Engine-testing troubles on the Russian-built RD-180 that will power Lockheed Martin's new Atlas III space launch vehicle have forced a delay in its inaugural flight from March until the second quarter of 1999.
RUSSIA'S BE-200 multi-purpose amphibian has made its first flight at the Irkutsk Aviation Production Association facility, according to AlliedSignal, which helped develop the aircraft's avionics and supplies its weather radar.
Honeywell Inc. reported that strong performance from its Space and Aviation Control business segment helped it post earnings and sales gains in its 1998 third quarter. Honeywell earned $145.4 million on sales of $2.12 billion during the period, up from profits of $118.9 million on sales of $2.04 billion in the same three months in 1997. Operating profit improved 21% to $275 million.
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, established in August to tackle the $50 billion international telecom market, has organized into four operating units to track separate market segments.
DRS Technologies Inc. completed the acquisition of parts of two Raytheon Co. businesses for about $45 million in cash. Raytheon was ordered by the U.S. government to sell the businesses - a portion of the Second Generation Ground Electro-Optical systems (Ground EO) operation and part of the Focal Plane Array (FPA) business - as part of its approval of Raytheon's acquisition of the Hughes defense businesses (DAILY, Oct. 3, 1997).
Heico Aerospace Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of Heico Corp., Miami and Hollywood, Fla., acquired Associated Composite Inc. (ACI), an FAA-licensed repair and overhaul company based in Miami. Terms were not disclosed. ACI repairs such items as engine cowlings and nacelles, doors, flight control surfaces, radomes and fairings, and employs about 50 people. Heico said it did not anticipate any employee turnover. ACI is expected to move to a new facility with Heico's Miami-based Northwings Accessories Corp. subsidiary.
BOEING BUSINESS JETS is developing an optional Enhanced Performance System (EPS) for the BBJ. Increasing engine thrust from 26,400 pounds to 27,300 pounds will cut takeoff distances by up to 300 feet. Initial type certification of the aircraft is expected in a few weeks.
The omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress this week restricts the White House's ability to change the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, giving lawmakers a bigger role in any outstanding demarcation matters. The majority of Republicans, and some Democrats, in Congress want the ABM Treaty done away with because they fear its restrictions will impede ability of the U.S. to develop, test and deploy new theater missile defense capabilities.
GENCORP AEROJET, Sacramento, Calif., won two contracts worth a combined $25 million from Boeing for work on the F-22. GenCorp won a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract to make eight shipsets of welded forward booms between now and May 2001, and a producibility improvements program (PIP) contract to reduce forward boom production costs, scheduled to run through April 2000.
BRITTEN-NORMAN, which designs and builds the BN2 Islander and Defender light twin STOL aircraft, is being acquired from Litchfield Continental by Biofarm Inc. Keith Beekmeyer, chairman and CEO of Biofarm, said the acquisition was consistent with previous announcements that Litchfield would make available to Biofarm additional properties without additional consideration.
An article in The DAILY of Oct. 22 was incorrect in stating that an unexpected roll in the second Ariane 5 to be launched caused a premature shutdown in the upper stage. The main stage shut down prematurely on the second Ariane 5 flight as a result of the unexpected roll, which was corrected in the third Ariane 5 this week.
Elbit Systems Ltd., Haifa, Israel, was selected to upgrade F-5 aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force, subject to a successful conclusion of a detailed contractual agreement between the parties, Elbit reported yesterday. Elbit said it expects to finalize the contract, including the value, within the next few months.
Congress has asked the U.S. Army to see whether production of the UH-60Q/HH-60L Medivac helicopter can be accelerated to a fiscal 2000 start, but the Army is expected to report that a 2002 start makes more sense. Congress wants the service to report by mid-January whether the aeromedical evacuation modifications to the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk can begin in 2000. That would cut from five years to three the production gap between the pre-production systems put on contract and the formal production program.
Scott Technologies Inc., Cleveland, plans to divest its Interstate Electronics (IEC) subsidiary, a move that it said yesterday is in line with its previously announced plan to focus on its Scott Aviation division.
Boeing Co. earned $347 million on sales of $12.7 billion in the third quarter, rebounding from a loss of $696 million on sales of $11.4 billion in the same period last year that was caused by the temporary shutdown of the 737 and 747 production lines.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy have lost millions of dollars to customers in foreign military sales (FMS) deals by failing to charge them for certain costs, according to the General Accounting Office.
MARCUS C. BENNETT, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Lockheed Martin, will retire effective Jan. 31, 1999, after 40 years of service, the company said yesterday. He will be succeeded by Philip J. Duke, current vice president, finance. Bennett will remain on the board of directors.
The fiscal 1999 supplemental defense conference report language, made public yesterday, invites the Secretary of the U.S. Navy and the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps to review F/A-18C/D requirements and says it "permits the reprogramming of funds to sustain F/A-18 production capability."
Cessna has delivered its 1,000th Caravan as well and the 1,000th in its new single-engine series of light, four-place aircraft. In ceremonies at the National Business Aviation Association show in Las Vegas this week, Caravan No. 1,000, a Grand Caravan, was delivered to John Grief, president of Tropic Air, who plans to offer upscale passenger service to destinations in Belize and Guatemala. The 1,000th light single-engine plane, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk SP, was delivered to John Hammel of Ace High, a Cessna Pilot Center in Bloomington, Ind.
AlliedSignal will integrate its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) with its new Global Star 2100 Flight Management System (FMS), "giving pilots the ability to view moving terrain on an FMS," the company said.
A Defense Science Board report sent to Congress earlier this month calls for increasing the Science and Technology budget to $8 billion a year and giving the Pentagon and the military services flexibility to staff most of their S&T management and technical execution positions with individuals from the private sector. The recommendations were contained in the final report of the DSB Task Force on the Defense Science and Technology Base for the 21st Century.
Pratt&Whitney is eyeing a 1999 launch of an all-new family of low-cost engines in the 1,000- to 2,500-pound-thrust range. A derivative turboprop, and possibly a turboshaft, would come from a common core. "We want to develop technology at a cost that is affordable, both to acquire and operate," said Pratt&Whitney Canada CEO David Kaplan. He said his company's market studies to date have indicated that low cost would be key to the market success of such new powerplants.
The Senate, by a lopsided vote of 65-29, gave final congressional approval yesterday to an omnibus appropriations bill that included $1 billion in supplemental spending for ballistic missile defense - but it remained uncertain how much of the unrequested increase would be spent by the Clinton Administration. Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The DAILY: "I just don't see the Administration asking for more money because they're spending as much as they usefully can."
