DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 4, 2014: (CHICAGO) — Boeing’s iconic 747 jumbo jet is gliding deeper into its twilight years, with a new Air Force One fleet offering the strongest sales prospect for a passenger model that no longer fits most airlines’ needs.

Even as Boeing talks with Emirates airline about an order for the upgraded 747-8, the carrier played down the chances of a deal because it’s buying 150 Boeing 777X jets. That plane will be bigger and more efficient than the current 777, a twin-engine aircraft so capable that it’s cannibalizing Boeing’s jumbo sales.

Commercial success has proved elusive for the 747-8, the latest update to an almost 50-year-old plane known for its distinctive humpbacked fuselage. While the 747-8 is a lock to win bidding that opens this year to replace the president’s fleet, waning demand for the cargo variant further imperils an assembly line that has slowed to just one or two planes a month.

‘‘Air Force One is it, unless a miracle happens in the airfreight business,’’ said Glen Langdon, president of Langdon Asset Management, a San Francisco firm that has extensive experience selling used 747s and other wide-body freighters.

Discussions with Emirates were disclosed this week by John Wojick, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Chicago-based Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Doha. Emirates is the world’s largest international airline and it operates a fleet of A380s from rival Airbus Group.

Boeing is fighting to land customers, even using trade-ins of older models to seal deals. Boeing faces a ‘‘material’’ accounting loss if it can’t win sufficient 747 orders to recover the costs of development, according to a company filing. So far, Boeing has tallied just 51 sales for the passenger variant, known as the 747-8I or Intercontinental, since Deutsche Lufthansa AG placed the first order in 2006.

This year’s 747-8 order count: one. It wasn’t always so grim. Pan American World Airways announced a $525 million order for 25 of the first 747s in 1966, effectively launching a program that would go on to produce almost 1,500 planes.

But Boeing outdid itself with the 777-9X, the first twin-engine jet designed to carry a jumbo’s haul of 407 passengers. Meanwhile, a glut of the previous 747 iteration remain parked, and Boeing cut 747 production twice last year, to 18 jets a year, as the backlog dwindled.

‘‘We expect 747-8 sales to increase with the economy, and customers flying the airplane tell us they love its strong performance,’’ Randy Tinseth, a Boeing vice-president for marketing, said in an e-mail. ‘‘That’s why we continue to invest in the 747-8, to make it even better.’’

The 747-8’s likeliest sales are to the Pentagon. The Air Force is planning to upgrade the all-747 presidential aircraft fleet by 2023 and has also begun studying whether to replace the ‘‘Doomsday’’ fleet, four 747-200 jets hardened against nuclear blasts that provide a mobile military command, Charles Gulick, an Air Force spokesman, said in an e-mail.

The White House’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposes spending $1.65 billion over five years to replace its aging Air Force One fleet, which began ferrying President George H.W. Bush in August 1990.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated June 4, 2014

DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated June 4, 2014
Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-105-14 June 4, 2014
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 4, 2014: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued June 4, 2014 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

NAVY

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $90,914,168 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price-incentive-fee contract (N00019-12-C-0004) to incorporate the updated system architecture into the original Diminishing Manufacturing Sources redesign activity for the Electronic Warfare System in support of the F-35 Lot VII effort for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and the governments of the F-35 International Partners. Work will be performed in Nashua, N.H. (81percent); Ft. Worth, Texas (19 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2018. Fiscal 2012 aircraft procurement (Navy and Air Force) and international partner funds in the amount of $90,914,168 are being obligated on this award, $71,576,724 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, is being awarded a $9,479,821 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-10-C-0020) for the procurement of 13 low power MV-22 repairs under the Mission CareTM contract. Work will be performed in Oakland, California, and is expected to be completed in February 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,479,821 are being obligated on this award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Seaward Marine Corp.,* Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded an $8,885,335 firm-fixed-price contract for Pier Complex Structural Repairs to Pier 4, Trestle 1a and 4 at Naval Weapon Station Earle. The construction and repairs of pattern cracking on concrete box beams; replacement of access ladders; concrete sealing; anode repairs/replacement; fender system repairs; and recoating exposed steel bearing assemblies will assist in the support of the pier. The contract also contains four unexercised options, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $12,946,707. Work will be performed in Colts Neck, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed by February 2015. Fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $8,885,335 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-14-C-5220).

ARMY

ARGO/LRS JV,* Hanover, Maryland (W912DY-14-D-0043); Clarke Project Solutions, Inc.,* Aliso Viejo, California, (W912DY-14-D-0044); Health Facility Solutions Co.,*San Antonio, Texas (W912DY-14-D-0045); NIKA Architects Engineers, Rockville, Maryland (W912DY-14-D-0046); Polu Kai Services, LLC,* Falls Church, Virginia (W912DY-14-D-0047); and Team Integrated Engineering, Inc.,* San Antonio, Texas (W912DY-14-D-0048) were awarded a $44,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for medical facilities support services. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of June 10, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with twenty-three received. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama is the contracting activity.

MACNAK Korte Group LLC,* Lakewood, Washington, was awarded a $30,381,000 contract for a 240-person dormitory at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada with an estimated completion date of Aug. 22, 2016. One bid was solicited and four received. Fiscal 2014 military construction funds in the amount of $30,381,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, California is the contracting activity (W912PL-14-C-0003).

UPDATE: Ceres Environmental Services,* Brooklyn Park, Minnesota was awarded two contracts under the multi-award contract announced May 1, 2014 for debris management services for the United States and its territories with an estimated completion date of June 3, 2019. There were six previous contractors announced and all will compete for task orders under a maximum $580,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract (W912P8-14-D-0020 and W912P8-14-D-002).

AIR FORCE

Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $7,051,595 contract for the Affordable Radio Frequency Multifunction Sensors (ARMS) program. The ARMS program will focus on developing new manufacturing processes to enable an increase in reliability and a decrease in cycle time and costs for Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) sensors. The emphasis will be on addressing key manufacturing issues while decreasing the program risk and increasing the manufacturing readiness level to 6. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by March 4, 2016. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $1,005,000 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing Technology Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8650-14-C-5502).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Electronic Systems, Linthicum Heights, Maryland, has been awarded a $3,750,297 contract for the Affordable Radio Frequency Multifunction Sensors (ARMS) Program. The ARMS program will focus on developing new manufacturing processes to enable an increase in reliability and a decrease in cycle time and costs for Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) sensors. The emphasis will be on addressing key manufacturing issues while decreasing the program risk and increasing the manufacturing readiness level to 6. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 4, 2016. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $2,645,000 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing Technology Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-14-C-5503).

*Small Business

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + U.S. DoD issued No. CR-105-14 June 4, 2014 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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