Competition for the $1.4 billion contract to build the US Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) fleet has been reduced to two companies, with Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas each being awarded $60 million contracts on 20 December to produce final design proposals.
The EELV programme will replace the Atlas, Delta and Titan fleets of military boosters with variants of a common vehicle which will fulfil all small, medium and large launch requirements starting in 2002 (Flight International, 11-17 December, 1996).
Up to 200 military launches will be required to 2020, says the US Air Force. Using current vehicles would cost an estimated $20 billion, and the goal of the EELV programme is to reduce this by at least $5 billion.
MDC's Delta IV proposal is based on the existing DeltaII/III fleet, while Lockheed Martin's Atlas 2AR form the basis of its proposal. Boeing and Alliant TechSystems were eliminated from the final competition. A single contractor is to be selected in June.
Source: Flight International
