Exército USA adia decisão sobre avião espião da Lockheed

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Bloomberg 14 Setembro 2005
U.S. Army Delays Decision on Revoking Lockheed's Spy Plane Contract

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Army said it delayed a decision on whether to revoke Lockheed Martin Corp.'s contract for a new spy plane that may cost $4.1 billion.
Lockheed, the largest U.S. defense contractor, had planned to use an Embraer EMB-145 airframe to house the equipment needed for battlefield intelligence and surveillance missions, such as eavesdropping on radio transmissions. The plane is too small for the 15,000 pounds of equipment.
Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Maryland, was given 60 days to "resolve on-going issues with the program'' and prove whether it can provide a plane capable of meeting the requirements, a statement from the Army Communications, Electronics and Life Cycle Command said. The program may be delayed by about two years and have "significant'' cost increases.
"We didn't deliver efficiently, effectively and well for our customer a complete and durable Aerial Common Sensor system solution,'' Robert Stevens, chief executive of Lockheed, said earlier today at a Morgan Stanley sponsored investor conference in Phoenix, Arizona. "In this case we did not do a sufficiently good job.''
Shares of Lockheed fell 34 cents to $62.19 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They've risen 15 percent in the past year.
Weight Problem
"Although we're issuing a stop-work order, it is important to note that we're not terminating the contract at this time,'' Edward Baird, the Army's top civilian for electronic warfare programs said in the statement.
The Army wants the plane, called the Aerial Common Sensor, to replace Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Guardrail aircraft, which have been in use for three decades in conflicts including the first Gulf War. Lockheed beat incumbent Northrop for the new program in August 2004.
The projected weight problem was discovered this April, after the program entered a detailed design review phase. The weight issue "was previously unanticipated'' and hidden by estimating tools used by Lockheed and the Army last year to assess the aircraft, Army program manager Lt. Col. Steven Drake said in a statement on Aug. 8.
"This is an area where you could say the performance appears not to have been great,'' Cai Von Rumohr, a Boston-based analyst with SG Cowen & Co. said in an earlier interview."Someone in the Army or the company should have figured out what the requirements were.''
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Cláudio Severino da Silva
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