03 Mar 04. Romania’s Defence Ministry ordered a command and control system for its military bases from U.S. defence contractor Northrop Grumman Corp, which is expanding its business in Eastern Europe. Romania, which along with six other former communist states will join NATO in April, has offered to host U.S. bases as Washington realigns its forces in Europe to focus on potential threats from the Middle East. Northrop’s command and control systems ensure the management of air bases and are compatible with the U.S. Department of Defense’s global system, which soldiers used for communication and planning during the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
04 Mar 04. DRS Technologies, Inc. has received a five-year production contract, valued at $9.4m, to provide AN/APN-243 Station Keeping Equipment (SKE) 2000 for installation on U.S. Air Force C-130J Hercules Tactical Transport aircraft. This automated formation flying avionics equipment is used by multiple aircraft flying in close formation to ensure aircraft remain at safe distances from one another under non-visual flight conditions.
04 Mar 04. Lockheed Martin has won a $150m U.S. Air Force contract for long lead items and other work on its F/A-22 Raptor fighter program. The contract is meant to spur production through the end of this month, the Pentagon said. President Bush has asked Congress for $4.7bn for the Raptor in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The locations of performance are: Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga. (33%); Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas (35%); and The Boeing Co., Information Space and Defense Systems, Aircraft and Missile Systems, Seattle, Wash. (32%). At this time, $150,000,000 of the funds has been obligated. Further funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. Negotiations were completed March 2004. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-02-C-0010, P00011). The Air Force is planning to acquire at least 276 F/A-22s, an air-superiority fighter designed to replace the F-15C at a cost of about $258ma copy.
02 Mar 04. DRS Technologies, Inc. has received an $8.2mcontract to provide Thermal Imaging System Upgrades (TISU) for the Mast Mounted Sight (MMS) on the U.S. Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. TISU is a critical new upgrade enhancing the target detection and range performance of the Kiowa Warrior helicopter. It is designed as a drop-in replacement for the existing Thermal Imaging System (TIS) and can be installed at forward maintenance activities sites. The contract was awarded to DRS by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The order is part of a five-year $514m master indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded to DRS in December 2003. Work for this order will be accomplished by the company’s DRS Optronics unit in Melbourne, Florida. Product deliveries are expected to begin in August 2005 and continue through early 2006.
05 Mar 04. Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Carson, Calif., was awarded on March 4, 2004, a $15,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Low Rate Initial Production of the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle variant of the Joint Service Light Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance System. Work will be performed in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 21, 2002. The U.S. Army Robert Morris Acquisition Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity (W911SR-04-C-0012).
04 Mar 04. FBM Babcock Marine, in partnership with licensed shipyard partner Astilleros De Murueta, announce the team’s award of a contract for the construction of three 45metre (150 foot) patrol vessels for the Coast Guard Command of the