Navy MMA study contracts awarded to four companies

Sea Power, Sep 2000 by Burgess, Richard R

THE INDUSTRIAL BASE

The long-awaited program to upgrade or replace the Navy's P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and EP3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft has begun with the award by the Naval Air Systems Command of conceptexploration study contracts to four defense contractors: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman. The Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA), being conducted by the Center for Naval Analyses, will use the fivemonth studies"to examine a comprehensive range of MMA alternatives to select the preferred MMA concept," Navy officials said.

Two contractors have proposed remanufacturing the P-3 and EP-3 as the most affordable alternative. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company-the original manufacturer of the Orionhas been awarded a $490,000 contract to study its proposal for a remanufactured aircraft. The company already has extensive experience in the structural repair and modification of the P-3, and recently was awarded a $23 million contract to modify and upgrade 19 Orions under the Sustained Aircraft Recovery Program, an interim program to keep the current Orions flying until the Navy launches an expected service-life extension program for the P-3.

Raytheon's Aircraft Integration Systems (AIS)-awarded a $223,000 contract-is proposing to extend the life of the P-3 airframe through 2040 and to upgrade the aircraft's engines and subsystems under a concept called Procyon. "A remanufactured P-3 is the most cost-effective solution to the Navy's future maritime surveillance needs," said Jim Schuster, president of Raytheon AIS. "Raytheon has been working on P-3 modernization concepts, including new engines, for three years, and our study submittal will provide the Navy with an affordable approach to keep the P-3s flying for the next 30 years."

The Boeing Space and Communications Group has been awarded a $493,000 contract to explore various options for developing a maritime patrol version of the Boeing 737 airliner to replace the P-3 and EP-3. Boeingwhich is manufacturing the C-40A, a logistics aircraft based on the 737, for the Naval Air Reserve-is proposing to modify the 737 to include specialized mission systems sensors, weapons, and search stores.

The $490,000 contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems and Aerostructures will be used to study a proposal to replace the P-3 with a combination of a manned aircraft and a high-altitude/high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Such a hybrid system, company officials say, could provide enhanced capabilities at a lower cost by cutting back on the number of MMAs required, reducing crew exposure to threats, and enabling a more flexible concept of operations. The company's Global Hawk UAV may be used as a concept-development vehicle for the unmanned component of the hybrid system.

The P-3C and EP-3E aircraft in service-the oldest of which are 31 years old-are beginning to approach the end of their service lives and will need to be replaced beginning in the early 201 Os. Some aircraft may have to be retired as early as 2002 if measures are not taken to extend their current life span.

Defense Industry Notes

Boeing and Lockheed Martin both have selected the Advanced 27mm Aircraft Cannon-based on the BK27 developed by Mauser-Werke Oberndorf of Germany-as the gun for the proposed Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The gas-operated single-barrel cannon-developed by a Boeing-led team-can fire 1,800 rounds per minute, Boeing officials said. In a related development, TRW Aeronautical Systems has been selected by Northrop Grumman-a.member of the Lockheed Martin JSF Team-to' build the weapons-bay door drive system for the Lockheed Martin JSF.

The first production-representative model of the AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile has scored a direct hit on a QF-4 target drone. The Raytheon-built missilelaunched by a Navy F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter over a range at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif.-hit the maneuvering target, which was dispensing countermeasures and flying over a cluttered desert terrain background. Another developmental test shot and two operational assessment shots already scheduled are expected to provide the data needed for a decision this month to begin low-rate initial production. "AIM-9X continues to demonstrate its ability to perform in challenging and combat-realistic scenarios with seven kills to date in developmental and operational tests," said Capt. David Venlet, air-to-air missile program manager at the Naval Air Systems Command. "Upon the DAB [Defense Acquisitions Board] approval, we are ready to execute the priced contract option for the first year of production missiles."

Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, the warfare-systems integrator for CVN 77-the transition ship for the Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier-has selected Microsoft Federal Systems to lead the development of the ship's information infrastructure and define the ship's architecture for highperformance information exchange.