EADS Closes Deal for 10% of Irkut Corp.

In the aftermath of Russia’s MAKS 2005 exhibition in August, DID reported that EADS had committed EUR 50 million (USD $62 million) to buy 10% of Irkut Corp. On December 16, 2005, Irkut Corporation and EADS closed the deal by signing a sale contract which makes out as many as 97.8 million shares in return for $65.3 million.

The two firms also signed an Agreement of Cooperation defining new principles of the two companies’ interaction, assigning additional workshare to Irkut for Airbus civil aircraft. OOO EADS CEO Vadim Vlasov will sit on Irkut’s Board of Directors, and EADS’ share purchase takes on added significance in the context of Moscow Defense Brief’s recent article on consolidation within the Russian aircraft industry.

$869M for USA’s FY06 Trident D-5 Nuclear SLBM Production and Support

Avoid this.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, CA received an $869 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-award-fee contract from the US Navy to provide funding for fiscal 2006 Trident II (D5) Missile Production and Deployed System Support. The Trident D-5 is a very accurate submarine-launched nuclear missile, and can be found on the US Navy’s Ohio Class SSBNs and the Royal Navy’s Vanguard Class SSBNs. It is the most survivable, capable, and important facet of these nations’ nuclear deterrent forces.

So, where is all this money going? Didn’t America already buy the required missiles back in the 1980s-1990s, when it deployed the submarines?

GE-CCAD Cooperation to Maintain & Upgrade T700 Engine Family May Be Worth $1.5B

T700 engine

As part of ongoing US Army fleet maintenance and upgrade efforts, General Electric Aircraft Engine in Cincinnati, OH received a $177.9 million firm-fixed-price contract to continue overhaul support of T700 engines at the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) and convert engines to the T700-GE-701D configuration (GE notes that in 2004, The U.S. Army announced plans to convert to the T700-701D to power its entire AH-64 Apache and H-60 Black Hawk helicopter fleet). Based on estimated workload at CCAD, GE estimates the potential value of this contract over the next five years at $1.5 billion.

The award follows a five-year, $668-million CCAD contract that was initiated in 2000. This particular program has an impressive list of success metrics during that time frame:

Patria Alleges Misconduct in Portuguese Pandur II Deal

Pandur II

Back in February 2005, DID covered a EUR 280 million ($482 million) Portuguese contract for 260 Pandur II 8×8 wheeled Armored Personnel Carriers. Now one of the finalists in that competition is crying foul – and stating that they have proof.

Finalnd’s Patria Oyj, who produces the popular Armoured Modular Vehicle APC, has submitted a formal request for investigation to the Public Attorney’s Office of the Administrative Court in Lisbon, based on what it believes to be “firm evidence on misconducts during the tender and contract formation procedures…” See its full release for more details.

As fate would have it, Steyr’s Pandur II and Patria’s AMV are currently the final two contenders for the Czech Republic’s $1 billion wheeled APC contract.

$18.8 for Aircraft Maintenance Training to USAF, USN, Kuwait & Malaysia

B-1B: “Power” by Dru Blair

Boeing’s Aerospace Support division in Oklahoma City, OK received an $18.8 million ceiling-priced, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to instruct and train fleet personnel in the installation, operation, and maintenance of the F/A-18 Hornets/ Super Hornets, AV-8B Harrier IIs, KC-135 Stratotankers, B-1B Lancers, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, C-40 Clippers (737 derivative), C-32 Air Force Two (757 derivative), and F-15 Eagle/Strike Eagle aircraft and associated equipment.

These Contractor Engineering Technical Services and Contractor Maintenance Services will be provided for the US Navy (60%), US Air Force (27%), and the Governments of Malaysia (7%) and Kuwait (6%). Services for the US Navy are expected to be completed in December 2006 and the services for the US Air Force and the Governments of Malaysia and Kuwait are expected to be completed in December 2007. This contract was not competitively procured by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in Pt. Mugu, CA (N68936-06-D-0002).

Ventura Dredging, $9.1M

Manson Construction Co. in Seattle, WA received a $9.1 million firm-fixed-price contract for Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Channels of Ventura Harbor, CA. Work is expected to be complete by March 13, 2006. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on July 19, 2005, and two bids were received. The Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles, CA issued the contract (W912PL-06-C-0002).