Patria Industries of Finland will supply wing spoilers to Airbus' A380 super jumbo under a contract worth 425 million euros ($387 million) over the next 25 years. Patria will be responsible for the design, testing and manufacture of the spoilers, a streamlined control surface on the upper part of the wing. Each A380 will have 16 spoilers, which are raised during the landing phase to reduce the wing's lifting force, and are also used during flight for lateral control of the aircraft.
After nearly a decade of military and economic sanctions imposed against Pakistan and India, the Bush administration changed course Sept. 22, proposing to waive a number of key restrictions. In a memorandum to the secretary of state, President Bush waived sanctions imposed under sections 101 and 102 of the Arms Export Control Act, which had barred the export of military items to Pakistan and India. Bush also waived sanctions on military cooperation and assistance imposed under the Foreign Military Assistant Act and the Export Import Bank Act.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.'s Hellas obstacle warning system will be installed on German federal border guard EC-135 and EC-155 aircraft, EADS subsidiary Dornier GmbH announced. The border guard squadron will receive the first 25 systems and install them in the helicopters, work expected to be completed by next spring, according to Dornier. The eye-safe Hellas laser warning system has been tested on various helicopter models and in a variety of flight and visibility conditions, according to the company.
Aerospace and defense analysts with Standard&Poor's have concluded that the downturn in the U.S. airline industry in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will likely affect European aerospace companies as well. S&P analysts examined the issue in two reports, released Sept. 21 and 24, and changed the ratings outlook for several European aerospace companies.
BAE SYSTEMS will open a new civil aircraft modification, maintenance and repair facility at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif., the company announced Sept. 24. The facility will provide commercial aviation maintenance, refurbishment, modification and conversion services, the company said.
Although the Senate last week reversed a $1.3 billion cut in the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 request for missile defense, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said Sept. 24 that he is considering offering an amendment to the defense authorization bill to limit the use of the money to homeland defense and anti-terrorism activities.
The House will likely narrow a Bush Administration proposal that would give President Bush the power to waive sanctions on defense exports to countries that help the U.S. fight terrorism, a House aide told The DAILY Sept. 24. The Administration is seeking the waiver authority for five years to strengthen its ability to fight terrorism, but many House members view the provision as too sweeping.
MISFIRE: An Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus rocket misfired during a Sept. 21 launch, apparently resulting in the loss of two satellites. The Taurus was carrying NASA's Quick Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (QuikTOMS) satellite and the OrbView-4 satellite owned by Orbimage, which is affiliated with Orbital Sciences.
The U.S. Navy may be in for a boost in force structure as well as force protection, one analyst said Sept. 24. Scott Truver, group vice president for national security studies at Anteon Corp., of Arlington, Va., said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 seem likely to lead to increased protection for ships in ports, and possibly even additional aircraft carrier battlegroups.
Amphitech International Inc. and Canadian Helicopters Ltd. announced the first sale of Amphitech's obstacle avoidance radar system for helicopters. The Obstacle Avoidance Radar (OASYS) system will be installed on a Bell 212 helicopter in service supporting a CHL customer in Labrador, according to the Quebec-based companies.
ARMY MEETING: The Association of the United States Army is proceeding with its plans to hold its 47th annual meeting in Washington Oct. 15-17, the Army announced Sept. 24. AUSA said the decision is "fully supported by the Army uniform and civilian leadership."
September 21, 2001 Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $7,707,532 firm-fixed price contract modification to provide for two readiness spares packages and one lot of aircrew training data updates in support of National Guard Bureau C-130J aircraft. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be completed by December 2003.
AAI Corp. will provide Advanced Boresight Equipment(ABE) for the Republic of Singapore's AH-64D Apache helicopters, company owner United Industrial Corp. announced Sept. 24. The $920,000 U.S. Army contract, developed through the Defense Department's Foreign Military Sales program, includes an ABE Model 300 common system, a set of ABE Apache adapters, and operation and maintenance training.
NASA's Deep Space 1 probe survived its risky weekend encounter with the comet Borrelly and is sending back pictures, measurements and other data from its flyby. The spacecraft, launched in 1999, is well beyond its planned lifetime, but NASA decided to give it one last comet flyby mission (DAILY, Sept. 19).
In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks, Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) Dov Zakheim said he expects the Administration's 2002 defense budget request will have to go up even more as a result of national security programs being created or accelerated by fiscal 2001 emergency spending.
Larry Bossidy, chairman and CEO of Honeywell International Inc., announced Sept. 24 that the company will be forced to lay off 16,000 employees by the end of the year and close 51 facilities. The company will take a charge of up to $1 billion against third quarter earnings as a result of the weakening economy, Bossidy announced.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. have again extended their offers to acquire all outstanding shares of Newport News Shipbuilding common stock. On Sept. 20, Northrop Grumman announced it is extending its cash and stock exchange offer from Sept. 20 to midnight Sept. 27. As of 5 p.m. Sept. 20, nearly 2.5 million shares of Newport News common stock had been tendered to Northrop Grumman.
DEFENSE FUNDS: The Bush Administration plans to use $2.5 billion for defense from the first installment of recently enacted $40 billion supplemental appropriations, the White House says. Of that, $1.8 billion will go to upgrade intelligence and security, enhance force protection, improve command and control and increase readiness, and the rest will go to Pentagon repairs and other recovery needs. A senior Senate aide told The DAILY he expects little of the overall supplemental to go toward military procurement or research and development.
The Titan Corp. of San Diego announced it will acquire information services company BTG Inc., which a Titan official said will expand Titan's reach into the military and intelligence operations market. The purchase price, which includes Titan's assumption of about $32 million of BTG debt, is $114.9 million in Titan common stock and $27 million in cash.
