The General Accounting Office has highlighted deficiencies and delays with the B-2A Block 30 upgrade program, as well as problems identified by operational testers that haven't kept the system from being considered operational effective.
Dassault Electronique and Sextant Avionique have formed a partnership to market their communication, navigation and surveillance products to airlines and aircraft manufacturers. The two French firms announced the creation of CNS Avionics GIE. The company, as an economic interest group, can use a common vehicle for marketing and coordination purposes but cannot earn or retain profits itself since these accrue directly to the participating companies.
Ducommun Inc., Los Angeles, acquired American Electronics Inc. (AEI) of Fullerton, Calif. AEI will be integrated with Ducommun's Jay-El Products subsidiary and relocated to Jay-El's Carson, Calif., facility. AEI, with 1997 sales of $7.1 million, makes actuators, stepper motors, fractional horsepower motors and resolvers for commercial and military space applications. William Holland, president of AEI, will remain with the company.
FIELDS AIRCRAFT SPARES INC., Simi Valley, Calif., expects to incur a one- time charge of $750,000 to $1.3 million in the quarter ending July 3 related to the consolidation of several subsidiary manufacturing, warehouse and administrative facilities into the company's new world headquarters. Fields expects to occupy the new 122,000-square foot facility in July.
CHC HELICOPTER CORP., St. John's, Newfoundland, will hold a public offering in Canada of 22 million units of subsidiary Vector Aerospace Corp. CHC expects total gross proceeds to be about (Cdn.) $192.5 million. Before completion of the IPO, Vector will own all of CHC's repair and overhaul businesses.
Boeing Co. has joined the Lockheed Martin Alenia joint venture to sell C-27J transport aircraft to Australia to meet the country's Project Air 5190 requirement. Lockheed Martin said Tuesday that Boeing Australia Ltd. will provide engineering services for logistics support analysis. If Australia buys the C-27J, Boeing would be the Royal Australian Air Force's logistics support manager and lead the involvement of more than 11 Australian companies, Lockheed Martin said.
The U.S. Navy has begun considering warhead alternatives for its Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) as it looks to conclude testing of the missile later this year.
NASA is modifying its two solid rocket booster recovery ships to tow barges carrying the huge Space Shuttle external tanks from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in an effort to save about $50,000 per trip.
The HGS-1 communications satellite should reach geosynchronous orbit today following its second trip around the moon, and Hughes Global Services Inc. is talking to potential customers, according to a company spokeswoman. HGS-1, originally named Asiasat-3 and left in an incorrect orbit following launch last December, was sent around the moon twice in a unique rescue effort that began in April.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES has signed an agreement with the U.S. Navy to buy a Harpoon ship-launched missile system, according to Boeing Co., maker of the missile. It said the system will be deployed aboard frigates of the UAE.
Eutelsat has withdrawn its W2 communications satellite from the next Ariane 5 qualification flight, shifting to a tried-and-true Ariane 4 launcher after Aerospatiale declared its W1 platform a total loss as the result of an industrial mishap last month at its satellite integration facility in Cannes, France.
Boeing Co. will eliminate up to 400 jobs in the coming year at its Huntington Beach, Calif., facility in relation to previously announced facility and work changes, a company spokeswoman said yesterday. Boeing announced a streamlining plan following the completion of its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, with California suffering the most job losses (DAILY, March 23).
The U.S. Air Force has issued a market survey to determine what systems might be able to replace the AN/ALR-20A radar warning receiver used on the B-52H bomber. The AF said in a June 11 Commerce Business Daily notice that it is satisfied with the ALR-20's performance, even though it is aging, but that "it is believed that other solutions exist today that could provide improved capability and value." The ALR-20 has been upgraded with a new digital scope, but changes haven't been made to the rest of the system.
NASA has turned over control of the newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite in orbit, designated GOES-10, to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has declared it ready to replace one of the older GOES weather platforms when needed. Launched on April 25, 1997, as GOES-K (DAILY, April 28, 1997), the new satellite will be stored on orbit until the failure of either GOES-8, which monitors the East Coast, or GOES-9, which covers the West Coast and Hawaii.
INTELSAT 805 satellite is slated for launch June 18 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., by a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket. Intelsat said the satellite will be deployed at 304.5 degrees East, where it will beam multimedia signals to the Americas and Europe. The launch will be covered by live video and will be available via the Intelsat home page (www.intelsat.int).
Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), the chairman of the special committee expected to be created by the House tomorrow to investigate the possible transfer of missile technology to China by Loral, asked the House Rules Committee yesterday to give his panel primacy over eight other House committees with jurisdiction for a six-month investigation. Cox said his committee would seek to answer the question of whether national security was compromised and if so, how.
President Clinton's nominee for U.S. Air Force Secretary, Florida State Sen. Daryl L. Jones, ran into difficulty yesterday in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing over allegations made against him. After lengthy questioning of Jones, in a confirmation hearing that lasted close to three hours, the committee put off further consideration and decided to hold a closed session on the nomination sometime this week, SASC sources said.
Raytheon Systems Co. has built a 10,000 square foot facility in El Segundo, Calif., to test and integrate next generation infrared sensors for surveillance satellites. The company said that after surveying available facilities around the country, it determined none existed with the optical calibration and other test capabilities required for advanced multi-sensor payloads.
U.S. NAVY is buying 27 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) targeting pods for F-14 fighters under a $58.8 million contract, Lockheed Martin said. The contract brings to 54 the total number of the pods the Navy has ordered. The Navy also plans to buy up to six more LANTIRN systems later this year.
COMSAT LABORATORIES has been picked by Lockheed Martin to provide an in- orbit testing system for the Garuda-1 regional mobile satellite. The system will allow the satellite to be tested before the complete telecommunications system being built for Asia Cellular Satellite System is ready for operation. Asia Cellular is a partnership of Thai, Indonesian and Philippine interests. Garuda-1 is set for launch in the second quarter of next year, to provide mobile communications across Asia.
North Korea, admitting for the first time that it sells missiles abroad, said yesterday it will continue developing, testing and selling the missiles, according to wire service reports from Seoul, South Korea. "We will continue developing, testing and deploying missiles," Pyongyang said in a report carried by the Korean Central News Agency. "Our missile export is aimed at obtaining foreign money we need at present."
Lockheed Martin, as part of its Consolidated Space Operations Contract (CSOC) proposal for NASA, said it will put $5 million into a facility and staffing of a test bed environment for space operations, architecture and communications.
Emerging high-tech segments of the U.S. economy can help the aerospace and defense industry in California create 200,000 jobs by "early in the next century," according to a new study.
