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A senior House Democrat has called for a wide-ranging federal investigation into Blackwater Worldwide, alleging that the private security contractor violated tax and labor laws by classifying its guards as independent contractors rather than company employees. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the charges are "completely without merit." "Blackwater's classification of its personnel is accurate, and Blackwater has always been forthcoming about this aspect of its business with its customer, the U.S. government," she said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. But Rep. Henry Waxman, who chairs the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, says Blackwater's claims on its business status...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force made late changes to a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker program that doomed Boeing's (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) bid and guaranteed the winner would be Northrop Grumman (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and its European partner, EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), a senior Democratic lawmaker said on Wednesday. "Had Boeing known... that the Air Force wanted more, it would have bid the 777," instead of the smaller 767 aircraft, Rep. Norman Dicks, a Washington state Democrat. At a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing called to examine last Friday's contract announcement, Dicks accused the Air...

Last week Northrop Grumman and European partner EADS confounded expectations by beating incumbent Boeing for the contract to build the Air Force's next-generation aerial refueling tanker. The initial contract will be for 179 modified wide-body jets, but eventually the entire fleet of 600 cold-war tankers will need to be replaced, making this one of the biggest marketing coups in defense-industry history. However, that is just the beginning of what Northrop Grumman has achieved, because Boeing didn't manage to beat Northrop in a single measure of merit. Here's how they were evaluated... 1. Mission capability. Arguably the most important factor, this...

House Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., may attempt to use the fiscal 2009 defense authorization bill to overturn Friday's Air Force decision to award a contract worth up to $40 billion to Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS, the European consortium behind Airbus, for a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers. Hunter, a fierce "Buy America" advocate who has sharply criticized the contract, is weighing his legislative options, a spokesman for committee Republicans said Monday. Options may include attaching language to the authorization bill to strengthen laws governing the amount of foreign content in U.S. defense hardware, or a...

Aerospace and Defense Sector Braces for Potential Brain Drain As Cold War Workers Retire WASHINGTON (AP) -- The aerospace and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain over the next decade as a generation of Cold War scientists and engineers hits retirement age and not enough qualified young Americans seek to take their place. ADVERTISEMENT The problem -- almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers in 2007 were 45 or older -- could affect national security and even close the door on commercial products that start out as military technology, industry officials said. While U.S. universities are awarding...

What could have been a done deal for the Boeing Co. five years ago came down to a two-horse race and finally a multibillion dollar loss for Everett on Friday in the sweepstakes to supply the Air Force with new jet refueling tankers. The Air Force's announcement that the $35 billion deal goes to Northrop-Grumman and Europe's Airbus parent, EADS, angered members of Washington's congressional delegation and raised the prospect of congressional hearings on the decision. "We are outraged that this decision taps European Airbus and its foreign workers to provide a tanker to our American military," six members...

The U.S. Air Force on Friday named Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS North America to build its next-generation fleet of aerial refueling tankers, spurning a bid from rival Boeing Co. in a surprise decision that could launch a new era of jet production in Mobile. The Air Force made its choice after a fierce competition between the two teams for one of the single largest defense contracts in U.S. history. Estimated at up to $40 billion, the deal includes 179 planes to be delivered over the next 15 years. Boeing was regarded as a heavy favorite by defense analysts...

Northrop Grumman Corp. and the maker of Airbus planes won a multibillion-dollar Air Force contract to build 179 tankers used to refuel military aircraft mid-flight, a congressional staffer familiar with the award said Friday. The staffer, who learned of the award from a Northrop Grumman employee, spoke on condition of anonymity. The selection of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. comes as a surprise to Wall Street and major blow to Boeing Co.

The Air Force snubbed longtime partner Boeing and awarded a lucrative contract to Northrop and EADS, the European maker of the Airbus, to build a fleet of refueling aircraft. The decision stunned Boeing and elected officials in the Northwest, who immediately objected to the decision to reject the all-American option. However, officials claim that Boeing’s submission simply didn’t measure up — literally: Air Force officials offered few details about why they choose the Northrop-EADS team over Boeing since they have yet to debrief the two companies. But Air Force Gen. Arthur Lichte said the larger size was key. “More passengers,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Air Force decision awarding a $35 billion aircraft contract to a team including the European parent of Airbus landed like a bomb in Congress on Friday, drawing howls of protest from lawmakers aligned with the loser, America's Boeing Co. The Congressional delegation from the Seattle area said they were "outraged." Kansas Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt vowed to seek a review of the decision "at the highest levels of the Pentagon and Congress" in hopes of reversing it. Boeing has big facilities in both Seattle and Wichita, which stood to gain from the long-term project...

Boeing has lost the long-awaited and lucrative Air Force refueling tanker contract to a competing bid based on an Airbus airplane, a respected and well-connected defense analyst close to the Air Force tanker deal said Friday. Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute, cited "100 percent reliable" government sources for his information.

WASHINGTON - ITT Federal Services International, a defense contractor hired to maintain battle gear for U.S. troops in Iraq, repeatedly failed to do the job right. Combat vehicles ITT declared as repaired and ready for action flunked inspections and had to be fixed again. (snip) The Army's ongoing arrangement with ITT, detailed in an audit from the Government Accountability Office, shows how captive the military has become to the private sector for overseas support. Even when contractors don't measure up, dismissing them may not be an option because of the heavy pace of operations. (snip) In ITT's case, there were...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US military contractor Blackwater USA rejected Saturday allegations that it had been shipping unlicensed automatic weapons and military equipment to Iraq. Blackwater's denial came as the security firm has been embroiled in controversy over a fatal shooting incident in Baghdad last Sunday that resulted in the deaths of 10 people. "Allegations that Blackwater was in any way associated or complicit in unlawful arms activities are baseless," Blackwater, which guards US embassy officials in Iraq, said in a statement. "The company has no knowledge of any employee improperly exporting weapons," said the company based in Moyock, North Carolina....

As Masai warriors guarded the Kenyan orphanage where sisters Brittanie and Aubrie Vander Mey and friend Jamie Cook worked, the three wondered how they would make it back to West Michigan. They had planned to spend two months caring for orphans affected by HIV or AIDS at the Omwabini Centre in Kimilili, but post-election violence cut short their stay. Newscasts told them the violence was coming closer each day to the orphanage, about 180 miles from Nairobi and 45 miles from Eldoret, where 35 people died when a church filled with women and children was burned last week. Today, the...

The U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets using a new 30,000 pound-class penetrator weapon that Northrop Grumman has begun integrating on the aircraft. The company is doing the work under a seven-month, $2.5 million contract awarded June 1 by the Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor on the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long-range strike arsenal. The new Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which is being developed by The Boeing Company, is a...

NASHUA – Speaking to about 40 BAE Systems workers in what he called a "town hall meeting," Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter again blasted an opponent because his former company is doing business with a Chinese defense contractor. Hunter, a U.S. congressman from California, called on Bain Capital, a company founded by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another GOP presidential contender, to drop its strategic partnership with Chinese defense contractor Huawei Technologies in a bid to buy U.S. defense contractor 3Com. Hunter will also ask Romney to use his influence with Bain to end the proposed merger between Huawei and...

NASHUA – Speaking to about 40 BAE Systems workers in what he called a "town hall meeting," Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter again blasted an opponent because his former company is doing business with a Chinese defense contractor. Hunter, a U.S. congressman from California, called on Bain Capital, a company founded by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another GOP presidential contender, to drop its strategic partnership with Chinese defense contractor Huawei Technologies in a bid to buy U.S. defense contractor 3Com. Hunter will also ask Romney to use his influence with Bain to end the proposed merger between Huawei and...

A Utah-based company is now six years into the development of a unique robot that fits around its user so that it literally mimics every movement of its human commander. Imagine stepping inside a robotic system that fits around your body like an exoskeleton. It allows soldiers to become almost superhuman in strength and stamina. In this case, whatever the soldier needs to do, the exoskeleton follows his or her exact moves. The prototype designed and built by SARCOS is going to become even more polished and sophisticated within the next five years. American soldiers are well trained and physically...

WASHINGTON - The Air Force will announce in February its verdict on who will build a multibillion-dollar fleet of refueling tanker planes. The program, which could exceed $100 billion and become one of the richest Pentagon contracts in years, has sparked heated competition between The Boeing Co. and a team of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and Northrop Grumman. -- But congressional supporters of the EADS-Northrop Grumman bid are quietly spreading word that they would be just as happy to split the massive contract with Boeing. Sue Payton, the Air Force's top acquisition official, reaffirmed this week that...

RAFAEL signs $25m deal with US Navy Armament Development Authority, BAE Systems land joint contract to supply US navy with advanced naval weapons systems. Contract second of its kind, to be completed by end of 2009 Naama Sikuler Published: 11.20.07 Israel's RAFAEL Armament Development Authority and US based BAE Systems announced Tuesday they were awarded a joint, $36 million weapons contract by the US Navy. The two will supply the US Navy with 62 Typhoon naval weapons systems by the end of 2009. The Typhoons are a range of remotely operated naval stabilized weapon systems, designed to combat ocean-based terror....