The U.S. Army plans to keep competition in the seeker technology development portion of the improved Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) submunition program until after the start of the engineering and manufacturing development phase, project manager Col. John W. Holly said.
Users of the EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft will have to sort out in coming months how best to distribute upgrade packages. Initial funding for the ICAP III upgrade program will service only a fraction of the inventory of 140 EA-6Bs. A Marine Corps official said users will have to decide what mix of Navy, Marine and joint Navy/Air Force EA-6B squadrons will be upgraded first.
Two state-wide polls released in the past week show Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) holding a comfortable lead in his campaign for re-election to a fourth Senate term. One poll shows him leading 52%-34% and another puts him ahead 61%-28%. If Levin wins reelection, he will become ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee next year with the departure of Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.). If the Democrats regain control of the Senate, Levin would become chairman.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank Friday agreed to back sales of four Boeing and three McDonnell Douglas jetliners to China worth more than $495 million, bringing total sales to China supported by the Ex-Im Bank to $863 million for fiscal 1996. Bank directors approved $100 million in guarantees for the $115 million sale of three MD-90-30 to China Northern Airlines and $332.7 million in guarantees supporting the $380 million sale of two Boeing 777- 200A and two -200B jetliners to China Southern Airlines.
Eyeing an FAA ticket for its C-17 airlifter, McDonnell Douglas is in talks with U.S. airworthiness regulators to try to get as much credit as possible for the aircraft's 5,000 hours of flight tests and 40,000 hours of operational experience. Despite the hundreds of thousands of data points generated over the course of the development program, executives allow that they'll still probably have to do some additional flying to meet FAA requirements. And that will mean prying an aircraft loose from a C-17-hungry Air Force when the time comes.
There is a widespread feeling among senators and House members who follow defense day in and day out that no matter who wins the presidential race, the next four years will produce hard times for planned investment in the weapons needed to modernize the armed forces. Some say that radical changes will be needed in defense budgeting to forestall a disaster in funding the military systems needed to deal with a future threat.
LT. GEN. JAY M. GARNER was confirmed by the Senate Wednesday to his new post as assistant vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army. He will be in charge of developing program requirements for the service. Lt. Gen. Edward G. Anderson will take Garner's place as head of the Space and Strategic Defense Command on Oct. 7. Anderson will move from the position of assistant deputy chief of staff for operations and plans.
Airbus, in particular, owes a debt to the lessors. Airbus Industrie's 1996 new order market share ballooned from just about a third through June to 50% in July thanks to a single order - GECAS' huge July buy of Airbus narrowbodies. In fact, leasing companies control the largest single share of Airbus' backlog at 30%. Merrill Lynch's Byron Callan points out that China is a close second, accounting for 20% of Airbus' 1996 new orders. Asian customers overall, however, account for only 15% of Airbus' backlog through July.
The AF is looking at the precision munitions it would have to add to the A-10's armament if it continues fly the aircraft until 2025, one AF official says. To launch future precision weapons like the Joint Direct Attack Munition and the Wind Corrected Munition Dispensers, it would need a new databus.
USAir was expected yesterday to give GE Engine Services the nod to replace Aviall as the carrier's primary engine overhauler and maintainer in a deal spanning several years and potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, industry executives told AP. Believed to be covered in the latest deal are CFM International CFM56 series turbofans powering more than 130 Boeing 737 single-aisle twins, as well as GE CF6s powering a dozen Boeing 767s. GE does its CFM overhaul work in Strother, Kan., while CF6 work is handled in Ontario, Calif.
PORTUGAL has asked to buy 25 used F-16A/B fighters from the U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon reported yesterday. The deal would include engines, five spare engines, engine upgrades, and spare and repair parts. The sale would cost Portugal $258 million. It awaits approval by Congress.
Hughes Aircraft Co.'s participation in the U.S. Air Force's classified "Tacit Blue" stealth aircraft demonstration program enabled it to win a competition to supply the radar for the B-2 bomber, the company revealed.
Delivery rate cuts on Pratt&Whitney PW4000, Rolls-Royce RB211-535 and General Electric CF6-80C engine programs left fiscal 1996 sales at nacelle and aerostructures specialist Rohr off 4% from year-ago levels at $770.8 million. Net profits for the year tumbled 71% to $3.2 million from $11.2 million, and the company actually lost $1.5 million in the fourth fiscal quarter, despite sales during the quarter that were 23% ahead of 1995's pace.
HOUSE AND SENATE both passed the fiscal year 1997 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill that provides $13.7 billion for NASA. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill into law soon. Appropriations conferees resolved outstanding differences late last week (DAILY, Sept. 20). The bill contains $3.4 billion for Space Shuttle, $2.1 billion for the International Space Station and $1.4 billion for the Earth Observing System.
Hughes Aircraft Co. could receive up to $1.2 billion in revenues over the next five years as it takes over management of the Naval Air Warfare Center in Indianapolis in the largest privatization of a U.S. military facility. On Tuesday, Hughes Technical Services Co. of Indianapolis got a non- competitive contract from the Navy calling for a minimum of 911,500 hours of work at a cost to the government of $62.7 million. Options could raise the value to $1.2 billion.
Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Calif.), who believes he has a shot at regaining his seat as chairman of the House Science Committee in the next Congress following two years as ranking Democrat on the Republican-led panel, would try to flatten defense spending over the next six years and use the overall savings to boost federal research and development by 5% a year.
Bearing and alloy specialist The Timken Co. hopes to break ground in weeks on a $5 million, 10,000-square-foot expansion of its New Philadelphia Precision Tapered Bearing plant in Ohio aimed at boosting capacity by 50% when the new facility opens in the second quarter of next year. Much of the growth is driven by non-aerospace concerns - apart from critical tolerance aerospace bearings the plant is enjoying a boom in bearings for printing presses - but even so the plant will reach 42,000 square feet for all products as a result of the investment.
Senate and House conferees on the fiscal year 1997 intelligence authorization bill rejected a House move to boost funding for the Tier III Minus DarkStar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by $22 million. The level for DarkStar in the intelligence bill is classified. The Senate recommended no increase. The defense authorization bill, signed into law by President Clinton Monday, provided $45.9 million for DarkStar, $28.5 million more than the DOD request.
The $244.8 billion fiscal 1997 Pentagon appropriations compromise will probably be filed in the House today or tomorrow, Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.), head of the House defense conferees, said yesterday. Filing of the conference report will officially close out the conference and seal off any possibility of taking additional funds out of defense.
Pratt&Whitney will deliver two F119 advanced tactical fighter turbofans to the U.S. Air Force by the end of this month, following delivery of the first flight test engine last week, P&W reports.
Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas will find out in the next few months whether they will be allowed to sell modern fighters to Latin American countries. The word will come after the U.S. concludes a review of current restrictions on such deals, a State Dept. official said yesterday.
Loral Space&Communications Ltd. began its long-anticipated move into the satellite broadcasting arena yesterday with the announcement it has agreed to purchase AT&T's Skynet Satellite Services for $712.5 million.
Pleased with McDonnell Douglas' healthier balance sheet and strong cash flow potential, debt-watcher Moody's Investors Service hiked ratings on $1.2 billion worth of the company's debt yesterday, but cautioned that MDC managers need to be careful if they go on a buying spree.
Medium turbofan specialist CFM International has launched a newly aggressive attack on rival International Aero Engines with a recent mailing to airline customers and suppliers pointing out in unusual detail CFM's claimed maintenance cost advantage over IAE. Typically engine marketers have reserved detailed counter-point arguments for conversations with customers - prepared materials have focused instead on an engine's strengths without naming competitors.
Florida-based Kellstrom Industries, the commercial jet engine and engine parts reseller, won ISO 9002 quality certification earlier this month, and claims it's the only re-seller in the world to do so. "As the only company in its field that is ISO 9002 certified, we hold a distinctive competitive advantage in the marketplace," says Kellstrom President and CEO Zivi R. Nedivi. "The quality assurance that ISO 9002 certification verifies is especially important in light of the recent airline tragedies."
