Northrop Grumman Corp. said it has completed the $1.2 billion sale of its commercial aerostructures business to The Carlyle Group. The deal was announced last month (DAILY, June 13). The agreement with the Washington-based private equity firm includes $843 million in cash and securities, and the assumption of more than $400 million in post-employment benefit liabilities, according to Northrop Grumman.
Dyncorp Technical Services, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $60,651,802 fixed-price-incentive contract to provide for FY 2001 (mobilization Aug. 15, 2000-Sept. 30, 2000) base operating support services and maintenance support for the T-37, T-38, and T-1A aircraft at Vance AFB, Okla. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 2001. Solicitation issue date was Oct. 20, 1999. Negotiation completion date was June 15, 2000. Air Education and Training Center Contracting Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas, is the contracting activity (F41689-00-C-0503).
The U.S. Air Force, inspecting its fleet of 1,417 F-16s for mis-installed ejection seat initiators, had found 20 as of Thursday. Five others have been found on F-16s operated by other countries. There are two initiators per seat, and some F-16s have two seats. The ACES II seat is made by BFGoodrich.
LOST WEAPONS: Guided missile parts and a rotary wing blade are among the $900 million worth of inventory shipments that the Army couldn't account for in fiscal 1998, a General Accounting Office report says. GAO says it found that many of the shipments it reviewed had been received but hadn't been properly documented. The Defense Dept. says it will work to improve the Army's inventory accounting systems.
BFGoodrich Co.'s fiscal 2000 second quarter may have been down over the prior year on most counts, but the company still beat Wall Street earnings per share estimates by two pennies, posting net income, excluding special items of $91.3 million, or $0.84 a share.
The Defense Dept. is urging a House-Senate conference committee to reject a House-approved cut in funding for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, saying that any reduction would "further exacerbate DOD's aircraft recapitalization shortfall."
LOOK TO THE SCHOOLS: Let the best minds in universities have a crack at some of the more complicated technology problems of warfighting, says U.S. Marine Corps Director of Expeditionary Warfare Brig. Gen. William Whitlow. "If the U.S. government allowed the flexibility of granting university grants," he says, "we would solve the lion's share of problems." Innovation is most encouraged and active in young engineers conducting research in university labs, he explains, adding that he would like to see the government work collectively with academia.
KUWAIT wants to buy about $150 million worth of ammunition including 4,110 M831 120mm and 10,728 M433 40mm cartridges, 15,000 M107 155mm projectiles for tracked vehicles, towed artillery and crew served weapons, the Pentagon said.
Saudi Arabia is looking to spend $475 million for 500 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles, software updates, missile containers, LAU-128 missile launchers, Captive Air Training Missiles and related parts and support, the Pentagon announced. Saudi Arabia wants to replace its current inventory of AIM-7F missiles, which are becoming obsolete and logistically unsupportable, and enhance the air-to-air self defense capability of its F-15 fleet. Raytheon Missile Systems and Boeing would be the primary contractors.
FOREIGN SALES CONCERN: A multi-year contract signed in 1999 for the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft program is raising eyebrows in Congress. The fiscal 2001 defense appropriations conference report says the price for the Navy's E-2Cs rests on the assumption that future for eign sales will occur. "This process raises serious concerns that the Department of Defense might negotiate future multi-year contracts with sales prices that presume congressional approval of potential international sales in future years," the report says.
ITT Industries, Inc. boosted profits 11% in the second quarter of fiscal 2000, posting diluted earnings per share of $0.78 on net income of $70.2 million. The results exceeded analysts' consensus estimates by a one cent. "We are proud of the continued operational improvements that allowed us to achieve record high profitability for this quarter, with significant margin gains in both our Pumps and Connectors and Switches segments," said Travis Engen, chairman and CEO.
BETTER MISSILE DEFENSES: Prof. Josef Shinar of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology says game theory can boost the accuracy of ballistic missile defenses, including the Pentagon's projected national missile defense system. Existing tactical ballistic missiles follow fixed trajectories, but it wouldn't take much to develop TBMs that maneuver, making them harder to intercept. Shinar's "guidance law," according to Technion, considers worst-case evasive moves to improve homing accuracy of defensive missiles.
Lt. Gen. Michael Short (USAF-ret.), commander of the allied air forces during last year's Kosovo crisis, spoke candidly last week about the next Quadrennial Defense Review and what it should include from an operational and tactical point of view.
The Pentagon said it needs more details about North Korea's plan to seek assistance for peaceful space research. North Korea's Kim Jong Il said his county would abandon its missile program if it is given technology from other nations for satellite launches. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and Kim had agreed on the position.
Kaman Corp. posted second quarter net earnings of $9.3 million, or $0.39 per fully-diluted share, compared to $8.0 million a year ago, or $0.33 a share, in the prior year. "We are continuing to build on the progress made in the first quarter. All of our operating segments have shown improvement, with a particularly strong performance by our industrial distribution business," said Paul R. Kuhn, president and CEO.
LANDING SITE: NASA is in talks with French officials about designating the Istres Le Tube military airfield, near Marseilles, as an Emergency Landing Site for the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet. Low-key discussions have been underway for more than a year, and an agreement is expected soon. Unlike the four Transatlantic Abort Landing Sites (TALS), which are staffed by NASA personnel during launches, Emergency Landing Sites (ELS) are secondary strips intended for use only in extreme situations during launch or when a Shuttle is on orbit.
The upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review should address needed improvements in "overcommitted and underfunded" U.S. airborne electronic warfare assets, Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) said Thursday at a Lexington Institute conference on Capitol Hill.
QDR AND CONTINGENCIES: If there are continued demands on the U.S. military for contingency operations, then the cost must be factored into the next Quadrennial Defense Review, say several congressional leaders and committee staffers. "In the case of fiscal year '01 alone, the [Defense] Dept.'s request for contingency operations grew from $1.7 billion in fiscal year '00 to $4.1 billion in fiscal year '01 - it more than doubled," says Steve Cortese, Senate Appropriations Committee staff director.
JSF OPTIONS OPEN: While the Defense Dept. announced last month that it will stick with its "winner-take-all" acquisition strategy for the Joint Strike Fighter, it tells Congress in a recent statement on appropriations legislation that it wants to keep its options open. "Although the department continues to endorse the current acquisition strategy, assessment of potential alternatives is still underway in order to provide insights for consideration by the next administration," DOD says.
DISCOVERER II UNDEAD? Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) says the recently completed fiscal 2001 defense appropriations conference report is a good bill overall but contains "one serious omission": no funding for the Discoverer II spaced-based radar demonstration project. Although critics question the need for the program, Allard calls Discoverer II a "key element in assessing the utility, feasibility and affordability" of spaced-based radar, which will provide "all-weather, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week global surveillance coverage." He vows to try to revive the program in the future.
STAY TUNED: The CIA this week may release an unclassified version of its National Intelligence Estimate, says Pentagon Spokesman Ken Bacon. But CIA Spokeswoman Anya Guilsher says, "We are still reviewing as to whether we will be issuing anything at the unclassified level. There may be an unclassified paper with conclusions or an executive summary, but no decision has been made on that. Stay tuned."
Adm. Jay L. Johnson was relieved as Chief of Naval Operations and retired after 32 years of service during a ceremony Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy. Adm. Vern Clark has been selected by President Clinton as the 27th CNO.
EVANS&SUTHERLAND COMPUTER CORP. delivered its Ensemble PC-based image generator to Concurrent Computer Corp. for the U.K.'s helicopter simulator debrief stations. E&S is under contract to provide four Ensemble image generators and training databases for this program.
Hexcel Corp. reported 25% growth in adjusted net income year-over-year to $6.5 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, from $5.2 million, or $0.14, in the second quarter of 2000. "The second quarter benefited from a continuation of the positive trends that began to emerge in the first quarter," said John J. Lee, Hexcel chairman and CEO.
M.A. Hanna Co., Cleveland, inked a definitive agreement to sell its Richmond Aircraft Products unit to UMECO plc, a European provider of distribution service for the aerospace and defense industries. Value of the deal was not disclosed. Richmond Aircraft, which has one facility in the Los Angeles area, distributes films, bagging materials and structural foam materials that are used primarily in the manufacturing parts for the aerospace industry. It had 1999 revenues of about $27 million.
