Airbus Industrie will become a traditional company by the end of February, retroactively effective to Jan. 1, 2001, shareholders of the consortium announced yesterday in Amsterdam and London. Until now the shareholders -- the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), with 80%, and BAE Systems, with 20% -- have organized their Airbus activities through a "European Interest Grouping" established under French law in 1967. The body had no centralized decision-making structure, hindering its competition with Boeing.
Lifting of the ban on suspension of flights of the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey may depend more on the findings of an investigation into the Dec. 11 crash of one of the aircraft that killed all four Marines onboard than on an in-depth study of the program that was prompted by the accident, Pentagon sources say.
French accident investigators said yesterday that they have not yet received answers from Continental Airlines on questions about the possibility that last summer's crash of a Concorde near Paris came after the supersonic transport struck a piece of a Continental jet on the runway. The investigators are certain that a Continental DC-10, N13067, had lost a wear strip from one of its CF6-50 engines during its takeoff roll five minutes before the Concorde accelerated down the same runway at Charles de Gaulle airport on July 25.
GKN Aerospace plans to invest in cutting-edge technologies to spur 50% growth in coming years at its new fabrication operation in St. Louis, a facility formerly owned by Boeing Co. "Absolutely, we're making capital investments in the plant -- clearly in the leading edge technologies," said Tom Battaglia, spokesman for GKN Aerospace, North America.
Raytheon Co., Electronic Systems, Bedford, Mass., was awarded on Dec. 29, 2000, a $20,000,000 modification to firm-fixed-price contract DAAH01-98-C-0073 for a Patriot Remote Launch Communication Enhancement Upgrade. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass. (94%), and Burlington, Mass. (6%), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Nov. 14, 2000. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Boeing Co., Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $5,720,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 13 Towed Decoy Systems in support of the B-1 aircraft. The work is expected to be completed March 2004. Solicitation began September 2000; negotiations were completed December 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-00/C-0047).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., has been awarded a $267.4 million contract to extend through March 2001 the advanced procurement in support of 10 low rate initial production (LRIP) F-22 aircraft, the Pentagon announced yesterday. The work will be shared among Lockheed Martin facilities in Marietta, Ga. and Ft. Worth, Texas, as well as at the Boeing Co. facility, Seattle, Wash., and other locations.
Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), co-chair of the congressional Electronic Warfare Working Group, is leaving the House Armed Services Committee in the new 107th Congress because he won an assignment to the powerful Commerce Committee, a spokesman told The DAILY yesterday. But Pitts, a former Air Force EW officer, will stay active on EW issues by remaining co-chair of the working group, the spokesman said. The group was formed to encourage awareness of and support for EW capabilities (DAILY, Jan. 25, 2000).
Rolls-Royce, Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded a $14,640,000 modification to a previously awarded fixed-firm-price contract N00019-95-C-0209 to exercise an option for eight AE1107C turboshaft engines (installs) for CV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Ind., and is expected to be completed by March 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Electronic Systems, Bedford, Mass., was awarded on Dec. 29, 2000, a $59,774,821 modification to cost-plus-award-fee contract DAAH01-99-C-0028, for PATRIOT FY01 engineering services for the following countries: Germany, Israel, Taiwan, Netherlands, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and for the North Atlantic Service Maintenance Agency (part of NATO). Work will be performed in Burlington, Mass. (6%); Huntsville, Ala. (7%); Andover, Mass. (5%); Tewksbury, Mass. (65%); El Paso, Texas (1%); Bedford, Mass. (15%), and Orlando, Fla. (1%), and is expected to be completed by Jan.
Raytheon Systems Co., Norfolk, Va., is being awarded a $9,517,195 time and materials contract for 1,600 repair parts for the Sidewinder missile, SPS-49 radar system, NATO Sea-Sparrow and WSC-6 communication system, and four other weapons systems. Work will be performed in Chula Vista, Calif. (63%); Norfolk, Va. (26%); and Goleta, Calif. (11%); and is expected to be completed by December 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitive procured.
Brazil's Embraer has adopted a five-year, $1.75 billion plan to help fulfill its long-term objectives of replacing Canada's Bombardier as the world's third largest manufacturer of jet aircraft and competing with Boeing and Airbus in making airliners with 70 to 108 seats. "We are gaining market share because we invest in quality and not in lobbying against the competition," said Embraer President Mauricio Botelho, aiming a barb at main rival Bombardier.
General Dynamics Armament Systems won two orders, worth about $165 million to supply Hydra-70 rockets, motors and warheads for the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy. "We remain encouraged by the strong demand for this weapon system from all branches of our armed forces and many foreign militaries and we're excited about the Hydra-70 rocket system's future," said Linda Hudson, president of General Dynamics Armament Systems.
The Russian government plans to maintain funding for space programs this year at the same level as in 2000, with commercial space activities expected to bring in more money than the government will provide. For now that figure is estimated at about $800 million. State spending is on the order of $163 million at the current exchange rate.
Thales, formerly known as Thompson-CSF, has won a stage two contract, estimated at about $145 million, to supply the MARTHA battlespace management system to the French Army. The French defense procurement agency Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA) awarded the contract, which covers the system and related support for about seven years.
Firearms Training Systems Inc., Suwanee, Ga., is being awarded $12,566,574 as part of an $18,372,376 firm-fixed-price contract to analyze, plan, develop, integrate, manage, and ensure successful completion of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program's Guard Force - Small Arms Training Simulators Project. The contractor will produce and deliver 60 small arms training simulators and associated software and materials to the U.S. Government for use in Russia. Work will be performed in Suwanee, Ga.
Funding previously earmarked for Russia's Mir orbital station will be redirected to the International Space Station Alpha, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov has decreed. The 15-year saga of the Mir reached its final chapter Friday when Kasianov signed a decree formally ordering the station deorbited in February or March.
ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. upped its order for Fairchild Dornier 328JETS, adding 32 jets for Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA), its United Express operation. Options for the 32-seat regional jets increased to 83 from 30, available to ACA or Atlantic Coast Jet (ACJet), the company's Delta Connection carrier. The value of the deal is now pegged at $1.75 billion, with a total of 145 328JETS on order or under option. The jets will be handed over to ACA beginning in January 2002.
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is an important step in fostering international restraint on nuclear weapons and should be revisited by the incoming Administration and Senate, according to Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "I believe that an objective and thorough net assessment shows convincingly that U.S. interests, as well as those of friends and allies, will be served by the Treaty's entry into force," he stated in a letter to President Clinton.
LYNNE CHENEY resigned her seat on the board of Lockheed Martin Corp., in the wake of her husband's election as vice president-elect. Cheney had been a member of the company's board since 1995. The company said it hasn't named a replacement.
With the completion of installed engine runs, Boeing's X-32B short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) Joint Strike Fighter variant is set to begin low-speed taxi tests this week. Those tests will bring the aircraft a step closer to its first flight, which is expected by the end of this quarter.
PRATT&WHITNEY AFTERMARKET SERVICES won a $360 million engine management deal from Japan Air System Co. Ltd. (JAS). The ten-year contract covers JAS' PW4158-powered Airbus A300-600R aircraft, or about 44 engines.
Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), the lawmaker behind the creation of the congressionally charted Space Commission, told reporters Friday that there is now a "consensus" that the nation's space programs lack a "strong advocate."
Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., was awarded on Jan. 2, a $160,300,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for non-recurring design effort and initial advance parts in support of the first three Wideband Gapfiller System (WGS) satellites. This system provides greatly enhanced communication coverage, capacity, connectivity, and operational flexibility to deployed and mobile tactical users. This contract includes options that could, if exercised, extend the WGS effort through December 2010 at a value of up to $1,305,800,000.
RUMSFELD'S REVIEW: A Senate confirmation hearing for Defense Secretary-designate Donald H. Rumsfeld is tentatively slated for Jan. 11, sources say. The session before the Senate Armed Services Committee will likely last only one day, since Rumsfeld's nomination has generated little controversy, a Senate source says. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has called Rumsfeld a "strong choice" (DAILY, Jan. 2), would run the hearing, since Democrats control the Senate until Jan. 20.
