By RICHARD R. BURGESS

Boeing has been awarded an $8.9 billion Naval Air Systems Command contract for full-rate production of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter. The multiyear contract calls for the production of a total of 222 Super Hornets over a five-year period.

Navy officials said that the Navy "will save over $700 million and deliver a quantum leap in tactical ability to the fleet" through the multiyear contract.

The Navy will purchase 36 Super Hornets in fiscal year (FY) 2000, 42 in FY 2001, and 48 aircraft in each of the following three fiscal years. "The multiyear agreement builds budgetary flexibility into the contract by allowing the Navy to increase or decrease the quantity of aircraft on order by as many as six aircraft in each of the last four fiscal years," Navy officials said. The contract brings total orders up to 284 Super Hornets; the Navy expects to procure at least 548 of the new strike fighters.

"The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the cornerstone of the future of naval aviation," said outgoing Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jay L. Johnson. "It will provide twice the sorties, a third the combat losses, and forty percent greater range. We can’t wait to get it to the fleet!"

The 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets that had been delivered as of mid-June have flown more than 9,200 hours "and have met or exceeded every key performance parameter," Navy officials said. The Super Hornet has remained on schedule and within the budget parameters originally established when the program began in 1991.

"The future presents challenging asymmetric threats with capabilities that will continue to chip away at our technological and tactical advantage," said Rear Adm. James B. Godwin III, program executive officer for tactical aircraft. "We have delivered to the fleet a strike fighter that is truly multi-mission capable, flexible, survivable and with capacity for future growth as the need arises. Signing this contract is the fulfillment of a great teaming effort between the Navy and our contractor team."

Multiyear contracts enable savings to be captured, Navy officials explained, "by eliminating annual, nonrecurring start-up costs, including proposal preparation and negotiation, subcontract negotiation, and tooling setup." Multiyear procurement also allows the contractor to plan a smoother production flow and improve facility utilization, thereby reducing production and engineering costs.

Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115)—an F/A-18C Hornet squadron at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.—is scheduled to begin transition this fall to the F/A-18E as the first operational Super Hornet squadron. VFA-115 will embark on its first Super Hornet deployment in June 2002 on board the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The two-seat F/A-18F then will begin replacing the F-14 Tomcat in fleet service.

LMAS Makes First Flight
Of New Marine Tanker

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (LMAS) has conducted the first flight of the KC-130J, an aerial refueling version of the company’s C-130J Hercules transport being built for the Marine Corps. The aircraft made its first flight at the company’s facility in Marietta, Ga.

The KC-130J has a 57,500-pound fuel offload capacity using wing fuel and external tanks, and the capability of carrying an additional 24,392 pounds of fuel in a specially configured internal fuselage tank. The aircraft’s probe-and-drogue configuration will be used to refuel helicopters, tiltrotors, and jet aircraft and the aircraft will be able to fuel vehicles on the ground. The KC-130J is configured internally to be fitted with its own refueling probe if that is required by the Marine Corps.

The KC-130J features the Flight Refueling Ltd. (FRL) Mk32B-901E aerial refueling system, which includes microprocessor-controlled, electrically driven hose reel units that provide better reliability, fuel flow, and receiver compatibility than the systems installed on previous KC-130 aircraft.

The Marine Corps already has eight KC-130Js on order; funding for three more is requested in the fiscal year 2001 defense budget. The Marine Corps expects to take delivery of its first KC-130J later this year. The new tankers will begin replacing the aged KC-130F versions of the aircraft currently in service.

"The KC-130J is the latest version of this amazing aircraft to take to the skies," says Gene Elmore, vice president for Hercules programs at LMAS. "It is not only the most advanced airlifter in the world, but it is proving itself to be the most versatile as well. No airlifter, in production or planned, demonstrates such flexibility in operation. From hunting hurricanes to air-to-air refueling, its capabilities are unmatched."

Related note: LMAS officials said that the 57 C-130Js delivered to date throughout the world have accumulated a total of more than 5,000 flight hours. An additional 39 C-130Js are now on order, the company said, and 20 more are in the "national budgets" proposed by various countries for this year and next.

Raytheon to Upgrade
EP-3Es With JMOD 1

Raytheon has been awarded a Naval Air Systems Command contract to upgrade the Navy’s EP-3E land-based reconnaissance aircraft with the Joint Signals Intelligence Avionics Family Modernization 1 (JMOD 1). The EP-3E is the Navy’s only signals intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft that provides fleet and theater commanders worldwide with near real-time tactical signals intelligence.

JMOD 1 will provide the EP-3E with new and modified hardware as well as software with enhanced communication and processing capabilities that, company officials said, will "improve the aircraft’s ability to collect and distribute critical real-time threat data to carrier battle group commanders."

"With JMOD 1 technology, we are laying the foundation for integrating future joint modernization initiatives that will provide improved collection and reporting capabilities for fleet commanders," said Phil LePore, vice president of Raytheon and chairman and CEO of Raytheon Technical Services Company.

Under the $31.4 million contract, Raytheon will integrate and test the JMOD 1 systems, upgrade the EP-3E aircraft with the new systems, and provide logistics support for the upgraded systems. The work will be performed at Raytheon facilities in Indianapolis, Ind., and Waco, Texas.

Defense Industry Notes

Southwest Marine in San Diego, Calif., has been awarded a five-year $127.8 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract to provide phased maintenance for seven Navy ships, including four amphibious transport dock ships, two dock landing ships, and one command ship. The contract will enable Southwest Marine to bring back many workers laid off during the summer, company officials said. "Because of maintenance deferrals and the diversion of ship repair funds, our naval fleet is in dangerous disrepair, and our ship repair industry has been diminished," said Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.). "The award of this contract to Southwest Marine is an important step toward revitalizing this important industry base, restoring our fleet and military readiness and bringing San Diegans back to work."

Boeing has been awarded a $53.8 million Naval Air Systems Command contract for a fifth C-40A transport aircraft for the Naval Air Reserve. The C-40A—a version of the 737 airliner that will replace the aged C-9B and DC-9 aircraft—has been given the name Clipper, a tribute to the company’s Clipper flying boats that pioneered transoceanic air service during the 1930s and 1940s.

Two ship-repair companies in Norfolk, Va., have entered into a teaming arrangement to take advantage of their complementary core capabilities and provide more efficient scheduling of their facilities. The arrangement will allow the two companies—NORSHIPCO, a U.S. Marine Repair company, and Metro Machine Corporation—to eliminate redundancies, encourage work force specialization, increase surge capability, and enable the shipyards of the two companies to compete for large, complex overhauls. Both companies now specialize in repairing surface combatants and amphibious warfare ships.

Raytheon has been awarded a $107.5 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract—plus a $49.9 million modification—for services to complete three additional flight test rounds and testing of the Aegis Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile/Standard SM-3 surface-to-air missile program.

Logistic Services International (LSI) has opened its new Logistics Center at the Cecil Commerce Center, the site of the former Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fla. Rep. Tillie K. Fowler (R-Fla.) was on hand to celebrate the opening of the 100,000-square-foot facility, which will be used by LSI for manufacturing, repair, modification, supply support, and training for Navy, Coast Guard, and Army aviation customers.

American Overseas Marine has been awarded a $58.0 million Military Sealift Command contract to operate and maintain eight fast sealift ships for military exercises and/or—in event of war or other contingency—for surge sealift operations. The exercise of contract options would bring the value of the contract up to $99.3 million.