L-3 Communications boosted sales and net income for the third quarter by 34.5% and 39.3%, respectively, and turned in earnings per share of $0.69 versus $0.51 a share a year ago, easily outpacing analysts' estimates of $0.66 a share. The New York-based company's third quarter EPS benefited by a penny from the divestiture of its interest in a Turkish operation and "close to half a cent" in taxes during the quarter.
Rolls-Royce and Canada's CAE, extending an existing agreement, have teamed to compete for major U.K. naval projects. They will jointly offer an enhanced systems integration service on naval programs. CAE will provide the naval automation expertise for integration projects, and Rolls-Royce will provide the electric propulsion expertise.
Two companies are working under contracts from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command on modeling and simulation for the SPAWAR Naval Simulation System, or NSS. Metron Inc., of Reston, Va., and Rolands&Associates, of Monterey, Calif., were chosen for the work. Metron received $9.4 million and Rolands got $6.3 million.
Shortly after Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter X-35A made its first flight yesterday, Boeing's X-32A pilot declared an in-flight emergency and was diverted to one of the dry lake beds surrounding Edwards AFB, Calif., where the aircraft reportedly landed without incident. A cockpit light illuminated during the X-32A's third flight of the day, "indicating a potential loss of braking capability," and the pilot called the tower, which diverted him to one of the expansive dry lake beds, a Boeing spokesman said.
The U.S. Navy needs an extra $17 billion a year to carry out its modernization plans, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report released. While the Clinton Administration's 2001 Future Years Defense Program sets the Navy's average budget at $88 billion over the next five years, current plans for a 300-ship Navy will cost an inflation-adjusted $105 billion a year through 2020, CBO said.
Rockwell Collins, a unit of Rockwell International Corp., plans to spend about $300 million to acquire K Systems, Inc., the parent of Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics Corp., according to the terms of a definitive agreement.
Lockheed Martin's X-35A Joint Strike Fighter conventional takeoff and landing concept demonstrator made its first flight yesterday, taking off from Palmdale, Calif., where it was assembled, and landing uneventfully about 22 minutes later at Edwards AFB, Calif. "The airplane was just awesome from the start ... we had no surprises," Tom Morgenfeld, Lockheed Martin's chief JSF test pilot who was at the controls yesterday, said in a teleconference. "It flew exactly as we expected it to...The performance was absolutely sparkling."
The Space Shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards AFB, Calif., late yesterday after bad weather at its primary and backup landing sites kept it in space two days longer than planned. Commander Brian Duffy and Pilot Pam Melroy guided Discovery to a 4:59 p.m. EDT touchdown at Edwards, ending the most complicated Shuttle mission to date. During five days of operations docked to the International Space Station, Discovery's crew attached another docking port and the first segment of the big truss structure that will hold the Station solar arrays.
EATON AEROSPACE says it is ahead of the game in efforts to develop aircraft fault detection technology to protect electrical systems on U.S. civilian and military aircraft. The technology has moved into a new prototype design validation phase, according to the company.
Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., Columbia, Md., is being awarded a $15,894,098 (total includes four option years) time and materials award-fee contract for engineering services to provide support for various activities including, but not limited to, system configuration design, integration, studies and technical support. This procurement will also provide testing of over 100 amplifiers, receivers, recorders and demodulators on a weekly basis. Work will be performed in Columbia, Md., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2004.
Russian government and space officials set plans in motion over the weekend to bring the Mir orbital station down in a controlled reentry over the Pacific Ocean next February, although officials of MirCorp were scrambling yesterday to breathe new life into the station they have rented for commercial operations.
Lockheed Martin's X-35A Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator completed taxi tests Saturday and is close to first flight, the company said yesterday. All subsystems of the Pratt&Whitney-powered X-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant were operational during the runs at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Palmdale, Calif., and have been cleared for flight, the company said. "The stage is now set for the aircraft's inaugural flight," it said.
General Electric's proposed $45 billion acquisition of Honeywell - and even the failed United Technologies-Honeywell deal that preceded it - squelches the theory that the days of mergers and acquisitions among the U.S. defense and aerospace prime contractors are long gone. "I was surprised because it was generally agreed that consolidation at the top level of the aerospace industry was history and there wouldn't be any more - now we're looking at the biggest one ever," said Paul Nisbet of JSA Research in Newport, R.I.
Frequency Engineering Laboratories Inc., Farmingdale, N.J., is being awarded a $7,311,331 firm-fixed-price option for 23 AN/SLQ 25A systems, including deck handling equipment, fiber optic tow cables, towed bodies, foundation kits, and associated technical documentation. The AN/SLQ-25A countermeasures torpedo system is designed to provide ships with torpedo defense capability. The AN/SLQ-25A is a towed system installed onboard all U.S. Navy surface combatants, amphibious, and combat logistic ships. This contract combines purchases for the U.S.
Having operated a squadron of Sukhoi Su-24MK "Fencer Ds" for several years from Laghouat air base, the Algerian air force is in the process of receiving a further 22 of these Russian surplus advanced variable-geometry deep-penetration ground-attack aircraft. According to Moscow press reports, three additional ex-Russian air force Su-24s were also delivered last year from a $12 million contract placed by Algeria with Russia's Promexport surplus arms sales organization, probably as attrition replacements.
A new U.S. Air Force organization to streamline the operations of future command and control centers is slated for official establishment on Oct. 30 at Langley AFB, Va.
Team Apache Systems LLC, Huntsville, Ala., comprised of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., has been awarded $31.4 million as part of a $78.5 million contract. The team will perform research and development for the Modernized-Target Acquisition Designation Sight (TADS)/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS), or M-TADS/PNVS. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Lockheed Martin-Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $38,700,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for computer program development for the Norwegian new frigate program. The contract will provide for the development and delivery of a computer program that will be integrated into an AEGIS-derived SPY-1F based weapon system. The computer program will be adapted, designed and tested in accordance with a modified AEGIS combat system engineering process.
A Zenit-3SL lifted the heaviest commercial payload on record to geostationary transfer orbit over the weekend from the Sea Launch Odyssey platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. Liftoff of the 11,260-pound Thuraya-1 satellite came at 1:52 a.m. Sunday EDT from the equatorial launch position at 154 degrees West longitude. The satellite reached its GTO about two hours and 22 minutes later, according to Sea Launch.
ITT Industries Inc. won a contract valued at over $80 million to provide Mobile Approach Control Systems (MACS) to the U.S. Air Force. The system features a Digital Air Surveillance Radar and an operations subsystem housed in separate tactical shelters. The two subsystems can be deployed together or separately, and MACS can also interface with Precision Approach Radars. The Gilfillan Group of ITT Industries' Systems Div. is responsible for work under the award. The first three systems are slated to be delivered to the Air Force in 18 months.
Pratt&Whitney, under a new seven-year, $352.5 million contract, will supply the U.S. Air Force with TF33 engine spare parts. The award marks the company's first, long-term commercial contract for TF33 spare parts. "Pratt&Whitney's TF33s have provided dependable service to the U.S. Air Force for over 40 years, and with this spare parts contract, the P&W/U.S. Air Force team has helped ensure the engine will remain dependable for another 40 years," said Steve Finger, President of Pratt&Whitney's Military Engines.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, Colorado Springs, Colo., was awarded on Oct. 19, 2000, a $66,412,166 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for fiscal year 2000 and 2001 funding for equipment and research and development in support of the Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) program.
The Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Va., is being awarded a $25,600,000 increment as part of a $223,390,200 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research of mathematics, computing sciences, and communications theory. Work will be performed in Bowie, Md. (43%); LaJolla, Calif. (19%), and Princeton, N.J. (38%), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2005. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Sept. 7, 2000. The U.S. Army Maryland Procurement Office, Fort George G.
Hexcel Corp. turned in adjusted net income of $2.2 million, or $0.06 per share, versus a loss of $1.1 million, or $0.03 a share for the third quarter of 2000. Including consolidation expenses, the company earned $0.1 million in the third quarter, compared to a $30.1 million loss in same period a year ago.
Technical Products Group Inc. (Intellitec), Deland, Fla., is being awarded a $13,267,553 firm-fixed-price contract for nine Joint Biological Point Detection Systems, with training, technical manuals, systems support packages, and Biological Agent Warning Sensors. Work will be performed in Deland, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Aug. 1, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 16, 2000. The U.S.
