Katrina McFarland, a member of Sehlke Consulting‘s board of advisers and president at Blue Oryx, will participate in a panel discussion on government acquisition reform at an upcoming Naval Postgraduate School event in Monterey, California. Sehlke said McFarland will speak at NPS’ 15th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium on May 10 along …
Read More »Frank Kendall: DoD Needs to Have ‘Healthy Industrial Base’
Frank Kendall, former acquisition chief of the Defense Department, has said that DoD needs to ensure that it has “a healthy industrial base to support it” while performing its mission, USNI News reported Monday. He added that the military’s focus on readiness and force structure preservation efforts resulted in cuts …
Read More »Former DoD Acquisition Chief Frank Kendall Joins Leidos Board; Roger Krone Comments
Frank Kendall, former undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics at the Defense Department, has been appointed to Leidos‘ board of directors. Leidos said Wednesday Kendall currently serves as executive in residence at Arlington, Virginia-based aerospace and defense advisory firm Renaissance Strategic Advisors. “Frank brings more than 40 years of experience in …
Read More »Raytheon-Built GPS OCX Launch & Checkout System Completes Factory Qualification Test
Raytheon has completed factory qualification test on the launch and checkout system of an operational control system the company developed for the U.S. Air Force‘s GPS satellite constellation. The company said Tuesday it tested 74 segment requirements of the GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System to verify whether LCS meets Air Force standards. Bill Sullivan, …
Read More »Air Force, Raytheon to Continue GPS Operational Control System Modernization Work
The U.S. Air Force can continue its program to develop a new ground-based command system for the military branch’s GPS satellite constellation after Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall certified the project to Congress, DoD News reported Friday. Karen Parrish writes Raytheon, the prime contractor on the $5.46 billion GPS Advanced Control Segment, works with DoD …
Read More »Pentagon Leaders, Trade Associations Discuss Defense Industry’s Environment
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall met with three defense trade associations in an effort to understand and address issues that affect the aerospace and defense industry. CEOs and senior executives from the National Defense Industrial Association, Aerospace Industries Association and the Professional Services Council discussed acquisition …
Read More »Northrop to Enter Low-Rate Initial Production for MQ-4C Triton UAS
Northrop Grumman has obtained approval from Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall to begin low-rate initial production of the company’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system for the U.S. Navy‘s surveillance operations. The Navy said Friday the milestone C decision represents the beginning of the production and deployment stage of the Triton UAS program. Sean …
Read More »Reports: ULA Submits Proposal for 3rd Air Force GPS III Satellite Launch Contract
United Launch Alliance has submitted a bid to compete on a contract to launch the U.S. Air Force’s third GPS III satellite in 2019 and reiterated its concern about price as a deciding factor in contract competition, Florida Today reported Tuesday. “As recent launch failures have shown, rockets are not …
Read More »Air Force Solicits Design & Modification Proposal from Boeing for Future Presidential Aircraft
The U.S. Air Force has asked Boeing to submit a proposal on the engineering and manufacturing development phase for the service branch’s Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program. The military branch said Monday it issued the request for proposal for the PAR program’s EMD phase after it received authorization from Frank Kendall, …
Read More »Pentagon Grants Milestone C Approval to Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus Tanker
Boeing has received Milestone C approval from Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall for the KC-46A Pegasus aircraft the company will build to support aerial refueling operations of the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force said Friday it will award Boeing a pair of contracts within 30 days to manufacture the …
Read More »Boeing’s KC-46 Tanker Completes Required Tests for Decision on Initial Production
The U.S. Air Force has conducted the final tests on a Boeing-built military aerial refueling and strategic transport aircraft for a Milestone C production decision. The Air Force said Monday the KC-46 Pegasus completed the last of six in-flight refueling demonstrations required prior to a request for approval from Frank Kendall, …
Read More »Frank Kendall OKs Consolidated Shipboard Networks Program’s Full Deployment
The Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services program has achieved full deployment approval after Frank Kendall, acquisition chief at the Defense Department, signed an acquisition decision memorandum on the CANES program, Chips magazine reported Friday. Steven A. Davis writes the CANES program aims to reduce shipboard network workload through information technology modernization …
Read More »Lockheed, DoD in Talks Over New F-35 Deal; Frank Kendall Comments
Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department plan to strike a deal in the fall for the next batches of F-35 fighter jets that could cost $15 billion, Reuters reported Tuesday. Andrea Shalal writes the agreement is for the ninth batch of F-35 comprising 60 jets and the 10th batch consisting of …
Read More »Reports: Air Force Long Range Bomber Review Finished, Contract Award Set for August
Frank Kendall — defense undersecretary of acquisition, technology and logistics — and Bill LaPlante — the Air Force‘s acquisition chief — have wrapped up a review for the branch’s Long Range Strike Bomber program, Breaking Defense reported Thursday. “We looked at the design to make sure it’s at the level of maturity it’s supposed to be,” …
Read More »DoD Approves $4B Navy Carrier Construction Contract for Huntington Ingalls
Huntington Ingalls Industries is set to receive a $4 billion contract to design and build the U.S. Navy‘s second Ford-class aircraft carrier, Bloomberg reported Friday. Anthony Cappacio writes the Navy has obtained approval from U.S. Defense Department acquisition chief Frank Kendall to move forward on the USS John F. Kennedy …
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