ROHR INC., Chula Vista, Calif., reported earnings of $14.9 million on sales of $277.7 million in its 1998 first quarter. In the first quarter of 1997, it earned $6.8 million on sales of $201.9 million. The company credited most of the sales gains to increases in commercial programs.
Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) wants to see a higher profile in Congress and the Administration on the issue of taking some weapon in the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal off alert.
The U.S. Air Force plans to compete the production phase of the BRU-55 bomb carriage and ejector system with a contract award slated for March 31, 1999. An industry day for potential prime contractors is set for March 17 at Eglin AFB, Fla., the service said in a Dec. 16 Commerce Business Daily notice. The draft request for proposal is to be released in late fiscal 1998.
A Russian jammer offered for sale at the Moscow Air Show in August is designed to block navigation satellite signals in four frequencies, according to specifications of the system.
Northrop Grumman won a $28.8 million U.S. Navy contract for 119 BQM- 74E multi-role aerial targets and kits, the company reported. The award is the third option in a contract awarded to the company in April 1996. The BQM-74E is used to train aircrews as well as anti-aircraft and gunnery crews and to evaluate various weapons systems by simulating enemy aircraft and anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.
DEUTSCHE BA ordered six 737-300s, scheduled for delivery from the first quarter of 1998 through 1999. Earlier this year, the airline order seven 737-700s.
The Netherlands will set aside about 300 million guilders (US$149.2 million) to finance involvement of Dutch companies and research institutes in the Airbus A3XX superjumbo transport project from 1997 through 2003, the Dutch Ministry of Transport said.
British Airways has purchased a global tracking system capable of pinpointing the location of each of its 300 aircraft, in flight or on the ground. The system, developed by U.K. companies Smiths System Engineering and Racal Survey, uses satellite data to show the real-time location of the 130 aircraft BA has in the air at any given moment.
Boeing Co. plans to lay off 12,000 workers next year once it resolves production line problems but attrition can absorb most of the cuts, top company executives said yesterday. Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said the company has already ceased hiring, except in some critical areas. He said in a briefing for reporters that he didn't know how the layoffs will be apportioned between Long Beach and Seattle, but that they would occur in the second half of 1998.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen declined an opportunity to object to the National Defense Panel's inclination to kill some Pentagon programs, but disagreed with its call to abandon the strategy of being able to fight in two regional wars at the same time. The panel, responding earlier this month to the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, questioned the number of Comanche helicopters the Army plans to procure, the Pentagon's decision to reduce the Joint STARS buy, and the Navy decision to halt the Arsenal Ship program.
Development problems with Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits for the BLU-109 and Mk. 83 bombs are prompting the U.S. Air Force to buy JDAM kits only for the Mk. 84 this year. The plan had been to buy kits for Mk. 84s and BLU-109s. Procurement of the kit for the 1,000-pound Mk. 83 isn't affected because there's no immediate need for it.
Whittaker Corp. posted a $163.6 million loss for its fiscal 1997, having gone through a "year of difficult and costly restructuring," the Simi Valley, Calif., company reported yesterday. Whittaker sold its defense electronics unit to Condor Systems on Sept. 30, and during the fourth quarter made the decision to sell its Xyplex Networks unit. The units were reported as discontinued operations.
NASA will place new emphasis on advanced technology for its space missions over the next decade, eliminating some programs if necessary to keep mission-oriented technology development going in the face of tight budgets, Administrator Daniel S. Goldin said yesterday.
Lockheed Martin Vought Systems, Dallas, Texas, is being awarded $19,750,000 as part of a $39,500,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for long lead items for Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3). Work will be performed in Duluth, Ga. (63%); and Dallas, Texas (37%), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 6, 1997. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. (DAAH01-98-C-0062).
Boeing delivered a new HC Mk. 2A Chinook helicopter to the British Royal Air Force in a brief ceremony Dec. 6. It is the first of 14 HC Mk. 2A and HC Mk. 3 rotorcraft built for the RAF under a 1995 contract, Boeing said yesterday. Deliveries are slated to continue through 2000. Boeing has 26 Chinooks under contract with several international customers, Raymond A. Brosius, director of Tandem Rotor Programs at Boeing, said in a statement.
Enhanced ground proximity warning systems will be voluntarily installed on most U.S. commercial airliners in a program that will get underway up to a year "sooner than if the government had acted alone," Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said yesterday.
Semcor, Inc., Mt. Laurel, N.J., is being awarded a $7,667,777 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-95-C-5013 for systems engineering, integration, and design analysis for the F-14B upgrade, the EA-6B and the V-22 programs in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Md. (85%), and Patuxent River, Md. (15%), and is expected to be completed in June 1998. Contract funds in the amount of $1,763,589 will expire at the end of the fiscal year.
As long as Russia continues to pursue programs and policies that run counter to U.S. preferences and interests, the Congressional Research Service has concluded many in Congress are likely to question the net value of U.S. assistance to Russia and other nuclear former Soviet republics.
The High Band Prototype signals intelligence system completed its first flight aboard an EP-3 last week at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The HBP is part of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office's Joint SIGINT Avionics Family, which is being managed by the Air Force. JSAF systems are slated for use on Army, Navy and Air Force SIGINT aircraft.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile was successfully test fired from White Sands Missile Range, N.M., yesterday, the U.S. Army and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization reported. The test included demonstrations of in-flight communication between the ground system and the missile and missile integration with the existing Patriot system. It also evaluated the range's ability to collect data to evaluate missile performance on a long-distance, low-altitude flight trajectory. No intercept was attempted in this test.
Allison Advanced Development Co., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded on December 10, a $37,104,616 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for preliminary and detailed design of the XTC77/1 gas generator in support of the Integrated High Pressure Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) research and development program. The work will be performed at Allison Advanced Development Co., Indianapolis, Ind. (45%) and General Electric Co., Cincinnati, Ohio (55%). There were two proposals received. Solicitation began January 1997; negotiations were completed October 1997.
Sundstrand Aerospace, Rockford, Ill., is being awarded a $15,534,387 fixed- price-with-economic-price-adjustment contract for aerospace aircraft parts. Four proposals were solicited and one was received. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 4, 1998. Funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Defense Supply Center Columbus, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (SPO700-98-D-9701).
ITT/Northrop Grumman Joint Venture, Clifton, N.J., is being awarded a $44,655,732 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 36 ALQ-165(V) Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ) systems, data, and 15 ALQ-165(V) ASPJ spares for the U.S. Navy; and 10 ALQ-165(V) ASPJ spares for the U.S. Air Force.
