Litton Industries Inc., reported that its sales reached $3.6 billion for the fiscal year, an increase of 9% over the prior year. Net income for that period was $150.9 million, a 12% improvement over FY '95, Litton said in its financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended July 31, 1996.
Baghdad yesterday posed its first challenges to U.S. and coalition forces patrolling the expanded no-fly zone over southern Iraq. They followed the launch of 17 American cruise missiles in a strike that was intended to complete the destruction of specific air defense sites in the zone that were attacked by other cruise missiles the day before. U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry told reporters yesterday that Iraq offered two challenges. First, two MiG-29 fighters approached the zone from the north, but turned away before they reached it.
Originally promised by Sukhoi general designer Mikhail Simonov in late 1993 for Farnborough '94, the public debut of the thrust- vectored variant of the Su-35 multi-role fighter in this year's display program has drawn wide attention here. First designated the Su-27M, the aircraft on display is one of a dozen canard-equipped development Su-35s. It is now referred to by Sukhoi as the Su-37. Another of the design bureau's re-used designations, this one first applied to a recently projected ground-attack fighter.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said Ralph D. Crosby Jr. has been named corporate vice president and general manager of its Commercial Aircraft Div. He succeeds Gordon L. Williams, who, the company said, will begin a "special assignment." It said Williams will work on the assignment until his retirement at the end of the year. Crosby had been the corporate vice president and deputy general manager of the division. Jim C. Hoover, currently VP-Integrated Airframe Systems, succeeds Crosby.
Airbus continues to refine its A-3XX jumbo jet design as it works to press the advantages of two, all-new models over Boeing derivative aircraft. "Over the last few months the mood has changed," one Airbus official said here. "Airlines have accepted that it's in their best interest to wait and conduct a proper evaluation." First Boeing 747X deliveries, if the program is launched, likely will slip from the current target of late 2000, he added.
The missile warning component of Northrop Grumman's Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) system has successfully completed design verification tests, paving the way for the release of DIRCM long-lead funding, the company reported. The tests took place at Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems Div., Baltimore, Md., and was observed by representatives from the British Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. Air Force's Operational Test and Evaluation Center, and the AF's 46th Test Wing.
The U.S. Army's RAH-66 Comanche helicopter made its third flight yesterday and plans were being made to fly it again today. Test pilots of the Boeing/Sikorsky team developing the helicopter flew it yesterday afternoon for about 48 minutes at Sikorsky's West Palm Beach, Fla., flight test facility, a Boeing spokesman said. He said "no anomalies [were] noted in the flight data," prompting the team to schedule the fourth flight for today.
NASA MANAGERS rolled the Space Shuttle Atlantis back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., yesterday to avoid Hurricane Fran's potentially damaging wind and rain. A KSC spokesman said the move will force a slip of "a couple of days" in the planned Sept. 14 launch date for the fourth U.S. Shuttle mission to Russia's Mir space station (DAILY, Sept. 4). The storm was expected to strike land north of the launch facility, and NASA planned to begin rolling Atlantis back to the pad as early as today to minimize the delay.
Iraqi radar painted the two B-52H bombers that launched missiles at Iraqi targets on Tuesday, but the bombers weren't forced to apply active countermeasures, said Lt. Col. Floyd Carpenter, mission commander of one of the two planes. He told reporters at the Pentagon shortly after his return to the U.S. that the mission duration from Guam to the target and back was 33.9 hours, covering 13,600 miles and including four midair refuelings. The aircraft belonged to the 96th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La.
House and Senate conferees on the fiscal 1997 defense appropriations bill have no meetings scheduled this week, congressional sources said yesterday, although they would not rule out a meeting of the key participants today to discuss the major conference issues. Although no conference meeting is listed, one source said the senior conferees could meet for "a touching of the gloves," as in a boxing match before the start of the fight.
A change of name eight weeks ago at AlliedSignal Aerospace Electronic Systems reflects a broadening of the company into commercial markets with its previously military-only technologies. Gone from its letterhead is the word "government," but governments - that of the U.S. in particular - still remain the unit's main customers, general manager Ray Stark said here.
McDonnell Douglas is reactivating the YC-15 prototype airlifter after 15 years in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. It will be used for technology demonstrations intended to benefit the C-17 Globemaster III and future airlifters. MDC's Transport Aircraft unit agreed with the U.S. Air Force on an eight-year, no-cost lease, marking the first time the AF has leased back to a contractor a developmental aircraft as part of a cooperative R&D program, MDC said. The company will pay the refurbishment costs.
U.S. ARMY'S Space and Strategic Defense Command said targets were launched on Aug. 31 to test performance of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's spaceborne Midcourse Space Experiment. MSX is intended to demonstrate technology for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). Twenty- six objects were deployed for observation during the mission, launched from the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. One of the objects simulated a ballistic missile reentry vehicle.
CORRECTION: An article in The DAILY of Aug. 27 incorrectly stated that Tracor Aerospace was teamed with Israel Aircraft Industries on a $20.8 million U.S. Air Force contract for two Astra SPX executive jets. Tracor Flight Systems Inc. was teamed with IAI on the contract.
SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES has ordered four Saab 2000 turboprops plus two options for its SAS Commuter subsidiary, and French-based Regional Airlines has placed orders that will increase its 2000 fleet from four to seven, Saab said. The first two SAS airplanes will be delivered in February and the second two in April 1997. They will be operated on routes that have provided inadequate traffic for SAS' jets. Regional's three additional airplanes will make it the second-largest 2000 operator, after Crossair of Switzerland.
The merger 18 months ago of Lockheed and Martin Marietta has paid off with wins in two big competitions and is demonstrating the power of synergy, said Micky Blackwell, president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Sector. On June 17, Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas were chosen to proceed to the next stage of the competition for the Pentagon's Joint Air- to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program.
A U.S. Marine Corps Hawk missile battery designed to intercept theater ballistic missiles failed to engage one of two targets for still unspecified reasons, the Pentagon said Tuesday. During the Aug. 30 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the Marines tried to shoot down two Lance missiles that were launched 22 seconds apart on the same 130 kilometer trajectory. The first missile was destroyed, but the second wasn't.
Michael Graff, the new head of Bombardier's Business Aircraft Div., made his public debut here yesterday, a sign of major changes in the company's business jet unit. The new structure mimics that earlier instituted in the company's Bombardier Regional Aircraft Division. Graff will oversee some 3,000 employees in sales, marketing and support, spanning Bombardier units and products, including the Canadair Challenger Series, the Global Express and the Learjet family.
The Senate, considering NASA's fiscal year 1997 appropriations bill yesterday, retained language allowing the agency to continue funding a U.S./Russian experiment involving the study of rhesus monkeys in space. The House version of the bill removed the $15.5 million in NASA appropriations for the Bion 11 and Bion 12 experiments (DAILY, June 28). The two chambers now will have to resolve their differences in conference.
McDonnell Douglas is displaying a model here of the MD- 17, a proposed civil cargo derivative of the C-17 military airlifter on display in the static park. The recent award of a multi-year procurement contract from the U.S. Air Force increases the company's commitment from 40 to 120 C-17A Globemaster IIIs, ensuring long-term production and introducing economies of scale. That is the springboard from which the manufacturer intends to formally launch the MD-17 later this year.
Douglas Aircraft has received orders from four airlines valued at more than $365 million, the company reported. Heliopolis Airlines, a new charter operator based in Cairo, ordered an MD-90 for delivery in 1997 and placed options on two more. Kibris Turk Hava Yollari, a charter carrier in Istanbul, ordered three MD-90s for delivery in December and January and placed options on two more. VASP Brazilian Airlines ordered a ninth MD-11 for delivery this October.
The British government yesterday approved production of 232 Eurofighter 2000 aircraft at a cost of 15 billion pounds, or $23 billion. The final decision awaits approval of Britain's EF 2000 partners, Germany, Italy and Spain. The announcement by British Defense Secretary Michael Portillo follows a report by Britain's National Audit Office that said the Eurofighter 2000 program was $1.25 billion pounds, or $1.93 billion, over budget (DAILY, Aug. 12). The cost includes production of the 232 fighters and options for 64 more.
Airbus Industrie announced that Federal Express Corp. has ordered 11 more A300-600 freighters for delivery between 1998 and 2000. The General Electric-powered aircraft will be used on domestic routes. FedEx previously ordered 25 of the aircraft. Asian Airlines of South Korea signed for 18 A321s for delivery beginning in the second quarter of 1998, and Cathay Pacific signed up for three more A340-300s, increasing to nine the number on firm order, Airbus said.
