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Since World War II, the importance of small businesses to the economic health of the United States and to the readiness of its military services has helped drive legislation designed to ensure small business viability. Efforts to formalize support to small businesses culminated in the Small Business Act of 1953, which created the Small Business Administration (SBA). Through the efforts of this administration, special attention in
awarding all federal contracts is given to small, disadvantaged businesses, to businesses owned by women and veterans, and to those located in historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones).

In 2009, over 20 percent – some $113.4 billion of all Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition funds for goods and services – found its way to small businesses, thanks in large part to its Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). Of that $113.4 billion, direct prime contracts accounted for $63.9 billion, or 56 percent, and major DOD prime contractors, acting as “mentors,” to help develop the technical and business capabilities of small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) and other eligible “protégés.” The Indian Incentive program offers prime contractors rebates for doing business with Native American enterprises.

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Thanks to Donna Doleman and Rick Greenwald at Aviation Aftermarket Defense!

The third and fourth C-130J Super Hercules transports for the Indian Air Force were flown from the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Ga. en route to AFS Hindon, near Delhi, India, on 15 June 2011. The remaining two C-130Js on order for India will be delivered later this summer. The Indian C-130Js will be equipped with an infrared detection set to allow precision low-level flying, airdrops, and landing in blackout conditions. Neither the radome-mounted infrared sensor turret nor the removable air-to-air refueling probe was installed for the ferry flight.

The 418th Flight Test Squadron at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, is testing the performance of carbon brakes and the new Mark IV digital antiskid control unit to replace the legacy brake system on the C-130. The testing involves max-effort braking where the pilot applies maximum pressure to the brakes to stop the aircraft at different cargo weights and on wet runways. Parts for the current legacy brake system are becoming scarce because they are no longer being manufactured. If the tests, which run through July, are successful, then the brakes will be retrofitted to all US Air Force legacy C-130E and H models. The new brakes are already in use on the C-130J.

MARIETTA, Ga: The first Combat Shadow II for the United States Air Force Special Operations Command has completed its first flight at the Lockheed Martin (LMT 79.51 ↑0.59%) facility in Marietta. Less than one month after a rollout ceremony for the aircraft’s AFSOC customer the MC-130J has begun a series of flight tests prior to delivery to Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., in September.

The new aircraft is based on a KC-130J tanker baseline and will have the Enhanced Service Life Wing, Enhanced Cargo Handling System, a Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (boom refueling receptacle), more powerful electrical generators, an electro-optical/infrared sensor and a combat systems operator station on the flight deck. In-line production of this configuration reduced cost and risk, and fully supports the required 2012 Initial Operational Capability date.

Lockheed Martin is contracted to build 15 MC 130Js to begin replacing the current aging fleet. The U.S. Air Force is authorized to acquire up to 20 MC-130Js against an approved requirement for 37.

Originally posted by: PlaneNews

Two specially modified C-130s from Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colorado, dropped 12,000 gallons of fire suppressant and retardant on raging wildfires in the northern Mexico state of Coahuila during four missions on 17 April 2011. The two aircraft carry the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, a self-contained aerial firefighting equipment.

They began operating from Laughlin AFB, Texas, on 16 April after the Mexican government requested US assistance. So far, the aircraft have been used to deliver about 21,000 gallons of fire suppressant and retardant in seven missions. These Reservists have also been helping to fight wildfires spreading in southern Texas.

Four additional MAFFS-equipped aircraft from Air National Guard units in California, North Carolina, and Wyoming are slated to arrive at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, to help fight the Texas wildfires.

LONG BEACH, Calif., March 30 (UPI) — The U.S. Air Force has ordered more avionics upgrade kits from Boeing for installation on C-130 aircraft at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia.

Boeing said the follow-on contract for two C-130 Avionics Modernization Program is part of a low-rate initial production contract awarded in 2010 and includes support for logistics, engineering and installation, as well as spares support equipment.

The aircraft upgrade includes a glass cockpit with a head-up display; six flat-panel, full-color displays; and night-vision capability. Warner Robins will install 10 of the 20 LRIP kits ordered.

“As the modification at Warner Robins progresses, our engineering team continues to drive improvements of the installations,” said Bruce Terry, C-130 AMP Low-Rate Initial Production program manager for Boeing. “We are working side by side with the Warner Robins modification and engineering teams to support a timely completion of the kit installs.”

Under a previous C-130 AMP contract, Boeing upgraded three test aircraft that are being prepared to enter the Air Force’s initial operation test and evaluation program in January.

Boeing will begin its portion of the LRIP installations in early 2012 at the company’s San Antonio facility.

Source: upi.com

SOUTHWEST ASIA – The C-130 Hercules hosts a flight engineer and navigator among its six-man crew. These positions are quietly being phased out not only on this aircraft, but among military airframes in general.

As seen with the C-130J model and other transport aircraft, the FE and navigator positions are gradually being phased out and replaced with and integrated avionics system.

“Personal experience is being replaced with computer systems that are supposed to think for us,” Capt. Richard Konopczynski, 746th EAS aircraft commander. “We’ve had to learn to do without these positions as the planes are being upgraded.”

The crew operates a C-130H2, a model which boasts an average age of 25 years old but began being introduced to the fleet in 1978 and produced until 1992. Over the years, the aircraft has undergone technological upgrades, aiding the C-130’s navigation systems and the aircraft’s capabilities.

While the C-130s have been well-maintained, they are still an aging aircraft – a consideration the crew keeps in mind when mission allows.

“You don’t want to drive it with the pedal to the floor all the time,” the FE said. “It can go full throttle but it can’t be sustained, especially not in these environments so you save pushing it to those limits for when you really need it.”

The FE has a 360 degree knowledge of all working systems housed inside the C-130H2. Proficient on at least 10 different systems, Senior Master Sgt. Chris Janik is responsible for not only knowing how to employ the systems while in flight but is depended upon to know the full capabilities of the plane.

“This aircraft was best designed to land in these areas – in mud, in snow and on dirt strips,” said Janik, 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flight engineer.

The crew operates a C-130H2, a model which boasts an average age of 25 years old but began being introduced to the fleet in 1978 and produced until 1992. Over the years, the aircraft has undergone technological upgrades, aiding the C-130’s navigation systems and the aircraft’s capabilities.

While the C-130s have been well-maintained, they are still an aging aircraft – a consideration the crew keeps in mind when mission allows.

“You don’t want to drive it with the pedal to the floor all the time,” the FE said. “It can go full throttle but it can’t be sustained, especially not in these environments so you save pushing it to those limits for when you really need it.”

Flight engineers speak for the aircraft and they communicate to the pilots what the abilities and limits are under certain stresses and in different environments.

“I give the pilots information on what the aircraft can handle based on certain factors such as weather, altitude and terrain,” said Janik, deployed from the 914th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Reserve.

Because of his position on the flight deck, the FE has a bird’s eye view of what’s going on while the pilots are focused on steering the plane.

“He’s the ‘Overseer’,” said Capt. Ryan Mowers, 746th EAS pilot. “His position is unique because when pilots are focused on flying, we are so focused on the approach that those extra set of eyes is mission critical because have a bird’s eye view of everything.”

The FE position is one pilots have come to rely heavily on to give guidance on the aircraft’s capabilities.

“As a pilot, I rely on [the FE] to figure out the aircraft’s current capability is at any given time during the mission,” Konopczynski said. “Under normal circumstances, he has a basic job to perform. But when things change up, we look to him for guidance on the best way ahead.”

The challenge comes in when the crew has to think on their feet and sort through all their knowledge and apply it to something impacting the mission with immediate urgency.

“One of the hard parts is when you think you have all bases covered and then something pops up that you haven’t accounted for,” Janik said.

In those particularly tricky situations, it is important to have a cohesive and close relationship with your crew. Knowing what their experience levels are quickly become qualities relied on.

“That’s when all the training you have comes into play. It’s also important that you know your crew and you know what strength each brings to the table. In those moments, you rely on that to pull you through,” Konopczynski said.

Another integral position on the flight deck is the navigator.

The first thought that comes to mind with the navigator position is “maps and compass.” To an extent, that is correct. The navigator directs the aircraft from point A to point B as well as determining the speed and course and the adjustments of each as needed.

“Over the course of aviation, flying has gone from celestial navigation to having integrated GPS system and technology-driven navigation,” said Lt. Col. John Bletner, 746th EAS navigator.

At any given moment, navigational instruments can go offline requiring the colonel to find alternative methods of determining their location on the grid.

“There’s multiple ways to tell where we are at any given moment,” said Bletner, deployed from the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard at Niagara Falls. “There are redundant systems that will allow us to tell where we are, even if the GPS instrumentation goes offline.”

Whether he is feeding the pilots information on where the aircraft is on the mission’s route or helping guide the pilots into airfields with low visibility, the navigator can tell the pilots exactly where they are.

“He’s the key component to building situational awareness,” Konopczynski said. “We will be receiving input from outside units and the [navigator] will be taking that into account to plot our course and make sure we’re safe to proceed.”

Another function of the navigator is to recommend routes to ensure weather avoidance.

“It’s better to readjust your course early on when you first become aware of there is a bad weather pattern in front of you than to try coming right up on it and then trying to maneuver around it,” Konopcsznski.

While the FE and navigator are two unique positions quickly being phased out, they are essential to the 6-man crew.

“The FE will watch our speed on take off and landing and the navigator gives us directional cues,” the aircraft commander said. “Everyone has a role and those two positions we’re lucky to have.”

“They give us a 3-D perspective of what happening around us,” Mowers added.

In an age where technology is slowly rendering positions operated by people obsolete, the C-130H crews prefer having the extra crewmembers onboard.

“The Air Force has tried to come up with computers that can replace these positions,” the aircraft commander said. “The drawback is flexibility. They don’t have the same variety of experience built in that humans do.”

Original Article from DVIDS.

“It may come as a surprise to some people that Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is in the engine business,” admits Chuck Artymovich, vice president and general manager of Kelly Aviation Center, or KAC. The company credited with designing, developing, and manufacturing the U-2 Dragon Lady, C-130 Hercules, C-5 Galaxy, and F-16 Fighting Falcon also maintains, repairs, overhauls, and tests the engines that power these military aircraft. KAC also repairs engines for some commercial aircraft.

KAC is located at Port San Antonio, a large industrial park on what used to be Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. About 500-plus Kelly employees and more than 600 subcontractors overhauled 267 engines at this modern facility in 2010.

General Electric TF39 turbofan and Rolls-Royce T56 turboprop engines account for the majority of this business. The TF39 powers A, B, and C models of the C-5 Galaxy. The T56 powers legacy C-130 Hercules transport and all P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. KAC employees also maintain, repair, and overhaul the F118 engines in the U-2 and the General Electric CF6-50 series engines. Employees also assemble, inspect, and test new General Electric F110 engines that power the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-15 Eagle.

Origins

KAC arose from what was the San Antonio Air Logistics Center. This government-operated engine depot was slated to close as part of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission of 1995. The military engine work done in San Antonio was to be moved to other engine depots.

The US Air Force Propulsion Business Area, or PBA, competition in 1998 gave San Antonio another shot at military engine work. The winner of the competition would receive a fifteen-year contract to maintain Air Force F100, TF39, and T56 engines and related aircraft accessories. Lockheed Martin teamed with Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, or OC-ALC, located at Tinker AFB, to compete for the contract. TF39 and T56 work would be done by Lockheed Martin at Kelly. F100 work would be done by the existing engine depot in Oklahoma. The only other competitor consisted of a team of three major engine manufacturers—Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and General Electric.

Lockheed Martin and OC-ALC won the competition in February 1999. KAC and Port San Antonio were established the same year.

PBA Success

The PBA contract runs through 2014 and is reviewed annually by the US Air Force. “The team has received the Air Force’s highest overall rating of excellent for the past ten years,” Artymovich noted. “For 2010, as the most recent example, we had 100 percent on-time deliveries that have been 99.98 percent defect-free. That performance covers nearly 13,000 items, including engines and engine components.”

The center has excelled in other ways as well. “First and foremost, we have succeeded in supporting our warfighters,” Artymovich continued. “We have, for example, doubled the on-wing performance of the TF39.” On-wing performance is the amount of time an engine stays in service before it has to be returned for maintenance, repair, or overhaul—what is termed MRO in the aircraft engine industry.

KAC has also handled unexpected, but critical, increases in demand. The US military surge in operations in 2010 put a heavy toll on engine in-service hours. These engines were also operating in severe environments. The TF39 workload increased forty percent as a result.

“We handled the surge without a problem,” Artymovich noted. “It’s important to the country that we are equipped to handle increased workloads. We have a flexible workforce and the industrial capacity needed to deal with surges.”

Capacity And Investments

Capacity for engine MRO facilities equates to test cells. Every completed engine must go through a battery of tests before it can be reinstalled on an aircraft. While most facilities may have one or two test cells, KAC has eight—four for testing large turbofan engines and four for testing turboprops.

The test cells and a lot of other infrastructure were in place when Lockheed Martin moved to Kelly in 1999. The processes and facilities at KAC, however, have been streamlined and modernized since the PBA contract work began.

“We applied best commercial practices and used existing practices where they made sense,” explained Frank Cowan, business development director for KAC. “For example, the average part previously moved twenty-six miles as it went through the facility. We reduced that distance to three miles. The footprint of the facility consumed 1.8 million square feet of space in twenty-nine buildings. We reduced that footprint to just under one million square feet in five buildings. And we still have additional capacity.”

Cowan points to a $5 million Danobat high-speed, computer-controlled grinding machine as another example of the company’s investment at KAC. The machine grinds the blade tips of the rotor while the blades are being rotated at high speed, thereby presenting the blades to the grinding wheel under actual operating conditions.

KAC’s investment extends to the local community as well. The company worked with eighteen San Antonio and south Texas independent school districts and with St. Philip’s College to establish an apprenticeship program for area students. Graduates receive a Jet Engine Mechanic Level 1 certification at the end of the eighteen-month program. About ninety percent of graduates remain employed at KAC.

“Students begin their career path even earlier, in their junior year in high school, by attending classes at the Alamo Area Aerospace Academy,” explained Joe Wilson, who oversees the program for KAC. “They are assigned a mentor on the production floor. They get to see firsthand what working in industry is all about. Our workday starts at six in the morning. That in itself is a revelation for them.”

The program, which graduated its seventh class in December 2010, has been so successful that Toyota has expressed interest in creating a similar apprenticeship program throughout their manufacturing plants in North America.

Expansion Since PBA

The PBA contract formed a solid foundation on which KAC immediately started building. In 2003, a joint venture agreement with General Electric brought in MRO work for the F110 and F118 engines as well as assembly work for new F110 engines. (Most F110s for the UAE Air Force Block 60 F-16s were built at KAC.) In 2005, a joint venture agreement with Rolls-Royce solidified engineering support and sourced new parts for the T56.

In 2006, General Electric transferred work on KC-10 CF6-50 engines to KAC. In 2007, KAC began working on components for CF6-80 engines, the same engines that power the C-5M Super Galaxy. These engines are also used on a large number of commercial airliners including Boeing 747 and 767 and Airbus A300 series aircraft. In 2009, KAC was certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency to work on CF6-50 engines. The certification opens up new markets for engine work on commercial European engines, including those that power the DC-10, A300, and 747.

The Future

Commercial engine work represents a bright future for KAC. “We are applying the experience we have with the CF6-50 engines from the KC-10 to commercial aircraft, such as Airbus A300Bs and 747s, that use this same engine,” Artymovich said. (KAC is accumulating the necessary tooling, training, and other assets in 2011 to begin commercial MRO work on CF6-80 later this year.) The company is also targeting potential MRO work for CFM56 commercial engines (related to the CF6 family), of which about 18,000 are in service with more than 450 customers around the world.

“The processes for capturing business, contracting, inventorying, auditing, and almost everything else are different for commercial engines and as we find new ways to partner with the military,” Artymovich explained. “We are capitalizing on the best practices learned by working with the military to develop customized solutions for commercial customers.”

The obstacles to success, however, are outweighed by KAC’s advantages. The center offers responsiveness that comes from being independent and the volume that comes from extra capacity. “The major airlines have their own engine MRO facilities,” Artymovich said. “But their own fleets set their priorities. Independent companies in the MRO business don’t have the infrastructure needed to overhaul hundreds of engines per year.”

As for future military aircraft engine work, the success of the public/private partnership between OC-ALC and KAC makes a strong case for creating new partnerships.

“The PBA work has been extremely good for us,” Artymovich said. “However, we realize that it will not go on forever. So we have to look for ways to expand our military business. Expansion may involve partnering agreements for offloading work from government depots during future unexpected surges. Our immediate challenge is to get the word out that we can reduce cost and improve schedule performance. We want everyone to know Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is in the engine business.”

Published originally by CodeOne