October 5, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — Boeing and Brazilian aerospace company Embraer are reportedly discussing the prospect of building an assembly line for Embraer's KC-390 cargo planes in the United States.
According to Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico, which first reported the talks on Oct. 1, and a subsequent Reuters story, the two companies see a U.S. KC-390 plant as part of a larger defense-related joint venture.
The discussions on KC-390 follow a July agreement that gave Boeing an 80 percent stake in Embraer's commercial business, and it was widely speculated that a similar deal on the companies' defense business hammered out in the coming months would involve greater cooperation with Boeing on KC-390.
Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, told Defense News this July that more information about a Boeing-Embraer tie up on KC-390 could be revealed later this year.
Boeing and Embraer established agreements in 2012 and 2014 that allow the U.S. firm to have a hand in global marketing and logistics support of the KC-390, but a defense-related joint venture would allow for “much broader collaboration,” he said.
“Boeing has fantastic experience, [and] the KC-390 is a fantastic plane; it is a game-changer,” he said at Farnborough Airshow. “But I understand that we don't have a substantial number of clients yet because we are in the certification phase. For sure I think that the Boeing presence in the market is very complementary of what we have. It will enlarge significantly our opportunities in terms of sales.”
The KC-390 is a multi-mission aircraft built to haul cargo, transport passengers, insert special operators and refuel other aircraft, among other uses. However, Embraer has struggled to draw serious interest from international buyers and Brazil currently remains its only customer — although the aircraft has prospects in Portugal and New Zealand and with a commercial aviation services company.
“A decision to build the aircraft in the U.S. would likely only be undertaken if Boeing/Embraer could sell KC-390 to the [U.S.] Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps,” wrote Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners in an email.
That could be a tall order, as the U.S. services historically have operated Lockheed Martin's C-130 Hercules for the same purpose and are either in the process of replacing old variants with new ones, or lack the money to replace old C-130s and plan to recapitalize them instead.
The U.S. Air Force is upgrading active units' older C-130 models to the newest C-130J Super Hercules, but the service does not have the funding to expand the current C-130J program of record and will have to upgrade some C-130H models, said Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, the services deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, during a Sept. 28 hearing in front of a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, the Navy plans to replace its C-130T fleet with 25 new KC-130Js in the early 2020s, Rear Adm. Scott Conn, the service's director of air warfare, said in the hearing.
June 8, 2023 | International, C4ISR
L3Harris will leverage its Rapidly Adaptable Standards-compliant Open Radio (RASOR™) to deliver resilient, protected, high-bandwidth, high-availability communications and data-sharing capabilities.
May 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
AIR FORCE Unisys Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $630,000,000 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for technology application development and sustainment (TADS) supporting the Air Force weather enterprise. Orders under the TADS contract will support development, delivery and sustainment of an integrated system of weather enterprise hardware and software dedicated to providing accurate, consistent, relevant and timely environmental intelligence. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; and Omaha, Nebraska, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 15, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and six proposals were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,182,983 are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (FA4600-20-D-0002). ApiJECT Systems America Inc., Stamford, Connecticut, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $138,000,000 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action (UCA) for COVID-19 response “Project Jumpstart” and “Project Rapid,” which will dramatically expand production capability for domestically manufactured blow-fill-seal injection devices. Work will be performed throughout the U.S. and is expected to be completed by May 8, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 Air Force other procurement funds in the amount of $69,000,000 are being obligated at the time of UCA issuance and remaining funding will be added at definitization. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-20-C-0022). (Awarded May 8, 2020) Raytheon Corp., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $20,232,337 firm-fixed-price modification (P00113) to contract FA8705-14-C-0001 to exercise 23 fixed spares for Production Year Two, Option Contract Line Item Number 0008, for a Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminal. Work will be performed in Largo, Florida, and is expected to be completed by July 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $488,205,869. Air Force Materiel Command, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. ARMY Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems Inc., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $200,218,380 modification (P00009) to contract W909MY-18-D-0014 to develop, integrate and produce and deliver Husky Mounted Detection System kits, spare parts, maintenance and training. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 15, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. NAVY BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P., Minneapolis, Minnesota, is awarded a $42,842,169 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-5380 for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) canister production and ancillary hardware. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (68%); and the governments of Japan (11%); Australia (6%); Norway (6%); Netherlands (6%); and Turkey (3%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Minneapolis, Minnesota (10%); and Aberdeen, South Dakota (90%). This option exercise provides for the manufacture and delivery of MK 13 Mod 0, MK 21 (Mod 2 and 3), MK 21 Mod 1 and MK 29 Mod 0 canisters, ancillary hardware and MK 13 Mod 0 canister renews. The VLS canisters serve as the missile shipping containers and launch tubes when loaded into VLS Modules. Work is expected to be complete by July 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 and 2020 defense-wide procurement; and FMS funds in the amount of $42,842,169 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Cape Environmental Management Inc.,* Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded an $11,674,808 cost-plus-award-fee task order N62473-20-F-4678 under a single-award small business environmental remedial action contract for removal actions and environmental restoration activities at installation restoration and munition response sites at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and provides for site maintenance activities at Installation Restoration Site (IRS) 21, time critical removal action at IRS 20 and non-time critical removal action at Munitions Response Site 5. Work is expected to be complete by May 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $11,674,808 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62742-16-D-1807). WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,417,730 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides case analysts, defense security officers, and program management support for the Office of Military Commissions hearings. Work performance will take place at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,417,730 are being awarded. The expected completion date is May 10, 2023. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-20-C-0082). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2183554/source/GovDelivery/
October 13, 2024 | International, Land
Several units in the Pacific — from Hawaii to Alaska — were chosen as part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s 'transformation in contact' push.