Promoting Diversity: Pentagon wants to diversify supplier base for cybersecurity systems and products.
Supply Bottleneck: Prices for rare-earth metals used in high-tech weapons have soared in response to Chinese export quotas.
Sikorsky and partner firms are funding 2 prototypes of their “S-97 Raider” X2 compound helicopter, and intend to fly it in 2014. The Raider will be a scout/ light utility/ light attack machine, with V-22 class speed, but the safety and lower costs of a helicopter design.
Rumbles begin that France and Britain may cooperate on next-generation SSBN nuclear missile submarines. Since the Astute Class has just launched, and the Barracuda Class is well along in development, there’s no point talking about their SSN fast attack counterparts.
Terminating IEDs: Northrop Grumman’s Remotec gets $11.2 million contract to upgrade the USAF’s fleet of 173 Andros HD-1 unmanned ground vehicles to help with IED disposal.
Fluid Situation: Ohio Aerospace Institute snags $9.3 million contract to provide computational analysis of aircraft fluid dynamics for the US Air Force Research Lab’s Air Vehicles Directorate.
Latest updates: End of the Harrier fleet – and carriers.
HMS Illustrious takeoff
“Future Contracting for Availability” involves the removal of traditional “parts and hours” maintenance contracts in favor of fixed-price long-term support for vehicles throughout their service lives, plus performance awards based on number of vehicles available. It has become a fixture in the British defense industry, and a pillar of British procurement policy going forward. As our in-depth coverage of the ATTAC Tornado support contract shows, however, it isn’t a “big bang” process. Smaller contracts are signed for sub-components, trust and knowledge are built up, and the contracts become more comprehensive over time.
BAE Systems has won a number of these contracts, and back in January 2006, they were on their way to adding Britain’s vertical/short takeoff and landing Harrier GR7/GR9A fleet to the list. The UK MoD continued to expand these contracts, culminating in a new half-billion pound contract to support the fleet through to the end of its life… which is coming a lot sooner than the contracting parties thought.
