Tuesday, March 1, 2011

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Raytheon To Provide Advanced Imaging Sensors To The U.S. Navy

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Raytheon To Provide Advanced Imaging Sensors To The U.S. Navy
(NSI News Source Info)

MCKINNEY, Texas,

- March 1, 2011:

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $50 million contract to deliver 50 AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems for use on the U.S. Navy's MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters.


This airborne forward looking infrared targeting system provides video imagery that helps soldiers, intelligence analysts and commanders in the field make critical operating decisions. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2011 and end in 2012.

"This system provides critical information to U.S. and coalition forces," said Capt. Dean Peters, U.S. Navy program executive officer for PMA-299. "The quality of its day and night environment imagery is making a difference in the lives of our troops."

A variant of Raytheon's Multi-Spectral Targeting System deployed with U.S. rapid response forces, the AAS-44C(V) employs a full-motion video camera for long-range surveillance and high-altitude acquisition, tracking and laser designation from a manned or unmanned aircraft. In October 2008, C4ISR Journal ranked the sensor among the top 25 devices making "the biggest difference on the battlefield."

"Our solid partnership with the U.S. Navy has enabled us to develop this unique system to meet defense requirements," said Tim Carey, vice president, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems. "This electro-optical infrared system offers proven reliability and capability that support the warfighter in operations around the world."

Raytheon developed the system for use on the U.S. Navy's MH-60R and MH-60S rotary-wing platforms. The company also supplies it to military forces throughout the world.

Currently, Raytheon is pursuing foreign military sales of its MTS family of sensor solutions with the naval forces of Australia and India. The MTS sensor family recently marked more than 1 million hours of operational flight time.

Raytheon Company, with 2010 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 89 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.

Contact:

Thais Conway

214.578.6115



SOURCE Raytheon Company


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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 1, 2011

Asian Defense News: DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated March 1, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 1, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued March 1, 2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is announcing the award of a sole-source cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (HQ0147-09-C-0007, P00031) to The Boeing Co., Huntsville, Ala. The total award value is $109,900,000. Under this contract, Boeing will continue performing operation and sustainment services for two MDA programs: ground missile defense (GMD) and sensors (SN). The GMD portion of the award is $72,000,000 and the SN portion is for $37,900,000. The work will be performed in Fort Greely, Alaska, and Colorado Springs, Colo. The performance period for the GMD portion of the work is from March 2011 through August 2011, and for the SN portion of the work is from March 2011 through December 2011. Fiscal 2011 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this effort in the amount of $10,500,000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0147).

U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

Raytheon, McKinney, Texas, is being awarded a $48,000,000 maximum value, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide life cycle contractor support for sustainment of the Forward Looking Infrared Radar System (FLIR) and Electro-Optical Sensor System (EOSS) in support of U.S. Special Operations Command, Technology Applications Program Office. The resulting contract will provide life cycle contractor support to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) as well as the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine components, for FLIR and EOSS systems, and subsystems for ancillary equipment. The work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and El Segundo, Calif. The contract performance period ends Feb. 28, 2015. This contract was awarded through sole source procedures in accordance with FAR 6.302-1. Technical Applications Contracting Office is the contracting activity (H92241-11-D-0002).

NAVY

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $26,949,460 modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00024-07-D-5222) for the production of the Navy’s Common Display System (CDS), a commercial, off-the-shelf-based, Grade A shock-qualified, display system in support of various Navy platforms. The CDS equipment procurement provides a family of display systems that support the Navy’s implementation of open architecture for Navy combat systems. The CDS is designed around commercially available hardware and software and will provide computer displays to support combat systems on various Navy ships, submarines, and aircraft, with potential for U.S. Marine Corps and allied use. The CDS will meet the computer display requirements of other programs of record, including Aegis modernization. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Va. (61 percent); Tallman, N.Y. (18 percent),; Freemont, Calif. (15 percent); and Smithfield, Pa. (6 percent). Work is expected to be completed by June 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Alliance Aviation Services*, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a maximum $19,903,191 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 115 proposals solicited with one response. The date of performance completion is March 31, 2015. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-0045).

GE Datex Obmeda, Inc., Madison, Wis., is being awarded a maximum $19,847,688 fixed-price with economic price adjustment for patient monitoring systems, subsystems, accessories, consumables, spare/repair parts, and training. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 17 proposals solicited with nine responses. This contract is exercising the second option year period. The date of performance completion is March 5, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2D1-09-D-8348).

W&G Machine Co., Inc.*, Hamden, Conn., is being awarded a maximum $18,158,656 firm-fixed-price, total set-aside contract for flutter dampeners. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. There were originally two proposals solicited with two responses. The date of performance completion is March 1, 2016. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (SPRRA1-11-D-0043).

Truman Arnold Cos., dba TAC Air*, Fort Smith, Ark., is being awarded a maximum $14,315,716 fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were originally 145 proposals solicited with 158 responses. The date of performance completion is March 31, 2015. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va., is the contracting activity (SP0600-11-D-0061).

Cascade Designs*, Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a maximum $6,791,400 firm-fixed-price contract for self-inflating, sleeping mats. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy and Air Force. The original proposal was solicited via the Defense Logistics Agency Internet Bid Board System with two responses. The date of performance completion is Feb. 24, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM1C1-11-D-1033).

*Small business


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DTN News - AEROSPACE NEWS: EADS Loss Of U.S. Tanker Deal Threatens Plan To Reduce Airbus Jet Exposure

Asian Defense News: DTN News - AEROSPACE NEWS: EADS Loss Of U.S. Tanker Deal Threatens Plan To Reduce Airbus Jet Exposure
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 1, 2011:

European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co.’s rejection for a $35 billion U.S. tanker contract threatens its goal to cut reliance on commercial aircraft and may force it to seek acquisitions at

home to build up defense operations.

EADS, based in Paris and Munich, relies on its Airbus SAS civil aircraft unit for two thirds of all sales. Chief Executive Officer Louis Gallois had aimed to balance that distribution by 2020, partly by gaining more access to the U.S. military market, the world’s largest. After Boeing Co. yesterday beat EADS on the tanker bid, achieving that goal may take longer, analysts said.

“It’ll be very difficult,” said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at London-based Agency Partners. “The U.S. accounts for 50 percent of defense spending in the West, and EADS has very limited access to that.”

EADS has sought for years to crack the U.S. defense market with orders and acquisitions. The company has failed to date to derive a meaningful portion of revenue from that region, with less than 2 percent of EADS’s military revenue stemming from the U.S. Gallois today called the tanker loss a “missed opportunity,” saying he would look elsewhere for growth.

TARGETING PURCHASES

One option may be for EADS to consider acquisitions in France, where the defense market is fragmented, said Cunningham, who has covered the aviation industry for more than two decades. Among possible targets is defense electronics maker Thales SA, a maker of military electronics and security equipment, he said.

EADS, which had 42.8 billion euros ($60 billion) in sales in 2009, has several times in recent years expressed an interest in Thales, a 13-billion-euro company. The French government, which controls 27 percent of Thales, has rejected those overtures. Instead, family-controlled Dassault Aviation, which makes the Rafale combat jet, built up a 26 percent stake. EADS owns 46 percent of Dassault.

Gallois has said repeatedly that EADS would be willing to spend as much as $1.5 billion on an acquisition in the U.S. to help increase its footprint there. So far, the company, with about 10 billion euros in cash, has made very few purchases. Its biggest acquisition in the U.S. was Plant CML, an airport security business based in California, for $350 million in 2008.

SHRINKING BUDGETS

The U.S. has become even more critical for EADS as home markets have begun to shrink. Spending in the U.K., where EADS has won numerous defense contracts including a tanker competition, will be reduced by 8 percent over four years, Prime Minister David Cameron said Oct. 19. As pressure increased last year to cut spending amid an unfolding European debt crisis, the German government ordered cumulative savings of 8.3 billion euros ($11.43 billion) in the defense budget by 2014.

EADS is best known for its Airbus aircraft, which include the A320 family of single-aisle jets and the A380 double-decker, the world’s largest passenger jet. Airbus leapfrogged Boeing as the largest maker of commercial aircraft in 2003, a lead the European manufacturer has retained to this date.

EADS’s tanker was modeled on its A330 wide-body aircraft, while Boeing’s successful bid used the older and smaller 767 jet. Airbus is also developing the wide-body, long-range A350 with 300 to 350 seats that is scheduled to begin service in late 2013, competing against Boeing’s 777 and 787 models.

NAKED RUN

Gallois said he was “disappointed” and “perplexed” by the Pentagon’s decision. Until the U.S. Defense Department debriefs EADS next week about the reasons for its choice, EADS won’t comment on immediate next steps, and whether it will seek to formally challenge the decision, Gallois said.

“I would have run naked down Fifth Avenue” if EADS had won the tanker bid, given the political obstacles in the Air Force to choose a French- and German company over a U.S. manufacturer for the tanker, said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland inLondon.

EADS had earlier been optimistic about its chances, given that its Airbus A330-200 was chosen as platform for the tanker in 2008. The victory was short-lived after Boeing successfully challenged the decision and forced a rematch.

While EADS has won some business in the U.S. military market, including a $2 billion contract to supply the U.S. Army with a fleet of light-utility helicopters, the tanker would have been by far the most prized order to date for the company.

The “contract loss is a clear disappointment given that it would have provided EADS with a greater US footprint, and therefore lowercurrency risk, and increased exposure to defence, a stated management ambition,” Morgan Stanley analyst Rupinder Vig said in a note to clients today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Rothman in Paris at aerothman@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net.


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DTN News - INDIA CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: With An Eye On China, India Steps Up Defence Spending

Asian Defense News: DTN News - INDIA CHINA DEFENSE NEWS: With An Eye On China, India Steps Up Defence Spending
(NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - March 1, 2011:

India increased annual defence spending by about 11.6 percent on Monday, aiming to overhaul the military to counter the rapidly growing capabilities of giant neighbour China.

The hefty increase suggests the government plans to move ahead with some of a slew of planned defence acquisitions, analysts said, including a $10.5 billion fighter jet contract, one of the world's largest on offer.

India, among a host of countries wary of China's economic and military heft, is also eyeing surveillance helicopters, transport aircraft and submarines to beef up defences in the air as well as in the Indian Ocean.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presenting the 2011-2012 budget to parliament, set the military budget at just over 1.64 trillion rupees ($36.28 billion), up from last year's 1.47 trillion rupees. Last year the increase was about 4 percent.

"China is the real long-term challenge on the strategic horizon and India's security planning is geared toward it," said retired brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal who heads the government-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies.

China, which considers the U.S. military as its main rival, set its defence spending at $78 billion last year. It is expected to announce a defence budget for 2011 later this week ahead of an annual session of parliament.

The core U.S. defense budget -- not including war funding -- was $530 billion in 2010.

More than 40 percent of the Indian defence budget for 2011 will be spent on capital expenditure, Mukherjee said, while the rest will go toward maintaining one of the world's largest standing armed forces.

"Needless to say, any further requirement for the country's defence would be met," he said seeking to assuage concerns that the rise in spending was short of the military's expectations.

Old rival and neighbour Pakistan, which like India, also has nuclear weapons, is also a factor in India's defence planning.

DEALS

Indian officials expect to conclude negotiations to buy 126 combat aircraft by the end of the current fiscal year, the country's largest-ever defence order.

Saab's JAS-39 Gripen is competing with Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Lockheed's F-16 and Russia's MiG-35 to win the fighter contract which Indian officials said can eventually go up to 200 aircraft.

Kanwal said the defence allocation was enough to proceed with the fighter aircraft deal, although it may not leave much room for other arms imports.

"In the first year there is a signing amount you have to pay which shouldn't be a problem," he said.

India, which traditionally has had an edge over China in terms of combat air superiority with more modern planes, has in recent years seen the gap closing as Beijing modernised its air force.

China's plans for a stealth aircraft, designed to rival the U.S. F-22, have in particular unnerved Indian security planners prompting a race to overhaul the air force with its Soviet-era planes.

India, which long focused its military planning on Pakistan, is also scrambling to modernise its navy to counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean through its "string of pearls strategy" of developing a network of friendly ports from Gwadar in Pakistan to Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka.

Another military expert said given the scale of the challenge facing India, the increase in defence expenditure was modest.

"It's not a dramatic increase if you take inflation into account. Military inflation will be even higher," said Ajai Sahni, director of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.

"It doesn't really demonstrate a will to completely overhaul the armed forces to meet the challenges." ($1=45.2 rupees) (Editing byAlistair Scrutton and Robert Birsel) REUTERS as


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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: BAE Systems Receives U.S. Air Force Contract For Crashworthy Seats On C-130s

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: BAE Systems Receives U.S. Air Force Contract For Crashworthy Seats On C-130s
(NSI News Source Info)

WARNER ROBINS, Ga.

- March 1, 2011:

BAE Systems has received an $8.4 million U.S. Air Force contract to provide crashworthy seats for C-130 aircraft. The specially designed seats will help protect crewmembers in the event of mishaps or hard landings. The company will develop, test, and install as many as 88 seat systems to enhance the survivability of the crew during normal, emergency, and combat operations.


This work builds on BAE Systems’ strong history of performance in support of the C-130 community. The company has designed, supported, and completed more than 200 modifications to C-130 variants over the past 12 years.

The contract was awarded by the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. The work will be conducted at BAE Systems operations in Crestview, Florida; Mojave, California; and Phoenix, Arizona.

“This important readiness and sustainment contract will provide a cost-effective, rapidly deployable solution for the warfighter,” said Gordon Eldridge, vice president and general manager of Aerospace Solutions at BAE Systems Support Solutions. “This win also builds on our support to the Tactical Airlift Division, a key customer at the Air Logistics Center.”

The new seat systems are needed by the Air Force to ensure the safety of the aircrew during emergencies. The ability of the crew to survive unhurt, facilitated by crashworthy seats, is paramount during extreme landing situations and for quick evacuations from the aircraft.

BAE Systems Support Solutions provides a range of services to meet needs in readiness and sustainment and operational support across the land, aviation, maritime, and C4ISR domains, supporting the U.S. Department of Defense and federal agencies. Support Solutions is also a leading non-nuclear ship repair, modernization, and conversion company, serving the U.S. Navy and other maritime customers.



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