Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Driven by gains in contract research and development, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Irvine Sensors Corp. increased its total revenues by 10% in fiscal 2004, but still posted a net loss of $4.1 million. FY '04 total revenues were $13.9 million, up about $1.2 million from FY '03's total revenues of $12.6 million, the company said. About $11.9 million of FY '04's total revenues came from contract research and development, an annual record for the company.

DIVIDEND INCREASE: The Boeing Co.'s board of directors has approved a 25% increase to the quarterly dividend, the second such increase announced this year, the company said Dec. 13. The quarterly dividend is now 25 cents per share, and the annual dividend $1 a share, payable March 4, 2005.

Honeywell and Lockheed Martin Corp. recently reached agreements to buy companies based in the United Kingdom to improve their niche capabilities, the companies said Dec. 13. Lockheed Martin plans to buy STASYS, a U.K.-based firm specializing in network communications and defense interoperability. Lockheed Martin has not disclosed the terms of the acquisition, but said the closing is expected in early 2005.

CANNON MUNITIONS: United Defense Industries Inc. of Minneapolis will serve as prime contractor and team with Bofors Defence AB of Sweden and France-based GIAT Industries in producing 155mm Bonus precision cannon munitions for the U.S. military, UDI said Dec. 13. Financial terms were not disclosed. Bonus munitions were developed by Bofors and GIAT and are currently being produced in Sweden and France. United Defense also produces and develops combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns and missile launchers.

Two Boeing X-45A unmanned aerial vehicles made their second and third coordinated flights earlier this month, Boeing said Dec. 10. The X-45As are smaller versions of the X-45C UAV Boeing is developing as part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program. The aircraft were controlled by a single operator and flew in several formations over NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Dec. 3, Boeing said.

NAVY

Space Communication Corp. (SCC) of Japan and Boeing are investigating a fuel tank problem onboard SSC's Superbird-6 satellite that has "significantly shortened" its mission life, according to the company. SCC discovered the problem Nov. 28 when Superbird-6 experienced an attitude error that has been blamed on insufficient pressure in one of its fuel tanks.

The Army on Dec. 8 released the final draft of a request for proposals (RFP) for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), with responses due Jan. 24. The RFP originally was scheduled for release in late November. The Army will award a $30 million research, development, test and evaluation contract for fiscal 2005 for planning purposes only, an Army Aviation and Missile Command representative told The DAILY. The RDT&E period will last from 2005 to 2008, he said.

SMALL-CALIBER AMMO: Advanced weapon and space systems company Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis will provide more than $300 million worth of small-caliber ammunition to the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command, the company said Dec. 13. ATK will produce 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and .50-caliber ammunition. Deliveries are set to be completed by Sept. 30, 2006.

EADS increased its revenue guidance for 2005 to 33 billion euros ($43.6 billion) and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to more than 2.4 billion euros ($3.2 billion), the company said Dec. 13. For 2004, EADS forecast revenues of 32 billion euros ($42.3 billion) and EBIT of 2.2 billion euros ($2.9 billion). The 2005 guidance represents 3% revenue growth and an increase of more than 9% for EBIT, EADS said.

FOREIGN SUPPLIERS: The U.S. Defense Department buys "very few defense articles and components from foreign suppliers," according to a new report released by DOD's industrial policy office. In fiscal 2003, international firms received only about 1.5% of all DOD contracts for defense articles and components. DOD "employs foreign contractors and subcontractors judiciously, and in a manner consistent with national security requirements," the congressionally mandated report says. Some lawmakers have expressed concern about DOD's dependence on foreign suppliers.

CPI Aerostructures Inc. will build two pod structural housings for Northrop Grumman to test as part of the U.S. Navy's Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS), the company said Dec. 13. The work will be done under a $500,000 contract from Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, and CPI plans to deliver the housings in the second quarter of 2005. Northrop Grumman got a $36.9 million contract in 2002 to develop the RAMICS system, an airborne anti-mine system designed to operate from an Sikorsky MH-60S helicopter (DAILY, Aug. 28).

Lockheed Martin Corp. will continue work on the U.S. Army with the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) system under a $30 million contract, the company said Dec. 13. The CCTT is composed of computer-driven combat vehicle simulators and workstations that train soldiers to operate M1A1 and M1A2 tanks, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Humvees, the company said. The system is being produced in Orlando, Fla. Lockheed Martin received an initial development contract in 1992 and began full-rate production on the CCTT in 1999.

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

A flight-test of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system has been delayed several days by bad weather and a broken piece of test-range equipment. Integrated Flight Test 13C (IFT-13C), originally planned for Dec. 8, was postponed because of heavy clouds at Kodiak Island, Alaska, the target missile's launch site (DAILY, Dec. 10). Attempts to make up the test on Dec. 9 and Dec. 11 were stymied by rainstorms at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, where the interceptor is to be fired.

AIRSPACE RESEARCH: Helping develop America's next-generation airspace management system will be a top priority for NASA's aeronautics directorate, says Administrator Sean O'Keefe. Along with the Federal Aviation Administration and Defense Department, NASA is a major player in the joint office developing the new system, which will be needed to keep up with projected growth in air traffic (DAILY, April 20). The office is "to the point now of parsing assignments ...

OPEN HATCH: The U.S. Army is improving its Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) Stryker variant to allow soldiers to stand up in the hatch to see what is behind their vehicle, says Col. Peter Fuller, project manager, Stryker Brigade Combat Team. "The vehicle's hatch, which provides armor protection during the reload operation, only opens 45 degrees and we found that soldiers want to stand up in the back while they are driving down the road. This puts more people with eyes looking around," he says.

NEW WARSHIP: The HMS Bulwark, the United Kingdom navy's newest warship, represents "a huge step forward in modernizing amphibious operations," the U.K. Ministry of Defence says. The Bulwark and its sister ship, the HMS Albion, "will be a pivotal element of U.K. expeditionary warfare capability for the next 30 years." The Bulwark can carry a crew of 700 and two Merlin helicopters, and "contains one of the largest and most sophisticated battlefield command systems ever installed in a Royal Navy warship," says Lord Willy Bach, the defense procurement minister.

Engineered Support Systems (ESSI) of St. Louis plans to buy Spacelink International LLC of Dulles, Va., the company said Dec. 9. Spacelink, which reported revenues of $95 million in 2003, has expanded from providing satellite ground terminals to being a full telecommunications company serving defense and intelligence agencies, ESSI said, which makes it an attractive buy.

MANY KITS: Boeing has delivered the 10,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kit, the company said Dec. 10. Boeing began producing the kits, which add GPS capability to Mk 80 bombs, in 1998, but production ramped up to 2,000 tail kits a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

MINE HUNTER: The Spanish navy has awarded Norway's Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace a 31 million kroner ($4.9 million) contract for the continued production of the Minesniper, an underwater vehicle that destroys sea mines, the company said Dec. 10. The agreement extends a deal signed in 2002 and brings the contract's total value to about 69 million kroners ($11.1 million). The remote-controlled Minesniper, which is two meters (2.1 yards) long and weighs about 30 kilograms (66.1 pounds), has been deployed on all six of Spain's Segura Class mine-clearing vessels.

MINUTEMAN SCHEDULE: The U.S. Air Force is revising the production schedule for the Minuteman III missile's Propulsion System Rocket Engine (PSRE) Life Extension Program (LEP) as part of a restructuring. The refurbishment of 586 PSREs will be extended over an extra year, fiscal 2011, allowing early production, especially in FY '05, to be slower than previously planned. The changes were spurred by recent budget cuts and by testing glitches, including a September 2003 steam-line rupture of a system used for static firings at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

U.K. CUTS: The United Kingdom's air force will reduce its number of recruits from 10,000 to 6,000 and lay off 2,750 people over the next three years under a "radical restructuring," the U.K. Ministry of Defence says. The cuts will help shrink personnel from 48,900 to 41,000 by 2008. Further reductions will be made through attrition. The cuts are "crucial to creating a flexible and adaptable RAF," Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram says.