News From Washington

Raytheon Adds Reliability Engineering Consulting

Raytheon Co. is expanding its Reliability Analysis Laboratory (RAL) technical offerings with the incorporation of reliability engineering consulting services. Reliability is a core feature that can make or break the long term success of both products and companies. Design for Reliability (DFR) engineering tasks are just as important as development engineering tasks in keeping repairs and warranty expenses low and thus profits, product quality and customer satisfaction high.

Raytheon's experience in reliability engineering is extensive in the areas of problem solving, program planning, product and system modeling, testing failure analysis, process improvement and field data analysis for large and small programs, both in the government and commercial sectors. "Planning for product reliability is just as important as planning for a product's design and manufacturing. The amount of product reliability must be in proportion to a product's usage and warranty goals. Too much reliability and the product will be too expensive. Too little reliability and the warranty and repairs costs will be high," said Bill Tice, RAL's department manager.

Joe Dzekevich, the RAL's reliability engineering lead added, "Reliability is especially important to start-up companies, which have to go to market quickly with a reliable product or go out of business. Up-front DFR methodologies are a good way to get there ahead of your competition or to maintain a lead."

The added reliability engineering services will encompass areas such as reliability program planning; reliability and maintainability predictions; system redundancy and availability modeling; failure mode prediction and analysis and accelerated stress test planning and analysis. "Add to these reliability engineering services RAL's already extensive failure analysis capabilities and one now has a premier one-stop shopping solution for reliability engineering needs," Tice said.

For more information on Raytheon's complete set of reliability engineering services, visit the RAL's Web site located at: http://www.reliabilityanalysislab.com.

Lockheed Martin Receives $131 M for Leadership of Missile Defense Team

Lockheed Martin received a $131 M funding increment to continue its leadership of the Battle Management/Command and Control/Communication (BM/C2/C) program for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Missile Defense National Team.

The contract runs through December of 2003 and funds the team's efforts to devise and field an operational structure that seamlessly and effectively links the numerous sensors, weapons and command and control systems currently utilized in the individual US missile defense programs or elements. Other BM/C2/C team members include TRW, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon. In addition to leading the National Team's BM/C2/C program, Lockheed Martin serves as a member of the Systems Engineering and Integration team.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish created the Missile Defense National team in January 2002 to bring together the best engineers and scientists in America. The team is focused on enabling the US military services to field missile defense elements of the overall Ballistic Missile Defense System as soon as practical; developing and testing technologies; and improving the effectiveness of deployed capabilities by inserting new technologies as they become available. "This is a bold, new approach to missile defense. Lockheed Martin is committed to delivering MDA's vision of an effective, integrated, layered missile defense, capable of defeating all ranges of threat," Kier said.

Since receiving its initial contract and funding of $23 M in February 2002, the BM/C2/C team has built a staff of approximately 130 individuals, drawn from the six member companies, and has identified capabilities to be developed and deployed for an initial block deployment in 2004. "We are fortunate to have assembled the best and brightest minds from American industry to work as members of a team on this vitally important national project," Kier said.

US Air Force Accepts First Article ASR-11 DASR Systems

Raytheon Co.'s first article ASR-11 digital airport surveillance radar (DASR) systems located at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, and Stockton, CA, have been accepted by the US Air Force. This contract milestone has been achieved through confirmation of compliant performance through testing.

Acceptance of these first article systems clears the way for acceptance of low rate initial production (LRIP) systems, which are being installed at multiple locations throughout the US. Raytheon is currently manufacturing 38 LRIP systems for the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The all solid-state ASR-11 radar provides a modern, highly reliable upgrade to replace the existing aging ASR-7 and 8 radars. The ASR-11 provides airport terminal area primary surveillance coverage to 60 nautical miles and secondary surveillance coverage to 120 nautical miles. The ASR-11 digital processing provides greatly improved target and weather processing to support the improved performance associated with deployment of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). The ASR-11 DSAR is a joint procurement for the DoD and FAA. Raytheon is under contract to develop and install up to 93 ASR-11 systems for the DoD ad 122 for the FAA over the next several years.

Northrop Grumman Wins AF Mission Planning Contract for Precision Guided Munitions

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated System sector has been awarded a $49 M, nine-year contract by the US Air Force to provide Precision Guided Munitions Planning software (PGMPS). This program will give the Air Force a common, integrated personal computer-based mission planning application for all current and future USAF PGMs and their variants. The Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, selected Northrop Grumman PRB Systems, a unit of the Integrated Systems' Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare (AEW & EW) Systems business area, to develop the PGMPS user interface to provide a common, consistent weapon planning process for all USAF PGMs.

PGMPS will be a unique planning component of the Joint Mission Planning System and will replace the current weapon planning modules for the AGM-130/GBU-15, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD), Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and other future PGMs.

"This program clearly establishes Northrop Grumman as the leader for PGM planning in the Air Force and presents a strategic opportunity for Integrated Systems to be a major contributor to streamlining the joint targeting process," said Larry Schadegg, president of PRB Systems. "With our teammates, we are positioned to develop a robust and cost-effective solution to give our war fighters the edge."

Northrop Grumman's team consists of the company's Information Technology sector, San Pedro, CA; Zeltech, Hampton, VA; and 21st Century Business Consultants Inc., Waldorf, MD. The first phase of the contract has a value of $4.1 M over 18 months and includes work for WCMD, AGM-130, JDAM and JSOW. Over the life of the contract, Northrop Grumman will analyze requirements, design, develop, document, test and qualify the initial releases of PGMPS and updates; provide training to support the testing and fielding of the software; and support training and integration to achieve operational use and fielding. The work will be performed at AEW & EW Systems' site in Hollywood, MD, and Niceville, FL.