Boeing and All Nippon Airlines have announced that the ANA Group has ordered an additional 11 787-9 Dreamliners. The order, valued at $2.7 billion at current list prices, bring the total number of 787s ANA has ordered to 66 airplanes consisting of 36 787-8s and 30 787-9s. “The improved fuel efficiency and greater seating capacity…

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $20 million contract modification to add beyond-line-of-sight command and control (BLOS C2) capabilities to the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) information gateway system, giving war fighters access to full-motion video, imagery, voice over Internet protocol and chat messages from multiple sources. BACN is part of the…

The Air Force will base a Space Fence radar site on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands with initial operations capability planned for fiscal 2017. The Fence will provide a critical Space Surveillance Network capability needed to give warfighters the ability to maintain a full and accurate orbital catalog, ensure orbital safety…

NASA has selected Science Applications International Corp. of McLean, Va., to receive a contract to support the aerospace systems modeling and simulation facilities at the agency’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. This is a cost-plus-award-fee, definite core, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity hybrid contract to be awarded in early to mid October. The contract consists of a one-year…

Sept. 25 marks the one year anniversary of the first delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Japan’s ANA (All Nippon Airways). Since then, Boeing has delivered 25 Dreamliners to six different customers. “One year ago today we reached a significant milestone in Boeing and ANA’s partnership,” said Ray Conner, president and CEO of…

The continuing resolution the Senate approved Sept. 22 and the president is expected to sign this week will affect short- and long-term Defense Department spending in coming months, a senior defense official said Sept. 25. Pentagon Comptroller Robert F. Hale spoke on ìFinancing Defense: Strategies for Leaner Timesî at a Government Executive defense briefing series…

The Air Force KC-46A program director described the critical development phases of the next-generation refueling aircraft during the 2012 Air Force Association Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C., Sept. 18. Maj. Gen. John F. Thompson, program executive officer for Tanker Programs, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,…

Boeing recently received a $22.7 million modification to an existing U.S. Navy contract for more than 2,300 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (Laser JDAM) sensors, starting full-rate production to meet the Navyís Direct Attack Moving Target Capability program requirement. JDAM is a low-cost, modular guidance kit that converts unguided free-fall bombs into near precision-guided weapons….

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a subcontract from the University of California, Irvine to help address the long-term calibration of inertial sensors. Inertial sensors, which measure rotation rate and acceleration, are used in a variety of navigation, pointing and stabilization applications. Currently, micro-electro-mechanical system inertial instruments are vulnerable to long-term instabilities that cause bias and…