TRANSATLANTIC TIES: Rising U.S. defense budgets and declining worldwide commercial aircraft sales may push European aerospace companies to give renewed attention to joint ventures with U.S. companies as well as acquisitions of smaller U.S. firms. While expanding their U.S. footprint has long been a goal of European defense companies such as BAE Systems, EADS and Thales, the events of Sept. 11 have added a new urgency to this strategy, according to company officials and press reports.
The value of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s stock has gone up so much in recent weeks that its offer to acquire Newport News Shipbuilding could now be "superior" to a rival offer from General Dynamics Corp., the Newport News board of directors said Oct. 5. The board of directors originally voted to accept the $67.50 per-share cash offer from General Dynamics Corp. on April 25. But on May 8, Northrop Grumman made an unsolicited bid to Newport News shareholders for the same share price - but its offer is a mix of cash and stock.
CHAIRMAN: President Bush has nominated former Pennsylvania Rep. Robert Walker as chairman of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. He is currently chairman and CEO of The Wexler Group.
THE WINNER IS: Because aerospace companies diversified their product line following the Cold War, they will benefit the most from the new defense posture as expressed in the Quadrennial Defense Review, according to John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. "The aerospace companies win," Douglass says. "The reason for that is that we bought up all the rest." Douglass notes that aerospace companies in the post-Cold War period have acquired companies producing missiles, munitions, naval vessels and land vehicles.
JSF CONTRACT: Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, in Arlington, Va., doesn't agree with Bond's proposal to split JSF production. Bond voices concern that the company that loses the JSF competition will ultimately have to leave the fighter business, hurting the defense industrial base. He would prefer that Boeing - which would probably build the JSF in his state if it wins - and Lockheed Martin both have production lines for the fighter. But Thompson sees it differently.
The first flight of the Skeeter sub-scale, subsonic aerial target is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 12 on the Tyndall Air Force Base range, Fla., subject to range availability. A positive flight readiness review on Oct. 2 cleared the way for the flight, said Lt. Col. Jeff Robertson, director of the Air Force Aerial Targets System Program Office at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain (R-Ariz.) has charged that the Senate version of the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill contains about $1 billion in "pork" or unneeded add-ons, including $99 million for a Lockheed Martin C-130J transport aircraft at Little Rock Air Force Base.
GOODRICH CORP.'s Avionics Systems Division has submitted its new SkyWatch HP Traffic Collision Avoidance System to the FAA for Technical Standard Order approval, the company announced Oct. 4. If the system wins TSO approval, the initial Supplemental Type Certification for installation will be performed on the company's King Air C90, with deliveries beginning immediately, according to Goodrich.
In a sign of continuing efforts to speed arms sales to Operation Enduring Freedom partners, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced Oct. 4 that the U.S. intends to sell 12 F-16 C/D Block 50 aircraft to replace Oman's aging British aircraft. DSCA, the Defense Department agency responsible for Foreign Military Sales (FMS), notified Congress of the sale, stating the proposed deal will "strengthen military ties between the U.S. and the Sultanate of Oman."
The Air Force will consider expanding the B-2 bomber fleet when it develops plans for implementing the recommendations of the Quadrennial Defense Review, an Air Force general said at a Senate hearing Oct. 4.
Signal Technology Corp. of Danvers, Mass., announced its Keltec Division has received follow-on production contracts to build five 4 kilowatt transmitter systems for unmanned aerial vehicles being developed for defense intelligence work. The orders, totaling $250,000 came from multiple customers that the company didn't name. Signal's transmitter is part of the synthetic aperture radar that gathers intelligence imagery and can be used on vehicles like Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, according to Signal.
NASA has selected Lockheed Martin Astronautics of Denver to build the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled for launch in August 2005, the aerospace agency announced Oct. 3. The orbiter is intended to return the highest-resolution images yet of Mars, according to NASA.
Several weapons programs stand to benefit from the military's shift to a "capabilities-based" approach as expressed in the recently released Quadrennial Defense Review, a group of aerospace and defense industry officials said Oct. 4. Those programs include unmanned aerial vehicles that can relay real-time information to battlefield commanders and faster, stealthier surface systems that can be used to deploy troops in areas where no forward bases exist.
The launch of a Lockheed Martin-built Titan 4B carrying a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload has been delayed indefinitely as the result of a voltage problem. In a statement, the Air Force said its launch team is evaluating stray voltage detected by a ground computer. Technicians first suspected a faulty relay inside the Titan as the culprit, although that has now been ruled out.
European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Yuri Koptev, the director general of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency Rosaviakosmos, signed an agreement Oct. 3 aimed at strengthening European-Russian cooperation in space. The partnership calls for new joint space activities, including the possibility of launching Soyuz rockets from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
AeroAstro, Inc. has been awarded a Department of Defense contract to develop the DOD Space Test Program Satellite Mission 1 (STPSat-1) for the Air Force Space Command, Space and Missile Systems Center. The satellite will be launched in FY 2005/2006 on a Delta IV Medium Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle using the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter ring. The mission will last one year.
ERICSSON MICROWAVE SYSTEMS delivered two Erieye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems to the Greek air force in late September, the first European-built AEW&C systems to enter NATO service. The delivery is part of the $600 million Erieye order Ericsson received at the end of 1999 from the Greek air force (DAILY, July 8, 1999). Sweden, Brazil and Mexico have also bought the Erieye system.
BRIGHT STAR: Egyptian military forces and U.S. Central Command Army, Air Force and special operations components will participate in Bright Star 01/02, a training exercise in Egypt set for Oct. 8-Nov. 1. Forces from eight other nations will also participate.
A recently released report by Deutsche Bank's investment arm says major defense companies should benefit significantly from the changed defense posture contained in the recently released Quadrennial Defense Review. Chris Mecray, senior aerospace and defense analyst with Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown Inc., said the shift from a "threat-based" approach to a "capabilities-based" approach would benefit programs involving advanced remote sensing, long-range precision strike, maneuverability and the operations of expeditionary forces.
CAE of Toronto will sell a Boeing 777-200 ER Maintenance Training Simulator to Japan Airlines (JAL), the company announced Oct. 4. The contract is worth about $6.4 million at list price. The MTS is designed to train airline maintenance engineers and technicians to perform tests on aircraft systems and avionics. It will be installed in JAL's training facilities in Narita at the end of 2002 and will be built to the Level 5 standard of the FAA and the standards of the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau.
The military services need help in raising the level of effectiveness of operational test and evaluation (OT&E) to ensure new weapons systems are ready when they are brought into the inventory, a defense official said. Marion L. Williams, chief scientist of the Air Force's Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., said OT&E is system-centric when it should have a broader system-of-sytems approach to support integrated, joint service operations.
U.S. Army Space&Missile Defense Command (SMDC) in Huntsville, Ala., has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. and TRW for Phase II of an effort to create more efficient, environmentally friendly target boosters for missile defense tests. In addition to being cheaper and easier to use, the new liquid-propelled boosters will be more representative of possible threats, according to Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) spokesman Lt. Col. Rick Lehner.
The U.S. could significantly improve its protection against an unconventional nuclear attack by spending a "relatively modest" $500 million or so over five years on sensors and other capabilities, according to Roger Hagengruber, chairman of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Unconventional Nuclear Warfare Defense. Hagengruber testified before the House Intelligence terrorism and homeland security subcommittee at a hearing on asymmetric and unconventional threats.
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee's surface transportation panel said they are alarmed that measures to improve security on commercial rail and marine traffic have not been implemented as quickly as those for the commercial airline industry. "I am very concerned that the rhetoric of the past week is outpacing the response," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, said to Coast Guard Adm. James Underwood, director of the Transportation Department's Office of Intelligence and Security.
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) said Oct. 3 that he will try to remove a provision in the House fiscal 2002 intelligence authorization bill that would set up a commission to assess how U.S. intelligence agencies performed before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.
