EG&G INC. has withdrawn a notification on its proposed acquisition of Lumen Technologies Inc. and submitted a new form to give the Dept. of Justice more time to complete its review of the deal. The company said a new regulatory waiting period began Friday and will expire at 11:59 p.m. EST on Nov. 21. The original waiting period was scheduled to end 11:59 p.m. last Friday. EG&G said the Justice Dept.'s Antitrust Div. asked the companies to voluntarily supply certain limited information beyond that required to be filed with the notification.
CURTISS-WRIGHT CORP., Lyndhurst, N.J., extended its agreement with British Aerospace Airbus for providing controlled shot-peen forming and other metal treating services for wing panels and other wing structures. The extension provides that BAe will buy from CW's subsidiary, Metal Improvement Co., all of its requirements for such services for all Airbus aircraft for a period of 10 years. To meet the demand, CW will build a new 170,000 square foot building on land provided by BAe.
The first production F/A-18E/F made its first flight Friday from the Boeing facility at St. Louis. The aircraft, F/A-18E6, flew for 1.3 hours with Boeing test pilot Dave Desmond at the controls. The single-seat jet is one of the first lot of 12 low-rate initial production Super Hornets to enter production at facilities of Boeing and Northrop Grumman. The aircraft is due to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in January.
The U.S. government should exercise caution in setting up loan guarantees to support development of a commercial reusable launch vehicle, or risk losing the launch-cost advantages inherent in a commercial operation, a NASA consultant hired to analyze space transportation issues has advised.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS repurchased 271,000 shares of its common stock from Hercules Inc. for about $15.9 million. The company said the transaction is the last of four buys of 271,000 shares during 1998 under a put/call agreement between the companies. The other blocks were purchased in February, May and August. The shares were acquired by Hercules in connection with Alliant's acquisition of Hercules Aerospace (DAILY, Oct. 28, 1997).
Japan's government has officially decided to develop and deploy four military reconnaissance satellites to monitor North Korea in the wake of last August's launch of a North Korean multi-stage ballistic missile that crossed Japanese territory.
Primex Technologies Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., completed its acquisition of CMS Group, an operating unit of Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG, for $123 million subject to certain post closing adjustments. CMS, with business areas in precision metal parts production, warhead development, explosive load and pack, and air and ground delivered weapon systems, has seven facilities in the southeastern U.S. and 1999 sales are expected to be more than $100 million (DAILY, Oct. 14).
AERO VODOCHODY A.S. of the Czech Republic was assigned a first-time rating of Baa1 on the guaranteed notes due 2005 by Moody's Investors Service. Moody's said the rating was based solely on the unconditional and irrevocable guarantee of the Czech Republic, whose rating for foreign currency debt is Baa1.
NASA is near an announcement on its choice for the next X-vehicle to test advanced space launch technologies. Decisions on the so-called "Future-X" competition for flight demonstrations of Earth-to-orbit technologies are due to be revealed next month. The U.S. space agency plans "multiple awards for flight experiments" chosen from an announcement of opportunity issued last summer, as well as at least one contract for an integrated flight test vehicle to come later (DAILY, Aug. 4).
Last week's election results returned F/A-18 critic Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) to the Senate for another six years. Feingold's victory, however, came at the expense of Rep. Mark Neumann (R-Wis.), a self-described "porkbuster" who angered senior Air Force officers by vocally opposing housing for officers costing more than $200,000, as well as a new 18-hole golf course at Andrews AFB, Md.
AN RC-12K GUARDRAIL signals intelligence aircraft crashed in Germany on Friday, killing both pilots, the U.S. Army said. The plane, assigned to the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion, Wiesbaden, Germany, was the second Guardrail to crash in the last couple of years. The other crashed in April 1997 off the coast of Georgia, also killing both crew members. That plane belonged to the 224th Military Intelligence Battalion (DAILY, April 17, 1997).
The U.S. Army is considering development of a howitzer-launched unmanned aerial vehicle to provide fire support to brigade level forces. The program, known as QuickLook, is intended to provide howitzer units with an organic capability to increase their ability to locate targets. Robert Werko, QuickLook program manager at the Army's Fire Support Armaments Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., said QuickLook is intended to meet an emerging requirement from the Army's Field Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Okla.
A Boeing Delta II orbited another five Iridium low Earth orbit communications satellites Friday, filling one operational slot in the 66-satellite constellation and positioning four spare satellites for future use. Liftoff from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., came at 8:37 a.m. EST Friday, and the satellites all were deployed within 85 minutes of launch, Boeing said. Iridium controllers will maneuver the satellites into their proper positions relative to the rest of the constellation.
The size of the U.S. Air Force's F-22 buy will likely depend on success of the Joint Strike Fighter program, says Hans Mark, director of defense research and engineering. The Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review said the number of F/A-18E/Fs to be bought by the Navy depends on JSF's progress, but stipulated no such relationship with the F-22. Nevertheless, Mark says, "There obviously will have to be tradeoffs between the F-22 and JSF."
The U.S. Air Force's B-52H bombers may start experiencing unanticipated aging problems because they were built more than 30 years ago, Mark says. "Things happen that are not linear after a while" and, therefore, can't be predicted, he says. That's why he sees the B-52H phased out before the B-1B or the B-2. The AF plans to keep the B-52 until at least 2040. First flight was in 1952.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have been selected to start development of the Advanced Tactical Targeting Technology (AT3) system, intended to allow aircraft to locate enemy radars accurately enough to be attacked with precision weapons. The 36-month program is being run by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Lab. Raytheon last Thursday won a $6.6 million contract for the AT3 Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) system. Lockheed Martin's contract is expected soon, according to an industry official.
MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES will acquire Lockheed Martin Aircraft&Logistics Center's 50% interest in Aeroplex of Central Europe (ACE). The two companies jointly formed ACE in 1992 as an aircraft maintenance and engineering services facility in Hungary. "Lockheed Martin helped Malev successfully build the capabilities of Hungarian mechanics and engineers to support the company's fleet modernization," said Antal Pongraez, Malev chief executive.
A NASA consultant hired to recommend ways to advance commercial activities in low Earth orbit has recommended that the U.S. Space Agency drop its Space Shuttle fleet after the International Space Station is assembled and, if possible, rely on a human-rated reusable launch vehicle based on the X-33 testbed for its space-launch needs.
The Russian Space Agency may ask permission to extend operations of the Mir orbital station at least until the International Space Station can support a full-time crew, which won't be until 2000 because the Russian government has lagged in paying for its share of the new orbiting facility. Itar-Tass reports Mikhail Sinelschikov, chief of human spaceflight programs at RSA, will ask for a government decision on Mir's fate next month. Meanwhile Yuri Semyonov, head of RSC Energia and de facto owner of Mir, has suggested that the planned Nov.
TITAN CORP., San Diego, completed the previously announced acquisition of Delfin Systems, Santa Clara, Calif., by acquiring all the outstanding shares of Delfin for about $22.5 million in Titan stock in a tax-free exchange. Delfin provides systems engineering and program management services, signal intelligence systems, computer systems integration and high-end software. Delfin is expected to generate $30 million in revenues for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
Europe's Arianespace launch services consortium is squeezing cost out of its big new Ariane 5 booster in an effort to be one of the players still standing after a likely shakeout in the international space launch industry, according to Jean-Marie Luton, Arianespace chairman and CEO.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems said an Oct. 5 electro-magnetic interference test with a specially modified Predator unmanned aerial vehicle showed that the UAV can carry specialized RF payloads for a variety of applications.
The "state commission" that clears Zarya for spaceflight the day before launch, whenever it occurs, will include three top NASA officials in what has been a key ritual at the Baikonur Cosmodrome since Sputnik. Randy Brinkley, NASA's Space Station program manager, says he will participate in the commission along with Joe Rothenberg, associate administrator for space flight, and George Abbey, director of Johnson Space Center.
