The Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support (ARMS) Program and Pendulum Management Company have been selected as one of five national recipients of Expansion Solution Magazine’s 2008 Award of Excellence in the “Defense” industry category. This award recognizes organizations which have demonstrated exceptional progress and potential in the development of their areas – by successfully recruiting, retaining and growing businesses.

ARMS’ solid economic impact has translated into lower overhead costs for the Army which directly impacts the future of our soldiers and the strength of our nation’s defense.  ARMS is a government program designed to treat its ammunition production facilities and surrounding real estate as assets rather than liabilities. ARMS allows the commercial marketplace to help in the reduction of the cost of Army operations and production. This program has been responsible for a cumulative economic benefit of over $6.5 billion and has created or sustained over 2700 jobs at the Government sites that have participated in the program. The success of the program is a result of the utilization of creative techniques and tools to attract commercial tenants to military, industrial production facilities. In addition, the ARMS program offers incentive packages and the use of state-of-the-art cooperative marketing techniques. Pendulum Management Company is the National Marketing Support Contractor for the ARMS program.

One example that demonstrates the effectiveness of the ARMS Program is MAST Technology, Inc., a tenant at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri. MAST Technology came to Lake City in 2001 with two employees, great confidence in their product and previous manufacturing experience. Today MAST Technology has expanded into four facilities and employs more than 130 workers making munitions-related products that benefit the U. S. Army directly. Projected growth plans indicate that MAST Technology will be a successful supplier of small caliber ammunition to the soldiers around the world guarding the U. S. Embassies. In addition to these Department of State customers, MAST sees a role for their business supporting the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security according to Gerald Pickens, President and CEO of MAST Technology, Inc.

“ARMS is a successful proven program which allows startup, small and large businesses to utilize idle infrastructure and space to start and or grow their business. It is truly an opportunity that should not be overlooked when starting or expanding a business,” explained Jim Burgin of Pendulum Management Company.

L-3 Communications announced this week that its Vertex subsidiary has been awarded an indefinite-delivery contract valued at $569 million by the U.S. Navy. Vertex, which has teamed with The Boeing Company for this project, will provide logistics services and maintenance materials in support of T-45A and T-45C trainer aircraft.

Work under this contract is now underway and includes four option years, extending its period of performance through September 2013. Vertex has been providing T-45 logistics support to the Navy for the past five years.

“We are proud our team has been selected to continue this mission-critical work, and we remain committed to delivering the highest level of quality and performance excellence”, said Ed Boyington, L-3 Vertex president.

Mr. Boyington added that under this contract, Vertex will service 71 T-45A and 108 T-45C aircraft based at Naval Air Stations in Meridian, Miss., Kingville, Texas, and Pensacola, Fla.

Boeing will manage the supply chain in support of the contract. “We are pleased to be working with L-3 to provide support for this important training aircraft,” said Jim O’Neill, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems vice president and general manager of Integrated Logistics. “This team will provide maximum readiness at an affordable cost for the U.S. Navy on the T-45.”

L-3 Vertex Aerospace, a subsidiary of the L-3 Integrated Systems Group, provides aviation, aerospace technical services and ground systems primarily to government customers. The company has over 11,000 employees working from 300 locations worldwide.

Airport equipment developer, Cavotec, has completed a two-week series of intensive trials of its patented PCAir aircraft cooling system, with aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, at the group’s production plant in Toulouse, France.

“It is extremely difficult to cool aircraft on the ground using conventional systems, as the inlet temperature needs to be at least minus five degrees Celsius,” says Ottonel Popesco, Cavotec CEO.

“The Cavotec PCAir System is unlike any other air-based technology on the market, expanding dry compressed air to produce 100 cubic metres of pre-conditioned air per minute, at minus 25 degrees Celsius,” adds Popesco.

Pilots tend to run on board auxiliary power units (APUs) to cool parked aircraft, as conventional systems are often ineffective. APUs can burn between 200 and 600 litres of fuel per hour, generating pollution at airports and consuming costly fuel that could be used to fly aircraft – not cool them on the ground. Cavotec’s PCAir system provides the dual benefits of reducing pollution and reducing costs. This makes the PCAir system beneficial to all airport constituencies: airlines, airport operators, and communities surrounding airports. The culmination of in-house testing and the two-week trials at Airbus proved that the Cavotec PCAir systems operates effectively, having successfully delivered –25∞C ‘dry air’ in environments with ambient temperatures of up to 48∞C. Most importantly, the PCAir system cooled Airbus’ largest wide body aircraft, the A380, in less than 30 minutes, proving the system’s adaptability for the entire Airbus fleet.

Cavotec has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Airbus, supplying in-ground supply systems for production hangars and delivery positions, including those for the A380 program. Earlier this year, Cavotec won an order to supply 12 in-ground utility systems for the new Airbus A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, China. In addition, Cavotec has supplied delivered in-ground supply systems for the Airbus A400M production hangars in Seville, Spain, and produces a full range of tow bars for all Airbus aircraft types.

The PCAir System is scheduled to go on sale during the second half of 2009.

The U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) has awarded the Systems Engineering Group of QinetiQ North America a task order to provide airworthiness and qualification engineering to the Apache Helicopter Division of the Aviation Engineering Directorate (AED).

The task order has a one-year base period of performance, five one-year options, and a ceiling value of nearly $11 million, if all options are exercised.  A directorate under the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), AED is the Airworthiness authority for Army-developed aircraft.

QinetiQ North America will provide AED’s Apache Division with specific onsite support services, ranging from reviews of airworthiness documents, such as Airworthiness Releases (AWRs) and Safety of Flight (SOF) Messages, to reviews of Apache system safety issues and risk management assessments.

The company also will provide its airworthiness and engineering subject matter expertise to support other elements of the Life Cycle Management Center (LCMC) for U.S. Army Apache Aircraft. All work will be conducted at AED Headquarters at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

“We look forward to continuing our support of the Apache Helicopter platform at a critical time in our country’s fight against terrorism,” said Kurt Heine, Vice President, EXPRESS Programs, Westar Aerospace & Defense, a business unit of QinetiQ North America.

QinetiQ North America’s Systems Engineering Group has been supporting AMCOM aviation and missile platforms, such as Apache, Cargo, Utility and Armed Reconnaissance helicopters, with a broad range of systems engineering, technical and programmatic services, for more than 15 years.

The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems orders worth $66 million for continued production of thermal weapon sights. Used on rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems, the sights provide around-the-clock surveillance and target acquisition capabilities, increasing situational awareness, lethality, and survivability for men and women in combat.

The thermal weapon sights, or TWS, allow soldiers to see deep into the battlefield in darkness and through smoke, fog, and other obscurants, helping soldiers detect, identify, and engage targets at increased ranges.

The order is the most recent under a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract administered by the Army’s Research and Development Command Acquisition Center at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. It increases BAE Systems’ total thermal weapon sight contract value to more than $400 million, including funding for initial engineering design for new TWS technology that will reduce the size, weight, and cost of the sights.

“This award will provide urgently needed thermal weapon sights to men and women in the field,” said Bruce Zukauskas, director of thermal weapon sight programs for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. “It paves the way for advances in developing the next-generation sights, and will ultimately deliver lighter, smaller, less-expensive sights to those who need them most.”

BAE Systems recently completed deliveries of weapon sights three months ahead of contract schedule on a separate $296 million Army contract. To date, the company has delivered more than 32,000 sights to meet urgent Army TWS fielding requirements in support of ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Courtesy of Lockheed Martin

With the financial crisis at its peak, very few people are discussing how the aerospace and defense industries will be affected.  Remembering back to the great depression, it was the aerospace and defense marketplaces that brought America out of its most financially turbulent era.  The manufacturing of military aircraft and other government projects created jobs at a faster rate than any other industry of the time.

The field of aerospace has been investigated for millennia, but modern aerospace began with the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 16, 1903, by the Wright brothers. From there, aerospace has grown to be one of the most exciting, diverse, and fast paced fields of today. From the hot-air balloons of 18th century to the first wood-and-cloth plane of Wilbur and Orville Wright to the first manned mission to the moon on Apollo 11 to the new and exciting aircraft being developed by companies like Boeing, Airbus, and Bombardier, aerospace has come a long way in a little over a century.

So how will the financial crisis affect the aerospace market?  August Cole from the Wall Street Journal had this to say about the situation, “In the wake of Congress’s emergency action to rescue the nation’s financial system, some top leaders have made it clear that they must find ways to pay for it. Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, warned that the bailout will only increase the pressure on Pentagon officials to find ways to balance their needs for new programs with paying for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  “No matter who wins the White House, the next president is going to be forced to decrease defense spending in order to respond to neglected domestic priorities,” Mr. Murtha said. “Because of this, the Defense Department is going to have to make tough budget decisions involving trade-offs between personnel, procurement and future weapons spending.”

It is key that the newly elected political regime understand the vital role that the aerospace and defense industries play for the economy.  If defense budgets are cut, that will force layoffs indstry-wide, which will further damage the economy.

We are always excited when our clients are awarded new contracts, and October has been a great month for Northrop Grumman.  The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to provide engineering services to the 542nd Combat Sustainment Group at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., that will demonstrate an electronic countermeasures pod concept aimed at increasing operational capability along with improving sustainability and reduced life-cycle costs.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is worth more than $4 million over two years.

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor, teamed with Raytheon, Goleta, Calif. Work will be performed primarily at the Electronic Warfare Avionics Integration Support Facility at Warner Robins.

“Our team was selected not only because of the tremendous enhancements provided by the digital receiver exciter, but also because of our excellent long-standing performance record supporting our customer,” said Kevin Benoit, Northrop Grumman Technical Services program manager for the contract. “We’re excited to provide the warfighter with a critical capability update while also maintaining our role as the life cycle support organization of choice for these pods.”

AAI Corporation announced this week that it has received a contract totaling $242.1 million for 17 additional Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Thirteen systems will be delivered to the U.S. Army and four to the U.S. Marine Corps.  Deliveries on this award are expected to begin in December 2009 and end in November 2010. Up to two systems are planned to be delivered per month. To date, AAI has contracted for a total of 113 Shadow TUAS and delivered a total of 71.

Several Shadow systems under this contract have been ordered with two new capabilities — a laser designator and a tactical common data link (TCDL). A laser designator places a concentrated laser spot on a target, enabling precise tracking by a missile to the target of interest. The TCDL is a secure, wide-band datalink that transmits digital data to and from the aircraft. It serves as a common communication link between AAI’s One System^® Ground Control Station and many UAS — including Shadow, the extended range/multi-purpose Sky Warrior, and Hunter — as well as the Apache helicopter. The four new Marine Corps systems, as well as previously procured U.S. Army and Marine Corps systems, are expected to be retrofitted with these features at a later date.

This contract comes as Shadow TUAS achieved 350,000 total flight hours. The vast majority of the systems’ flight hours have been in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, Shadow TUAS reached this milestone a mere four months after achieving 300,000 total flight hours in May 2008.

“This new contract and milestone reflect how important unmanned assets have become to our Army and Marine Corps customers,” explained Steven Reid, AAI’s vice president of UAS. “They rely upon Shadow systems for critical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting information to keep warfighters safe; that is why we continue to develop and field enhancements to make them more robust and capable. Laser designation and TCDL are just two of the new technologies we are integrating to increase our customers capability to conduct new missions safely and effectively.”

Rolls-Royce’s aerospace division announced that it signed 150 new CorporateCare contracts to-date. CorporateCare solutions, along with other aftermarket services provided to global customers by Rolls-Royce, account for more than 50 percent of the company’s annual sales.

CorporateCare is the most comprehensive engine maintenance and management program available for corporate aviation. Since the program’s inception in 2002 contract numbers have grown, with the past four years yielding record breaking numbers. Today’s current level of contracts position the company to exceed last year’s record of 194 contracts.

“The value of the service speaks for itself with the growing contract numbers,” said Stephen Friedrich, Vice President - Aftermarket Business, Corporate & Regional Engines, Rolls-Royce. “CorporateCare gives our clients peace of mind, knowing they have an experienced and reliable base for all of their service needs.”

More than 800 corporate aircraft are now under Rolls-Royce engine management programs, covering the BR725, BR710, AE 3007, Tay and Viper-powered aircraft. In addition, more than 50 percent of all current production business aircraft engines are covered by CorporateCare, including more than 80 percent of the AE 3007 corporate jet fleet.

High-value services offered to CorporateCare customers include:

• The latest generation of Engine Health Monitoring services, recurrent publications revision service and the support of the Rolls-Royce Global Customer Services network
• Guaranteed access to lease engines
• Coverage of line replaceable parts exchange/replacement and all engine change expenses for scheduled and unscheduled events, wherever and whenever they occur
• Complete coverage of expenses associated with qualified shop visits
• Access to aeromanager, the Rolls-Royce e-business portal for aerospace customers

Being able to supply the highest level of education to the Aerospace industry is vital, especially based on results of an “Aviation Week” workforce study published in the Aug. 8, 2008, edition. According to the study, in the past 10 years U.S. aerospace, defense and government leaders have expressed concern about impending retirements of engineers and scientists and the decreasing number of college enrollments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. For Kettering officials, this program helps respond to the national need to encourage more students to consider STEM programs and aeronautical engineering as a career field.

Unlike other institutions, Kettering University’s new Aerospace Engineering concentration trains engineers in unique areas of propulsion and aerodynamics using technological resources and software that are usually unavailable at other institutions for undergraduate students.

Some of these tools include the Joint Army NASA Navy Air Force standard methodologies such as: Thermal Equilibrium Program (TEP) for the study of equilibrium combustions of fuels; Solid Performance Program (SPP) for solid rocket motor propulsion, performance and grain design studies; Two-Dimensional Kinetics (TDK) for liquid rocket engine performance analysis; Viscous Interaction Performance Program (VIPER) for liquid and solid rocket engines; and Liquid Thrust Chamber Performance (LTCP), which is a two-dimensional/Axisymmetric Navier-Stokes solver for liquid rocket engine performance.

Dr. Homayun Navaz, professor of Mechanical Engineering, oversees the program. “We train our students to use the programs and technologies that organizations like NASA, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc. and other rocket propulsion communities use today,” he said. “We can train our engineering students in the classroom using these resources, which makes them more compatible with aerospace propulsion community needs. With a thorough marketing strategy, we can also increase their potential for co-op employment at aerospace industries,” he added.

Navaz also said that the curriculum “aligns very well with this growing area of technology and Kettering is positioned well to offer this concentration, since we have an exceptional cooperative education partnership with more than 600 companies throughout the world.”