The Pentagon has begun informal discussions with the British Ministry of Defense on joining a U.K. program to develop a missile warning and countermeasures systems for tactical aircraft. Anthony Grieco, the top electronic warfare official for the Pentagon, said "we're trying to work together" on the Fast Jet Missile Warning/Countermeasures program. He told The DAILY in an interview that "we've opened discussions" with the U.K. on the issue.
Senior Senate Armed Services Committee Republican Sen. John W. Warner (Va.) is the only incumbent Senator running for re-election who is being outspent by his challenger, Common Cause reported yesterday. In 19 of the 20 incumbent/challenger races this year, incumbents raised more than challengers by better than 2-to-1, $91.7 million to $38.3 million, and 5-to-1 in political action committee receipts, according to Common Cause.
October 25, 1996 Raytheon Aerospace Company, Madison, Mississippi, is being awarded a $15,428,544 firm fixed price contract to provide for contractor Operated and Managed Base Supply spares in support of the T-1A aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed November 1996. Contract funds expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began July 1996; negotiations were completed October 1996. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (F34601-97/C-0006).
Strong performance by the Instruments Sales and Mechanical Components segments and lower operating costs following restructuring allowed EG&G Inc. to increase operating income in the third quarter of 1996, the company reported. Small increases in other segments couldn't overcome a 14% drop in sales in the Technical Services segment, and overall sales dropped from $361,602 in 1995 to $354,747 this year. Net income stands at $15,637 for the quarter, nearly equal to 1995's $15,978.
October 22, 1996 Lockheed Martin Corporation, Marietta, Georgia, is being awarded a $54,738,322 face value increase to a cost plus award fee contract to provide for the Period 11 Earned Award fee (April 1996 - September 1996) for performance of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract for the F-22 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed September 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-91/C-0006, P00268).
Japanese manufacturers will see increases in both new orders of aerospace products and production in fiscal 1996 (April 1996 through March 1997), according to the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. It forecasts: -- $7.648 billion worth of new orders, an increase of 17%. Included are $2.269 billion in airframe production and overhaul, $597 million in engine production and overhaul, and $4.782 billion in parts and equipment production. The projected new orders include 54 new airframes and 90 new engines.
Even though the departure of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace chief Herb Lanese affected the company's stock yesterday, word that the Douglas Aircraft jetliner unit is dropping plans to go ahead with a big new MD-XX jumbo jet soothed analysts worried about a potential new drain for cash.
Several smaller aerospace and defense companies posted solid gains last week, reflecting the progress of larger companies (DAILY, Oct. 22). For instance: -- CACI Chairman and CEO Dr. J.P. (Jack) Landon credited a 21% rise in net income in the third quarter to growth in federal business. CACI reported net income of $2.7 million on revenues of $62.7 million. Operating income grew 6.4% to $4.7 million on the strength of sales and a favorable settlement of prior-year indirect cost rates.
October 24, 1996 Ballistic Missile Defense Organization SPARTA, Incorporated, of Laguna Hills, Calif., is being awarded a $20,300,000 million cost-plus-award-fee small business set-aside contract for Scientific, Engineering, and Technical Assistance support to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's Deputy for Acquisition/Theater Missile Defense. Work will be performed at the SPARTA, Incorporated facility located in Arlington, Va. The contract has a two-year base period of performance and three one-year options, for a potential total value of $51,600,000 million.
October 25, 1996 Lockheed Martin, Electronics and Missiles, Orlando, Florida, was awarded on October 22, 1996, a $9,000,000 modification to a firm fixed price contract for 600 Charge-coupled Device Camera Production for the Target Acquisition Sight/Pilot Night Vision System (TADS/PNVS). Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and at various field locations and is expected to be completed by July 30, 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on April 30, 1996.
A Pentagon-chartered senior review team evaluating the British Aerospace Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) has concluded its assessment and the results are being briefed to top military officials, a U.S. officer said.
EARLY RETURNS: About a week after the Nov. 5 election, lawmakers will return to Washington to do some preliminary work on committee assignments in preparation for the 105th Congress. Normally, such work is done in January, but a decision has been made by the Republican and Democratic party caucuses to get the ball rolling earlier this year. The realignment of committees and assignment of chair positions took several weeks in the 104th Congress - much longer than many anticipated.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries last week awarded Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems a $75 million contract to begin production of parts for the F-2 fighter, slated to equip the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Lockheed Martin said Friday.
SEA LAUNCH CO., the Boeing-led international consortium preparing to launch Ukrainian Zenit boosters from a Norwegian-built floating platform in the Pacific, has picked up three more firm launch orders from Hughes Space&Communications. Hughes, which became the first Sea Launch customer last year with an order for 10 launches (DAILY, Dec. 19, 1995), exercised options for three more flights to launch Hughes 601-series satellites for ICO Global Communications' proposed 12-satellite medium Earth orbit communications constellation.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems, Eagan, Minn., won a $1.4 million follow-on contract from Fujitsu Corp., the company said. Tactical Defense Systems will make four Video Distribution Control (VDC) units and associated test equipment for the P-3 surveillance aircraft fleet. Deliveries will start in November 1997.
RUSSIAN WOES: Pressure is mounting on Russia to cough up some more money to keep working on the Russian Service Module for the International Space Station. U.S. officials tersely deny widespread rumor Washington is preparing to kick Russia off Station, but the Clinton Administration party line is "we're counting on them to fulfill their partnership role." U.S.
FAA has approved AlliedSignal Aerospace's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, hundreds of which have already been ordered by airlines. First certification of system, which addresses the problem of controlled flight into terrain, or CFIT, was obtained by United Airlines for its Airbus A320 aircraft. Approvals for other aircraft "can now be obtained shortly," AlliedSignal said. American Airlines and Alaska Airlines have ordered more than 650 of the systems, and Delta Airlines plans to seek approval to use EGPWS on its aircraft.
CLOSE CONTEST: Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Calif.), who would become chairman of the House Science Committee if the Democrats take control of the House, is in another close race even though this has the signs of a good year for Democrats. Brown, 76, has survived a string of close challenges, and this year is no exception. Congressional Quarterly, in reviewing his race in San Bernardino County, in which he is being challenged by Superior Court Judge Linda M. Wilde (R), says there is "no clear favorite."
DEFENSIVE OPTIONS: The U.S. Air Force is determining the best radio- frequency threat protection for F-15 fighters. Maj. John Wilcox, Air Combat Command's chief of F-15 electronic warfare acquisition, says one of the issues being looked at is whether the Northrop Grumman ALQ-135 jammer now on the plane can be a techniques generator for a future fiber-optic towed decoy, or whether to use the Lockheed Martin Sanders IDECM techniques generator. The Air Warfare Group at Eglin AFB, Fla., is running the analysis.
NO HURRY: Scientists advising NASA on its strategy for robotic Mars exploration in light of the discovery of possible Martian lifeforms are leaning away from a hurry-up mission to return samples of the Red Planet to Earth for close analysis. The original schedule of a sample return mission in 2005 will give researchers more time to identify the best samples to return, while a 2003 mission would push the development cycle harder than really necessary.
INTELSAT has joined a group of companies with Internet interests in an effort to expand the bandwidth available on the public data retrieval and exchange medium. The IP Multicast Initiative was launched to take maximum advantage of new features on the basic Internet Protocol (IP) that support multicast use in which the data stream goes to more than one recipient, an application the international consortium sees as a natural for its telecommunications satellites.
A Michigan state-wide poll released Thursday night gave Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) a 58% to 28% lead over Republican Ronna Romney in Levin's campaign to win election to a fourth Senate term, a Levin spokeswoman said Friday. The poll was by MRA (Marketing Research Associates), a Lansing- based polling firm. Levin would become ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman if the Democrats regain control of the Senate.
WASHINGTON WOES: Russia's problems come at an inconvenient time for the Clinton Administration, which has made the Space Station a focal point of its Russia policy. In the past, Vice President Gore and NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin have handled the face-to-face schmoozing and arm-twisting needed to make the Station deal work, but they're preoccupied with the upcoming election and trying to keep the lid on until it's over.
Financial analysts expect McDonnell Douglas stock to take a beating on Wall Street today, following the company's move late Friday to force out the man widely credited with engineering the company's financial recovery - McDonnell Douglas Aerospace President Herb Lanese.
MILESTONE: The Peacekeeper ICBM on Oct. 10 passed its tenth year on alert, the U.S. Air Force said. Even though the Cold War has ended, its mission remains the same. But if the Russian Duma approves START II, all 50 of the missiles at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., each capable of carrying up to ten warheads, will be deactivated.
