Lockheed Martin Corp., which has focused on small, "bolt-on" acquisitions in recent quarters, will consider larger deals in the $2-4-billion range, Chief Financial Officer Christopher E. Kubasik tells analysts. He projects the company will spend $3-4 billion over two years to acquire systems and information technology companies.
News that the lengthy and expensive effort to redesign the space shuttle external tank didn't prevent dangerously large pieces of foam insulation from falling off (see p. 20) may actually benefit NASA's program in the long run. Administrator Michael Griffin wanted to replace the aging space plane as soon as possible even before the pictures came back from the shuttle Discovery's launch. Now the latest demonstration of the shuttle system's fragility lends weight to his arguments, and Capitol Hill has taken notice.
Engineers working on NASA's planned James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have used the actively controlled hexagonal mirror segments at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii as analogs to test software designed to drive the adaptive optics on their deep-space instrument. Using the JWST software to drive the Keck optics, a team from Ball Aerospace and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory demonstrated the rough-focus mode designed to begin setting up the JWST for precise observation of very distant objects from the Earth-Sun L-2 Lagrangian point.
"The key is security. And no one's going to pay any amount of money, $80, $100--or $15--unless you provide some service and that service needs to be that expedited [screening] process . . . . You have to ensure security and the privacy of the information that's provided." -- Larry Zmuda, Unisys Corp.
The U.S. is introducing a new technology into the fight in Iraq that counteracts the effect of improvised explosive devices and bombs by making them ignite prematurely. It could slash the number of successful insurgent attacks, contends a top Marine Corps commander who is returning to combat there.
The Czech government last month approved a plan to privatize Aero Vodochody (the country's largest defense and aircraft maker), in a two-round public tender process. The Czech Consolidation Agency will run the sale of 99.97% of the company. One of the selection criteria is the ability to satisfy Czech military interests to ensure long-term support for the 24 L-159A trainers now fielded. Aero Vodochody also maintains older L-39Ts and works with Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. on the Ae270 turboprop regional aircraft.
The Pentagon is mothballing its final Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile--a system that despite generating significant stateside controversy is credited by many defense analysts with breaking the back of the Soviet Union. The LGM-118A Peacekeeper packs more nuclear punch than any other missile in the Pentagon's arsenal. It retires as the U.S. continues to refine a new strategy against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Eugene Lee Carrick (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from director of the scientific and technology solutions division for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, McLean, Va. Albert A. Pisani (see photo) has become vice president-information superiority. He succeeds James J. Lindenfelser, who is now vice president-customer relationship management. Pisani was director of homeland security for the TASC unit.
Bring it on. That's basically the Airbus reaction to Boeing's newly launched 737-900ER, with representatives for the European aircraft maker saying they see no need to alter plans for the A320 family to counter Seattle's latest endeavor.
A year after they began making a splash, some of Southeast Asia's budget carriers are casting about to remain afloat. Analysts predicted inevitable consolidation, but it's coming two years earlier than many thought.
Richard Branson and Steve Fossett will attempt to beat the airplane and balloon records for the longest flight by 4,000 mi. in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. Fossett is to fly around the world, solo, nonstop and without refueling, as he did in March in the same Burt Rutan-designed aircraft, and this time cover about 29,000 mi. in about 90 hr. The current airplane record for distance without landing is held by another Rutan-designed aircraft, the Voyager, which flew 24,987 mi. in 1986; the balloon record is held by Breitling Orbiter 3, which flew for 25,361 mi.
Scott C. Rayder, Chief of Staff (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C.)
Given our enthusiasm about embarking on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) first unmanned aerial vehicle mission aimed at filling research and operational gaps in environmental areas, we appreciated "Civilians Try Drones" (AW&ST June 27, p. 54).
Waiting times at airport security checkpoints could soar, if congressionally approved cuts in the number of federal screeners become law, a top Transportation Security Administration official says. Thomas Blank, TSA's acting deputy chief, says the House reduced funding for the nation's 45,000 airport screeners in the Fiscal 2006 Homeland Security Dept. spending bill. With the cuts, only 43,000 screeners could be supported. The Senate version would decrease the screener force by 6,000.
Poaching of pilots between fast-growing airlines in India is worsening, and carriers are having to cancel flights on a regular basis. The latest victim is Air-India Express, an Air-India budget subsidiary flying 38 weekly flights to the Middle East. The resignation of six commanders and two copilots resulted in the carrier suspending three flights each from Mumbai and New Delhi through July 30. Pilots left the airline without giving the required six months' notice.
The new Terminal D at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, captured in this aerial view, wraps around a 300-room Grand Hyatt Hotel and a large parking lot. The 26-gate facility, opened July 23, can process 3,600 passengers per hour, increasing capacity eventually to 13 million international travelers from 5 million this year, says David Lind, president and managing principal of Corgan Architects Inc. of Dallas. The $684-million terminal project is part of a $2.4-billion capital improvement program.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a long-lead $67.7-million contract to Lockheed Martin for a major avionics system upgrade for Turkish Block 40 and 50 F-16s, with modest modifications of their Block 30 aircraft.
The Pentagon is discovering it's not immune from the high gas prices that have overwhelmed taxpayers' checkbooks and dampened summer travel plans across the U.S. Defense Dept. planners are now estimating fuel costs may add as much as $4 billion to what was already expected to be a shortfall of nearly $6 billion in Fiscal 2007 and each year following. This nearly doubles the predicted annual deficit of about $10 billion.
Finmeccanica is continuing to focus on its aerospace and defense business. The latest step is the planned initial public offering of subsidiary Ansaldo Signal, a leader in railway signaling. The IPO is planned for late 2005 or early 2006. Ansaldo Signal's revenue last year came in at 539 million euros ($651 million), with earnings before interest and taxes of 56 million euros.
The "Rocket Science" article (AW&ST July 11, p. 59) rather insufficiently compares the space shuttle main engine 6,000F exhaust flow as "hotter than the melting point of lead." Lead melts at only 621F. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metallic element at 6,192F and is nearly as high as the melting point of carbon at 6,512F. Lead would be long gone, vaporized at 3,164F.
MBDA and Lockheed Martin have completed the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System Extended Range demonstrator program for the British Defense Ministry. The program culminated last month with a firing that met the ministry's range extension aim of 53.9 naut. mi.
When an entrepreneur meets an aircraft designer, there's no telling what might happen. Take Richard Branson and Burt Rutan. At EAA AirVenture 2005, the pair announced a joint venture between their respective companies--the Virgin Group and Scaled Composites. The Spacecraft Company is aimed at manufacturing a fleet of commercial suborbital spaceships--a product of their shared vision that space tourism will provide the "foundation for the human colonization of space."
When Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) caught a late flight out of Baltimore- Washington International Airport a few weeks ago, he knew his last-minute ticket purchase would target him for secondary security screening by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Strong interim financial figures from European engine manufacturers reflect a buoyant commercial aircraft market. Germany's MTU Aero Engines saw first half sales grow 14% to 1 billion euros ($1.20 billion), while Rolls-Royce sales also climbed 14%, to 3.18 billion pounds ($5.58 billion). The German engine company saw particularly strong growth in cash flow to 232.8 million euros from 50.9 million euros. Net income should reach 6.7 million euros, after a 34.5-million-euro loss for the first half of 2004.
The Army has finally released its formal request for proposals for the Light Utility Helicopter program, starting up a competition for 322 aircraft. The Army wants to field the helos as soon as possible, and is asking for solutions that are nondevelopmental and FAA-certified. The helicopters are to be used stateside and in U.S. territories for homeland security and disaster relief missions. The program began in the wake of the Comanche cancellation, and the airframes are needed to free up rotorcraft now handling the mission that could be used in combat.
Engineers here are mounting a serious effort to develop a small free-flying astronauts' assistant that can maneuver cameras and sensors around the shuttle and other spacecraft for low-hassle inspections and similar tasks that need an outside point of view.
