ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES had US$4m net income on US$934m sales in 3Q14 vs. $31m on $930m in 3q13. DASSAULT AVIATION bought back 8% of its share capital for €794m from AIRBUS GROUP, which now owns 38.32% (42.11% following cancellation by Dassault Aviation of 9% of treasury shares). Airbus is expected to sell back additional shares in 2015. THALES appointed M. Philippe Logak as acting chairman and CEO, following the resignation of Jean-Bernard Levy.
In a rare reversal of the national security establishment, the Israeli government has decided to decrease the planned procurement of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters from 50 to 33 aircraft in the coming years.
NASA is in the final stages of preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, which is set to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning.
Airbus has started selling off its share of French combat aircraft and business jet manufacturer Dassault Aviation. The company sold 4% of its share in Dassault back to its majority holder GIMD (Groupement Industriel Marcel Dassault) after trading in Paris closed on Nov. 28. The deal raised €794 million ($987 million) with the share valued at €980 per share, roughly a 9.2% discount over the last trading price of the day, according to Dassault.
RAF BRIZE NORTON, U.K. — The U.K. Royal Air Force now looks unlikely to receive all four of the Airbus A400M airlifters it had planned on by the end of this year. A series of technical issues and a longer-than-expected acceptance process for the first of the new transport aircraft, delivered to the main operating base at Brize Norton on Nov. 17 means that delivery of the fourth aircraft, and possibly the third, may now take place early next year.
NEW DELHI – India plans to assemble a consortium of private firms and state-run enterprises to make rockets and satellites in partnership with the country’s space agency over the next five years. Since its inception in the 1960s, the state-owned Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been the sole producer of satellites and launch vehicles, besides procuring subsystems and components from the private sector and state-run companies.
LONDON – The German government has started preliminary work on closing a long-awaited deal for new utility and attack helicopters. The German ministry of defense has submitted plans for the procurement of NH90 utility helicopters for both the German army and navy as well Tiger attack helicopters, to the country’s ministry of finance. The deal is due to be discussed by the budget committee of the Bundestag in the coming weeks, according to information released by the German defense ministry on Nov. 27.
Boeing and Korean Airlines are in contention for South Korea’s proposed KF-X fighter program, aiming to usurp Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and an indigenous stealth fighter design. Boeing is offering the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the program, industry officials say. The proposal must include substantial local manufacturing and upgrades, since South Korea’s major reason for developing the KF-X is to advance its industry.
BEIJING – The latest export development of Avic’s JL-9 supersonic trainer is due to fly in mid-2015, with the manufacturer moving into production of parts and assemblies for the first aircraft. This improved version, given the export designation FTC-2000G, has been approved for sale abroad, reports International Aviation, the Chinese partner magazine of Aviation Week.
KAMAN has $40m General Dynamics Canada contract to remanufacture/upgrade (with integrated mission system) four SH-2G Super Seasprites, and provide support for a fifth, for PERUVIAN NAVY, which is acquiring the aircraft from government of Canada. NORTHROP GRUMMAN has developed Viper 2.1 laser designed for all directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems. NORTHROP GRUMMAN has U.S. Navy contract to supply FlightPro Gen III mission computers for USMC H-1 upgrade program.
HOUSTON — NASA is borrowing a page from its shuttle past as the agency works largely in-house at Johnson Space Center to develop a multipurpose spacesuit for the astronauts assigned to its early piloted Orion missions. The Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit (MACES) is based on the distinctive orange pressure suits donned by shuttle astronauts for launches and landings after the fatal 1986 Challenger accident.
Hanwha Group will dominate South Korea’s aircraft engine, artillery and military electronics sub-sectors with the acquisition of a major stake in the defense businesses of conglomerate Samsung Group. Hanwha says it will buy a 32.4% share in Samsung Techwin, which in turn owns Samsung Thales jointly with Thales. Samsung Techwin makes the K-9 155mm self-propelled gun and General Electric F404 and T700 engines under license. Samsung Thales supplies the South Korean defense forces with radar and combat systems.
NEW DELHI – India has taken delivery of its sixth P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, just two months after it received its fifth P-8I as part of the eight aircraft ordered from Boeing. The final two aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2015. “The P-8I’s arrival in India is another key milestone for the program and marks our final delivery of the year,” says Dennis Swanson, vice president, Boeing Defense, Space and Security in India.
As the U.S. Navy continues to shape the requirements for its next small surface combatant, the service is solidifying its U.S. East Coast base of operations for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet of vessels, which currently fill that role. Capt. Paul Young assumed command of the newly formed commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron (LCSRON) 2 earlier this month in Mayport, Florida, the East Coast homeport for the ships, starting in 2016.
NEW DELHI – India has so far spent about 74 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) on its much-delayed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Mk-1) program, which is awaiting final operational clearance (FOC). “More than 2,700 flight tests have been completed utilizing 13 Tejas, and all trials are progressing well toward FOC,” new Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar told the upper house of Parliament. “The aircraft build standard documents have been released for series production of the aircraft.”
A Nov. 28 launch of the Astra-2G satellite atop a Russian Proton rocket has been postponed due to a problem with a gyro unit in the rocket’s Briz M upper stage, according to International Launch Services (ILS), the Reston, Va.-based company that markets commercial Proton missions. The company says the launch was postponed “due to the off-nominal operation of the Briz M upper stage gyro unit during planned preflight testing,” according to a Nov. 26 statement.
Congress should consider revising the cost cap legislation for the aircraft carrier CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford to require that all work included in the initial ship cost estimate is counted against the cap as the total price mounts, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a recent report. “The extent to which the lead Ford-class ship, CVN 78, will be delivered by its current March 2016 delivery date and within the Navy’s $12.9 billion estimate is dependent on the Navy’s plan to defer work and costs to the post-delivery period,” GAO says.
LONDON – A project that could result in a European multination buy of aerial-refueling aircraft has taken a step forward with the signing of cooperation agreements. The program started as a pooling and sharing initiative by the European Defense Agency (EDA) and is now being led by the Netherlands. It could result in joint procurement between several European states in what officials describe as a multinational, multirole tanker transport aircraft fleet (MMF) that could enter service by the end of the decade.
The Pentagon needs to get its shipping container management under better control, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. “DOD (Department of Defense) uses DOD or commercial carrier shipping containers to transport supplies worldwide,” GAO notes in its report, “Greater Awareness of Recommendations and Improvements in Data Quality Needed to Resolve Container-Management Challenges,” released earlier this month.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) NOV. 24-27 — 4th Annual Qatar Defence Logistics and Support Forum, Intercontinental Doha, Doha, Qatar. For more information go to www.qatardefencelogistics.com/
ALCOA completed acquisition of FIRTH RIXSON, U.K. (jet engine components) in cash/stock deal valued at about $2.85b to strengthen its aerospace portfolio; it expects purchase to increase company revenues by $1.6b in 2016 and $2b by 2019. AERO METALS ALLIANCE, U.K. acquired PROGRESSIVE ALLOY STEELS, SC (stainless steel and aerospace products).
HOUSTON – Humans will be noticeably absent from the NASA/Lockheed Martin Exploration Flight Test-1 Orion capsule as it embarks on its first spaceflight, a two-orbit test mission that will include a searing descent through the Earth’s atmosphere. But the agency intends to gather data from within the spacecraft critical to the welfare of future astronauts.
Boeing Defense Australia has signed a 25-year, A$600 million ($520 million) contract to train Royal Australian Army and Navy pilots under the Helicopter Aircrew Training System program. Flight training will be performed on 15 Airbus Helicopters EC135T2+ aircraft. Thales Australia will provide three full-flight simulators, other training devices, courseware and ground instructors. The contract includes the provision of a new flight-deck-equipped training vessel.
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish on Thursday, Nov. 27 and Monday, Dec. 1 due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The next two edition will be dated Friday, Nov. 28. and Tuesday, Dec. 2.
