The U.S. Army and Boeing inked an option last Friday in a $2.3 billion, five-year, multi-year contract to remanufacture 269 additional AH-64A Apache helicopters into multi-role combat AH-64D Apache Longbows, bringing the total to 501 so far, the company reported. The service is expected to exercise the option once fiscal year 2001 funds become available later this month and then convert the additional helicopters from 2002-2006.
Rockwell Electronic Commerce, a unit of Rockwell International Corp., is out to "sharpen" its e-focus by "realigning operations," shuffling management and laying off as many as 350 of its 950 to 1000 employees worldwide. Officials are pinpointing where the cuts will come and say the entire company should "know the status" by Oct. 16. The reorganization will allow focus on core competencies, particularly customer contact management technology. The moves are not expected to impact earnings, a Rockwell spokeswoman said.
Commerce One and Boeing completed a successful pilot program to link Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) suppliers to Exostar, the B2B aerospace and defense site of BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The move is designed to quickly boost marketplace liquidity as potential trading partners continue to use EDI while transitioning to XML-based transactions.
The Navy is getting close to awarded a multi-billion dollar contract for the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) project. The contract will run for eight years, including three option years, and aims to standardize over 400,000 "seats," or desktops, by merging independent networks across the Navy and Marine Corps.
A Russian Proton-K orbited GE Americom's GE-1A, a big Lockheed Martin A2100AX Ku-band television satellite, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan yesterday, and the satellite separated as planned almost seven hours later. Liftoff of the big Russian rocket, marketed by International Launch Services, came at 6:00 p.m. Sunday EDT (4 a.m. Monday in Baikonur), and the satellite separated six hours and 40 minutes later after the rocket's Block DM upper stage maneuvered it into position.
Pratt&Whitney Canada, a division of United Technologies Corp., plans to spend about $10 million a year over the next five years to beef up ties to the Russian aerospace industry. "We are very pleased with the progress of our Russian engine programs currently underway and intend to pursue other opportunities as well," said Gilles P. Ouimet, president and CEO, emphasizing that P&WC believes there is "good potential" to expand in Russia.
BAE Systems Canada moved into a new market, snagging an avionics upgrade contract worth over $5 million to upgrade a new international customer's AS332 Super Puma military helicopter fleet with its Radio Management System, the CMA-3000 MkII. "This is a new market for our existing CMA-3000, in which we will incorporate a MIL-STD-1553B interface bus and additional capabilities," said Jim Close, president and CEO.
Naval Air Systems Command has authorized BFGoodrich Aerospace to begin low rate initial production of the Integrated Mechanical Diagnostics-Health and Usage Management Systems (IMD-HUMS) for the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion and MH53E Sea Dragon fleets.
Boeing finalized a definitive agreement worth about $5.5 billion at list prices with GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) for 74 Boeing 777 and 737 jetliners. The deal, originally announced at the Farnborough Air Show in July, includes 10 777 Longer-Range airplanes, five 777-200ERs and 59 Next-Generation 737s.
BOEING on Sept. 30 marked the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the AH-64 Apache helicopter. Since that date in 1975, Boeing's Mesa, Ariz., unit has delivered more than 1,100 Apaches to the U.S. Army and seven international defense forces. Two Army Apache Longbow battalions are certified as combat ready; a third unit is in training, and a fourth is preparing to enter the training process and return to duty in Korea in 2001.
Enterprise, the commercial International Space Station module under development by Spacehab Inc. and Russia's RSC Energia, will be a stretched version of the Progress capsules Russia uses to deliver supplies and fuel to the ISS, with a windowed "studio bay" giving crew members views of the Station, arriving vehicles and Earth.
Pratt&Whitney licensed SpaceWorks Inc.'s Web BusinessManager Suite to replace its in-house system and boost mission-critical capability and customer interaction. Through OrderManager, customers of the United Technologies unit can access its products and services, such as commercial and military engine parts, and have real-time Web-based transactional capabilities. The company will also use SpaceWorks Marketing Manager to advertise to specific customers and ReportManager to track buying activities.
Delex Systems of Vienna, Va., won an eight-year U.S. Navy Training Systems Contract (TCT) focused on designing and implementing Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) projects. The TCT, with a $500,000 price cap, supports Navy aviation training efforts, including aircrew training, electronic classrooms, learning and support centers, enterprise system design and maintenance training.
Using advanced seeker capabilities and incorporating "jet vane control" to increase maneuverability, the Raytheon-built AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile was successful in 9 out of 10 guided shot hits preceding a decision Sept. 22 to move into low rate initial production.
The U.S. Army is unlikely to significantly lower the high operating and support (O&S) costs that have reduced the amount of money available for weapons modernization, the General Accounting Office said in a report released yesterday.
Striking Raytheon workers voted overwhelmingly to end their month-old strike yesterday, ratifying a four-year contract that gives them 14.7% in wages compounded over the contract life. Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1505 voted 1,704-275 to ratify the contract, which gives them a 3% raise the first year, followed by raises of 4%, 3% and 4% in subsequent years. A company spokesman said the deal also enhances pension and medical benefits and workplace assurance.
SAVI TECHNOLOGY, Sunnyvale, Calif., said the Pentagon has extended the hardware order period for its Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) contract through August 2002.
RUSSIA AND INDIA may cooperate on basic research to be conducted in the Russian side of the International Space Station. Russian Aerospace Agency chief Yuri Koptiev told reporters in Moscow the issue will come up at the highest levels when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India this week, and likely will lead to a joint working group to consider specific areas of cooperation.
Italy's plan to lease F-16A/Bs (DAILY, Sept. 28) involves 34 of the jets, according to Lockheed Martin. The country, under one option to upgrade its fleet of air defense fighters, would first buy four F-16A Block 10 operational capabilities upgrade (OCU) planes and related equipment for $780 million, using all for spares, cannibalization and training.
NASA will pay Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors another $68 million for work on the X-33 reusable launch vehicle (RLV) suborbital prototype through the end of March 2001, but after that the company must compete under NASA's proposed Space Launch Initiative for funds to complete and fly the arrowhead-shaped rocket.
NAVY'S NATHMAN: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark, who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, says he plans to appoint Adm. John Nathman, commander of the Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, to head all naval aviation operations within a few weeks.
PanAmSat has lost the xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS) on its Galaxy VIII-i communications satellites, and plans to shift customers using the satellite to a new platform before the backup station-keeping propulsion unit runs out of fuel at the end of 2002. The company, which has six other satellites in orbit that use XIPS for stationkeeping and plans to launch three more by the middle of next year, said Friday it "believes that this difficulty on Galaxy VIII-i is an incident that will not affect the performance of the XIPS on those other spacecraft."
NMD TO AMD? What's in a name? Possibly a lot when it comes to National Missile Defense, according to Richard Armitage, an adviser to Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush. Armitage, a former assistant secretary of defense, suggests in a recent interview with U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, a State Dept. publication, that NMD be renamed Allied Missile Defense to increase support among American allies concerned that they won't be protected by a U.S.-developed system.
INTELSAT has signed a contract with Arianespace to launch three more communications satellites - Intelsat 905, 906 and 907 - bringing to six the number of Intelsat spacecraft the European launch services consortium is scheduled to launch between mid-2001 and the end of 2002. Arianespace announced the contract agreement after its last Ariane 5 launch (DAILY, Sept. 18).
