Boeing has set up a "first of its kind" World Wide Web site that gives airlines "quick access" to 410,000 different types of spare parts it keeps in stock for aircraft maintenance and repair. The company said its new web site reduces paperwork and errors and "instantly gives order and shipping status we well as data on price, inventory and part interchangeability." Boeing said its spares business is managed through a computerized system that integrates seven worldwide distribution centers into a single logistics network.
Hughes Aircraft Co., which last May won a $50 million contract to continue work on the Wide Area Augmentation System after FAA fired Wilcox, yesterday received $483.5 million to develop and implement the program. The final contract follows the April 26 termination of the previous Wilcox contract under provisions of FAA's new procurement rules. Administrator David Hinson said yesterday that the "contract with Hughes exemplifies the FAA's commitment to a new way of doing business."
Developmental test and evaluation of the Northrop Grumman APG- 66(V)2 radar has been successfully completed, clearing the way for operational tests before fielding as part of the European F-16A/B mid-life upgrade program.
Aerospace political action committees accelerated their level of contributions for congressional races in September, the last full month reported before next Tuesday's elections, a spot check of Federal Election Commission records by The DAILY revealed. The Lockheed Martin Employees PAC contributed $168,300 to Senate and House candidates in the month of September, according to the October report to the FEC. This compared to $448,000 reported for the first eight months of the year.
PROBLEMS WITH AVIONICS forced Orbital Sciences Corp. to delay for a day its planned NASA launch of a Pegasus XL air-launched booster with two scientific satellites aboard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. space agency said yesterday. The company's converted L-1011, flying out of Wallops Flight Facility, Va., will carry the Pegasus aloft for another attempt today to launch Argentina's SAC-B platform and the HETE experiment organized by MIT (DAILY, Oct. 28).
TAP AIR PORTUGAL has ordered 18 A319s from Airbus, five of which can be converted into A320s. The carrier also took options on another eight single-aisle aircraft and will lease four A319s. The A319s are to be delivered between December 1997 and June 2000, replacing older generation aircraft and making TAP an all Airbus operator.
SMITHS INDUSTRIES will acquire Leland Electrosystems, Inc., Vandalia, Ohio, for about $30 million, Smiths said. It will acquire all outstanding Leland shares for $13.5 million and assume debt of about $16.5 million.
The Boeing-led industry team competing for the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Laser program says it has demonstrated the use of a multiple-beam laser missile tracker that provides better performance than only one laser beam. Tests were conducted at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Firepond Facility and at team-member Lockheed Martin's ABL Beam Control Brassboard Facility, the Boeing/Lockheed Martin/TRW team said Monday in a joint statement.
Many top-level U.S. aerospace executives believe defense cuts are inevitable in a second Clinton term, but expect the downward trend in spending on the military to be slowed if the Republicans can retain control of Congress in the upcoming election, according to a national poll of defense industry managers conducted by The DAILY and First Equity Inc., an investment bank that specializes in aerospace and defense.
Raymond S. Colladay has been named president of Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, effective Feb. 1, 1997, the company said yesterday. He succeeds James W. McAnally, who will retire Jan. 31, 1997, after a 37- year career. Colladay is now VP business development and advanced programs.
Motorola Space and Systems Technology Group could receive as much as $263 million if the U.S. Air Force exercises all options on the Theater Deployable Communications system, the company reported Monday. Motorola said it beat out GTE and Harris Corp. for the lucrative Air Force contract. TDC is an advanced rapid deployment communications network providing ground communications infrastructure. The system will transmit and receive voice, data and video communications from wireless, satellite and hard-wired sources.
Space Systems/Loral has signed an agreement with Alliant Techsystems to buy as many as 10 commercial satellite launches on Alliant's entry in the Pentagon's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle competition, provided the entry wins. Alliant said yesterday the memorandum of understanding with SS/L demonstrates that the Air Force's idea of using commercial EELV launches to hold down the cost of military space missions on the vehicle has merit.
The National Reconnaissance Office is considering additional tests using tethered satellites after initial results from the Tether Physics and Survivability (TiPS) program have validated some of the agency's basic assumptions about the tether concept. "We need at least two more solid experiments" to understand tethers before they could be considered for operational systems, Air Force Col. Pedro Rustan told The DAILY in an interview.
October 21, 1996 Hughes Training, Incorporated, Arlington, Texas, is being awarded an $8,997,989 firm- fixed-price contract for the design and fabrication of the Partial Aircrew Coordination Trainer (AIP PACT) System for the P-3C aircraft. Work will be performed in Arlington, Texas, and is expected to be completed by October 1998. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 35 proposals solicited and two offers received.
October 25, 1996 Fairchild Aircraft, Incorporated, San Antonio, Texas, is being awarded a $7,423,037 fixed price with economic price adjustment contract to provide for contractor logistics support from January through September 1997 for the C-26 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed September 1997. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
October 24, 1996 Motorola, Incorporated, Scottsdale, Arizona, is being awarded a $ 263666792 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for the Theater Deployable Communications Integrated Communications Access Packages Program. This program will update deployable ground-to-ground communication infrastructure, providing voice, data, and message service for up to 147 operational units worldwide. Contract is expected to be completed October 2004. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Florida, is being awarded a $7,150,000 face value increase to a cost plus award fee contract to provide for restructure of the Range Standardization and Automation Contract for the Eastern Range. Contract is expected to be completed May 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, California is the contracting activity (F04701- 93/C-0003, P00019).
Hughes and London-based ICO Global Communications have picked launch vehicles from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine to place ICO's planned 12 mobile telephone relay satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO), beginning late in 1998. The first of the modified Hughes HS 601-series ICO platforms will be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., aboard an Atlas IIAS.
The French government has approved SNECMA's plan to raise its stake in Societe Europeenne de Propulsion, the rocket engine manufacturer, from 51% to 100%.
House National Security Chairman Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) is pressing the Clinton Administration to say what actions-including economic sanctions-it is going to take in response to China's reported nuclear weapons-related technology transfers. Spence, in a letter sent Thursday to President Clinton, noted "revelations on the recent transfer by China to Pakistan of an industrial furnace and sophisticated diagnostic equipment" for use in Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
Turkey has awarded Lockheed Martin a $47.9 million contract for the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), marking the first sale of the weapon outside the U.S., Lockheed Martin Vought Systems reported yesterday. The Pentagon last year said Turkey was planning to buy a total of 120 of the battlefield missiles for $132 million. The $47.9 million covers just the first-year buy, a Lockheed Martin spokesman said, although it still hasn't been determined how many missiles Turkey will buy next year.
October 22, 1996 Hughes Missile Systems Company, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a $46,868,886 firm fixed price contract for 3,231 TOW 2A Missiles for: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Oman. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on April 15, 1996. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (DAAH01-96-C-0394).
October 22, 1996 Arkwin Industries, Incorporated, Westbury, New York, is being awarded a $5,981,010 face value increase to a firm fixed price contract to provide for repair and modification of five door actuators applicable to the F-16 aircraft. The work will be performed by Arkwin Industries, Inc., Westbury, New York. Contract is expected to be completed October 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42620- 92/D-0170).
The keel for the first of a new generation of Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarines was laid Friday at Severodvinsk shipyard, marking the beginning of a series eventually slated to replace the Russian Navy's aging Delta and Typhoon ballistic missile submarines.
Machinists at Hughes Missile Systems Co., Tucson, rejected a "last, best and final" contract offer from the company Sunday but remain on the job yesterday. Hughes spokesman Jim Gilkerson said the company had not heard from the union but was willing to clarify any items in its proposal. Machinists continue to work under terms of the former contract, which requires the union to give a seven-day notice before striking. Gilkerson said no notice had been received yesterday. The union represents 1,800 of the 7,000 employees at the plant.
