BOEING SATELLITE SYSTEMS will begin production of the 11th UHF Follow-On (UFO) satellite under a new U.S. Navy contract. The service modified an existing contract worth $1.9 billion for the new satellite, scheduled for launch in 2003. Like earlier satellites in the series, the UFO F-11 will be based on Boeing's 601 bus, with a UHF payload for narrowband two-way communication and a high-capacity EHF payload that uses advanced signals processing for antijam telemetry and command, broadcast and fleet interconnectivity communications.
Northwest Airlines is splitting its order to replace DC-10s between 24 Airbus A330-300s and 20 Boeing 757-300s, and plans to add two Boeing 747-400s and six Airbus A319s to its inventory. The order, augmented by a separate order for 45 Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets, will increase the Northwest fleet from 469 aircraft to 565 by the end of 2004. The A330s will replace DC-10-30s operating in Atlantic service, while the 757s will replace DC-10-40s flying in the U.S. All DC-10-40s will be retired starting next year through 2004.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) said he plans to work with the incoming Bush Administration to implement organizational changes recommended last week by the congressionally chartered Space Commission. Warner, who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee when George W. Bush becomes president Saturday, said the commission's recommendations would strengthen national security space management.
Boeing yesterday reported its fourth quarter 2000 earnings rose 32% over the same 1999 period, to $877 million, excluding non-recurring items, as operating margins reached 9.3%, up 46%. Fourth quarter revenue dipped 3.3% to $14.7 billion. Earnings per share rose 36% to $1.01. Boeing predicted commercial aircraft deliveries will remain flat over the next two years, offset by production in its military and space divisions and increases in production efficiencies.
The United States and United Kingdom jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the next phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program at the Pentagon yesterday, with the U.K. committing an additional $2 billion to allow it to weigh in on the down-select decision between Boeing and Lockheed Martin this fall.
SPAIN'S FLEET of five P-3B aircraft will be updated by EADS/CASA under a 109 million euro contract. The first updated Orion is slated for delivery by the end of September 2003, EADS said. The contract represents the culmination of the EADS/CASA effort, underway since 1995, to develop the Mission System for the P-3B. It is also a step in the consolidation of this line of business for CASA, which leads maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare programs within EADS. The Military Transport Aircraft Div. will head this program.
A Clinton Administration push to streamline and modernize the military will continue to transform U.S. forces for years to come, outgoing Secretary of Defense William Cohen predicted in his last annual report to the president and Congress. Pentagon plans have beefed up recent spending projections by $227 billion, Cohen said, money aimed at not only bolstering military readiness but also at modernizing and transforming the services to rely on new communications and weapons technologies.
The U.S. Air Force is set to begin a series of developmental tests of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) following successful completion of control tests that wrapped up Nov. 17 at Eglin AFB, Fla. (DAILY, Nov. 21). The developmental test (DT) series are slated to begin today with DT-1, an inert drop for accuracy, scheduled to take place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test will mark the first of eight scheduled tests in which the missiles are fitted with infrared seekers in place of flight test booms used on the control tests.
DCH TECHNOLOGY INC. of Valencia, Calif., has been picked to develop a new hydrogen sensor for the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet and X-33 suborbital testbed, working through a contract between NASA and Shape Change Technologies LLC. The company's patented "Robust Hydrogen Sensor" will be used to detect leaks in new seal systems developed by Shape Change. The sensor combines thin-film technology and an integrated circuit to detect data and communicate it to control devices or human operators.
TMI COMMUNICATIONS and EMS TECHNOLOGIES are marketing a new packet data terminal for transportation applications in the U.S., following FCC approval of a modification of TMI's license to provide mobile satellite services in the U.S. Under the change the company can operate the EMS PDT-100 packet data terminal, which will enable two-way data communications for truck fleets and other mobile assets. The companies persuaded the FCC that the half-duplex system would not interfere with emergency communications services, according to EMS.
Boeing Co., Electronic Systems&Missile Defense, Anaheim, Calif., is being awarded a $9,345,162 delivery order amount as part of cost-plus-fixed-fee contract DAAH01-99-D-0001 for post sustainment production support on the Kiowa Warrior Mast Mounted Sight System. Work will be performed in Anaheim, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 8, 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 31, 1997. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has opened a program office to handle the agency's efforts to develop a next-generation reusable space launch vehicle. The Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle program office will identify requirements and develop technologies for a potential replacement for the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet. The office is seeking proposals for work to reduce the risk of building next-generation vehicles (DAILY, Aug. 28, 2000).
Intense speculation has been aroused in U.K. defense and industry circles over an announcement promised for today by Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon on a government decision concerning future participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program. At the moment, the U.K. is the biggest foreign partner in the U.S. program, with a current partnership interest of almost 10%, based on a $200 million investment in the concept demonstration program.
The Defense Dept. apparently has no plans to decide this week whether to move the F-22 into low-rate initial production (LRIP), according to Pentagon sources, leaving a ruling on the program's fate to the Bush Administration which takes office Saturday. The F-22 decision had been expected late last month, but delays in finishing required testing have repeatedly pushed back the date (DAILY, Jan. 5).
The DD 21 Alliance, comprised of Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine and Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $7,000,000 firm-fixed-price advance agreement modification for the acceleration of the DD 21/CVN 77 radar suite development. Bath Iron Works Corp. has been selected by the DD 21 Alliance to lead and execute this modification. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine, and Moorestown, N.J. (50%); and Pascagoula, Miss. And Falls Church, Va. (50%), and is expected to be completed by March 2001.
Bothered by concerns over critical solid rocket booster wiring, NASA managers have decided to roll the Space Shuttle Atlantis off the launch pad for repairs that will delay its launch until next month. The decision late Monday came on the eve of the start of the countdown to send Atlantis to the International Space Station with the high-priority U.S. Laboratory module Destiny. Atlantis, which had been scheduled for liftoff on Jan. 19, now will be launched no earlier than Feb. 6, officials at the U.S. space agency said.
(Editor's note: Following is the text of responses by Defense Secretary-designee Donald H. Rumsfeld to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.)
MSE Technology Applications Corp., Butte, Mont., is being awarded a $25,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for research and development from Jan. 15, 2001 through Jan. 14, 2006 for hypersonic wind tunnel design criteria in support of jet engines/space vehicle prototype testing at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began October 2000; negotiations were completed January 2001. At this time, $529,000 of the contract funds have been obligated.
Sen. Fred Thompson is joining the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the new 107th Congress, the Tennessee Republican announced late last week.
British Airways said it is investing $44 million in modifications to its Concorde fleet in hopes it can offer the supersonic service again this spring. In the wake of last summer's fatal takeoff accident near Paris, more than $25 million is being spent by the airline on safety-related changes, with the rest going into new seats, cabin interiors and other service improvements.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems-Baltimore, Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $19,187,824 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract N00024-00-C-5486 for engineering services in support of the MK 41 Vertical Launching System. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md., and is expected to be completed by December 2001. Contract funds in the amount of $45,778 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. said yesterday that, in order to give the U.S. government time to review its pending acquisition of Litton Industries, it has voluntarily withdrawn its Jan. 4 Hart-Scott-Rodino notification of the deal. The company said it expects to "refile the notification in a timely manner." It also said that it plans to provide the European Union with the required filings before the end of the month.
Globalstar Telecommunications suspended principal and interest payments on its debt yesterday as a way to buy more time to sell its "Big-LEO" low-Earth orbit communications service. By the end of last week Globalstar had only 31,200 subscribers, according to Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Globalstar and its parent, Loral Space&Communications. Schwartz asked bondholders for patience while The Blackstone Group develops a plan to restructure the company's debt, a process he said would take about six weeks.
Allied Research Corp., Vienna, Va., announced the appointment of a new management team headed by Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III (USA-ret.). Peay, a current Allied Research director, was named chairman, president and CEO. He replaces W. Glenn Yarborough who retired as president and CEO.
The DD 21 Alliance, comprised of Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine and Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded an $11,995,594 firm-fixed-price advance agreement modification for the acceleration of the DD 21 program long range land attack munitions for the advanced gun system currently being developed by United Defense, Limited Partnership, Minneapolis, Minn. Bath Iron Works Corp. has been selected by the DD 21 Alliance to lead and execute this modification. Work will be performed in Minneapolis, Minn., and is expected to be completed by March 2001.
