Saturday, November 26, 2005
U.S. Shifts Spy-Satellite Work From Boeing to Lockheed Martin
By ANDY PASZTOR and JONATHAN KARP
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 23, 2005; Page B2
Concerned about extensive technical problems and multibillion-dollar cost overruns on a spy-satellite program run by Boeing Co., U.S. intelligence agencies have decided to shift a big chunk of the work to rival Lockheed Martin Corp., according to industry and government officials.
Intelligence chief John Negroponte briefed lawmakers yesterday on the unusual move to strip Boeing of an important portion of the highly classified, six-year project, called Future Imagery Architecture, or FIA. The government plans to sign a contract with Lockheed to complete the development of so-called electro-optical satellites, similar to orbiting telescopes and designed to provide clear, high-resolution pictures of small objects on Earth.
Financial and other details haven't been released, both companies said they hadn't been officially notified of changes and intelligence officials said only that the FIA program is being "restructured."
As news of Mr. Negroponte's decision spread among lawmakers throughout the Pentagon, details emerged about government efforts over the years to elicit assistance on the project from current and former Lockheed officials. At the request of senior intelligence officials, former Lockheed Chairman and Chief Executive Vance Coffman this year served as a member of a special government-created review team that overwhelmingly recommended stripping Boeing of some work on the troubled program. Through a spokesman, Mr. Coffman declined to comment.
The anticipated shake-up, affecting one of the government's most secretive and expensive classified programs, threatens to damage Boeing's long-term strategy to establish itself as a world-wide leader in satellites, military space and intelligence systems. Despite restructurings, management changes and budget increases, by some estimates the program is $5 billion above initial cost projections.
Boeing's victory over Lockheed in 1999 as the prime contractor for FIA was seen by industry officials as a shocking upset, since Lockheed had dominated the production of U.S. spy-satellites for decades. But almost from the beginning of the program, according to executives and former intelligence officials familiar with the details, the government sought systems-engineering expertise and other assistance from Lockheed. The goal was to help shore up Boeing's work on the electro-optical sensors -- the very component that has now been shifted to Lockheed -- by devising ways to better stabilize the imaging telescopes.
Lockheed agreed to provide Boeing a limited number of systems engineers, these people said, but balked at making a larger commitment, arguing that it needed to save its top-notch engineers for its own programs. Lockheed also had a separate and broader role as a technical and engineering adviser to the National Reconnaissance Office, or NRO, which oversees spy satellites.
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 23, 2005; Page B2
Concerned about extensive technical problems and multibillion-dollar cost overruns on a spy-satellite program run by Boeing Co., U.S. intelligence agencies have decided to shift a big chunk of the work to rival Lockheed Martin Corp., according to industry and government officials.
Intelligence chief John Negroponte briefed lawmakers yesterday on the unusual move to strip Boeing of an important portion of the highly classified, six-year project, called Future Imagery Architecture, or FIA. The government plans to sign a contract with Lockheed to complete the development of so-called electro-optical satellites, similar to orbiting telescopes and designed to provide clear, high-resolution pictures of small objects on Earth.
Financial and other details haven't been released, both companies said they hadn't been officially notified of changes and intelligence officials said only that the FIA program is being "restructured."
As news of Mr. Negroponte's decision spread among lawmakers throughout the Pentagon, details emerged about government efforts over the years to elicit assistance on the project from current and former Lockheed officials. At the request of senior intelligence officials, former Lockheed Chairman and Chief Executive Vance Coffman this year served as a member of a special government-created review team that overwhelmingly recommended stripping Boeing of some work on the troubled program. Through a spokesman, Mr. Coffman declined to comment.
The anticipated shake-up, affecting one of the government's most secretive and expensive classified programs, threatens to damage Boeing's long-term strategy to establish itself as a world-wide leader in satellites, military space and intelligence systems. Despite restructurings, management changes and budget increases, by some estimates the program is $5 billion above initial cost projections.
Boeing's victory over Lockheed in 1999 as the prime contractor for FIA was seen by industry officials as a shocking upset, since Lockheed had dominated the production of U.S. spy-satellites for decades. But almost from the beginning of the program, according to executives and former intelligence officials familiar with the details, the government sought systems-engineering expertise and other assistance from Lockheed. The goal was to help shore up Boeing's work on the electro-optical sensors -- the very component that has now been shifted to Lockheed -- by devising ways to better stabilize the imaging telescopes.
Lockheed agreed to provide Boeing a limited number of systems engineers, these people said, but balked at making a larger commitment, arguing that it needed to save its top-notch engineers for its own programs. Lockheed also had a separate and broader role as a technical and engineering adviser to the National Reconnaissance Office, or NRO, which oversees spy satellites.
# posted by reckoner @ 6:05 AM 
