HONEYWELL has launched Build Order Buy (e.BOB), an Internet-based order processing system. Customers can customize Honeywell's PlantScape hybrid Distributed Control Systems (DCS) to handle personal specs and pricing, order placement and tracking, software downloads and back-office integration. Orders can be placed by accessing e.BOB through Honeywell's online Industrial Store at http://www.iac.honeywell.com, and customers should receive shipment within 12 days.
NASA's Earth science effort is expanding its use of commercial remote sensing data in keeping with congressional mandates, but not in precisely the way directed by Capitol Hill, the agency's top Earth scientist testified yesterday. Ghassem Asrar, associate administrator for Earth Science, told the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee there are more efficient ways to acquire data than the "Commercial Data Buy" program launched by Congress, because the program doesn't designate the reason for buying the data.
An article in The DAILY of May 3 (page 184) incorrectly reported that a British submarine on April 30 test fired a Trident II D5 missile down the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range off the coast of Florida. In fact, a U.S. Navy sub, the USS Wyoming (SSBN 742), test fired two Trident II D5s down the range that day.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. has received a $41.9 million contract for fabrication and assembly of 17 EA-6B wing center sections, the Pentagon announced. The contract, awarded by Naval Air Systems Command, is scheduled to be completed by February 2003.
Precision Castparts Corp. is buying UEF Aerospace, a division of the U.K.'s United Engineering Forgings Ltd. "The acquisition of UEF Aerospace combines the advantages of increasing our top-line growth through the addition of complementary forging capabilities and of providing further opportunities for bottom-line improvement through the sharing of resources and productivity enhancements," said William C. McCormick chairman and CEO for Precision Castparts Corp.
CPI Aerostructures reported a 395% increase in net earnings to $257,123, or $0.09 fully diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2000. This compares to net income of $51,984, or $0.02 a share on a fully diluted basis, in the first quarter of 1999. Revenues for the Edgewood, N.Y.-based machining and sub-assembly manufacturer's first quarter came in at $6.95 million compared to $4.22 million in the prior year.
First flight of an extensively upgraded MiG-29 fighter from Romania's Aerostar SA facility at Bacau last Friday was a milestone in marketing in Eastern Europe of a new version of the widely-used "Fulcrum" that is equipped to meet NATO operating standards.
Miami-based Aviation Sales Co. will work with Lockheed Martin Aircraft&Logistics Centers on depot level maintenance for the U.S Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps C-9 fleets. Aviation Sales said its first "foray into the government market" is projected to be worth about $60 million over the seven-year life of the contract. Lockheed Martin said it selected Aviation Sales "because of their vast inventory of C-9 materials and their reputation for on-time delivery and team performance."
The House Armed Services research and development subcommittee late Tuesday added $85 million to the Clinton Administration's fiscal 2001 request for National Missile Defense (NMD) and $25 million to the request for Navy Theater Wide (NTW) missile defense. The requested $1.815 billion for NMD demonstration, validation and procurement was increased to $1.9 billion. The NTW request of $382.7 million was raised to $407.7 million.
U.S. ARMY'S Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) is taking the e-road, linking up with two commercial firms -- e-business software provider Siebel Systems and business and technology consulting firm American Management Systems Inc. -- to upgrade its e-skills. MTMC is out to improve response time and establish a single contact for Dept. of Defense customers with the establishment of an Integrated Help Desk. The goal of IHD is to streamline MTMC's customer care network and, with Siebel's open architecture, interface with multiple platforms already used at MTMC.
The General Accounting Office yesterday reiterated its recommendation that the Defense Dept. postpone the March 2001 decision on the Joint Strike Fighter's engineering and manufacturing development phase to allow adequate time for critical technologies to mature.
MILITARY.COM is off to a strong start, gaining 200,000 registered users and moving to consolidate the online military market, just six weeks after going live at www.military.com. Intira Corp., Pleasanton, Calif., was named Military.com's Netsourcing provider, handling the information technology and network infrastructure necessary for e-business applications. In an effort to expand content and its menu of services to the military community, Military.com inked a variety of new licensing deals with content providers and made four acquisitions.
DCI, a unit of Airport Systems International Inc., won its first contract with an aerospace company to supply displays based on the Fast-response Multi-stable Liquid Crystal Display, a technology developed jointly with Advanced Display Systems Inc. of Amarillo, Tex. Airport Systems International, of Overland Park, Kan., didn't identify the aerospace company, but said the work is for a proprietary application.
GLOBALANALYSTS.COM aims to make international investment less risky. The Internet startup operation, claiming specific expertise in aviation, will focus on global business, marketing and financial plan analysis, including defining political risk and exit strategies.
E-COMMERCE LAWS IN EUROPE are scheduled to be launched in eighteen months. The European Parliament voted in the new European Directive last week giving members eighteen months to come up to speed. The laws cover Web trader compliance, cross-border disputes, Internet Service Provider (ISP) content liability and transparency issues. The European Parliament will discuss more changes to e-commerce laws in June.
Enginemaker Pratt&Whitney and small-engine specialist Teledyne Continental Motors agreed to explore ways to work together on small military engine products and services, work which would include engines with power up to 16,000 pounds of thrust for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, the companies reported yesterday.
The Senate Armed Services Committee agreed yesterday to cut $595 million from engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program and added $424 million for JSF demonstration and validation instead of advocating a six-month pause in the program as proposed by the airland subcommittee. The committee also left open the option of restoring EMD funds if the program demonstrates its readiness.
Raytheon Co., as part of an effort to whittle away off-balance sheet debt, sold $800 million of Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s general and corporate aviation finance receivables to debis Capital Service, a unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler Services AG. Raytheon Chairman and CEO Daniel Burnham said last month that the company was "close to an agreement" to monetize about $500 million in off-balance sheet financing and find a partner for future financing arrangements (DAILY, April 20).
Revenues from the "Little LEO" constellations of low-Earth orbit narrow-band data and position satellites will reach almost $300 million by 2005, a compound annual growth rate over today's levels of 165%, according to market consultant Frost&Sullivan.
The 20th Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite was in orbit and sending back state-of-health data yesterday after a Titan IVB/Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) stack placed it in geosynchronous orbit late Monday. The Boeing-built IUS completed its second and final burn late Monday, placing the early warning satellite in its final orbit about seven hours after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (DAILY, May 9). TRW built the spacecraft, which carries an infrared sensor package supplied by Aerojet.
Bell Helicopter Textron signed a letter of intent to form a strategic alliance with Denver-based Air Methods Corp.'s Products Div. The arrangement is aimed at improving Bell's emergency medical service (EMS) product line and expanding AMC Products' business in aerospace markets.
The U.S. Marine Corps has ruled out mechanical failure as a cause of the April 8 crash of an MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft in Arizona that killed all 19 aboard, and is focusing on the phenomenon of "power settling," which is believed to have caused the Osprey's right rotor to stall.
Globalstar Telecommunications, the satellite telephony operator, posted a larger loss than analysts expected for the first quarter of 2000, primarily due to higher startup costs for its global service rollout.
The House Armed Services procurement subcommittee, approving a fiscal year 2001 Defense Dept. authorization bill, yesterday added $2.6 billion to President Clinton's Pentagon procurement budget request.
