LOCKHEED MARTIN Engineering&Sciences Co., San Diego, received an $8 million modification to a contract from Naval Sea Systems Command to exercise an option for systems support for the Deep Submergence Systems Program.
The U.S. Air Force's B-2 bomber will be available for use in a conventional bombing role beginning Jan. 1, Air Combat Command Chief Gen. Dick Hawley said at a Dec. 16 B-2 ceremony at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. The announcement comes after "highly successful" bombing tests conducted Oct. 8 at Nellis AFB, Nev., the service reported. In the tests, three B-2s destroyed 16 targets using the B-2's GPS-aided targeting system and 16 GPS-Aided Munitions (GAMS) from above 35,000 feet.
GENERAL DYNAMICS Electric Boat, Groton, Conn., received a $59.4 million modification to a contract from Naval Sea Systems Command to exercise options for omnibus engineering and technical services for Ohio class submarines.
The FAA and U.S. industry have agreed on the architecture of the next- generation precision landing system, intended to guide approaches down to Category 3 conditions, control missed approaches and departures, and permit aircraft to move safely around busy airports in bad weather and at night.
The U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command has awarded four systems engineering and technical assistance contracts, each with a potential value of $649 million to $833 million. The contracts were awarded to Mevatic Corp., Huntsville, Ala.; Computer Sciences Corp., Falls Church, Va.; Nichols Research Corp. of Huntsville, and Teledyne Brown Engineering, Pittsburgh. The companies, which responded to an August solicitation, will provide services to SSDC and the Army Program Executive for Air and Missile Defense, SSDC said Wednesday.
CHINESE SCIENTISTS have developed the first supercomputer for the country's space industry, according to a Dec. 12 China Daily account. It said the computer was developed by researchers at the Xian-based No. 771 Research Institute under China Aerospace Corp.
WILLIAM H. LAWLER has been named corporate vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Military Aircraft Systems Division, effective Feb. 1. Lawler succeeds Wallace C. Solberg, who will retire at the end of February.
An F/A-18 fighter fitted with an advanced guidance set has successfully completed a demonstration that was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Global Positioning System Guidance Package (GCP) features a miniature inertial navigation set (INS), a 10-channel GPS receiver, and a navigation computer. It was flown at the Naval Air Warfare Center, Patuxent River, Md., between Nov. 26 and Dec. 17, the Pentagon said yesterday.
Honeywell Space Systems, Clearwater, Fla., received contracts worth about $100 million to design, develop and produce the onboard spacecraft and payload processors for the five geosynchronous satellites for the High Component of the U.S. Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program. Honeywell is a member of the Lockheed Martin SBIRS team, which won the $1.8 billion competition in November. For Lockheed Martin, Honeywell said it will provide onboard processing and data handling with its RH32 Single Board Computer.
The U.S. Air Force exercised its multi-year option for C-17 airlifter engines, awarding a $1.6 billion face value increase Friday to Pratt&Whitney's basic C-17 engine contract for 320 F117 versions of the PW2000 medium commercial turbofan with deliveries running through April 2004. P&W's original contract covered both the final round of engine buys for the 40 C-17s previously authorized, and options for 320 installed engines and 40 spares worth more than $2 billion (AP, Feb. 29).
The U.S. must pay General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas about $1.1 billion plus interest for the Pentagon's 1991 cancellation of the U.S. Navy's A-12 aircraft program, according to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington. A trial to adjust the damages, sought by the contractors and the government, won't take place for security reasons.
EVA AIRWAYS ordered two 747-400 jetliners hours after the planned merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas was announced. Eva said it plans a "similar event soon with McDonnell Douglas for two MD-11s." Eva now operates six MD- 11s and 12 747-400s. It plans to take two MD-90s in May to join one already in operation.
Boeing's planned acquisition of McDonnell Douglas would add new "complexity" to its space business as it finishes absorbing Rockwell's space units, giving the space giant more capability in launchers with the workhorse Delta series and even bigger pieces of NASA's human spaceflight program.
Government and industry engineers have completed the preliminary design review for the ground systems and operations concepts that will support Lockheed Martin's X-33 subscale reusable launch vehicle, clearing the way for detailed launch site design.
Pratt&Whitney executives credit their early commitment to a 98,000- lbst. version of the PW4084 for the PW4000 Series' latest Asian victory - 66 firm engines worth more than half a billion dollars for a mix of Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 widebody twins ordered by Seoul, Korea-based Asiana Airlines.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace's MTU Munchen engine subsidiary and Sweden's Volvo Aero will split production of Pratt&Whitney PW4084 series turbofan subassemblies under a new 20-year agreement the companies hope will generate work worth nearly $600 million. MTU will produce rotating parts, such as blades and rings, and Volvo will take over production of casings. Both companies do a variety of work for all three large enginemakers - P&W, General Electric and Rolls-Royce.
U.S. Navy A-6 aircraft will complete their final deployment today when Intruders from Attack Squadron 75 aboard the carrier USS Enterprise fly to NAS Oceana, Va. The Navy said the Enterprise battle group is concluding a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
The decision by Signature Flight Support and Dallas Airmotive to jointly bid for a new fixed-base operation contract in Philadelphia prompted Signature parent BBA Group to move late last week to buy the Dallas, Texas-based engine overhaul company for $289 million. Due diligence is already under way, and BBA executives hope to wrap up the deal with International Airmotive Holding (IAH) - which holds both Dallas Airmotive and International Turbine Service - in the first quarter of 1997.
NASA AWARDED McDonnell Douglas Aerospace a two-year, $245.7 million extension to its existing contract for payload ground operations services at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the U.S. agency said yesterday. This latest option will end Dec. 31, 1998, and the total value of the contract, initiated in January 1987 and extending through Dec. 2001, will be $1.9 billion if all options are exercised.
Dragonair will fit two new Airbus Industrie A320-200 aircraft with APIC APS3200 APUs, as well as retrofit seven existing aircraft with APS3200s. The APIC units would also go on five A320s the Hong Kong carrier has on option. The deal includes a long-term service contract under which the APUs will be repaired at APIC partner Sundstrand's San Diego, Calif., engine facility. Retrofits have already started; new aircraft deliveries begin in mid-1997.
U.S. and French airworthiness authorities jointly certified CFM International's new CFM56-7 series engine for Boeing's next-generation 737, paving the way for aircraft certification and entry into service next year, CFM reports this week. A successful full engine blade-off test early this month eliminated the last obstacle to certification by validating a fix for persistent troubles with the fan blade retention system (AP, Dec. 6). The -7 missed its planned mid-October certification because of the problems (DAILY, Oct.
Greenwich Air Services signed a contract adding 41 General Electric CF6 engines for FedEx's DC-10 fleet to GASI's existing FedEx contract. The deal brings to 144 the number of FedEx CF6 engines under contract. Greenwich last September contracted to support the JT8D engines on FedEx's fleet of 163 727s.
