24 Sep 03. Bombardier has finalized the sale of a new Bombardier Learjet 45 light business jet to the Irish Government. Its primary mission is to provide national and regional non-stop service for government personnel and air ambulance missions when required.
24 Sep 03. SARBE and HR Smith are currently competing to supply the Royal Air Force for the PELS (Personal Emergency Locator System) programme, providing fast jet pilots with an emergency location system. Variants of SARBE’s recently launched G2R (Global Reach & Recovery) Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) will be bid, whilst HR Smith is bidding its Multi Function Personal Locator Beacon 500-12 series. This advanced handset is also being marketed globally as a combined civil and combat recovery system for tri-service military personnel.
12 Sep 03. The U.S. Information Technology E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), in conjunction with the Army Small Computer Program (ASCP) under Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), the Army Chief Information Officer (CIO/G6) and Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), awarded four (4) commercial item, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for the Information Technology Enterprise Solutions (ITES), Functional Area 1 (FA-1), Enterprise Hardware Solutions (EHS) to Dell Computer of Round Rock, Texas, GTSI Corp. a small business from Chantilly, VA, Hewlett-Packard Company of Gaithersburg, MD and Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems of Bethesda, MD. Contract performance commences on October 1, 2003 for a three-year base period (including a 60 day phase-in), with two, two-year option periods. The contract maximum for each individual contract is $500,000,000 but this figure represents a combined maximum for all ITES FA-1 awards. Stated otherwise, ordering under all four ITES contract awards is subject, collectively, to a total of $500,000,000. The contracts were awarded for the contract minimum of $10,000.
23 Sep 03. Pentagon officials on Tuesday approved production of 22 Lockheed Martin Corp. F/A-22 fighters and the start of operational testing in fiscal year 2004. The Defense Acquisition Board, which oversees major arms purchases, gave the $67bn program a thumbs up after reviewing efforts by Lockheed and the Air Force to improve the reliability of the electronic brains, or avionics, of the next-generation radar-evading Raptor.
23 Sep 03. Boeing and Bell Helicopter won a $208m contract for work on the special operations command version of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. The Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office won the contract to work on the CV-22 Block 0 and 10 Development Program and extend flight tests of the CV-22 version of the controversial aircraft, the Navy said. The V-22 resumed flight tests in May 2002.
19 Sep 03. BAE SYSTEMS Avionics has been awarded a major contract, by Lockheed Martin, to supply the Laser System for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Electro Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The contract will be carried out at Avionics’ Sensor Systems Division (SSD) facility in Edinburgh. The laser will provide the EOTS with a precision range measurement and a laser-guided weapon designation capability. The contract for the design and development of the laser will result in production of several thousand lasers at the world-class facility at Crewe Toll, Edinburgh. Development will start immediately with manufacturing expected to begin in 2006.
18 Sep 03. CAE’s Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) system has been selected for the Turkish navy’s new CN235 aircraft and any additional maritime patrol aircraft procured by Turkey. The initial contract, awarded by prime contractor Thales Airborne Systems, is valued at more than C$3m. The contract includes options valued at an additional C$4m to be exercised when new aircraft are procured.
17 Sep 03. The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) “has a requirement to deliver a capability upgrade pro