAO upheld a protest by Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, and the contract had to be re-competed.
This article highlights some of the issues inherent in government contracting.
3 companies submit new proposals for US Air Force CSAR-X
Filed under: Boeing, GAO, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, U.S. Air Force, development program
Boeing, Lockheed, and Sikorsky all submitted new proposals for the CSAR-X. See an article here. The contract had originally been awarded to Boeing for a varient of the CH-47, but the GAO upheld a protest by Lockheed and Sikorsky and required new proposals be allowed. More coverage of the CSAR-X fiasco here. The new aircraft will replace the current fleet of Black Hawk aircraft used to conduct search and rescue operations. The Air Force has also invested in a small number of V-22 aircraft that can carry out the same mission, but is primarily to be used for Special Operations missions.
Interesting analysis of United Technologies performance
The Motley Fool has some interesting analysis about the recent award by the US Army of the UH-60 production contract to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (SAC), which is part of UTC. While the size of the contract is large, $1.7 Billion, it is a drop in the bucket in total UTC revenues. SAC also has had the lowest margin of any part of the company. The article is here. While it is true that UTC is a very large corporation, the award will keep SAC busy for several years and has the potential to spin off Foreign Military Sales and other work.
Sikorsky wins more UH-60 work
According to Defenselink.mil Sikorsky was awarded a $1.5 billion contract for UH-60 and HH-60 aircraft. Of note, the proposal was received by the Army in October, 2005. So this contract took over 2 years to be awarded. See the DoD announcement here.
Further information can be found here.
U.S. Army and Navy Sign Five Year Production Contract with Sikorsky for UH-60 Aircraft
Filed under: Cobham Defense Electronic Systems, Contract Awards, Sikorsky, U.S. Army
The US Army awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (SAC) a five year contract for the production of UH-60 utility helicopters. The UH-60 is the primary transport aircraft in service with the US Army. It also operates off of US Navy ships in a variety of roles such as logistic support and anti-submarine warfare. The contract is for over 500 aircraft and has a potential value of over 11 Billion dollars. See the SAC Press Release.
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