Insitu lands Navy contract
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
In a press briefing on Monday, Insitu CEO Dr. Steve Sliwa made no attempt to contain his excitement in announcing the success in getting the contract from the U.S. Navy for its Integrator unmanned aircraft system.
More important than the $43.1 million contract is the designation as a “program of record” which, Sliwa explained, is a sign of “getting to the next stage.” It means Insitu is now a player in the federal contracts arena, which could mean hundreds of millions more in future contracts.
The current award is to continue to develop the Integrator per specifications of the Small Tactical Unmanned Air System (STUAS)/ Tier II contract. The initial call for bids asked for projects that were already capable of flight, not something still on the drafting table. There were four companies participating in the flight tests, and Insitu had the winning bid. Next is to add the payload specifications and demonstrate flight capabilities under situations called for in the STUAS/Tier II contract. The project is under management of Insitu’s Vice President of Emerging Programs, Bill Clark. “I’m anxious to do the field tests,” says Clark, “doing extreme cases…larger payloads. It will be the last portion of flight tests.”
As they accomplish the two-year manufacturing and engineering phase, the company will then bid on production contracts, which are all but guaranteed, assuming satisfactory accomplishment of the development steps and availability of federal funding. Production of up to 56 systems is expected in 2013, which Sliwa says will generate hundreds of millions of dollars and there will likely be subsequent contracts with foreign services for hundreds of millions more. Partnerships in the venture are The Boeing Company (parent company of Insitu), Harris Corporation, Corsair Engineering, and Black Ram Engineering Services.
The added significance of having a project of record, says Sliwa, is that they now have a program manager within the government. It also becomes something that state legislators can advocate. The Scan Eagle contracts have been short-term contracts and were not at the level where lawmakers were able to discuss the merit of budgeting for such items.
With this contract, Insitu now has a government project manager coordinating with the company on the fulfillment of the contract. The project manager, Capt. J.R. Brown, said, “I’m looking forward to fielding the capabilities of STUAS to our forward deployed forces. This critical system will greatly increase their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in theater.”
It is the increased payload in terms of cameras and communication technology that the Navy and Marine Corps were looking for. The advantage Integrator brings is multiple, high-resolution imagery that is transmitted through line-of-sight digital data links. At the same time, it provides more flexibility as its launch and retrieval system is the same as Insitu’s Scan Eagle system which has been in service since 2004. Integrator has about nine-times the available power of Scan Eagle for operating payload.
Sliwa says Insitu is working with Boeing real estate development to address consolidation of their 23 sites in the Gorge. There will still be more than one location in the Gorge, plus the location in Vancouver, which houses 80 employees. Sliwa describes the Gorge as an ideal location, with access to the Vancouver-Portland area and their test site at Boardman. Boardman is special because FAA rules do not accommodate flight of unmanned aircraft in other locations. Insitu has a cooperative development and research agreement with the FAA to develop regulations that address unmanned aircraft. Some of the work is already being tested in Australia, where Insitu also has facilities. While the military contract is important for Insitu’s future, the commercial market is also huge. The company growth in the past year is greater than the total revenue generated in 2008 and there are many applications of the technology once domestic flying becomes approved, according to Sliwa.
In the meantime, Insitu is set for growth with the new contract. “Integrator provides unsurpassed growth capability for expanding into new and future missions,” says Clark. “With the award of this contract, Integrator will continue the Insitu legacy of supporting our troops in harm’s way.”
Hastings comments on federal deficit, health care, and Obama citizenship
Lou Marzeles
Editor
One of the hot questions deftly fielded by U.S. Congressman Doc Hastings at the Greater Goldendale Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon meeting Monday was: is President Obama a legitimate citizen of the U.S?
“Where was he really born?” someone in the crowd asked.
“That’s been settled,” the congressman responded, “and it’s not an issue.” He paused a moment, then reflected on the fact that John McCain was born in Panama.
Hastings commented on several constituent concerns at the luncheon, held at Sodbuster’s Restaurant, beginning his remarks with a discussion of the general legislative picture in Washington, D.C. “This is the most unusual legislative session I’ve ever been involved with in my years that I’ve had the privilege of being a congressman from this district,” Hastings said. “And I am somewhat concerned, and that’s saying it mildly, with some of the things going on in this congress.”
The concern is, not surprisingly, over money. “The budget that the president sent up to Congress this year proposes to spend $3.8 trillion of your tax dollars,” Hastings said. “The troubling part of it was that he proposed to pay for that budget with a revenue stream of $2.2 trillion. You can see that there’s a disparity of $1.6 trillion. To put it another way, 43 cents out of every dollar is to be spent on borrowed money. And this comes on top of the $1.2 trillion in deficits we had last year. As a result of the president sending up this budget like this, the Congress is not going to enact the budget.
“Regardless of how you look at this, it is totally irresponsible, in my view.”
Hastings concerns about federal spending extend to the health care bill passed earlier this year. The bill, Hastings suggested, proposes too many expenses on too many people for too many coverage items, without allowing sufficient choices to those paying for it.
Hasting also cited the proposed clean water act as potentially troublesome. “No one is against clean water,” he said. “But the problem is that they want to take out the word ‘navigable’ in the bill.” The effect of that, he said, would be too much federal oversight on too many waterways.
During questions and answers, Hastings said that although the health care bill has passed, its effects might still be mitigated by the House of Representatives refusing to approve funding for its provisions.
Assaults and thefts make for busy police week
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Two vehicle thefts and stolen wire topped police action last week. Goldendale Police didn’t have to work too hard in solving one of the vehicle thefts. According to police, Willie Burch called the owner of the vehicle, which was parked on Main Street, Wednesday night and said he was going to steal the car. Sure enough, the owner found his car gone later that night and called police. The police went to Burch’s residence and found him with the vehicle nearby and the keys in Burch’s residence. He was arrested for vehicle theft. The second theft remains unsolved. A white, 1992 Ford Tempo was reported stolen from the 500 Block of East Collins St. on Aug. 1, and has yet to be found.
Sometime on Saturday night, approximately 300 feet of copper wire was stolen from the Doubravsky gravel pit off East Broadway. The wire was said to be worth about $10 per foot. No suspects have been identified.
A pair of assaults were also reported during the week and a fight involving several individuals also drew police attention. Jordan Prociw was arrested on multiple charges stemming from a Saturday evening fight at World War II Park. Prociw was accused of displaying a knife during the fight and was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon. Prociw, 20, was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
An adult male was found on East Broadway on Sunday, bleeding heavily from a head wound. The victim reported that he was at Skate Park when an individual got out of an older Datsun pickup and beat him. Police are looking for vehicle and suspect.
On July 27, a fight was in progress around 12:30 a.m. at the 600 block of South Golden involving several individuals, most of whom fled the scene when police arrived. Officers confiscated a shotgun with a broken stock and arrested Chas Warner, believing he used the gun to strike an individual or do damage to a vehicle. Police continue to investigate. |
