U.S. NAVY will honor Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. by naming its DD 21 future warships after him. Zumwalt, who became the youngest man ever to serve as chief of naval operations in 1970, passed away on Jan. 2, 2000. The DD 21 Land Attack Destroyer is a class of 32 ships that will enter the fleet at the end of this decade.
EMCORE CORP. has started shipping its new triple-junction solar cells to customers for space qualification. The company claims a 10% boost in power generated by triple-junction cells over earlier designs, with a 26% efficiency rating and a power loss of only 8% over a 15-year period in geostationary orbit. The new cells are being produced at the company's facility in Albuquerque, N.M.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz., has won a $34 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract from Naval Air Systems Command to produce six supersonic sea skimming targets. The targets are designed to provide a realistic simulation of supersonic anti-ship cruise missile threats for a test and evaluation of ship self-defense systems.
DRS Technologies of Parsippany, N.J., won a multi-year deal potentially worth over $14 million to equip Canadian Cormorant helicopters and worldwide versions with flight control computers. "Systems produced for this contract represent a new DRS product line that will address international military and commercial aviation market requirements," said Mark S. Newman president, CEO and chairman. "This award underscores our commitment to Team Cormorant and enhances our position as the global leader in flight safety systems."
The House Appropriations Committee on June 27 approved language expressing concern about Israel's planned sale of a Phalcon airborne radar system to China but rejected a proposal to cut $250 million in military aid to Israel if the sale takes place.
Dick Caime has stepped down as vice president of Strike Weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., a post he has held since August 1998. He will be succeeded by Larry Lawson, formerly the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program director. "I've been in the business 41 years this month and I've had a great career," Caime said. "I'm turning the reins over to an outstanding team."
Kaman Aerospace picked Eventra's VendorSite for supply chain management. Eventra, a B2B e-commerce provider, finished Kaman's VendorSite pilot with 15 test suppliers, and has plans to increase to 40 suppliers by the end of 2000. Eventra's VendorSite, which only needs Internet access and a Web browser to work, had to interface with Kaman's legacy system.
ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Company has won a Hong Kong license for four Broadcasting Satellite Service (BSS) channels aboard AsiaSat 4. Once the satellite is launched early in 2002 the company will be able to use its four BSS transponders to provide as many as 40 digital television channels to Hong Kong using small antennas.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp., is set to complete its initial public offering (IPO) and secondary offering next week (DAILY, May 25). Shares of the satellite unit are expected to begin trading next Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker MDA. A total of 6 million shares priced at C$14.00 a share will be issued in a deal led by RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
GENERAL DYNAMICS completed its acquisition of Saco Defense Corp. from New Colt Holding Corp. Saco Defense Corp., Burlington, Vt., will be renamed General Dynamics Weapon Systems and rolled into General Dynamics' Armament Systems subsidiary, headquartered in Falls Church, Va. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Russia stands ready to launch the long-awaited Zvezda Service Module to the International Space Station next week, following two more shakedown flights of its Proton launch vehicle. A NASA spokesman said yesterday Russian crews at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan had started fueling the Zvezda Proton after another Proton with modified upper stage engines lifted a Russian military relay satellite to its geostationary transfer orbit Tuesday night.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Launch Systems Group, Chandler, Ariz., is being awarded a $34,193,862 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for six supersonic sea skimming target engineering development models, ground and flight testing and testing support. Work will be performed in Chandler, Ariz. (41%); Gainesville, Va. (30%); Wichita, Kan. (28%); and Tucson, Ariz. (1%), and is expected to be completed by May 2003. Contract funds in the amount of $8,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Australia's defense leaders are aiming to streamline their organization from its present structure into one that "is built to last" in the changing world. Chief of Defense Force (CDF) Adm. Chris Barrie and Secretary Allan Hawke told senior defense leaders at a June meeting in Canberra they plan to alter structure and processes to ensure "good governance" and build "shareholder" confidence. "We are on the brink of a financial year that will shape the Australian Defence Organization for many years to come," Barrie said.
Northrop Grumman's plan to relocate its Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) unit to Washington, D.C., has fallen by the wayside, and ISA will stay home in Dallas after Northrop Grumman sells its aerostructures business to the Carlyle Group.
Sierra Research, Buffalo, N.Y., is being awarded $6,415,609 as part of a $13,600,103 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract, for the Unmanned Threat Emitter (UMTE) Modernization Program, services and equipment, for the Luke Air Force Base-Goldwater Range enhancement. The UMTE is a representation (simulator) of foreign threat air defense systems used for tactical aircrew training. Work will be performed in Buffalo, N.Y. (82%), and at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. (18%), and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2002.
Raytheon Systems Company, Sensors and Electronic Systems, Goleta, Calif., is being awarded a $53,843,141 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 36 AN/ALR-67(V)3 countermeasures receiving sets for the F/A-18E/F. The receiving set is a radar warning receiver that provides visual and aural alerts upon detection from ground based, airborne or ship emitters. Work will be performed in Goleta, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Europe's Arianespace launch services consortium has named Leo Mondale president of Arianespace Inc., its U.S. sales, marketing and customer/industry relations subsidiary. Mondale, 41, replaces Doug Heydon, who held the post for 16 years. Heydon will continue as chairman of Arianespace Inc., the company announced yesterday. The Washington-based unit plays a key role for Arianespace, since a quarter of its launch contracts have been with U.S. companies and more than half of the satellites it has launched were built in the U.S.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Dallas, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $79,929,645 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for a follow-on M270A1 low rate initial production contract (LRIP 3) to cover M270A1 launchers and logistics support for FY00 with options through FY04, for the Multiple Launch Rocket System project. The logistics support includes training and interim contractor support. A fixed price contract for hardware with cost type provisions for services is anticipated. Work will be performed in East Camden, Ark.
Astronautics Corporation of America, Milwaukee, Wis., is being awarded a $6,727,976 (not-to-exceed) firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 374 replacement attitude indicators and data applicable to the A-10 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is 25 each per month beginning 9 months after receipt of order. Solicitation issue date was June 12, 2000. Negotiation completion date was June 28, 2000. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity (F34601-00-C-0253).
GLOBALSTAR has inked a deal with Telia Mobile to launch Globalstar satellite service in Sweden. The agreement with Globalstar Northern Europe gives Telia Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) customers mobile access beyond normal GSM network coverage. While Globalstar is already "on the air" in Sweden -- users, such as day sailors, who fall outside the area can use the service -- the company said full commercial launch take off next September.
NHIndustries has won a $6.3 billion contract from NATO for production of the first 298 NH90 helicopters. The pact was signed June 30 in Paris. NATO ultimately plans to buy 595 of the transport helos.
The interagency committee charged with reviewing foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies for potential national security implications lacks an adequate process for identifying those acquisitions, the General Accounting Office said in a report released yesterday. "The identification process the [committee] currently uses does not enable it to effectively identify all foreign acquisitions with possible effects on national security," the report said.
Globalstar has drained a $250 million credit facility set to expire on June 30, 2000, repaying the guarantors with three year notes, in a move that confirmed recent speculation generated by a Wall Street analyst's report. "It was an opportunity to avail ourselves of money to have in the bank," said Mac Jeffries, a Globalstar spokesman. "If we didn't exercise it, it would have disappeared. Now we have a comfortable margin."
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Missiles&Space Operations, Sunnyvale, Calif., is being awarded a $77,527,000 increment as part of a $3,966,948,706 (cumulative total includes options) cost-plus-award-fee contract for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) of the initial Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) tactical ballistic missile defense system.
Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. have received $2 million contracts for the initial 15-month study and preliminary design phase of a Naval Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV-N) advanced technology program. The contracts were awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Navy.
