In our September 2006 article “C-17 Adds Orders on Talent, Not Luck,” DID noted that “Senator Talent [R-MO] announced that he has secured funding for a total of 10 more C-17s in the Senate-House Defense Appropriations Conference Report for FY 2007.” The USAF was already asking for 8 aircraft, and Sen. Talent’s moves tacked 7 more C-17s onto the 3 added by Congress in order to address the C-17 fleet’s accelerated wear.
Now comes the contract. Boeing subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach, CA has received a $2 billion firm-fixed-price contract. This undefinitized contract action covers ten (10) C-17 Block 18 aircraft, as a follow-on acquisition to the original total of 180 C-17 Globemaster IIIs. At this time, $980 million have been obligated. This work will be complete October 2009. The Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8614-06-D-2006-0002).
In October 2005, we covered a $1.5 billion share buyback plan from Northrop Grumman Corporation, representing nearly 8% of its 355 million shares outstanding. On December 14, 2006, the firm’s board of directors approved a new $1 billion share repurchase authorization.
The company now has $1.175 billion authorized for share repurchases, which it expects to use as management sees opportunities over the next 24 months. The move brings total share repurchase authorizations since August 2003 to $4.2 billion; as of Nov. 30, 2006, Northrop Grumman had approximately 346 million shares outstanding.
RQ Construction Inc. in Bonsall, CA received an $11.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for a Military Operations Urban Terrain Facility at Fort Irwin, CA. Work is expected to be complete by Dec. 13, 2007. Bids solicited via the World Wide Web on Dec. 22, 2005, and 4 bids were received by the U.S. Army Engineer District in Los Angeles, CA (W912PL-07-C-0003).
Small business qualifier The OAK Group Inc. in Camden, NJ received a $10.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for design and construction of a Combined Arms Collective Training Facility at Fort Dix, NJ. Work is expected to be completed by March 31, 2008. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on June 1, 2008, and 4 bids were received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville, KY (W912QR-07-C-0002).
