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September 13, 2023 | International, Aerospace

India's Aeroflex in talks to enter aerospace sector, executive says | Reuters

India's Aeroflex Industries , whose metal hoses are used in utilities, refineries and fire fighting equipment, is in talks to enter the aerospace sector, a top company executive said, aiming to capitalise on the country's burgeoning space program.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-aeroflex-talks-enter-aerospace-sector-executive-2023-09-13/

On the same subject

  • RTX gets $478M to replenish Germany’s Patriot missiles sent to Ukraine

    August 6, 2024 | International, Land

    RTX gets $478M to replenish Germany’s Patriot missiles sent to Ukraine

    Raytheon's contract will facilitate the supply of GEM-T missiles to Germany as NATO countries continue to send the missiles to Ukraine.

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 14, 2019

    August 15, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 14, 2019

    NAVY Advanced Technology International, Summerville, South Carolina, is awarded a $99,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Navy Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Center for Innovative Naval Shipbuilding and Advanced Manufacturing. Work will be performed in Summerville, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed August 2024. Two task orders will be awarded upon award of the contract obligating fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $450,000. No funds will expire at end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under N00014-18-R-0006, with two proposals received in response to the solicitation. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-19-D-7001). Heffler Contracting Group,* El Cajon, California, is awarded a maximum amount $49,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for commercial and institutional building construction alterations, renovations, and repair projects at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton. Projects will be primarily design-bid-build (fully designed) task orders or task order with minimal design effort (e.g., shop drawings). Projects may include, but are not limited to, alterations, repairs, and construction of administration buildings, maintenance/repair facilities, aircraft control towers, hangars, fire stations, office buildings, laboratories, dining facilities and related structures. Work will be performed in Oceanside, California. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2632). Sabre Systems Inc., Warrington, Pennsylvania, is awarded $42,999,468 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N68335-19-F-0533 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-16-G-0022). This delivery order provides for the research and development of cyber resilient and full spectrum cyber warfare capabilities in support of the Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test Department, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Infrastructure Division. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in August 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $50,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded $31,133,702 for modification P00013 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N61340-17-C-0014). This modification provides for one E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training System III Weapons Systems Trainer and one Aircrew Procedures Trainer, including technical data. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in April 2024. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $31,133,702 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. Diversified Maintenance Systems Inc.,* Sandy, Utah, is awarded a maximum amount $25,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for electrical systems construction alterations, renovations and repair projects at Naval Base Ventura County. Projects will be primarily design-bid-build (fully designed) task orders or task order with minimal design effort (e.g., shop drawings). Projects may include, but are not limited to, alterations, repairs and construction of electrical systems projects. Work will be performed in Port Hueneme, California (50%); and Point Mugu, California (50%). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operation and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2628). G-W Management Services LLC,* Rockville, Maryland, is awarded $12,742,282 for firm-fixed-price task order N40080-19-F-4870 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40080-19-D-0015) for construction of an Ammunition Supply Point Upgrade, located at the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The work to be performed provides for the construction of six new, standard design, high explosive concrete magazines, and the associated site work. The site work associated with this project includes an extension of an asphalt roadway to magazines and related site utility improvements to serve the new magazines. Additional site improvements include the demolition of three existing high explosive concrete magazines and incidental related work. Work will be performed in Quantico, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by March 2021. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $12,742,282 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six proposals were received for this task order. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. ARMY KBRwyle Technical Solutions LLC, Columbia, Maryland, was awarded a $45,452,730 modification (0002 55) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0061 for maintenance, supply, transportation and other logistics functions for the Army Prepositioned Stock-3. Work will be performed in Goose Creek, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $24,706,865 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Inland Dredging Co. LLC, Dyersburg, Tennessee, was awarded a $24,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the rental of 20-24 inch Cutterhead Pipeline Dredge and Attendant Plant for dredging in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 14, 2020. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-19-D-0039). Raytheon Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded an $11,100,544 modification (P00017) to contract W31P4Q-19-C-0038 for engineering services for the Spiral 3 Test and Evaluation Plan, Spiral 3 System Hardware Qualification, and Worldwide Ammunition Reporting System requirements to support the Javelin Missile System. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 1, 2021. Fiscal 2019 missile procurement, Army funds in the amount of $11,100,544 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Leading Technology Composites Inc., doing business as LTC Inc., Wichita, Kansas, has been awarded a maximum $26,382,656 modification (P00005) exercising the first one-year option period to a one-year contract (SPE1C1-18-D-1073) with three one-year option periods for enhanced side ballistic inserts. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Kansas, with an Aug. 15, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $12,973,184 firm-fixed-price contract for the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 system. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 41 U.S. Code 1903, as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-time procurement contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with a Feb. 9, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland (SPRBL1-19-P-0047). Alliance Technical Services Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $9,760,579 modification (P00005) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SP3300-18-C-5001) with four one-year option periods for third party logistics hazmat support services. This is a firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursement contract. This was a competitive acquisition with three offers received. Locations of performance are Virginia and Texas, with an Aug. 26, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. United Technologies Corp., doing business as Pratt & Whitney Military Engines Division, East Hartford, Connecticut, has been awarded a maximum $7,114,128 firm-fixed-price contract for aircraft engine combustion chamber ducts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.301-1. This is a two-year, ten-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Connecticut, with an Oct. 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (SPRTA1-19-F-0406). AIR FORCE Alloy Surfaces Co. Inc., Chester Township, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $25,000,000, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for MJU-52 A/B aircraft decoy flares. This contract provides a highly specialized decoy with the capability to protect military aircraft from Man Portable Air Defense Systems and air-to-air missiles. Work will be performed at Chester Township, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by August 2025. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 ammunition procurement funds in the amount of $5,280,860 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-19-D-0011). Verdis-Takisaki JV, Coeur d-Alene, Idaho (FA4620-19-D-A007); National Native American Construction Inc., Coeur d-Alene, Idaho (FA4620-19-D-A010); Imperial Construction NW LLC, Wapato, Washington (FA4620-19-D-A012); and Sealaska Construction Solutions LLC, Seattle, Washington (FA4620-19-D-A013), have been awarded a combined, not-to-exceed $23,000,000 indefinite-quantity, multiple award, task order contract for design-build construction efforts. Work will be performed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, and is to be expected to be complete by July 31, 2024. These awards are the result of a competitive acquisition in which eight offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $500 are being obligated to each company at the time of award. The 92d Contracting Squadron, Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Co., doing business as Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, California, has been awarded a $15,555,158 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00150) to previously awarded contract FA8810-13-C-0002 for Space-Based Infrared System contractor logistics support for fiscal 2019 projects. This contract will provide an in-scope bilateral supplemental agreement executed in accordance with the terms of special clause requirement H00005. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley AFB, Greeley Air National Guard Station, and Boulder, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 3400 funds are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $1,500,933,962. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 13, 2019) Phase Sensitive Innovations, Newark, Delaware, has been awarded a $10,553,397 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development. This contract will design, develop and demonstrate RF-photonic systems, sub-systems, components and devices for the Coherent Homodyne Integrated RF-Photonic System. Work will be performed at Newark, Delaware, and is to be completed by Nov. 15, 2023. This award is the result of a Small Business Innovation Research III request for proposal acquisition with one offer received. Fiscal 2018 research and development funds in the amount of $10,553,397 are being obligated at time of award for the effort. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-1027). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Raytheon BBN Technologies Corp., Cambridge, Massachusetts, was awarded a $13,130,426 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Columbia, Maryland, with an expected completion date of August 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,653,000 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under an open broad agency announcement and nine offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001119C0102). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1934626/source/GovDelivery/

  • The Flying Car Of the Future Looks to Flying Cars of the Past

    April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    The Flying Car Of the Future Looks to Flying Cars of the Past

    The Air Force is close to testing an experimental vertical takeoff prototype under its new program. The first contract in the U.S. Air Force's bid to acquire flying cars has gone to a company whose design harks back to a pioneer in the field. California-based Sabrewing Aircraft Company received a $3.25 million Phase II Small Business Innovative Research earlier this month to test its Rhaegal-B, a four-rotor craft that the company says can carry up to 5,400 pounds up to 200 knots some 1,000 nautical miles. With its four electric rotors, two on either side of the aircraft, the 60-foot Rhaegal-B somewhat resembles the M400X Skycar from Paul Moller. Moller is, in many ways, the Nikola Tesla of the flying car field. In the early 2000s, the Moller International Skycar became the first non-helicopter vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to actually get off the ground. The four motors would lift the car up and then swivel to propel it forward, like a V-22 Osprey. Even though the design worked, it never made it into showrooms. “For the engine, the most critical element is power,” Moller told The Futurist magazine in 2008. “Once you reduce the diameter of the propulsion system [making the propellor smaller] you go from a helicopter to a fan system. So you're moving less air, and the less air you move, the more power it takes to generate a certain kind of thrust. If I took a helicopter and made it one-half the diameter, I would have to immediately add 60% more power. I halve the diameter again, I have to add 60% more power, again. The M400 Skycar has over 1,000 horsepower.” Given the high cost to power it, the M400 Skycar was impractical for most locations outside of the Middle East, where oil sheiks would use them to traverse wide distances, Moller said at the time. Sabrewing CEO Ed De Reyes, who once worked for Moller, said his former boss was restricted by the engines of his time. The best-suited for the purpose were Wankel rotor engines, and internal combustion engines, which offered high speeds but limited torque. The electric motors that have arrived in recent years are far more promising: smaller, lighter, yet capable of producing more torque than an internal combustion engine. The Rhaegal-B design is highly but not fully autonomous, De Reyes said. A controller will command it from a ground station, but with the sort of low-effort, push-button interface you would encounter on a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk, rather than the more hands-on piloting needed for General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers. Something else that's come a long way since the early 2000s is the ability to detect and avoid objects in mid-air. Ssense-and-avoidance systems are a major stepping stone to more widespread use of drones in U.S. civilian airspace. A lot of drone manufacturers are hoping for the FAA's blessing for their versions. The Rhaegal-B combines radar and nine other sensors to give the aircraft a picture of the environment around it. It can take evasive action without any human control. (In fact, humans can't override it to accidentally steer the vehicle into something else.) If communication is cut off, it can continue to its destination with no additional imput from the ground operator. The appeal for the Air Force has to do with versatility and even detectability. During a webcast on Monday, Air Force Col. Pete White, with Air Force Warfighting Integrating Capability, said that traditional helicopters are noisy compared new vertical-lift aircraft. Thanks, in part, to the new electric motors. “Within feet of an enemy, they can't hear you,” He said that new, nimble electric air vehicles that could take off and land without a runway could help the military “maneuver around the battlefield at a pace that would be impossible today” The Air Force says it wants flying cars to evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield, among other missions. That means that they could be operating under fire. De Reyes says the military version of the aircraft has a Kevlar coating to protect it from small ballistics and can operate even when one of the motors is damaged. Air Force officials have also said that they are looking to fund and support U.S. flying-car companies, lest they migrate to China or accept lots of foreign investment. De Reyes says he's often approached by Chinese investors looking to gain a foothold in his company and other entrepreneurs in this space are as well. Sabrewing will test the Rhaegal-B at the Air Force's Edwards Air Force Base, hoping to meet safety requirements that will clear it for more military work and perhaps even commercial use. A June flight demonstration with its prototype has been postponed due to travel restrictions https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/04/flying-car-future-looks-flying-cars-past/164995

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