Raytheon Gains $1 Billion Contract for SM-3 Interceptor Missiles
The Missile Defense Agency gave Raytheon Co. [RTN] a $1 billion contract change for Standard Missile-3 interceptors.
Under the contract, Raytheon Missile Systems of Tucson, Ariz., will provide 75 of the SM-3 block IA interceptors for the United States.
As well, the company will provide 27 SM-3 Foreign Military Sales Block IA missiles.
They work in the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and Elkton, Md., by a major subcontractor, Alliant Techsystems, Inc., or ATK, by February 2012.
The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., handles that contract, and another one.
Fiscal 2007 U.S. research and development funds, and Japanese Foreign Military Sales funds, will be used for the initial funding.
Separately, the Navy gave Raytheon a $13.2 million contract change for AIM-9X missiles for the Navy and Air Force.
Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz., will provide Lot 8 production of the AIM-9X tactical missiles.
The Navy will buy $8.7 million of them, and the Air Force $4.5 million.
Work will be performed in Tucson, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, Calif., by November.
NASA Gives ATK $812.5 Million Contract For Reusable Solid Rocket Motors
NASA gave ATK Launch Systems Inc. [ATK] an $812.5 million contract change to continue delivering reusable solid rocket motors for the space shuttle, NASA announced Friday.
That means the Brigham City, Utah, company will provide enough solid rocket motors to serve all of the space shuttle launches scheduled until the shuttle fleet is mandated to retire Sept. 30, 2010.
After that, the United States won’t have a manned vehicle space program for half a decade, until the next-generation U.S. spaceship Orion, an Apollo-style space capsule, and the Ares rocket begin manned flights in 2015.
ATK will produce and refurbish flight and ground-test reusable solid rocket motors for the space shuttle program on this cost-plus-award fee contract, which initially was awarded in October 1998.
Work will be performed at ATK plants in Brigham City and Clearfield, Utah, along with facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Those solid rocket boosters help to propel the shuttle into orbit, permitting it to carry immensely heavy, huge structural components that are used to build the International Space Station, piece by piece, as it whirls around Earth at 17,500 miles per hour.
The shuttle also is propelled by its own main engines, drawing liquid hydrogen fuel and oxygen from an immense external fuel tank. Boosters are attached to the fuel tank before each flight.
Raytheon Gains $377 Million In Two Army Contracts For Patriot Missiles; Patriot Sales Topped $600 Million Last Year, Raytheon Announces
The Army gave Raytheon Co. [RTN] a total $377 million in orders for Patriot air and missile defense interceptors divided into two contracts, the company announced.
That means the company rang up more than $600 million of Patriot sales last year, according to Raytheon, prime contractor for the Patriot program.
In the first of the two pacts, Raytheon received a $310 million Army contract to upgrade eight Patriot fire units to Patriot Advanced Configuration-3 (PAC-3) as part of the “Pure Fleet” modernization program.
Pure Fleet is an Army move announced in February 2006 to upgrade additional tactical Patriot fire units from Configuration-2 to Configuration-3. The upgrade is designed to enhance the system’s capabilities to meet current and emerging threats.
Work will be performed in Andover, Mass. The latest Pure Fleet contract follows an initial $150 million Army award to Raytheon earlier in the year to upgrade four Patriot fire units.
In the second contract, the Army will give Raytheon $67 million for 152 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) upgrades, the second of two large orders received in 2007 for GEM-T.
The award increases the total number of GEM-T missiles ordered to 952 since program inception, for a total contract value of $430 million.
GEM-T is a significant upgrade over the existing Patriot Advanced Configuration-2 (PAC-2) missile and, when fielded in conjunction with the PAC- 3 system, provides a robust capability against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft and remotely piloted vehicles, according to Raytheon.
GEM-T missiles are PAC-2 missiles that are refurbished and modernized in Andover. Through the upgrade process, older components are replaced, new technology inserted and reliability increased, Raytheon stated.
Boeing, Lockheed, Each Gain $200 Million-Plus Orders For AF Launch Services
The Air Force gave contracts worth more than $200 million each to The Boeing Co. [BA] and Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] to provide launch services, the Department of Defense announced.
Boeing Launch Services of Huntington Beach, Calif., received a contract modification for almost $288 million.
The modification pushes the upper limit of the contract to $582.3 million from $294.3 million, to cover launches using the Boeing Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicle.
At the same time, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Littleton, Colo., received a contract change for $210.4 million.
That pushes the Lockheed maximum contract amount to $459.3 million from $248.8 million, for launches using the Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle.
In each case, the modification adds another four months of work to the original contract.
Lockheed A2100 Communications Satellites Total Two Centuries In Orbit; New A2100 Satellite Launches Are Scheduled For March, April
A2100 communications satellites built by Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] have racked up a total two centuries in orbit, the company announced.
That total time revolving around the planet is divided among 34 satellites with 1,254 transponders.
The first A2100 satellite, AMC-1, was launched Sept. 8, 1996, for SES Americom. SIRIUS 4, the most recent A2100 spacecraft, was launched Nov. 18 for SES Sirius.
Upcoming launches include AMC-14 for SES Americom in mid-March and VINASAT-1, built for Vietnamese Posts and Telecommunications Group, in April.
AMC-14 will carry a demonstration active phased array payload consisting of a receive mode APA antenna, allowing customers enhanced flexibility on orbit. Vinasat-1 represents the first ever spacecraft bought by Vietnam.
Lockheed is using the A2100 platform to compete for two upcoming contracts.
The A2100 platform design has been adapted for geostationary earth orbit (GEO)-based earth observing missions and is currently baselined for the Lockheed Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Series-R (GOES-R) proposal. Lockheed also is using the A2100 platformin its bid for the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).
Boeing Gets $4 Million Navy Contract For Electronics On Two New Destroyers
The U.S. Navy gave Boeing a $4 million contract for a ship-wide communications network for two guided missile destroyers now under construction.
The contract, awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., calls for Boeing to supply the Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System information transfer system for the DDG 111 and 112 destroyers.
Boeing will deliver electronic components over the next year to support shipbuilding schedules.
Under a contract awarded in 2007, Boeing continues to support the installation and checkout of the Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System for DDG 110.
Boeing’s C3 Networks division will manage the contract and perform work in Anaheim and Huntington Beach, Calif.