After years of negotiations on a joint reconnaissance satellite system that have been stymied by financial, political and cultural impasses, senior officials of France and Germany have finally begun to see eye to eye. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the president and prime minister of France, Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin, respectively, agreed Friday during a meeting in Mainz, Germany, to cooperate on a European spy satellite program.
THEL TESTS: The success of last week's shoot-down of a live Katyusha rocket by the TRW's Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., was heightened by the fact that Israel stepped up to fund the multi-rocket tests that will come next. Backers had worried that the program would be halted unless Congress provided another $5.7 million, but Israel came through and the first multi-rocket attempt should now take place within 4-7 weeks. Asked if THEL will be used to protect U.S. troops in the field, Pentagon Spokesman Rear Adm.
ASTRONICS CORP., Buffalo, N.Y., won a $9.4 million order for F-16 night vision lighting when the U.S. Air Force exercised options on a contract originally awarded to the company in 1998. Astronics expects to begin deliveries in mid-2001. The Air Force holds an additional $12 million in unexercised options.
Germany yesterday said it plans to buy up to 75 Airbus A400M airlifters for 20 billion marks, or about $9.8 billion. The announcement at the Berlin Air Show, following the U.K.'s announcement last month that it would buy 25 of the planes for 3.5 billion pounds ($5.3 billion), would confirm launch of the consortium's first military transport. Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey have also said they need a total of 130 of the planes.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plans to incorporate a number of design changes in its new S-92 helicopter to improve the aircraft's utility and handling characteristics. Tommy Thomason, Sikorsky's civil programs chief, said search and rescue operators' need for a larger door drove the redesign, which will delay FAA certification from its original December 2001 timeframe until the spring of 2002.
Israel is in line for a possible U.S. foreign military sale of 57 AIM-120B Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and support equipment, at an estimated cost is $27 million. The Pentagon said Israel will use the missiles to enhance the air-to-air self-defense capability of its F-15 aircraft while also increasing interoperability with the U.S. forces. Raytheon's Missile Systems Div., Tucson, Ariz., would be the prime contractor.
Germany's LFK GmbH has delivered the 10,000th Stinger shoulder-fired air defense missile. Since 1994, LFK has been charged with European license-production of the Stinger system and has delivered missiles to Germany, Turkey, Greece and the Netherlands. Each nation also participates in the overall industrial program, making up the European Stinger Project Group. LFK is the prime contractor. LFK views Stinger as NATO's de facto man-portable air defense system.
The Senate yesterday approved several aerospace-related amendments to its $309.8 billion fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill, including a measure to create a commission to study the future of the U.S. aerospace industry. The Senate also approved amendments on aircraft parts and strategic nuclear forces. Debate on the bill continued for a third day, often on non-defense topics, and it was unclear when the Senate would finish its deliberations or how it would dispose of dozens of pending amendments.
Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing has signed the launch order for the 90-passenger Fairchild Dornier 928JET, a deal worth $305 million. The Munich-based leasing company has ordered four 90-seat 928JETs (with two options) plus a further two 70-seat 728JETs (with two options). The first 728JET will be delivered in 2003, with the first 928JET following in early 2005. The 728/928 regional jet family was unveiled two years ago at ILA 1998.
The Pentagon announced the proposed foreign military sale of 39 sets of Pathfinder/Sharpshooter targeting pods and 48 AN/ALQ-184 electronic countermeasure pods to Taipei. The contract for the targeting pod, a derivative of the LANTIRN, has an estimated cost of $234 million, and the countermeasure pod contract has an estimated value of $122 million.
At yesterday's Defense Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, Lord Robertson Secretary General of NATO, warned that real security doesn't come cheap. "Strong defense means two things for NATO's nations -- spending wisely, but also spending enough," Lord Robertson said.
GROUP TECHNOLOGIES, the Tampa-based unit of Sypris Solutions Inc., won a $2.1 million subcontract from Honeywell Avionics and Integrated Systems to build seven circuit board styles for F-16 jets. President and CEO Thomas W. Lovelock said GroupTech is proud to be a part of the F-16 digital flight control computer (DFLCC) program, the "heart" of the fly-by-wire control system. Delivery is slated to begin in October and end in 2001.
The House late Wednesday approved a $288.5 billion fiscal 2001 defense appropriations bill after defeating amendments to cut spending on the F-22 and national missile defense (NMD) programs. The bill, which provides about $4 billion more than President Clinton requested, passed on a 367-58 vote.
DASA SUBSIDIARY Dornier GmbH is planning a substantial upgrade to the CL-289 tactical reconnaissance drone it developed with Bombardier/Canadair and delivered to the German armed forces in 1992. The low-level, fast-flying drone has been successfully used in Bosnia and Kosovo. Core of the upgrade kit, announced here, will be a new, fully electronic digital sensor system. This consists of a high-resolution camera and special infrared sensors for day and night missions. All-weather capability will be provided by a synthetic aperture radar.
Germany's MiG-29 fighters are now as reliable as most other Western front-line weapons systems, and maintenance costs have been reduced substantially to around those of an F-4 Phantom, according to Volker Platzo, managing director of MiG Aircraft Product Support, the joint venture company set up by DASA, RSK MiG and Rosvoorouzhenie. "We've been able to dramatically reduce aircraft life cycle costs," Platzo told Aviation Week's Show News.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan said that although the percentage of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) going toward defense before the Korean War was lower than before the attack on Pearl Harbor, it's even lower today. "We have the first lowest PGDP [percentage of Gross Domestic Product] at about 3% of Gross Domestic Product, put against our forces today," Ryan told a group of active and retired Air Force officers gathered on Capitol Hill for a Korean War airpower symposium Wednesday.
Eurockot Launch Services and Starsem have formed a "strategic partnership" to develop and market European-Russian launch services together, the two companies announced yesterday at the Berlin Air Show.
The Airbus supervisory board yesterday again delayed the final decision to go ahead with the A3XX superjumbo airliner. The future members of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) -- Aerospatiale Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and CASA -- said in a joint statement with BAE Systems at the Berlin Air Show that the supervisory board "will shortly decide on the authorization to offer for the A3XX project." The board cancelled an A3XX meeting in late May, indicating it would make the decision at the Berlin show.
HERLEY INDUSTRIES' General Microwave Corp. subsidiary won a "major production order" from an unidentified European company to manufacture integrated microwave assemblies for airborne electronic warfare systems. "We expect this contract to be a significant contributor to fiscal year 2001 revenues and is a further reflection of Herley's ability to successfully compete in the international marketplace," said John M. Kelley, VP of the Lancaster, Pa.-based Herley.
HEICO Corp.'s Fight Support Group purchased the assets and liabilities of Future Aviation Inc. for about $14 million in cash, angling to boost its presence in the fast-growing regional and commuter jet markets. "We are convinced that we can experience strong growth in the regional aircraft market by leveraging Future's high quality reputation and strong relationships with regional and commuter aircraft operators," said Laurans A. Mendelson, HEICO's chairman, president and CEO.
United Technologies Corp. signed final transfer papers completing the acquisition of the engine maintenance center of Braathens ASA located near Stavanger, Norway. The engine maintenance facility will be folded into UTC's Pratt&Whitney Engine Services unit and will be renamed P&W Norway Engine Center.
AEROASTRO INC., of Herndon, Va., has reached an agreement with Arianespace to offer low-cost piggyback launch services on the Ariane 5 using its Small Payload Orbit Transfer (SPORT) system. Based on the Bitsy microspacecraft core module AeroAstro developed with NASA funding to use on a Space Shuttle flight next year, the SPORT system will transfer payloads using excess Ariane 5 lift capability to their proper orbit and orbital plane. The company earlier announced it was working with Arianespace on the new service (DAILY, June 1).
LOCKHEED MARTIN is in talks with Iishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (IHI) and five other companies -- Mitsubishi Corp., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd., Aerojet and IHI Aerospace -- about a joint venture to rework the J-1 rocket as a commercial satellite launch vehicle. An IHI spokesman said the venture would go after a potential market launching small communications and position-location satellites.
