A-12 Talks. Boeing and General Dynamics are in discussions with the federal government to resolve 20-year-old litigation over the A-12 stealth bomber, which the Navy terminated for default in
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1993. GD, in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission accompanying its second quarter financials last week, says that if the talks with the government are successful, they could “lead to a settlement of this longstanding dispute.”
…In-Kind Payment. Boeing makes no mention of the discussions in its 10-Q filing but both companies point out that in May the Obama administration added a provision to its FY ’14 defense budget request that if approved by Congress would authorize the Navy “to receive and retain payment in-kind in settlement of the A-12 litigation.” Ever since the contractors protested the default termination, the case has bounced around the federal court system with various decisions at times favoring one party or the other. As it stands, if the courts ultimately rule against the companies, each would be liable for about $1.5 billion.
…Outcome? Boeing says in its filing with the SEC last week that it believes “it is reasonably possible that the litigation could be settled.” If so, both companies would incur expense for any in-kind goods or services they render as part of a settlement. Boeing says that in addition to any in-kind costs, it would also have to write off its existing inventory around the A-12 program, which it pegs at $237 million. To date, while both companies have maintained that the default termination was wrong, GD has not taken any charges against its earnings related to the case while Boeing has provisioned for most of the potential damages. Boeing says if the default termination is upheld, its additional termination charges would be $275 million, including the $237 million of inventory.
Ribbon Cutting. The Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration today will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Coast Guard’s new headquarter building on the West Campus of the old St. Elizabeths hospital in Washington, D.C., which is where DHS eventually plans to consolidate its headquarters. Final punch list items are being resolved and the Coast Guard is scheduled to begin a phased move-in over four months beginning in August. Currently, the headquarters components that make up DHS are located in disparate locations around Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.
ULA Success. United Launch Alliance (ULA) trumpets its recent success completing five major processing activities on three different launch pads since July 17, according to a company statement. ULA on July 17 conducted a Delta IV launch vehicle wet dress rehearsal at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for the Aug. 7 launch of the sixth Wideband Global SATCOM satellite (WGS-6). ULA the same day rolled the Atlas V heavy lift launch vehicle to another launch pad at Cape Canaveral in preparation for the successful MUOS-2 launch of the second Mobile User Objective System satellite (MUOS-2) July 19. ULA also attached two spacecraft to boosters, one for the WGS-6 launch and another for a National Reconnaissance Office Launch (NROL-65) from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Aug. 28. ULA is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
USAF Nat’l Commission. A former Air Force chief of staff tells the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force the service should return to a militia model with a smaller standing force and the bulk of equipment and personnel residing in reserve components, according to a commission statement. Retired Air Force Gen. Ronald Fogleman testified July 23 to the national commission, a congressionally-appointed body formed to comprehensively study the Air Force and its three components–active, reserve and the Air National Guard–and analyze whether, or how, any changes should be made. The report and recommendations are due Feb. 1. Fogleman also testified that many policies and plans regarding use of reserve components rely on assumptions concerning capabilities and capacities, and that “there is room for tiered readiness” among reserve forces.
Italy F-35. Northrop Grumman delivers the center fuselage for Italy’s first F-35 to the newly commissioned final assembly and check out facility at Italy’s Cameria Air Base July 12, according to a company statement. The company says this on-time delivery enables the first assembly of a F-35 at the facility and increases international participation in the F-35 program. The center fuselage, AL-1, will be integrated into a conventional takeoff and landing variant of the F-35 and represents the first of 90 center fuselage sections that will be delivered to the Italian facility for Italian aircraft. Northrop Grumman Vice President for F-35 Michelle Scarpella says in a statement the company started working on AL-1 in September and it is the 115th center fuselage completed at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for F-35 along with subcontractors Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
SSL Intelsat S.A. Intelsat S.A. selects Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to produce its Intelsat 34 communications satellite, according to a SSL statement. Intelsat 34 will serve the role originally intended for Intelsat 27, providing capacity to meet the growing needs of Latin America media customers and broadband for aeronautical companies serving busy North American routes. Scheduled for launch in 2015, Intelsat 34 will replace Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11 at 304.5 degrees East longitude and is designed to deliver service for 15 years or more.
Kondrotis Promoted. Northrop Grumman appoints Krisstie Kondrotis vice president of business development for the company’s information systems sector, according to a company statement. In her new role, Kondrotis will be responsible for leading the sector’s business development efforts to identify, assess, shape and capture new business opportunities across targeted growth areas. Kondrotis will also be responsible for ensuring consistent and solid engagement with the sector’s customer and industry partner communities. She served in executive business development roles at CACI International and General Dynamics Information Technology’s intelligence solutions division before Northrop Grumman.
Closing Gaps. U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) call for improvements to the nation’s network for information sharing among federal, state and local governments. Established after 9/11, the National Network of Fusion Centers now numbers at 78 across the country. The lawmakers’ report released on Friday found that the centers were not living up to their full potential and lacked an overall strategy. The report states that it did not want to impose standard operating procedures on all of the centers, but that “there should be continued enhancement and growth in the areas of analysis, Terrorism Liaison Officer programs, partnerships with first responders and public health officials, and Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources sectors.”
New Campus. The EADS innovation campus in Germany, near Munich, which until now was known under the working title of Bavarian International Campus Aerospace & Security (BICAS), recently received funding approval for about $14.5 million from the Bavarian Ministry of Economics for its first three research projects. For one of the projects EADS is planning to build a special facility, the algae technical center with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to produce biokerosene from algae. The project is being supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts. Also, BICAS has been renamed the Ludwig Boelkow Campus.
OSS Award. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society presents the William J. Donovan Award® to Adm. William McRaven, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26. Before commanding SOCOM in August 2011, McRaven served as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command and Special Operations Command Europe. He led Operation Neptune Spear, the special operations raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. The society will also honor veterans of OSS and members of its successor organizations: the Central Intelligence Agency and SOCOM.
New Job. CIT Group Inc. says CIT Aerospace named Leslie Chen, vice president, marketing with responsibility for originating new transactions, and marketing the existing aircraft portfolio in Northern Asia. He is based in the Singapore office. Chen joins CIT from Aviation Capital Group where he was vice president, Asia, responsible for business development, aircraft leasing and asset management for the region. Before joining Aviation Capital Group, Chen was a regional sales manager at Thales Aerospace Asia.
New SIGINT Need. USSOCOM releases an RFI to find out what companies can fulfill its requirement to acquire a Mobile Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) system called Ground SIGINT Kit Mobile (GSK Mobile) to support tactical Special Operations Forces(SOF) missions. The system is expected to minimize space, weight and power to facilitate a vehicular configuration with the capability to detect process and locate a wide assortment of emitters. Operators must be able to read displays and controls in bright sunlight and at night, and have an earpiece for an audible alert. It must also incorporate Digital Terrain Elevation Data. The system shall communicate with all Joint Threat Warning System variants to transfer information and perform collaborative. The technical point of contact is Dave Hodges, 813-826-7478, [email protected].