At the FIDEA Air and Space Fair here, Airbus said it has firm orders for 109 aircraft from Latin America to be delivered over the next five years, including 32 to LAN-Chile. In the last 12 years, Airbus has obtained 78% of new aircraft orders in the region, compared with 14% for Boeing and 8% for McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus expects this edge to grow in the next few years. At FIDAE, Airbus exhibited its A320-300 and promoted the future A3XX. Boeing announced it was launching smaller aircraft for regional routes in Latin America, such as its new 100-seat B717.
Singapore Airlines plans to continue maintaining five to six Airbus A340-300 airliners, a change from the original plan of phasing out the entire fleet by 2002. The airline now has 17 of the planes and one on order, and had planned to replace the fleet with Boeing 777s. This probably prompted Airbus to reorganize its regional sales team in Southeast Asia, which has been based in Singapore for several years. The entire team has been taken back to Toulouse. Sean Lee, the regional communications director, remains in Singapore.
Japan Airlines became the launch customer Friday for Boeing's new long-range 777-300X airliner with a firm order for eight and two options. With first delivery planned for June 2004, the new 777s will replace aging 747s that will be retired. The new aircraft will be equipped with General Electric GE90-115B engines, a higher-thrust version of the GE90 engine introduced in November 1995.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $127,543,953 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for one EC-130J aircraft for the Air National Guard, one KC-130J aircraft for the United States Navy, one lot of C-130 aircraft spares, and two lots of KC-130 aircraft spares. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-95/C-2055, P00040).
Corning Inc. will take over the lease of Northrop Grumman's Benton Township facility, near Scranton, Pa., in what a Northrop Grumman spokesman characterized as a "win-win" deal for both companies.
XM SATELLITE RADIO will rely on Marine Audio Engineering&Sales Co. to distribute its "XM-Ready" digital satellite radios to the boating market, under a deal announced last month. The Ellisville, Mo.-based manufacturer of marine audio and multimedia components has a network of more than 2,500 dealers in the U.S.
General Electric Aircraft Engines, General Electric Company, Lynn, Mass., is being awarded a $21,475,764 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the FY 00 Component Improvement Program for the F-404, T-58, and T-64 engines. The Component Improvement Program provides engineering support, studies, and testing to resolve field safety, maintainability, and readiness problems, maintain performance, and qualify design changes where return-on investment can be realized. This contract involves combined efforts for the U.S. Navy (57%), the U.S.
Domestic growth is unlikely to offset an expected decline in U.S. aerospace exports this year, John W. Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industry Association, warned yesterday.
SOME 2,123 PAYLOADS are scheduled for launch into Earth orbit in the coming decade, according to a newly released Teal Group study. That is triple the number counted by the Fairfax, Va., consulting firm eight years ago. Of the total, more than half will originate in the U.S., and of that number about 75% will be commercial payloads. Worldwide, commercial communication satellites will account for about 65% of the total payloads. Teal also ranked more than 70 different prime contractors by the number of payloads they will produce.
GCS GbmH of Salzburg, Austria, has developed a software package that uses the multicast capability of geostationary satellites to deliver frequently accessed World Wide Web content to personal computers via a dish smaller than 90 centimeters across and a standard DBV receiver card that can be plugged into any PC.
Lockheed Martin named Louis R. Hughes, a top General Motors executive, to succeed Peter B. Teets as president and chief operating officer, effective April 27. Teets, 57, retired and resigned from the board of directors last October as the company announced it would report lower-than-expected profits for 2000.
Raytheon Sensors and Electronic Systems of El Segundo, Calif., is being issued a $10,643,252 firm-fixed-price order for seven radar receivers and eight radar data processors in support of the AN/APG-73 radar used on F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, Calif., and is expected to be completed by March 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-98-G-001A).
BALL AEROSPACE will develop specifications for a space-based hyperspectral sensor system and related infrastructure under a five-year, $10.5 million contract with the U.S. Air Force. The contract covers the Brassboard Overhead Spectra Sensor (BOSS) Sensor Specification Program, which is managed by the Electro-Optics Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory Sensors Directorate.
Northrop Grumman Corporation, Bethpage, N.Y., is being awarded a $17,825,000 order against a basic ordering agreement to convert an E-2C aircraft to the Hawkeye 2000 Upgrade configuration. Work will be performed in Bethpage, N.Y. (65%); St. Augustine, Fla. (30%); Rolling Meadows, Ill. (4%); and Millegeville, Ga. (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Up to three more Hawk 115 jet trainers, together with a $31 million rolling five-year repair and overhaul support sub-contract and guaranteed turn-around times, are to be supplied by BAE Systems to Bombardier Aerospace for the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program. The action follows Singapore's recent $C240 million ($165 million) 20-year contract as the NFTC's first non-NATO member.
United Technologies Corp., San Antonio, Texas was awarded on March 29, a $12,149,903 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for repair of 40 F100PW220 engines applicable to the F-16 aircraft. This effort supports foreign military sales to Egypt. Funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. San Antonio Air Logistics Center, Kelly AFB, Texas, is the contracting activity (F41608-00/D-0149).
Sikorsky Aircraft Co., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on March 28, 2000, a $28,888,052 modification to firm-fixed-price contract DAAJ09-97-C-0005, for 14 Aircraft (UH-60L Black Hawk) configured to CH-60S Navy Aircraft. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 13, 2000. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif., is being awarded a $6,737,000 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for development of battery replacements and battery telemetry modifications in support of the Defense Satellite Communications System III program. At this time, $3,368,500 of the contract funds has been obligated. The work is expected to be completed March 2001. Space&Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-98/C09923, P00066).
Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were worried about the hydrazine propulsion system on the Mars Polar Lander before it took off on its doomed trip to the Red Planet, but the launch went ahead even though questions about the system remained, a JPL special review board has concluded.
EMS TECHNOLOGIES will supply radio frequency switching systems and electronic power conditioners for the Astrolink constellation satellite payloads under two separate contracts with TRW, which is building the digital, packet-switched payloads for Astrolink International LLC. Beginning in 2003, Astrolink will offer global broadband access via its Ka-band satellites. Astrolink investors include Liberty Media Group, Lockheed Martin, TRW and Italy's Telespazio.
BOEING SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS Group has signed a $26.3 million contract modification with NASA for work on the International Space Station. The modification covers planned changes to the baseline assembly sequence, including moved launch dates, deleted and added U.S. Space Shuttle flights to the Station, and revisions to the Multi-Increment Manifest (MIM) for the orbiting facility.
CORE SOFTWARE will incorporate two Canadian ground stations in the North American Ground Station Network it is establishing to collect high-resolution imagery collected by West Indian Space with civil versions of Israel's Ofeq reconnaissance cameras. Core Software reported the agreement with the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS), a branch of Natural Resources Canada, will make stations at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Gatineau, Quebec, available to receive data from the small Israeli satellites.
The U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has exercised first year production options valued at $54 million for satellite communications systems for surface ships, submarines and shore stations, Raytheon Co. said yesterday.
