The Defense Department announced the winners of the 2007 Performance-Based Logistics Awards on September 26, recognizing Boeing, GE Aviation and Raytheon and their military branch partners.
The third annual Secretary of Defense PBL Awards, jointly developed by DoD and the Aerospace Industries Association, acknowledged outstanding government- industry partnerships at the system, subsystem and component level. PBL is a logistics discipline that focuses on performance and capability rather than a product or service alone.
Boeing won the System Level Award, along with the U.S. Navy, for the F/A- 18 Integrated Readiness Supply Teaming program. The FIRST program provides support equipment, training, maintenance planning, technical data and other services to the Navy fighter crews. It enabled Super Hornet mission capable rates to increase from 57 percent in May 2000 to 73 percent in May of this year.
Raytheon and the U.S. Army won the Sub-System Level Award for logistics support for the Improved Target Acquisition System, which is used to guide TOW (Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided) missiles. The program uses existing infrastructure to maximize Army depot support of items common to ITAS and the M220 Ground TOW 2 missile system. Raytheon's performance has exceeded all contract requirements, including 99-plus percent average operational readiness, and predicted costs savings total $300 million.
GE Aviation and the U.S. Navy were recognized with the Component Level Award for the T700 aircraft engine, which is used on the H-60 Seahawk and the AH-1W SuperCobra helicopters. GE Aviation's contract provides complete repair and replacement support for the four components making up the engine core. The PBL program delivered an average of 99 percent first pass material availability, up from 64 percent, plus zero backordered parts and a 3.4 percent price reduction. The program netted the Navy an additional $18.7 million in cost avoidance.
Founded in 1919, the Aerospace Industries Association represents the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems, aircraft engines, materiel, and related components, equipment services and information technology.
