http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/northrop/ en-us Wed, 9 Jul 2008 19:15:52 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043036/posts Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced Wednesday that Northrop Grumman and Boeing will have to submit revised proposals for the Air Force’s highly contested aerial refueling tanker program. The Pentagon chief's decision comes after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld Boeing's protest of the Air Force's decision to award the contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS North America, the parent company of Boeing rival Airbus. “I have concluded that the contract cannot be awarded,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference. Northrop Grumman won the heated competition on Feb. 29, but is currently under a stop-work order. The decision means... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043036/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 19:15:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036499/posts NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force told Boeing Co (NYSE:BA - News) it had fully met a key requirement in competing for a $35 billion aerial refueling program but then changed its evaluation without telling the company, government auditors said on Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an extended explanation of its decision last week to uphold Boeing's protest against the contract award to Northrop Grumman Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036499/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:13:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035216/posts WASHINGTON: John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is fending off charges that he pushed the U.S. Air Force into a faulty $35 billion deal for midair refueling planes. Democrats weighed in after the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, found last week that the air force had made "significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition" between Boeing and a combination of Northrop Grumman and European Aerospace & Defense Systems, or EADS, which was awarded the contract. The Democratic National Committee accused McCain of "mimicking" EADS, the corporate parent of Airbus,... IHT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035216/posts#comment Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:29:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033003/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auditors urged the Air Force Wednesday to rerun its marathon, $35 billion competition for refueling aircraft, upholding a protest by losing bidder Boeing Co (BA.N). The Government Accountability Office found the Air Force made "a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between" Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N). "We therefore sustained Boeing's protest," Michael Golden, head of the a GAO bid protest unit, said in a statement. Northrop was teamed with EADS, parent of rival passenger-jet maker Airbus. EADS (EAD.PA) had no immediate comment. --snip-- The... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033003/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:49:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028518/posts When Defense Secretary Robert Gates summarily fired the top civilian and military Air Force officials last week, the reason he gave was a grave failure of leadership with respect to that service’s nuclear missions. The low priority assigned by the Pentagon to its nuclear stewardship responsibilities is systemic and acute. Consequently, this act of accountability is both warranted and a needed wake-up call to all the armed forces. As it happens, there is another ground on which the dismissal of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne could be justified. He was specifically brought in to clean up Air Force procurement, but... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028518/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jun 2008 22:26:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2026979/posts Northrop Grumman official said that the construction of a new Air Force tanker in Mobile, Ala., could have an economic impact in south Mississippi of more than $12 million annually. Leroy Barnidge, vice president for state and local government relations in Melbourne, Fla., where Northrop's tanker program headquarters is located, spoke Wednesday to a Pascagoula civic club. Northrop-EADS plans an aircraft assembly center in Mobile estimated to cost $600 million and create more than 1,000 jobs. If the Northrop and EADS North America's joint tanker contract survives a protest by rival Boeing Co., Barnidge said a couple of hundred new... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2026979/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 12:01:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014142/posts A Navy deal for an unmanned plane is the latest won by a unit of the defense contractor, the region's second-largest private employer.With a bulbous head and plank-like wings, the aircraft resembles a lumbering whale. And its seven-word, 49-letter name -- Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aerial System -- is a whopper. But the award last month of a Navy contract to build the hulking, robotic patrol plane, nicknamed BAMS, could not have come at a better time for Northrop Grumman Corp. and, in particular, its military aircraft business headquartered in El Segundo. Flying highThe contract, potentially worth nearly $4... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014142/posts#comment Sat, 10 May 2008 19:18:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012887/posts Not all quite on the tankern front. “US GAO begins hearing on Northrop/EADS tanker deal”http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0539240420080505 “A GAO spokesman confirmed the start of the hearing, but gave no details. The congressional agency, which reviews contract disputes, is due to rule on the case by June 19. The hearing includes lawyers from Boeing, Northrop, and the Air Force, with three GAO officials hearing the various arguments, according to three sources familiar with the case, who said it could last all week. “This hearing will go on for days and days,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be named. “Each... varios http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012887/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 08:01:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005500/posts WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp won a $1.16 billion contract to modify its high-altitude unmanned Global Hawk surveillance plane into a new maritime patrol aircraft, the Navy said on Tuesday. Northrop beat out Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to win the deal, which runs through September 2014 and covers three unmanned test planes and an option for three low-rate initial production planes. The Navy plans to buy 68 Global Hawks under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program over the coming years, in a deal Navy officials said would be worth at least $3.74 billion,... The Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2005500/posts#comment Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:51:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983892/posts WASHINGTON - Top current advisers to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year lobbied for a European plane maker that beat Boeing to a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, taking sides in a bidding fight that McCain has tried to referee for more than five years. Two of the advisers gave up their lobbying work when they joined McCain's campaign. A third, former Texas Rep. Tom Loeffler, lobbied for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. while serving as McCain's national finance chairman. EADS is the parent company of Airbus, which teamed up with U.S.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. to... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983892/posts#comment Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:37:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1980894/posts WASHINGTON (AP) - The European refueling tanker that won a $35 billion Pentagon contract last week "was clearly a better performer" than its U.S. rival, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers Wednesday. Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Wynne said the plane offered by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., was determined to be less expensive and less risky than the plane offered by Chicago-based Boeing Co. The planes were judged on nine key criteria, he said, and "across the spectrum, all evaluated, the Northrop Grumman airplane was clearly a... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1980894/posts#comment Wed, 5 Mar 2008 20:54:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979968/posts WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Details emerged on Monday about how dramatically Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and its European partner beat Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to win a $35 billion tanker aircraft competition, as furious Boeing supporters called the contract "a multibillion dollar gift to Europe." "This was not a close outcome in any sense of the term," defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute told Reuters, describing how Boeing failed to beat Northrop in any of the key criteria for the aerial refueling contract. "Northrop won decisively and completely," said Thompson, who has... REUTERS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979968/posts#comment Tue, 4 Mar 2008 02:41:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979734/posts “Youths” in the suburbs of Paris are escalating their intifada against French society, ambushing and firing on police. PARIS: Dozens of hooded attackers fired buckshot and nails at police this weekend, wounding four officers, France’s interior minister said. Michele Alliot-Marie called the Sunday afternoon attack an “ambush,” saying that about 30 people, some of them armed, were waiting for the officers in the southern Paris suburb of Grigny. The officers were responding to a call about vandalism at a local bakery. Three officers were hit in face with buckshot; another was hit in the leg with buckshot and nails and... Little Green Footballs http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979734/posts#comment Mon, 3 Mar 2008 19:50:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978836/posts 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. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978836/posts#comment Sat, 1 Mar 2008 16:45:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978790/posts 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,... Hot Air http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978790/posts#comment Sat, 1 Mar 2008 15:42:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917320/posts PALMDALE - Six years after the contract was first awarded, Northrop Grumman Corp. employees Friday marked another milestone along the path to fielding the nation's next fighter, the F-35 Lightning II. The center fuselage for the first Air Force near-production version of the fighter was unveiled Friday at the company's Palmdale Manufacturing Center. The fuselage incorporates design changes made during development to decrease weight in the final fighter. "This is starting a new phase for what will be a very unique fighter capability," said Air Force Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, program executive officer for the F-35. The latest - and... Valley Press on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917320/posts#comment Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:50:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1877203/posts PALMDALE - The Navy has awarded a $635.8 million contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a revolutionary pilotless combat plane at the company's facility at Air Force Plant 42. The plane, called the X-47B, will be designed to fly from aircraft carriers and carry out bombing missions and perform extended surveillance. It will use stealth technology designed to make it hard to spot on radar. The six-year contract is part of a Navy program, known as the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration, or UCAS-D, to establish the capability of such a robot plane. Northrop Grumman tested the smaller... Valley Press on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1877203/posts#comment Mon, 6 Aug 2007 20:23:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1849831/posts PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman employees have begun work on a $171 million contract to develop and demonstrate a new extremely high frequency satellite communications system that eventually would enable B-2 stealth bombers to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than now. Expected to last more than five years and to be done in three phases, the first system design and development phase consists primarily of engineering work that will be based in Palmdale, with flight testing likely to be at Edwards Air Force Base\. "This SDD contract provides significant momentum for the work Northrop Grumman and... Valley Press on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1849831/posts#comment Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:33:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1815397/posts PALMDALE - The Department of Homeland Security plans to evaluate unmanned, high-altitude vehicles as a platform for a counter-missile defense system for commercial airliners in answer to the threat of shoulder-fired missiles being used to attack aircraft as they take off or land. While seeking bids for development of such a system, the department plans to conduct trials using the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Global Hawk and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator B aircraft. Both are built and tested in the Antelope Valley; Global Hawk at Northrop's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale and Predator B at General Atomics'... Valley Press on http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1815397/posts#comment Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:06:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1603610/posts Northrop Grumman Corp. will design a supersonic experimental aircraft that employs a wing that varies position for most efficient flight performance under a $10.3 million contract from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The oblique flying wing program aims to design and conduct the first-ever flight tests of a tailless, supersonic, variable sweep oblique flying wing... In an oblique wing aircraft, one wing of the aircraft is swept forward and the other backward in an asymetrical configuration, which varies with flight speed. The wing, also known as a "scissors wing," pivots over a center point, shifting angle as the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1603610/posts#comment Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:16:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1601402/posts The Pentagon's plans for developing and eventually fielding unmanned aircraft capable of delivering munitions in high-risk battle scenarios once again are undergoing a structural change. What once was known as the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems, or J-UCAS, program is shifting from a joint Air Force and Navy program to one led solely by the Navy. The program is intended to develop and test the technologies necessary to field fleets of unmanned aircraft capable of operating on their own to attack and shut down enemy air defenses. Created in 2003, the original program merged the separate efforts of the Air... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1601402/posts#comment Thu, 23 Mar 2006 04:14:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1501468/posts WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman and Boeing unveiled a back-to-the-future concept for the next generation of space exploration vehicles Wednesday, displaying an Apollo-like capsule and support module as their offering in the competition for a system to take humans back to the moon and later to Mars. The two aerospace giants are teamed in a bid for NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle program, potentially a $100 billion project that is intended to replace the troubled Space Shuttle for servicing the International Space Station by 2012 and to carry astronauts to the moon by 2018. The Northrop-Boeing team and Lockheed Martin each received... San Diego Union-Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1501468/posts#comment Thu, 13 Oct 2005 00:38:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462335/posts NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- The beveling of a 15-ton metal plate kicked off advance construction of the newest class of aircraft carrier, the CVN 21 project, Aug. 11 at Northrop Grumman Newport News' shipyards in Virginia. The new carrier is designed to modernize the “flat tops” for the 21st century. Advance construction will take an estimated two years before construction can begin on the actual ship itself. This gives technicians and engineers the time needed to test and design the ship, and all the new technologies that will be put into the vessel. “We’re going to kind of mark... Navy NewsStand http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462335/posts#comment Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:53:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1442083/posts Even as NASA prepares to return to space with the space shuttle, efforts are under way to ensure the agency's next manned spacecraft will share the same California birthplace. Each of the five space shuttle orbiters and one test vehicle were built at the Rockwell International - now The Boeing Co. - facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. Now, NASA has awarded contracts to two teams in a competition to develop and build a replacement spacecraft, the crew exploration vehicle. Both teams, one headed by Lockheed Martin and the other a joint project of Northrop Grumman Corp. and... Valley Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1442083/posts#comment Wed, 13 Jul 2005 18:06:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1404576/posts Tracking the MTHEL Laser By Sam Jaffe May 9, 2005 After more than ten years and several billion dollars of development, one of the most promising experimental weapons in the history of the Pentagon seemed to have fired its last shot. "The Army has no funding for MTHEL," says Lt.Col. Jeff Souder, the project manager of directed energy applications program at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) was a program to develop a defensive laser weapon powered by the combustion of highly volatile chemicals that shoots down artillery projectiles. They system works by... Technology Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1404576/posts#comment Tue, 17 May 2005 03:22:47 GMT