Pacific Aerosystems Drops Effort for Navy Contract

Pacific Aerosystems has abandoned its attempt to win a $50-million contract to develop a remotely piloted vehicle for Navy reconnaissance and communications flights over hostile territory.

The privately owned, San Diego-based company withdrew late last month from a fly-off at the China Lake Weapons Testing Ground because of a delay in the shipment of explosives used in the vehicle’s booster device.

The company asked the Navy to extend the test to Jan. 6, but, “We haven’t heard from them, so I assume it was not granted,” said Gene Dotson, vice president of Pacific Aerosystems. “We asked them to consider it our letter of withdrawal if the extension was not going to be granted.”

Dotson said the Italian-made explosives, which were to have been shipped to the United States in early October, were delayed because of the Italian government’s recent attempts to keep explosives out of the hands of international terrorists. The Italian government refused to grant a shipping permit until Pacific Aerosystems had secured the necessary paper work from the U.S. government. The paper work was completed Oct. 15.

That permit delay forced Pacific Aerosystems to scurry to find a freighter that could transport the explosives to the United States.

“There is only one ship, one coming from France, and that won’t get (to the East Coast) until Dec. 10, which would place the explosives here about Dec. 20th,” Dotson said.

Only Pacific Aerosystems and an Israeli company with a U.S. partner entered the competition to win the Navy bid, and, with Pacific Aerosystems’ withdrawal, Dotson said the Israeli firm would evidently win the contract.

None of the nation’s major aerospace companies--including Lear Siegler’s Developmental Sciences Division, Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical and Lockheed--bid on the project. Last month, a spokesman for Lear Siegler said his company had dropped out of the competition because the Navy had tailored its bid request to favor the Israeli company.

Dotson, who previously acknowledged that Pacific Aerosystems’ bid for the remotely piloted vehicle was “dicey,” added that “it’s frustrating because the only problem was the lack of (the explosives for) the boosters.”

The Navy bid was Pacific Aerosystems’ first attempt at winning a contract for a complete remotely piloted vehicle. It had previously manufactured components that were incorporated in an Italian company’s vehicle.

Although Egypt’s armed forces are leaning toward Pacific Aerosystems’ vehicle, Dotson said, “We’re in this business to become a viable supplier to the U.S. military system. We’re a small company that’s just getting started.”