The U.S. and Germany have recovered only some of the remains of 33 people killed in the collision of a U.S. C-141 and a German Tu-54M, not the remains of all people as reported by The DAILY on Dec. 24 (page 459).
United set a company record in 1997 by carrying 84.2 million passengers. Although the volume was substantially less than Delta's 100 million-plus, United handled more passengers than the combined 1996 totals of Star Alliance partners Lufthansa (33.1 million), SAS (19.7), Air Canada (14.3) and Thai (14.1).
Herley Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa., signed a licensing agreement with the Motorola Space and Systems Technology Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., to make aircraft transponders, receivers and modulators for military aircraft, Herley announced yesterday. The multi-year agreement calls for Motorola to transfer its technology in return for an up-front payment, acceptance by Herley of the manufacturing responsibility on existing Motorola contracts, and royalty payments on the sale of the products for the life of the agreement.
Boeing Co. delivered 102 aircraft in the fourth quarter of 1997, bringing the total for the year to 375. In 1996, it delivered 218. The total for 1995 was 206. In 1994, Boeing delivered 270 airliners. In the final three months of 1997, Boeing delivered 39 737- 300/400/500s, three 737-700s, nine 747s, 12 757s, seven 767s, 10 777s, five MD-80s, 10 MD-90s and seven MD-11s.
A Danish F-16 became the first international F-16 to fire an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-16, said yesterday. The test firing took place Dec. 12 at Eglin AFB, Fla. The plane, an F- 16B in the Mid-Life Update program, was assigned to the F-16 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, Calif. It fired one live AMRAAM and simulated a second firing using a captive carry missile. Lockheed Martin said the test successfully demonstrated the F-16 MLU's multi-target intercept capability.
Titan Corp., San Diego, Calif., and DBA Systems Inc., Melbourne, Fla., signed a definitive merger agreement under which Titan will acquire all of DBA's 4.4 million outstanding shares in a tax-free exchange of common stock, the companies announced yesterday. DBA, which develops and makes digital imaging products, electro- optical systems and threat simulation/training systems, will become part of Titan Information Technologies Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan. Combined annual sales for the subsidiary are expected to be about $140 million.
Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), a member of the House National Security Committee, was killed Monday in a skiing accident at Lake Tahoe. He was 62. The congressional leadership and many HNSC members expressed sadness over the loss. "I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of my friend and colleague, Sonny Bono," HNSC Chairman Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) said in a statement.
The U.K. has picked the Lockheed Martin Sanders AN/AAR-57(V) Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) for its WAH-64 Apache helicopters. Sanders said yesterday it will deliver 58 CMWS sets as well as spares, data and logistics support under a multi-million dollar contract. The exact value of the deal wasn't announced. Each set will include an electronic control unit where the threat data is processed and four passive electro- optical missile sensors.
ITT Industries Inc., White Plains, N.Y., bought all of the shares of Kaman Sciences Corp. for $135 million in cash, completing a transaction announced on Nov. 14, 1997. The Kaman business, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be renamed ITT Systems&Sciences Corp. and operate as a unit of ITT Industries' Defense&Electronics division.
Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) have put the first Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, a silo-launched version of the road-mobile missile known in the West as the SS-25, on experimental combat duty.
U.S. AIR FORCE in coming days plans to clarify information related to the Joint STARS Radar Technology Insertion Program (RTIP). A Jan. 5 Commerce Business Daily notice from the service canceled a Dec. 24 CBD notice announcing the program (DAILY, Dec. 24). The new notice says the program is still planned, but that the sources sought notice will be reissued to more clearly describe contract requirements.
Airbus Industrie set records in 1997 with orders and commitments for 671 aircraft worth about $44.2 billion, the European consortium said yesterday. In 1996, Airbus announced orders and commitments for 498 aircraft valued at $34.4 billion (DAILY, Jan. 7, 1997). Of the 1997 orders and commitments, 460 are contract purchase agreements worth $29.6 billion. The previous record for contract purchase agreements was 421 units in 1989.
Russia's Kamov company will bid on a chance for joint production of a new generation of combat helicopters with Turkey. Kamov announced Jan. 5 that it will participate in a tender for the joint production of 145 new helicopters contemplated by the Turkish Dept. of Defense Industry. The project is estimated to cost $3.5 billion. Russian helicopter manufacturer Rostvertol is already bidding for the order, along with two U.S. and two European companies.
Khrunichev State Space Center plans to ship the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) propulsion unit that will make up the first element of the International Space Station to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the middle of January, but the crucial Russian Service Module remains behind schedule. Launch of the FGB, built by Khrunichev under a NASA-funded contract from Boeing, is tentatively scheduled for June 30. But the Service Module, the first Station element developed by Russia on its own, is about three months behind schedule.
White House plans to submit a balanced budget in fiscal 1999, three years earlier than once planned, aren't expected to affect Defense Dept. funding, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said yesterday. The White House and Congress agreed last year to balance the federal budget by fiscal year 2002, and laid out spending levels for government agencies, including DOD, to reach that goal. But President Clinton told reporters Monday that he will propose a balanced budget early, in FY '99, because of higher than expected federal revenues.
The U.S. Navy plans to develop small, stealthy weapons that could be dispensed from existing standoff missiles to independently attack a target. The new program seeks to perfect a variety of vehicles in the 75- to 100-pound class that would be dispensed from weapons like the Joint Standoff Weapon, Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise Missile and Standoff Land- Attack Missile, a Navy official said yesterday.
The U.S. Air Force, preparing for a Space Based Laser (SBL) readiness demonstration program, wants contractors to submit ideas by Jan. 7 on how to conduct the effort. The SBL program office at AF Space and Missiles Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., said in a Dec. 22 Commerce Business Daily notice it is particularly interested in hearing from any organization interested in becoming the prime contractor for SBL. But it also wants proposals from contractors who want to participate in a capacity other than prime.
The U.S. Air Force has completed a powered vehicle test of its Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS), the second of two critical tests that had been planned for this year. In the Dec. 18 event at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., a LOCAAS flew under its own power using Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System guidance, according to Ken Edwards, the Air Force official in charge of anti-material munitions at Eglin AFB, Fla. During the 18-kilometer flight, LOCAAS navigated six waypoints, he said in a telephone interview.
Lockheed Martin Corp. last month completed its second Interim Program Review for the Joint Strike Fighter pre-engineering and manufacturing development phase. The review, at the Fort Worth, Tex., headquarters of Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, included briefings to the four foreign governments involved in the program as well as U.S. officials.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said the U.S. Navy didn't tell him about the F/A-18E/F wing-drop problem when it first surfaced in March 1996, even though his subcommittee was considering the fiscal 1997 Super Hornet R&D request at the time. Asked by The DAILY yesterday in an interview on Capitol Hill if the Navy had a responsibility to notify him at the time, Weldon replied in one word: "Absolutely."
The U.S. Navy this year plans to demonstrate the lethality of its Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS) as the first major milestone in a three-year Advanced Technology Demonstration. "In the first year of the ATD we will demonstrate the lethality of the projectile and also some issues with the [laser radar] targeting" system, Doug Todoroff, technical manager for RAMICS for the Office of Naval Research, said in an interview.
Lockheed Martin Corp. has won a contest to support the U.S. Air Force's fleet of A/OA-10 aircraft, a nine-year effort that could be worth over $450 million. Lockheed Martin beat a team led by Northrop Grumman - but with Lockheed Martin buying Northrop Grumman, it was in a no-lose situation.
Raytheon TI Systems Inc., Lewisville, Texas, is being awarded an $85,723,190 firm-fixed-price, incentive-firm-target contract for the Low Rate Initial Production - Lot II of the Joint Standoff Weapon, including the procurement of 180 AGM-154A JSOW Missile Systems for the U.S. Navy (145) and the U.S.
Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $27,204,580 firm-fixed-price production contract for production of the MK 44 Mod 0 Guided Missile Round Pack for the Rolling Airframe Missile Program. A quantity of 60 Guided Missile Round Packs are being procured along with 40 sets of Block 0/1 common material in support of the Block 1 Guided Missile Round Pack. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (50%), and Ottobrunn, Germany (50%), and is expected to be completed by September 1999.
