Further development of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 airliners "seems very unlikely," but the MD-95 looks strong in the smaller jet market and there's a future for the MD-11 as a cargo aircraft, said Bruce Dennis, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Dennis made the comments at a conference in Seattle as Boeing prepares to decide by about Nov. 1 how to proceed with the commercial aircraft programs it acquired in the McDonnell Douglas merger (DAILY, Sept. 26).
U.S. Air Force F-117s have resumed flight operations following a standdown prompted by the crash of one of the planes near Baltimore on Sept. 14. Air Combat Command lifted the standdown late yesterday and the aircraft immediately started flying. The AF has 53 F-117s left in inventory.
ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa, Israel, closed its U.S. public offering of 3 million ordinary shares on Sept. 30. The gross proceeds amounted to $39 million, reduced to $36.9 million after deducting underwriting commission.
LITTON'S Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., received an $85.4 million U.S. Navy contract for continued life cycle engineering and technical services in support of the Navy's fleet of Ticonderoga class Aegis cruisers and Spruance and Kidd class destroyers. The contract, covering 62 ships, funds work by about 560 employees in Pascagoula and support offices at Navy bases in the U.S. and Japan.
Hughes Aircraft Co. expects within weeks to announce the first international sale of the Hughes Integrated Surveillance And Reconnaissance (HISAR) system, company officials said. They declined to identify the country buying the aircraft-mounted system until the deal is made public, saying only that it is in Europe. HISAR has been demonstrated in Australia, which has a requirement for such a system; it is being demonstrated now in Turkey, and is slated to be shown in Dubai and then at an air show in Asia.
Frank C. Carlucci, chairman of The Carlyle Group, resigned from the board of directors of General Dynamics, GD announced yesterday. Carlucci said he was resigning after more than six years on the board of the Washington-based merchant bank because The Carlyle Group and GD could end up competing for defense acquisitions in the future. Carlyle recently outbid GD to acquire United Defense L.P., the prime contractor and systems integrator for the U.S. Army Crusader program, for $850 million (DAILY, Aug. 27).
The transfer of about $240 million from flush Space Shuttle accounts to the cash-strapped International Space Station has not compromised Shuttle safety, independent experts from the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and the General Accounting Office and Shuttle officials from NASA and its United Space Alliance contractor agreed yesterday.
AlliedSignal Inc. is being reorganized from a structure of 60 business units under three sector offices to 11 business units, a move that Lawrence A. Bossidy, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said yesterday will allow faster decisions and better service to customers. The company said that Daniel P. Burnham, who had been president of the AlliedSignal Aerospace sector, and Frederic M. Poses, who had been president of the Engineered Materials sector, have been elected to the board of directors and as vice chairmen of the board.
BILL GENDRON, Boeing's VP and general manager of operations and C-17 deputy program manager, will retire on Oct. 31. Gendron joined Douglas Aircraft Co. in 1966 and has been with the C-17 program since October 1994.
Fiscal constraints are forcing the U.S. Air Force to put a hold on a planned upgrade or replacement of the LANTIRN system, although budget drills are maintaining the funds to sustain the current navigation and targeting system. The AF's main concern is to boost by about 10% the mission capable rate of the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared by Night. The service, however, has also been looking at whether it could substantially upgrade the Lockheed Martin system or replace it with a more modern capability around 2000 (DAILY, June 17).
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman said they are teaming to pursue the FAA's new Air Traffic Control Beacon Interrogator (ATCBI-6) program, on which the agency is expected to issue a request for proposals early this month; contract award would be in mid-1998. FAA needs 127 Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radars (MSSRS) with selective interrogation capabilities to replace 25-year-old beacon interrogator equipment.
US AIRWAYS will be offering 283 pilots furloughed since 1991 the chance to come back to work under a tentative contract agreement with its Air Line Pilots Association unit. The development came late Tuesday night, minutes before the company's deadline for ratifying its contract with Airbus Industrie for 400 aircraft, and Airbus agreed to extend the deadline pending pilot ratification.
Rockwell International said Don H. Davis yesterday became chief executive officer, succeeding Donald R. Beall who will remain as chairman of the board. Beall, 58, said in July that he would step down as CEO at the end of September. He will continue as chairman until next February, when Davis, 57, will become chairman. Beall will remain on the board, serving on the new executive committee as chairman.
LOCKHEED MARTIN Space&Strategic Missiles has won a $330.4 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., for integration of 25 satellites on launch vehicles. Five will go on Titan II boosters and the remaining 20 will be launched on Titan IVs. An initial $68.6 million were immediately obligated.
International Airline Support Group Inc., Atlanta, credited increased revenue from leasing and gains in sales of aircraft, engines and parts for helping it to nearly triple earnings in its 1998 first quarter. IASG earned $985,000 on sales of $5.6 million in the first three months, up from profits of $344,000 on sales of $4.2 million in the same period a year ago.
Wyman-Gordon Co., North Grafton, Mass., earned $11.9 million on revenues of $180 million in its 1998 first quarter, up from earnings of $7.8 million on sales of $134.2 million in the same period a year ago. The company rebounded to post operating earnings a $21.8 million in the first three months of the year. In the first quarter of 1997, it suffered an operating loss of $14.3 million, but recorded a profit after taking a $19.7 million tax credit.
PRATT&WHITNEY Eagle Services has completed acquisition of Interturbine's Flight Repair Group, creating one of the largest jet engine parts repair organizations. The Netherlands-based company agreed in July to sell its repair facilities in Dallas and Singapore to Pratt. Pratt&Whitney Eagle Services combines overhaul, repair and service organizations for both airline and military customers. Current annuals sales of $600 million are predicted to grow to about $1 billion by the end of 1998.
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING of the U.S. Air Force for future testing of the Airborne Laser has been approved by the Pentagon. The AF said this allows it to test the YAL-1A laser-carrying aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, during the program definition and risk reduction (PDRR) phase. The aircraft will be based at Edwards AFB, Calif., and some testing will take place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Final testing in PDRR will take place on the Western Test Range.
Whittaker Corp. said yesterday that it has completed the sale of its defense electronics unit to Condor Systems Inc. Whittaker, of Simi Valley, Calif., didn't say how much Condor, of San Jose, Calif., paid for the unit, but did say the proceeds are being used to reduce its bank term debt. Whittaker develops fluid control and fire safety systems for aerospace and industrial applications.
The U.S. Air Force's Air National Guard and Reserve want an initial operational capability of late March 1999 for a precision targeting pod they are planning to buy. The Precision Attack Targeting System (PATS) would allow F-16 fighters to designate targets for precision guided munitions and be more able to deliver weapons around the clock and in all kinds of weather (DAILY, July 8). The system is to be compatible with the older F-16C/Ds in the Block 25/30/32 jets flown by the Guard and Reserve.
All 15 International Space Station partners have confirmed a preliminary launch schedule for the orbiting laboratory set last May, which begins next June with launch of the U.S.-funded, Russian-built FGB space tug. Meeting at Johnson Space Center this week, the Station Control Board also set October 2002 as the launch date for Europe's Columbus Orbital Facility. That date was left unscheduled at the last control board meeting in May.
COLTEC INDUSTRIES, Charlotte, N.C., has acquired Danti Tool and Die Inc., a $5 million company with plants in Saginaw and Standish, Mich., which designs and manufactures tooling for a spectrum of industrial applications. Danti's facilities will become part of Coltec's Haber Tool operation in Detroit. The move "increases Haber's sales by 50% and will help us extend our product offerings and better meet our customers needs," said Fred H. Alcock, VP and general manager of Haber tool.
Congressional defense authorization conferees failed to meet yesterday, the practical effect of which was to assure that their deadlock over a compromise fiscal 1998 Pentagon authorization bill will continue into next week.
