30 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — Boeing will have to pay $168 million out of pocket to cover increased costs on the VC-25B Air Force One replacement program, the company said Wednesday.
Boeing attributed the overrun to “engineering inefficiencies” caused by the impact of COVID-19, but Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said the program remains on schedule with a projected delivery of the first VC-25B in 2024.
However, Boeing's quarterly report to the Security and Exchange Commission noted future risk to the program's cost and schedule as a result of the engineering challenges. “We believe these inefficiencies will result in staffing challenges, schedule inefficiencies and higher costs in the upcoming phases of the program,” the company stated in the report.
It was not immediately clear how work on the VC-25B program had been disrupted.
“That charge was really associated with COVID-19,” Smith told reporters in an April 29 phone call. “As we have folks working virtually — particularly on the engineering side — as well as that's gone, we certainly experienced some inefficiencies that has caused us to re-evaluate our estimates to complete those efforts. And that's essentially what you saw today in our results and the charge associated with that.”
Smith added that although the program team has done a “good job” of managing the program in the face of changes caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic and is “executing very well on many fronts,” Boeing could not mitigate the added cost to the program this financial quarter.
Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper said he spoke with Boeing Defense CEO Leanne Caret last night about the problem, but because the issue was “late breaking,” he referred detailed questions to the program office.
On Wednesday night, the Air Force released a statement that — like Boeing — attributed the cost increase to “engineering inefficiencies.”
Just two weeks ago, Roper praised the progress of the program, which used virtual tools to complete its critical design review in March and wrap up a modification readiness review in April. At the time, the program was on schedule with no disruptions due to COVID-19, he said then.
The Air Force One replacement drew considerable attention in 2016 after then-President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that the program was too expensive and should be cancelled unless the cost—then projected as more than $4 billion—came down. In 2018, the Air Force awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract to modify two 747s into the VC-25B configuration.
" There has not been an increase to the $3.90B firm-fixed price contract with Boeing or the $5.3B VC-25B total acquisition cost," said Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek.
Although the total price of the program is estimated to hit $5.3 billion once ancillary costs such as new hangars and revised technical manuals are included, the fixed-price ceiling on the $3.9 billion deal ensures that Boeing will have to pay for any cost growth incurred while building the two new Air Force Ones.
In February, Boeing began making structural changes to two Boeing 747s at its facility in San Antonio, Texas — paving the way for those jets to become VC-25Bs. The jets will also receive upgrades including enhanced electrical power, specialized communication systems, a medical facility, a customized executive interior and autonomous ground operations capabilities.
“As planned in the baseline schedule, the next phase of modification is on course to begin in June 2020,” Stefanek said.
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16 août 2019 | International, Naval
By: Shawn Snow The iconic over-the-ear style headsets worn by the Corps' special operations Raiders will soon be in the hands of conventional Marines. The Marine Corps is ordering 4,519 headsets produced by INVISIO to the tune of $4,800,340.89, according to Manny Pacheco, a spokesman with Marine Corps Systems Command. INVISIO is expected to deliver those headsets between this November and March 2020, with the first order going to artillery and recon Marines, according to Pacheco. Pacheco explained that infantry Marines will be fielded new headsets on another contract. Marines will be getting two versions of INVISIO's T5 headset, according to Ray Clarke, a spokesman for INVISIO. One headset will be a stand-alone to provide hearing protection, while the other will interface with Marine Corps radio systems allowing for hearing protection and communications, Clarke said. INVISIO said in a press release that the headsets being delivered to the Corps would be compatible with the enhanced combat helmet. “Infantry, artillery, reconnaissance and combat engineer Marines decided on INVISIO systems based on fit, form, function and comfort,” the release said. Marines will also be getting the V50 controller that will serve as a communications hub and allow Marines to better operate their radio systems. The Marine Corps announced in September that it was ready to order thousands of new headsets and was looking at a range of systems. As part of that effort, the Corps also kicked off testing of various mid to high cut versions of the enhanced combat helmet to gauge the best ballistic and hearing protection fit. For that testing, the Corps ordered nearly 200 ECH helmets from Gentex Corp., the maker of the iconic Ops-Core helmets worn by special operators. The Corps also announced in June that it was also pursuing a new lightweight integrated helmet system for grunts that can better work with the slew of cables and electronic devices carried by infantry Marines. “With the increased number of battery powered optics and other attachments to the helmet, the amount of exposed/unsecure wires and battery packs are increasing,” a June posting on the government's business opportunities website reads. “The Marine Corps is looking for an optimized configuration to allow power and/or data to flow to the attachments while minimizing bulk," the posting reads. Clarke said INVISIO also provides Marine Raiders with the Maritime Communications Accessory Suite that comes with the V60 controller and X5 in-the ear headset. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/08/15/marines-will-be-getting-these-tacticool-over-the-ear-headsets/