A new engine from Pratt&Whitney Canada, the PW150, will power the prospective 72-passenger de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop, Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America said yesterday. Reporting that it conducted "an exhaustive evaluation of available alternatives," Bombardier cited commonality with PW120 and PW123 engines, which power current Dash 8 models, as the source of operational, maintenance, training and logistics support advantages.
McDonnell Douglas wants the U.S. Navy to buy a command and control warfare variant of the two-seat F/A-18F to supplement and eventually replace the EA-6B Prowler, MDC officials told The DAILY in a recent interview. Paul Summers, program manager for the C2W Hornet, and Tim Thomassy, an F/A-18 business developer, acknowledge that it may be a "tad early" to start thinking about buying a new aircraft. Initially, they only want the Navy to fund a technology-based risk reduction study.
Slowing defense and space sales took a $1.3 million bite out of after- tax profits at Thiokol Corp. in its third fiscal quarter, but special charges hit even harder, leaving the company with a $39.9 million loss on 13% slower sales of $232.6 million.
JAPAN is considering placing launch insurance for more of its satellites in the wake of two expensive launch failures. Historically, Tokyo has only insured its most expensive, highest priority satellites-out of 60 satellites launched from Japan, eight have been insured. But launch failures resulted in the loss of the $500 million ETS-6 engineering test satellite in August 1994 and the Express experimental satellite in January of this year have prompted Japan's Space Activities Commission to form a special commission to study whether more satellites should be insured.
ECC INTERNATIONAL CORP., Wayne, Pa., has received a $9.1 million order from the Martin Marietta-Texas Instruments joint venture for work on the second low rate initial production phase of the Javelin missile. ECC International will supply classroom and field tactical trainers during a period of about 18 months.
Revenues and earnings declined at Hughes Electronics Corp. during the first quarter of 1995 as revenue increases in its automotive electronics and telecommunications and space businesses weren't enough to offset declining sales in its aerospace and defense operation. Overall revenues were $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to $3.58 billion in the first quarter of 1994. Earnings decreased 4.7%, to $282 million.
COMSAT CORP. reported first quarter revenues of $207.9 million, up 4% over the same period in 1994. But despite a $2.2 million gain from the sale of its stake in a venture in Chile, Comsat's earnings for the quarter dropped to $14.6 million from $20.2 million a year earlier. The company attributed the drop to lower rates for a long-term television distribution contract and lower revenues in its technology services business.
ONE MILLIONTH DirecTV receiver system has been manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics of Indianapolis. The milestone ends Thomson's exclusive franchise to manufacture the 18-inch receiver dishes and accompanying decoder boxes, which it markets under the RCA brand name. Sony is planning to begin selling the dishes by summer, followed in 1996 by Hughes, Toshiba and Uniden. DirecTV currently has 500,000 subscribers, a number Hughes hopes to triple by the end of the year.
United Technologies had a buoyant first quarter, as both profits and revenues grew in the double-digits thanks to cost-cutting, stronger markets and-for the first time in a long time-growth in shipments of products. In financial results posted yesterday, UTC turned in 38% higher earnings of $135 million on 12% stronger sales of $5.34 billion, and not a single UTC business saw revenue declines in the quarter.
U.S. AIR FORCE has exercised an option for an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus launcher under a contract supporting its Small Launch Vehicle (AFSLV) program. Intended to orbit the STEP Mission 4 satellite in 1997, the option is the third exercised by the Air Force under the AFSLV contract, which was awarded to Orbital in 1991.
SEVEN PAYLOAD LOSSES in 1994 represented the highest failure level in nine years, according to a new study by Teal Group of Fairfax, Va. Five launchers failed the same year, a level that is consistent with recent averages. Overall, there have been 179 launch vehicle failures dating back to December 1957 and 128 complete or partial payload failures since 1958, according to the study, "Failures by Payloads/Launch Vehicles."
BOEING Defense&Space Group's Military Airplanes Div., Seattle, will enhance the B-1B bomber's offensive avionics system and improve its conventional weapons capability under a four-year, $110 million subcontract from Rockwell International Corp. Under the subcontract-part of a $232 million contract to Rockwell from the U.S. Air Force for the Conventional Mission Upgrade Program-Boeing said it will develop the software to integrate Global Positioning System (GPS) and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) capabilities into the B-1B's offensive avionics.
An expected jetliner delivery slowdown cut deeply into Boeing's first- quarter profits reported yesterday, leaving net earnings down 38% to $181 million on sales that were more than $1 billion off last year's pace.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) opened its door a crack wider yesterday, releasing a declassified chart that gives the most detailed breakdown yet of how it is organized. The chart of the NRO headquarters structure-and names of the directors of many of the organization's various offices-were declassified on the orders of NRO Director Jeffrey Harris.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense late last week released $4 million to the U.S. Air Force for the ongoing EF-111 System Improvement Program, an AF spokeswoman said Friday. The money is expected to be used to finish flight testing, according to sources close to the program. The SIP program escaped termination earlier this month after the Senate protested the AF shutdown plans on grounds the Pentagon isn't yet sure the Navy EA-6B can fulfill the Air Force's electronic jamming requirements (DAILY, April 5, page 19).
April 21, 1995 AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, is being awarded a $2,000,000 increment as part of a $7,009,722 cost-share contract for the design of a prototype projection electron-beam lithography system. Work will be performed in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed by April 21, 1996. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract. The contracting activity is the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia (MDA972-95-C-0013).
Finland's first F-18 fighter made its initial flight April 21 from St. Louis, McDonnell Douglas reported. It said the first of 64 Hornets being purchased by the Finnish Air Force, a two-seat D-model, logged one hour and 30 minutes with McDonnell Douglas test pilot Fred Madenwald and Navy Lt. Cdr. Dave Stuart at the controls.
The Hera target missile was launched for the first time yesterday at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., paving the way for its use in testing of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Hera-which consists of modified second and third stages from the Minuteman II missile, a modified Pershing II guidance and control section and an instrumented ballistic re-entry vehicle-flew to a designated altitude of 171 miles above range and 68 miles down range, the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command said.
