Lockheed To Begin Production Of New Radars For E-2D Hawkeyes
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Events, IT, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Services, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to begin Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of the new radar for the E-2D carrier based Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The E-2D is an upgrade of the venerable E-2C system that has been in use for thirty years. The contract has a value of over $170 million for four radar systems.
The E-2D has begun production recently. The APY-9 has longer range and better discrimination then the previous radars on the aircraft. Once LRIP is complete with the necessary exit criteria demonstrated the system will enter Full Rate production with seventy-five systems planned.
Navy Awards Contracts To Streamline Ship Based IT
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Events, IT, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corp., S&T, Services, U.S. Navy, development program, logistics
The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman omnibus contracts to support their Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) program. This will look at development of new IT networks for their ships while also reviewing existing systems with a goal of reducing the number and consolidating them. Because ships take a long time to build each ship even if it is of a similar class may have updated or newer systems on board. This means that support can be fragmentary adding cost and time.
The Northrop contract is worth over $700 million and the Lockheed one almost a $1 billion if all options are exercised. Its first goal is to develop a new standardized system for use with Navy ships. To make it a harder problem this will also have to have the ability to integrate with other services systems for join operations. IT programs like this have a history of delays and cost overruns as they are hard to do. This might be an exception if the Navy locks requirements early and uses a spiral development path to add features and capabilities in discrete implements.
Long Term Aircraft Plan Includes 109 KC-X Tankers
Filed under: Congress, KC-X, KC-X Tanker News, Syndicated Industry News, U.S. Navy
The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps released to Congress their “Aircraft Investment Plan”. This lays out how many fixed wing aircraft they intend to buy and maintain through 2020. The U.S.A.F. intends to buy 109 tankers by that year at an estimated cost of over $30 billion.
The Air Force also plans to maintain a force of 223 C-17 and 91 C-5 heavy lift aircraft. The core of the services aircraft though will be the F-35 JSF with about 600 planned for purchase at the current schedule.
Navy Orders Nuclear Powerplant Components
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Services, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program
Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) an operating unit of McDermott International announced yesterday that it was awarded a contract by the U.S. Government for various nuclear components for defense programs. These include U.S. Navy power plant parts and systems. The U.S. Navy continues to operate several nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines. B&W has made these kind of systems for decades and prior to that provided steam power plants for U.S. Navy and other ships. The total value of the contract if all options are exercised is $450 million.
In December 2009 McDermott International announced plans to separate B&W from itself due to new tax laws. This plan has not yet been executed but when it is complete B&W will be able to bid on Federal contracts without McDermott International being forced to incorporate in the United States.
First Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Commissioned
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Events, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
02/08/10 — The post was updated to make clear that LCS-1 is under construction by Lockheed Martin and not Northrop Grumman as previously stated. Your humble editor got confused.
In the last week the U.S. Navy commissioned the General Dynamics built U.S.S. Independence (LCS-2). LCS-1 is under construction by Lockheed Martin. The original plan for the class was to have each company build about half. The two designs are completely different to say the least with GD building a tri-marine hull and Northrop a more traditional one. Both ships are outfitted the same with weapons and sensors. The U.S.S. Freedom (LCS-1) and the Independence are ships around 400 feet long and displacing about 3,000 tons.
If all goes well the Navy will build up to 55 of the ships. The most recent plan discussed was after completion of these two and one more to each design that a new contract will be competed and only one design will be built. Both ships have suffered from cost and schedule overruns and the optimistic initial cost assumptions were not met leading to the program restructure. If the plan is executed these ships and the new destroyer will be the main force of the U.S. Navy after 2020.
DDG-51 Construction To Continue By Northrop Grumman
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, U.S. Navy, production program
Due to the restructuring of the plans for the new U.S. Navy destroyer program the U.S. Department of Defense decided to continue building the DDG-51 Arliegh Burke Class ships. Originally this ship was to end its production as more DDG-1000 were ordered and delivered. The Obama Administration and Secretary of Defense Gates decided to cut back on the plans as the program was running late and over budget. To make up for these changes it was decided to keep building DDG-51 class ships.
These ships are made by either Northrop Grumman or General Dynamics at their respective yards. Northrop Grumman received recently a contract to provide long lead materials for the next ship they will build, DDG-113. The contract has a value of over $100 million. The Arliegh Burke’s have been in service now for almost two decades and the DDG-1000 would have been larger, more stealthy and with newer systems. The DDG-51 are certainly capable and have been upgraded as time has passed.
Northrop To Start Building Arliegh Burke Destroyers Again
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, U.S. Navy, production program
The Obama Administration restructured the new U.S. Navy destroyer program as part of their 2010 budget review. The DDG-1000 program will now end after only three ships and rather then having two sources only General Dynamics (GD) will build them. A new destroyer program will be developed. Since Northrop Grumman (NOC) lost the contract they had participating in DDG-1000 the Navy gave them another one to start making more DDG-51 class ships to fill the gap created by reducing the numbers of the DDG-1000. The first of these new ships, DDG-113, began construction with Northrop receiving a contract to begin purchasing long lead items.
The DDG-51 is an evolution of the AEGIS CG-47 class cruisers started in the Seventies. It is a general purpose ship and replaces many older destroyers and frigates and has been built in large numbers. The DDG-51 certainly can be modified to conduct missile defense missions as it has the same radar and missile suite as the CG-47 class ships. The DDG-1000 incorporated many of the same weapon systems but was of stealth design and had modern propulsion and data systems.
C-130J Production Looking Up
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, EADS, Events, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program
Lockheed is planning on doubling production of the C-130J transport aircraft over the next few years. Demand for the aircraft from overseas customers has increased. The U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps also buy several aircraft a year as they upgrade their fleets of C-130E and C-130H and the program has garnered strong Congressional support.
Several of the Gulf States have placed orders and others are negotiating deals. The delays to the competing A400M made by EADS has also opened up some market opportunities as countries wanting that aircraft have had to wait several more months then originally planned. South Africa has already canceled their planned buy of the European transport. There really is no other aircraft in the class as most other aircraft are smaller or much larger such as the C-27 Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) or the C-17. Lockheed is obviously confident that the success of the program will continue if they are willing to make a commitment such as this.
F-35 Program Has Issues DCMA Says
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Restructuring, Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has become the aviation program in the Obama defense budget. This multi-variant, multi-service aircraft will be the only new tactical aircraft built in the United States for several years now that the F-22 Raptor was canceled in the 2010 budget. In fact Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wanted to speed up production and testing of the aircraft in order to replace the aging F-15 and F-16 fleet more quickly.
Earlier this summer there were reports that a review panel had found the potential for delays and cost growth in the program that would seriously affect the plans for the aircraft. Yesterday there were reports that the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) has been reporting that the program is facing production and test delays as well as having cost issues. DCMA monitors contractors for performance and delivery and reportedly Lockheed Martin and its supporting contractors are already behind on the latest schedule established in May, 2008.
When the budget was announced with the decision to cancel the F-22 and focus on the F-35 some doubts were raised that the plan would work out. The schedule was not firm enough and cost was still being worked out for the three different aircraft being developed for the U.S. and its Allies. The F-35 if unit costs do rise significantly could see lower annual buy quantities which stretches out production and extends the time the older aircraft must be flying. While it is certainly possible that the schedule problems may be overcome delays and cost increases will undermine the reasoning behind the whole proposed Obama aviation modernization budget. This report may give Congress pause and interest in re-starting the F-22 production.
AgustaWestland North America Awarded U.S. Navy Contract — Press Release
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Countries, Egypt, Events, Military Aviation, Press Releases, Services, U.S. Navy, logistics
AgustaWestland North America Awarded U.S. Navy Contract
RESTON, Va., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ — AgustaWestland North America (AWNA) is pleased to announce that it was recently awarded a $17.35M U.S. Navy contract to provide depot level maintenance on three Egyptian Mk-2 variant H-3 helicopters. The contract provides full funding for this effort, which began in November 2008, and calls for complete refurbishment of the aircraft structure and all aircraft components. AWNA will also complete all safety checks to ensure the aircraft are flight ready.
Work will be carried out at the company’s 88,000 square foot maintenance repair and overhaul facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. Up to 20 new employees are expected to be added to the existing staff of 26 at Hagerstown Airport. All work on the H-3 helicopters is estimated to be completed in December of 2010.
“AgustaWestland North America is honored to receive this contract from the U.S. Navy,” said AgustaWestland North America Chief Executive Officer, R. Scott Rettig. “I am proud of our team and our close working relationship with the U.S. Navy. I look forward to future growth and successes of our Hagerstown operations, as we continue to expand our U.S. footprint and meet the specific needs of the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense.”
AgustaWestland North America, a subsidiary of AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is FOCI mitigated and responsible for the company’s U.S. government programs. AgustaWestland is a global leader in designing, manufacturing and supporting the world’s most technologically advanced helicopters. With more than 100 years of experience in the aerospace industry, AgustaWestland provides a full range of rotorcraft for every commercial, government and military application, and an unrivalled capability in training and support solutions.
For further information please contact:
Michael Lugo
Office: 703.373.8019
Mobile: 571.435.4430
Email: mlugo@awnainc.com
Source: AgustaWestland North America
Rolls-Royce To Build Engines For U.S. Training Aircraft
Filed under: BAE Systems, Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, McDonnell Douglas, Military Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Services, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program, training
The U.S. Defense Department awarded a contract to Rolls-Royce to deliver F405-RR-401 jet engines. The $90 million contract will be to build the engines for the T-45 jet trainer as well as perform maintenance and logistics support for them. The bulk of the production will occur at Rolls-Royce’s Indiana facilities with support occurring wherever the Navy needs it.
The T-45 Goshawk is a modern, singled engine two seat trainer. Based on a BAE design it was originally manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in the United States before that company was acquired by Boeing. Over two hundred of the aircraft have been delivered to the Navy and they are able to conduct carrier landings and training.
Lockheed Martin To Get Billion Dollar Contract To Support AEGIS Radar Engineering
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Events, Lockheed Martin, MDA, Raytheon, S&T, Services, U.S. Navy, development program, missile defense, production program
The AEGIS air defense system started development forty years ago and has been in service with the U.S. Navy for about thirty on cruisers and destroyers. It is an integrated system of radars, software, missiles and vertical and rail launchers. The company that originally developed the radar was RCA but through acquisition and mergers it is now Lockheed Martin. The work on the radar has always been centered around Moorestown, NJ.
The system was originally for air defense but since the Nineties the Navy has been modifying it to support ballistic missile defense operations by creating the SM-3 missile. The SM-2 is the primary air defense missile currently in use. Raytheon makes the missile for the Navy. Lockheed was awarded a $1 billion contract to provide development work, engineering services and support to the missile defense part of the program last week. This contract is from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and not the Navy. The Obama Administration has focused on this naval system over the long range ground based systems and this indicates that commitment.
GATR Technologies Sells Innovative Satellite Antenna To U.S. Military
Filed under: Alabama, Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Events, GATR Technologies, IT, S&T, Satellites, Services, States, U.S. Navy, logistics, production program
The Alabama company GATR Technologies was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to provide inflatable satellite communication terminals. The contract is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract which means that under it the Navy may buy as many as they want but doesn’t necessarily have to buy any. The one year contract could be worth up to $26 million to the company.
GATR Technologies makes a rather innovative system where the antenna and terminal are part of a big inflatable ball. This means that it is easy to transport and may be set up in rough terrain or remote locations just be inflating it. It weights very little and is quite portable. The system require two cases as well as requiring an external power source. This concept just demonstrates the ingenuity that is out there when it comes to making systems more effective.
Navy Looking At Biofuels
Filed under: Business Line, Contract Awards, DARPA, Department of Defense, Events, Services, Solazyme, Sustainable Oils, U.S. Navy, development program, logistics
The U.S. military uses a lot of fuel. The Navy powers its aircraft and ships with petroleum based products. It certainly behooves the Defense Department and the Services to invest in other sources of fuel. One area that is starting to receive more interest is biofuels.
Two companies, Solazyme and Sustainable Oils, were awarded contracts to explore making fuel from algae and oilseed plants. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has also invested in algae based fuel. The two contracts are worth about $11 million.
Both seem to be viable sources of fuel and the Navy wants to make sure that the result of their different refining processes will be capable of safely powering an airplane. Obviously once the fuel is tested as being viable the next focus of the research will be to move to a cost effective production and refining process. Ultimately the fuel has to cost near what it does for a gallon of oil based products. The other goal would be an ability to mass produce the product so as to support military needs. The awarding of the contracts indicate that the Defense Department is very interested in this product and process.
Northrop Gets Two Big Sustainment Contracts
Filed under: Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, logistics
Like Boeing recently winning a billion dollar support contract from the Air Force for the C-17 fleet Northrop Grumman received two large sustainment contracts yesterday. One each from the Air Force and the Navy. This kind of work certainly represents a good revenue stream for the contractors developing and producing large systems.
The first is for sustainment and maintenance of the B-2 fleet. This contract may be worth up to $3.4 billion over the next several years. The twenty aircraft fleet requires substantial support due to the complicated nature of the materials that it is made out of. The B-2 has been active in the former Global War on Terrorism as it does carry a large payload of conventional weapons.
The second contract is to refuel and refurbish the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). This was the third Nimitz class carrier to be built. This contract has a value of over $2.4 billion and will cover a three year period of work. This is a one time maintenance action that is expected to continue the life of the ship out 2036. As part of the contract Northrop Grumman at Newport News shipyard will upgrade a whole host of systems and improve the capability of the ship overall.
These types of contract are very valuable to a company as they provide a steady stream of income over several years. The major cost of a modern weapon system is not the development or procurement but the sustainment over the very long life that are exhibited today. The United States for example is flying fifty year old B-52 aircraft and driving twenty-five year old M1 tanks. Both systems have received constant maintenance and upgrades over the years keeping them relevant to the modern war fight.
F-35 Completes Aeriel Refueling Test
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Department of Defense, Events, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) version completed a refueling mission form a KC-130. This was a successful first using the hose and drogue method of refueling aircraft in air. The Lockheed Martin press release is available here.
The JSF continues to make strides in its development program and is moving forward as its rapid procurement has become the focus of the Obama Administration’s attempts to modernize America’s fighter fleet.
BRAC Contracts For Fort Sam Houston Keep Adding Up
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, IT, Lockheed Martin, Restructuring, Services, States, Texas, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, logistics, training
As part of the last round of Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) the U.S. Department of Defense decided to consolidate service wide training at various locations. One of these plans is to move all medical training to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. Much of the Air Force and Army training was already located there so the move is primarily of the Navy centers. Part of the consolidation will require construction of new barracks and facilities.
It was announced yesterday that Lockheed Martin was awarded a $200 million contract to provide logistics support for the movement of the Air Force and Navy’s training centers. The contract calls for the company to do purchasing, warehousing and training on new and moved equipment. Lockheed Martin will also actively manage the movement and transfer of the schools.
The goal of this consolidation is to save money in the long run through economies of scale. This is being done for a variety of specialized training such as moving electronics and missile maintenance to FT Lee, Virginia. Many of the facilities losing the training commands are not closing but gaining other organizations and commands.
This round of BRAC began a whole sale shuffle of training and testing and development organizations that should allow some synergy across the three services.
Raytheon Begins Development Of Navy’s New Radar Suite
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Events, Raytheon, S&T, Services, U.S. Navy, development program, missile defense
The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon a $9.9 million contract to begin the initial work on a new suite of radars for ship based search and defense. The contract will provide for capability studies, controller functionality development, system engineering studies and a technology development plan.
The new suite will consist of an S-band search and tracking radar and eventually an X-band radar to do precision track and target illumination. These radars will conduct missions similar to that of the AEGIS radar and control system such as air and ballistic missile defense, surface search and weapon support.
The technology development plan is a key early document to support an acquisition program as it identifies and lays out the path forward to develop an achieve mature enough technology to begin production. Approval of the plan is required to begin the real development program.
GE Bets On House To Keep F-35 Second Engine Alive
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, GE, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
Following up on its decision to strip the F-22 funding from the 2010 budget as requested by the Obama Administration the Senate also de-funded the second source for the F-35 JSF engine. This program too had its funding removed in the President’s budget submission but the House and the Senate Committees had restored some money to continue the program.
GE and Rolls-Royce are making this engine, the F136 with Pratt & Whitney responsible for the main F135 engine. The idea of having a second engine was due to the large amount of F-35 aircraft required and the three different versions there might be a need for such capability. GE is claiming that the competition that their engine provides will help control costs and schedule. The company feels that the funding will remain in the final bill as the House will support it in Conference. There is still a chance that the conference bill will also retain some money for the F-22 if the House is hard over on it.
It is interesting that Secretary of Defense Gates‘ wants to end this competitive program to save money when one of the new changes to defense acquisition that he has pushed this year is increased competition in the early stages of a program. Historically when there have been multiple sources trying to win a program there have been cost savings to the Government. In this case the feeling must be that the program is too mature to justify the two sources for the engines.
With the support of the Senate for Obama it may be a contentious conference, or the House may end up ending the programs. It will be an interesting August from the defense budget point of view.
House Moves To Keep VH-71 Increment One Alive
Filed under: Agusta Westland, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Restructuring, Services, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
The various defense appropriations and authorization bills are working their way through the House and Senate. Many items have been included not requested by the Obama Administration or Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. This really is not surprising as Gates attempted to cut a lot very quickly. He spared no service cutting Air Force F-22 and C-17 aircraft, Navy VH-71 and destroyers, and Army vehicle and missile defense systems. Congress has pushed back on certain programs.
One that they are trying to keep alive is the VH-71 helicopter for use in transporting the President. This program has not only been unfunded in the President’s 2010 budget but Lockheed Martin has been told to stop work. The company and the Pentagon are negotiating termination costs.
The House Appropriation Defense sub-committee, though, included almost half a billion dollars to try and utilize the Increment One aircraft already procured. The program was structured with two increments of aircraft, the first being basic ones to be used to support testing and development. A larger buy in five or so years would have all the required equipment. To date the U.S. has invested about $3 billion in the program. The House wants to see if some use could be derived of the aircraft already delivered.
While the current fleet of VH-2 and VH-60 aircraft have served the President well they are somewhat dated. The VH-71 would have more modern survivability and communications equipment with greater range and lift. The strenuous requirements are what led to the programs cost and schedule growth. There will be more to come on this issue to say the least.
Australia’s First F/A-18 Delivered
Filed under: Australia, Boeing, Business Line, Companies, Congress, Contract Awards, Countries, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Military Aviation, Missouri, Services, U.S. Navy, production program
Boeing delivered the first F/A-18 Super Hornet for Australia on July 8. This is the first of twenty-four. The aircraft will provide a stop gap until either the F-35 JSF or the F-22 aircraft Australia has expressed interest in buying. The total value of the contract to Boeing is about $3 billion.
The F-18 for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps is facing the end of production as the Obama Administration has proposed accelerating deliveries of the F-35 for those services as well as the U.S. Air Force. This is tied in to the ending of F-22 production. Congress has not received these proposals well and have included continued F-22 deliveries in the appropriation and authorization bills working their way through both Houses. The House has also looked at increasing planned F-18 deliveries as well as exploring the award of another multi-year production contract. Multi-year contracts have to be specifically authorized and have been used for large aircraft contracts in a bid to keep overall costs down. If there is a consistent buy profile over several years it makes it easier for the contractors to manage supplies and material ideally reducing costs.
JASM Under Threat
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Events, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Restructuring, Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, production program
The Joint Air-to-Surface Missile (JASM) is an air launched cruise missile used by the U.S. Air Force and Navy. It has been in production for several years and has been deployed for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite this the Air Force is planning anew series of test the results of which may lead to the cancellation of the program.
In recent testing the missile achieved only a sixty percent success rate well below the goals set for it. The system is manufactured by Lockheed Martin and canceling would be a loss of significant work. There have already been over 600 of the missiles made.
There have been issues with the wiring and fuses and Lockheed is working on these. The fact that the system seems to be in steady rate production indicates that it successfully completed all testing required to move to that phase. The recent failures may be due to storage or problems in the manufacturing process or maybe with some suppliers.
The fact that the Air Force is threa
HASC Wants To Continue VH-71
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Countries, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Finemeccanica, Italy, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, Services, U.S. Navy, development program
In their markup of the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill the House Armed Services Committee added money for continued production of the F-22. It also recommended that the Navy and Defense Department continue production of the Increment One of the VH-71 New Presidential Helicopter.
They feel that this would be the best use of the over $3 billion already spent on the program. There is obviously still a requirement for this aircraft and a new program is planned. The HASC wants the first group of VH-71 to be used as “the normal transport for the President…” with other systems looked at for the more stringent requirements. Right now the President uses VH-3 for short range, normal duties and then longer ranged CH-53 and UH-60 for other missions. One of the problems faced by the VH-71 was the attempt to buy one aircraft to do all missions.
Finemeccanica had offered to just deliver Increment One aircraft at reduced price for the total program. Of course these did not meet all of the requirements that the Navy had levied. This was a major reason the program’s cost and schedule increased so much.
So far the HASC markup does not necessarily agree with the Obama Administration’s proposals in the area of the F-22 or the VH-71. The bill still needs to go through the process of other committee markups, the full House and Senate and then the Conference. This means that this language may or not make it to the final version but it does show support for the VH-71 program.
Lockheed Plans Further Job Cuts Due To VH-71 Ending
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Congress, Countries, Department of Defense, Events, Federal Budget Process, Finemeccanica, Italy, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, New York, Restructuring, Services, States, Suspensions, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, development program, production program
Lockheed Martin had already cut over one hundred jobs at their Upstate New York facility in Owego. This was mainly due to the decision by Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates to end the VH-71 New Presidential Transport helicopter program. Even though the aircraft was made in Italy Lockheed did all the modifications and integration in Owego.
Despite a great deal of argument and pressure to keep the program going in some form or another the contract was recently terminated. Lockheed is now saying that another seven hundred and fifty people may lose their jobs. Right now they are looking for people to voluntarily leave or retire with a promise of severance. The plan is to begin the layoffs in July based on how many people agree to leave voluntarily.
One of the arguments against ending this and other production programs is that they will just add to the joblessness during the current recession. Of course the defense budget is not really a jobs program and that is fairly poor reasoning to continue spending billions of dollars on a system that does not meet requirements. It is still possible that Congress will pass some form of spending that will keep pieces of the program alive in the 2010 defense budget but that will not be finished until the Fall.
E-2D Program Moves Forward
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Contract Awards, Countries, Events, Federal Budget Process, Florida, Israel, Japan, Military Aviation, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, States, U.S. Navy, development program, missile defense, production program
The Navy’s new carrier based radar search and surveillance plane the E-2D had a successful Milestone C Low Rate Production Decision. The aircraft is an incremental upgrade to the existing E-2C. The Advanced Hawkeye program has made steady progress over the last several years and the production decision is a major advance for it and any defense acquisition program.
The company and its team has been awarded contract worth about $430 million to deliver the first four aircraft. The development aircraft had first flown back in late 2007. There has also been discussion of selling the aircraft to selected overseas customers. Right now the E-2C is used by Israel, Egypt, Japan and Singapore among others.



