The Low Cost Interceptor (LCI), which the U.S. Army is developing for cruise missile defense, flew for the first time Aug. 3. During what the Army described as a successful Short Hot Launch test, the missile traveled about 1.25 miles downrange at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. LCI is designed to destroy unsophisticated cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles and is intended to be a relatively inexpensive complement to high-priced interceptors that would be saved for more advanced targets.
KAMAN RESULTS: Net earnings for helicopter maker Kaman Corp. of Bloomfield, Conn., rebounded sharply in the second quarter of 2005, while net sales also posted gains, the company said Aug. 3. Second quarter 2005 net earnings were $2.8 million, compared to a loss of $1.7 million for the same period a year ago. Net sales were $271.3 million, a 9.6% increase over the $247.5 million in net sales in the second quarter of 2004.
Gen. Donald G. Cook (USAF Ret.) has been named a member of the board of directors. Crane commanded the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile force and was director for expeditionary aerospace force implementation at U.S. Air Force headquarters.
Boeing announced Aug. 3 that it has completed the $700 million sale of its Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power business to United Technologies subsidiary Pratt and Whitney, effective Aug. 2. First announced in February, the sale includes sites in California, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, where Rocketdyne employs roughly 3,000 people.
An article in the July 28 DAILY, headlined "Former ISS executives plead guilty to illegal job negotiations," incorrectly described the results of a search by Army criminal investigators. Evidence of bribery was found in the home of a former U.S. Army colonel, but did not relate to Information Systems Support Inc.
The U.S. Army should reopen a competition for desktop computer support, or at least throw out the contract award to winner Titan Corp. and give the work to another competitor, the Government Accountability Office said in a new bid protest decision.
DIVIDEND: General Dynamics' board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of 40 cents a share on the company's stock, payable Nov. 10 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 7.
David A. Rock has been appointed CEO and a member of the board of directors. Rock is currently president and chief operating officer and will remain president.
Satellite operator Telesat Canada said Aug. 3 that it set new quarterly records for revenue and earnings. Net earnings for the company's second quarter of fiscal 2005 jumped 35%, to $26.3 million, and operating revenues hit $137.3 million, a 62% increase from the $85 million for the same period in 2004. In the quarter, Telesat assumed control of XM Satellite Radio's XM 3 spacecraft, which it will manage along with the company's XM 1 and 2 satellites.
The F-15 Eagle "is not a stealth aircraft and its computer systems are based on obsolete technology," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), so the Defense Department should buy sufficient numbers of the "truly transformational" F/A-22 Raptor. Hatch, a self-described "ardent supporter" of the Raptor, wants a nonbinding "sense of the Senate" resolution saying the defense secretary should rethink planned Raptor cuts "to ensure that sufficient numbers of F/A-22 Raptor aircraft are procured in order to meet applicable requirements in the national defense strategy."
Ammunition and simulator maker Allied Defense Group said Aug. 2 that it anticipates "a very weak first half," but expects business to pick up in the second half of the year, and affirmed its earnings outlook of $1.48 per share. The Vienna, Va.-based company's Mecar ammunition group usually gets most of its revenues in the second half of the year, "which is what we are seeing this year," John J. Marcello, the company's new CEO and president, said in a letter to shareholders.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has kept a spotlight on the Air Force's failed Boeing tanker lease and the Army's Future Combat Systems contract, has submitted legislation to tighten defense acquisition requirements, particularly over combat vehicles and leasing transactions. The legislation was submitted for proposal as an amendment to the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill (S. 1042) that was under consideration in the Senate before it adjourned for the August recess.
The U.S. Army has awarded a contract worth $17.6 million to Longbow LLC to begin work on the Fire Control Radar Electronics Unit for the Apache Longbow Block III modernization project. The contract was signed earlier this month, the Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman joint venture said Aug. 2. The radar electronics unit allows the Apache to locate, classify, prioritize and engage targets in all weather, and uses technology salvaged from the canceled RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program.
Discovery's crew spent much of Aug. 2 preparing for the next day's delicate on-orbit repair job during which Astronaut Steve Robinson will remove two protruding tile gap-fillers from the shuttle's underbelly. "It's conceptually very simple, but it has to be done very, very carefully," Robinson said during a press conference from orbit Aug. 2.
BATTERIES CONTRACT: Industrial battery maker EnerSys of Reading, Pa., has been awarded a $7 million contract to provide the Defense Department with advanced military tactical vehicle batteries, the company said Aug. 2. The batteries will be supplied over the next 12 months. The award is a second-year option of a five-year contract awarded to EnerSys by the Defense Logistics Agency's supply center in Richmond, Va. The batteries have been used by the U.S. Stryker brigade and Marines in Iraq.
Armor Holdings Inc. said Aug. 2 that a bankruptcy court has approved the company's previously announced acquisition of Second Chance Body Armor. Jacksonville, Fla.-based Armor Holdings, which produces vehicle armor and security products, said last week that it had purchased Second Chance at auction for $45 million (DAILY, July 28). The U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Michigan, OK'd the sale.
Curtiss-Wright will produce components of the Stryker Mobile Gun System for General Dynamics Land Systems under a $4 million contract, the company said Aug. 2. Curtiss-Wright will produce the Autoloader Controller, Replenisher Controller and Turret System Electronic Unit for the gun system through its Motion Control segment in Santa Clarita, Calif. Deliveries are to be completed by November 2006, the company said.
Lord Corp., which makes mounts, bearings, dampers and other equipment for aircraft noise and vibration control, is expanding its Dayton, Ohio facility, the company said Aug. 2. The $3.8 million expansion will add 38,000 square feet to the existing 90,000-square-foot building, one of the main manufacturing sites for the company's aerospace and defense products.
Net sales and net income for Cleveland-based Hawk Corp., which builds specialized components for aerospace and other industries, grew in both the second quarter and first six months of 2005, the company said Aug. 2. Net sales were $70.9 million in the second quarter of 2005, compared with $63.4 million for the same period the year before, an 11.8% increase. Second quarter 2005 net income climbed 13.3%, to $1.7 million, compared with $1.5 million the year before.
BOWING OUT: China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) announced Aug. 2 that it withdrew its bid to buy Unocal Corp. due to "the political environment in the U.S." The mostly state-owned company, China's largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, trumpeted its offer but added that the deal's success was unsure because of maneuvering on Capitol Hill by China critics looking to harden the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) against such proposals (DAILY, July 25).
