New Zealand signed agreements with the U.S. for lease and support of 28 existing F-16A/B aircraft, Lockheed Martin reported yesterday. The jets were originally slated for Pakistan, but were never delivered due to sanctions imposed by the Bush Administration under the Pressler Amendment, which limited overseas military sales to countries with nuclear weapons.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va., lost $10.2 million in its 1999 second quarter due to substantial start-up losses in the satellite services businesses, the company reported yesterday. A year ago, Orbital reported a profit of $6 million. Over that same period, revenues climbed 26% to $232.3 million, while operating earnings grew 52% to $12.5 million.
A $1.3 billion cut in NASA's budget Monday night by House appropriators elicited howls of protest from several quarters, including NASA itself. Administrator Daniel Goldin said the agency "just launched Chandra, the world's most powerful space telescope. Today, we will have to turn it back on Washington to see what remains of the NASA budget." He said the cuts could force the closure of up to three NASA centers, and that "significant layoffs" could follow.
Raytheon Systems Co. plans to cancel the work Northrop Grumman is doing on the $57.3 million AN/TPQ-47 Firefinder weapon location radar program, according to officials at both companies. "We are having discussions with Northrop Grumman about terminating their participation on the program," a Raytheon spokesperson said in response to questions from The DAILY.
AlliedSignal Inc. and Honeywell Inc. have received a request for additional information from the U.S. Dept. of Justice in connection with their proposed merger, the companies reported. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act expires 20 days after the companies have complied with the request, and AlliedSignal and Honeywell expect the deal to close in the fall.
The U.S. Army and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization have delayed today's planned test of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile due to high winds at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test could take place later this week, depending on weather conditions, BMDO spokesman Tom Johnson said.
Raytheon Co. won a U.S. Air Force contract to provide fiscal year 2000 consolidated field support for all sensors, data links and ground systems related to the U-2 program. Initial value of the award from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is $43.8 million, Raytheon said. Over the next five years, it said, the contract has a potential value of $250 million.
Boeing has completed the first test phase of its Vehicle Management System (VMS) for the Joint Strike Fighter X-32 demonstrator aircraft. VMS operates the flight controls including the actuators, hydraulics, environmental control system. Boeing said it used full-scale actuator test rig to simulate the aircraft's hydraulic and actuation system. In addition, it said, testing is well underway on the actuation performance, onboard diagnostics, pilot displays, avionics and utility systems.
A contract was signed in Poland on Monday between GEC Marconi Land and Naval Systems and the Polish Huta Stalowa Wola company for the supply from the U.K. of 155mm AS90 artillery turrets. The turrets will be fitted to a Polish-designed tracked chassis to provide NATO standard self-propelled howitzers for the artillery battalions of Poland's army.
While the companies continue to make no specific comments or outright denials, speculation about the combination of France's Aerospatiale Matra and Germany's DASA again has stirred talk of the concept of the European Aerospace and Defense Co. (EADC), an industry analyst said yesterday. A German news magazine reported the possible merger over the weekend, a deal that Aerospatiale Matra denied. DASA said only that "in our industry, it is quite common that everybody talks to everybody."
Boeing has delivered the Block II avionics software upgrade to its F-22 avionics flying test bed, a converted 757 airliner. Block II incorporates the radar, mission and inertial reference system, pilot vehicle interface and cockpit display software. The code completed about 2,000 hours of tests in the company's Avionics Integration Lab and will now begin testing on the 757.
Congressional appropriators have begun to broker a deal with the U.S. Air Force in which they would restore a massive funding cut to the program, but stagger the first aircraft buys over a few years. The deal is being worked behind closed doors in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill and senior service officials gave it a look late Monday, sources told The DAILY yesterday.
The dispute between Congress and the Administration on how to prevent the transfer of critical technology while launching U.S. satellites overseas is far from over. The House's version of the fiscal year 2000 defense authorization bill includes a provision that requires the secretary of State to impose a number of conditions on export licenses for any satellite to be launched outside the U.S.
Titan Corp., San Diego, has acquired Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corp. (AAEC), a defense and commercial technology development and systems company focusing on applied research and development in information technologies. Titan said it paid cash, but didn't elaborate.
Raytheon Co. reported earnings $294 million on sales of $5.2 billion in its 1999 second quarter. The results were up slightly from earnings of $270 million on sales of $5.1 billion in the 1998 second quarter.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on July 21, 1999; Printed Issue Date: July 23, 1999...PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS (MODIFICATION); SUBPART: SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL; CLASS COD: 18-Space Vehicles; OFFADD: Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, SMC - Space&Missiles System Center, 2420 Vela Way, Suite 2420, El Segundo, CA, 90245-4659 ...
Raytheon Co., Raytheon Electronic Systems, Marlborough, Mass., was awarded on July 21, 1999, a $26,074,877 modification to firm-fixed-price, time and materials, cost-plus-award-fee contract DAAB07-96-C-A757. This acquisition is for the incorporation of Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) capability into the Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminal (SMART-T). The FY99 quantity is for 69 terminals, with the option for incorporation of DAMA into a FY2000 full scale production of 80 terminals, and a DAMA retrofit of low rate initial production of 42 terminals.
The Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate, a new cockpit management system, was unveiled yesterday by the U.S. Army and Boeing. Reporters and government officials gathered at the Army's Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., to fly in a prototype AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, Boeing said. The RPA flew for the first time in an Apache last October. RPA is intended to help combat helicopter pilots fly and manage battlefield developments with greater effectiveness and increased survivability. Lee Daniel, RPA program manager, said data fusion is a key benefit of the RPA.
Loral has changed the launch vehicle for its Telstar 7 satellite from an Atlas IIIA to an Ariane 44 LP. The change was made pending results of the investigation of the May 4 failure of the Delta III, a Loral spokesman said. The Telstar 7 launch, originally scheduled for last month, was to be the first for the new Atlas IIIA. Liftoff has been rescheduled for Sept. 14.
The U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office are cooperating on the Discoverer II program to demonstrate ground mobile target tracking from space, Acting Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters told lawmakers last week.
A TEAM of industry partners and FAA have developed an autopilot landing system on a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that, they said, allows the first practical rotorcraft precision approach to a hover. Demonstrations are being conducted at Flagler County Airport in Bunnell, Fla., through Aug. 6. Sikorsky said the team has been working for the last 20 months to perfect the system, which relies on Special Category 1 Differential Global Positioning System (SCAT 1 DGPS) ground station for glideslope and localizer approach guidance.
Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., is being awarded a $9,775,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for development of the Hawk Missile System Advanced Infrared Tracking Adjunct System (AIRTAS). Work will be performed in Bedford, Mass. (44%); Tewksbury, Mass. (22%); Pelham, N.H. (7%); and Rolling Meadows, Ill. (27%), and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 30, 1998. The U.S.
Raytheon Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $2,144,217 increment as part of a $13,365,639 modification to cost-plus-incentive-fee contract DAAE30-98-C-1079, for the development, fabrication and testing of a smart 120mm munitions for the Abrams Tank. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas (73.14%) and St. Petersburg, Fla. (26.86%), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were three bids solicited on Jan. 20, 1998, and three bids were received. The U.S.
