Pacific Aerosystems, Israeli Firm in Face-Off for Big Navy Contract
If Pacific Aerosystems’ “remotely piloted vehicle” wins a Nov. 18 flight test at the U.S. Navy Weapons Center at China Lake, the San Diego-based company could snare a $50-million U.S. Navy contract that apparently has eluded some of the giants of the aerospace industry.
Only Pacific Aerosystems and Mazlat, an Israeli firm with a Baltimore-based partner, were able to meet Navy specifications and deliver the systems for a mid-November test, said A.E. (Gene) Dotson, Pacific Aerosystems’ vice president for technical development.
Consequently, one of those firms will be awarded the contract, which could grow to $100 million if the Navy were to exercise all its options, Dotson said. The Navy would use the remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) system to conduct reconnaissance flights over hostile territory, and to serve as a radio relay station for Marines deployed in the battlefield.
Aerospace companies that decided against making a bid--or that dropped out of the running--were Lear Siegler’s Developmental Sciences Division, Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, which has built RPVs for the U.S. Air Force, and Lockheed, which is developing an RPV for the U.S. Army. Canadair, Boeing Military Airplane Co., and E-Systems also failed to make bids, according to Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.
Official Complains
However, an official at one of those aerospace companies has complained that the Navy limited the competition by tailoring specifications that favored an Israeli firm.
The Navy “wanted to buy the Israeli system,” complained Gerald R. Seemann, vice president and general manager of Santa Monica-based Developmental Sciences, which previously won a contract to build RPVs for the U.S. Army. “The (Navy bid process) was a little bit suspect.”
Although Developmental Sciences “spent a lot of money on our (Navy) proposal,” the company abandoned its bid because the tightly written specifications “were competition-limiting,” Seemann said.
“Pacific Aerosystems has never built an airplane in America and (the Israeli system) has only had a few test flights,” Seemann said. “It’s never been used in combat or a war situation.”
Dotson acknowledged that “the time constraints have got us in a box.” He added that his company has already spent more than $100,000 to build the system that it will flight test on Nov. 18.
Dotson said that although the Navy specifications “defined what hardware to use,” the short time before the flight tests almost mandated that “bidders use an existing system.”
Modifications Frustrating
Consequently, Pacific Aerosystems crews are scurrying to modify the RPV, the launcher and an electronic tracking system that will be bolted to beds of two General Motors Corp. pick-up trucks. The company is also awaiting an explosives shipment from Italy that is needed to launch the vehicle.
Dotson acknowledged that Navy-required modifications are “a little bit frustrating” because they “are not necessary for our system.”
Even if Pacific Aerosystems’ RPV performs well at China Lake, the bid winner must start shipments during the first quarter of 1986, a tough order for the privately held company that has 140 employees and anticipated annual sales of about $7 million in 1985.
Pacific Aerosystems “has never built an airplane in America,” observed Developmental Sciences’ Seemann, “So I don’t know how they’re going to convince the Navy . . . (that Pacific Aerosystems) can deliver 21 airplanes in nine months.”
Process Speeded Up
The company, which has been producing RPV components and electronics since 1977, decided to build an entire RPV system in 1982, Dotson said. He added that the U.S. armed forces grew interested after Israel began using the devices.
Dotson said the U.S. armed forces speeded up their bid processes after a plane piloted by Navy Lt. Robert O. Goodman Jr. was shot down over Lebanon on Dec. 4, 1983. Goodman, who was held captive by Syria, was released after then-presidential hopeful Jesse Jackson interceded.
The RPVs will be launched from a mobile launcher that Pacific Aerosystems has designed. Although a rocket propellant is used to launch the devices, once in flight they are powered by a small internal combustion engine that drives a propeller. Although Dotson said that the U.S. armed forces used RPVs during the Vietnam War, “the aviation side of the Army, Navy and Marines suffered from the ‘white scarf syndrome,’ ” preferring to use manned aircraft for reconnaissance activities.
“But an RPV can do things that a manned aircraft can’t do, and you don’t have to have an intelligent human being sitting up there at risk of getting shot down,” said Dotson.
