The accelerating U.S. presidential election campaign is generating a ripple of apathy among investors in defense and aerospace stocks, though that could change when November is closer at hand. "We have yet to hear from clients who state that they are buying (or selling) defense stocks because of" the race between Texas governor George Bush and Vice President Al Gore, says Merrill Lynch VP Byron Callan, who follows aerospace and defense stocks, adding that while the vote will affect this sector, it's not dominating investors' thinking right now.
Democrats yesterday were considering offering several aerospace-related amendments to the fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill, including an amendment by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to require the proposed national missile defense system to be tested against likely countermeasures.
Lockheed Martin has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Empresa Nacional de Aeronautica de Chileenaer (ENAER) to transfer an autoclave for manufacturing composite parts for commercial and military aircraft.
Space launch vehicles manufactured in Ukraine will no longer be covered by quotas limiting their use orbiting U.S.-built satellites or components under a decision announced by President Clinton Monday in Kiev. Clinton said the decision not to renew the quota arrangement, negotiated to prevent Ukrainian Zenits and other rockets from gaining an unfair cost advantage over U.S. systems, "gives U.S. firms greater opportunity to enter into commercial space launch joint ventures with Ukrainian partners without limit."
DRS Technologies, based in Parsippany, N.J., won several new contracts totaling $27.5 million from Lockheed Martin Naval Electronic&Surveillance Systems for U.S. Navy workstations. DRS's Electronic Systems Group will provide AN/UYQ-70 Advanced Display Systems and computer peripheral equipment slated for installation on U.S. Navy Aegis class ships.
BTG, Inc., an information systems and technical services company based in Fairfax, Va., will join Lockheed Martin's team on the $1.5 billion Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) program.
Litton Industries posted double digit earnings and revenue gains for its third fiscal quarter last week, sparking favorable response on Wall Street. "We are encouraged by our record backlog and solid performances in our core businesses," said Chairman Michael R. Brown. Diluted earnings per share rose 21% to $1.33, excluding a one-time gain, on an 11.4% revenue gain to $1.4 billion in the third quarter.
A Russian Proton rocket equipped with upper stage engines modified in the wake of last year's two Proton launch failures orbited a Gorizont communications satellite yesterday, clearing another hurdle toward the planned July launch of the Zvezda Service Module to the International Space Station on a Proton fitted with the modified engines.
The U.S. Navy ordered the fifth Boeing 737-700C for its Navy Unique Fleet Essential Airlift Replacement Aircraft program. The U.S. Naval Reserve, the first customer for the newest member of the Boeing Next-Generation 737 family, is buying the aircraft to replace its fleet of C-9 airlifters.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Athena Technologies, Manassas, Va., a Phase II contract for the development of micro air vehicle (MAV) navigation and guidance capabilities. This contract, which falls under the government's Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program and as such would typically be capped at $500,000, teams Athena with Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh and LightWorks, LLC, of Berthoud, Colo.
There are now two bids on the table to rescue Iridium, the bankrupt low-earth orbit satellite operator, and the stage may be set for contentious debate over the system's fate. New York-based investment firm Castle Harlan Inc. recently submitted a $50 million bid to federal bankruptcy court officials for Iridium's assets. Iridium's debtors, anxious to recover some value in the now-defunct system, have presented a motion for authorization for the court to accept Castle Harlan's letter of intent.
CACI International Inc., located in Arlington, Va., won a four-year, $8 million, task-order prime contract with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) San Diego, to support the Navy's Command and Control Processor/Common Data Link Management System (C2P/CDLMS). CACI will handle verification and validation testing for Navy tactical communications programs for C2P/CDLMS, which allow shipboard, aircraft and shore-based users to send and receive such data as position reports of friendly and hostile forces, engagements and battlefield activities.
Europe's Arianespace consortium said yesterday it would not develop the facilities necessary to launch Soyuz rockets from its equatorial launch site in French Guiana, on the north coast of South America.
Boeing Co. plans to acquire Autometric Inc., a geospatial information technology company located in Springfield, Va., and roll it into the Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) division. "With Autometric onboard, we will be uniquely positioned to add value for our customers and to provide for our future growth in the area of space imagery visualization and geospatial information," said Roger Roberts, VP and general manager of IDS.
Aerospace Industries Association members want the next Administration to change the way U.S. space launch ranges do business, with a focused approach to upgrading the ranges based either in the White House or a quasi-private spaceport authority, the AIA's space policy director said yesterday.
Public and private sector technology gurus and e-commerce participants met yesterday at the Dept. of Defense's EC Day 2000 conference, sponsored by the Joint Electronic Commerce Program Office (JECPO) and the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association, to discuss the Pentagon's moves to embrace the Internet revolution and harness the benefits of electronic business.
Pacific Aerospace&Electronics' Aeromet International unit inked several new supplier deals to manufacture components and assemblies. The wins, worth a total of $6 million, reinforce the company's "strategic expansion in the European aerospace market," according to Don Wright, CEO of the Wenatchee, Wash., company.
Boeing Defense and Space Group, Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $32,096,000 option to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for four Group A re-engining kits for the KC-135 aircraft, associated sustaining engineering, and data. Expected contract completion date is Feb. 28, 2002. Solicitation issue date was May 11, 2000. Negotiation completion date was May 31, 2000. Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity (F34601-97-C-0001-P00068).
TRW Inc., Systems&Information Technology Group, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $6,928,987 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle payload hardware and software modification kits. Work will be performed in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (80%), and San Diego, Calif. (20%), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract. The U.S.
Bell-Boeing Joint Program Office, Patuxent River, Md., is being awarded a $15,097,908 modification to a previously awarded contract N00019-93-C-0006 for management and technical support for two MV-22 engineering and manufacturing development aircraft. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in June 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contracting activity.
Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi hope to finish testing two flight-rated Boeing-Rocketdyne XRS-2200 linear aerospike engines by the end of the year, but the future of the vehicle they were intended to power remains uncertain.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $70,513,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 15 navigation pods, 15 targeting pods, and associated spares in support of the Low Altitude Navigation Targeting for Night (LANTIRN) system. This effort supports foreign military sales to Egypt. Expected contract completion date is Feb. 28, 2002. Negotiation completion date was May 31, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-98-D-2046-0002).
