The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
You are here: Home / Archives for aerospace

By

A Pentagon contractor’s 9,400% profit on a half-inch metal pin is challenged

As the Pentagon weighs whether to recommend legislation to require more disclosure by contractors, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform will review the audit and TransDigm’s pricing policies in a hearing on Wednesday.

The inspector general’s report “exposes how a company entrusted with supporting our military men and women took advantage of American taxpayers by overcharging the government more than $16 million” in parts sales sold between 2015 and 2017, Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a statement. The hearing will “investigate whether these pricing issues are more widespread, and demand answers,” he said.

From 2013 through 2015, according to the audit, the contractor increased the price of a valve that opens and closes to change the pressure of fuel moving through an engine to $9,801 from $543. In those years, TransDigm also charged $1,443 each for a “non-vehicular clutch disk” that cost $32 to make.

Planes, Copters

The Pentagon’s inspector general first raised pricing concerns over TransDigm in a 2006 report, followed by the one this year that was released in redacted form in February.

TransDigm manufactures spare parts for airplanes and helicopters including the AH-64 Apache, C-17 Globemaster III, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the CH-47 Chinook. From April 2012 through January 2017, DOD issued 4,942 contracts valued at $471 million to TransDigm.

Liza Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland-based company, said in an email “that we are not providing comments on specific questions related to the IG report.”

Keep reading article at: http://amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2019/05/14/transdigm-pentagon-costs

By

Aerospace opportunity conference to be held in Savannah on Sept. 15

Industry, government, and academia are collaborating to host a Supplier Opportunities and Aerospace Resources (SOAR) Conference on September 15, 2015 in Savannah, Georgia.

aerospaceDuring this aerospace industry supplier event, businesses will be able to:

  • Connect with other suppliers, to major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and to resources available to manufacturers in Georgia.
  • Promote company capabilities to OEMs.
  • Attend informative workshops to build skills and become more competitive.

Speakers and presenters include representatives from Gulfstream Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Georgia Tech.

Breakout workshops will be held on a variety of topics as well as a uniquely-designed match-making event for aerospace suppliers to connect to OEMs through one-on-one networking sessions.

Conference Details:
  • Date: September 15 (Registration ends Sept. 8)
  • Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Check-in at 8:00 a.m.)
  • Location: Coastal Georgia Center, Georgia Southern University, 305 Fahm St, Savannah, GA 31401
  • Price: $40 (lunch included)
  • Registration: http://bit.ly/1Pmy4OH

Sponsors of the event include the Georgia Center of Innovation for Aerospace, the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC), the Georgia Small Business Development Center (GaSBDC), the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), and Georgia Power.

By

Budget deal could cause mergers and acquisitions in Defense sector

A U.S. budget agreement making its way through Congress could set off the most robust series of mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and defense sectors in years, industry leaders and experts say.

The two-year agreement  is expected to reassure contractors on government spending and unleash pent-up demand for deals, according to analysts.

The budget deal will halve the $52 billion in automatic spending cuts facing the Pentagon in fiscal 2014 and would lower mandatory reductions in projected spending in 2015.

“It gives our customers in the U.S. government further certainty for their budget decisions,” Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp, said in an interview with Reuters.

“It does give us more certainty and helps us in our planning process,” she said, noting that the company is always looking for acquisitions to tap new markets or round out existing business areas.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/12/17/business/17reuters-aerospace-mergers-analysis.html?hp&_r=2&&pagewanted=all

By

NASA engineer, defense contractor knowingly bought illicit software from Chinese conspirator

Chinese resident Xiang Li has pleaded guilty to copyright infringement and wire fraud charges connected to a bootleg software conspiracy that involved federal sector accomplices, U.S. authorities are expected to announce today in Wilmington, Del.

A NASA engineer and government contractor knowingly bought some of the $100 million worth of critical computer programs that Li copied from mainly American companies, according to court papers and officials.

Between April 2008 and June 2011, Li peddled ill-gotten software through the Web to colluding customers, including the U.S. public sector employees, according to court documents filed on Jan. 4. Software that retails for as much as $3 million sold for between $20 and $1,200 on the Internet shopping sites he maintained. The pirated software has uses for, among other things, defense, space exploration and explosive simulation.

See undercover videos of sting operation (courtesy Defense Video & Imagry Distribution System):

1. Avoiding Problems with Customs

2. Interacting with Customs

3. Ignoring victim company requests to cease & desist

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2013/01/nasa-engineer-defense-contractor-knowingly-bought-illicit-software-chinese-conspirator/60525/.

Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter