Raytheon Co. has won a contract with a potential value of $98.7 million to supply a key component of the U.S. Air Force's Minuteman Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network (MEECN) to TRW Inc. As ICBM Program prime contractor, TRW will integrate the Raytheon component. Raytheon said its system will support Minuteman launch control centers with communications that can withstand nuclear attack.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says Congress added more than $4 billion to the fiscal year 2000 defense authorization act for programs the Pentagon didn't want or need.
Lockheed Martin has received a $135 million order from Northrop Grumman for 2 AN/APS-145 radars for the E-2C aircraft. The order, the largest ever received in the APS-145 program, includes options that could bring the total value to over $200 million, Lockheed Martin said. "This order is exceptional in that it is a multiyear procurement and as such secures this product line for production through 2005," said Mike Smith, president of Lockheed Martin's Ocean, Radar and Sensor Systems unit, Syracuse, N.Y.
Northrop Grumman's planned acquisition of Ryan Aeronautical could give it a big part of a growing international market for unmanned aerial vehicles, analysts said yesterday.
A newly released U.S. Navy Radar Roadmap calls for greater commonality of radars across ship classes and recommends specific technological solutions that could create significant new business for some radar manufacturers. At the heart of the plan is a move to scale down to about three families of radars to minimize overall cost, Navy officials who worked on the study told The DAILY.
The U.S. Air Force has decided not to award Lockheed Martin a $29 million bonus on its Titan rocket launch contract, citing a decision that the company's performance "was not satisfactory" in the last half of 1998. The grade covered production and launch operations on the failed Aug. 20 Titan IVB launch. An accident investigation board determined that faulty wiring caused the rocket to explode shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla.
WHITE ELECTRONIC DESIGNS CORP., Phoenix, has received an order from Lockheed Martin's Sanders unit for an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) for use aboard the U.S. Navy's S-3B aircraft. The 16.1-inch display will be for the AN/ASA-82 system. White said the order will give it bookings of about $1 million in revenue for this program during 1999.
PARAVANT INC. AND GENERAL ATRONICS CORP. said they have agreed not to proceed with Paravant's plan to acquire GAC. A letter of intent for the deal had been announced on April 5. Paravant is a defense electronics and communications company. Krishan A. Joshi, chairman and CEO, said that "While we were not able to come to terms on this agreement, through the process we were able to put the financing plan in place to support our goal of achieving $100 million in sales by the end of the year 2000.
PPG INDUSTRIES, Pittsburgh, will acquire PRC-DeSoto International Inc., a coatings and sealants maker based in Glendale, Calif., for $512.5 million. The deal should be completed by the end of July. PRC-DeSoto, formerly Courtaulds Aerospace, is owned by Akzo Nobel N.V., and has manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Europe, along with application support centers around the world. It has annual revenues of about $240 million. "This acquisition ...
Northrop Grumman Corp., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $16,919,556 modification to previously awarded price contract F33657-98-C-2015 to provide for 49 APG-66(V)2 radar kits and associated spare parts applicable to the F-16 aircraft. This effort supports foreign military sales to Belgium (24 radar kits), Portugal (25 radar kits), the Netherlands (radar spare parts), and Norway (radar spare parts). Expected contract completion date is March 29, 2002. Solicitation issue date was June 30, 1998. Negotiation completion date was May 4, 1999.
The U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet entered operational evaluation (OPEVAL) Friday, Boeing reported. OPEVAL is expected to last six months and will be conducted by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9) at China Lake, Calif. During testing, seven production model Super Hornets are slated to fly more than 700 sorties under operational conditions.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $15,761,936 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for upgrade of sixteen AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures systems from the Block I to the Block II configuration for the F-16 aircraft. This effort supports foreign military sales to Norway. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is May 2001. Solicitation issue date was Dec. 22, 1997. Negotiation completion date was April 1, 1999.
Avondale Industries Inc. plans to accept a $500 million offer from Litton Industries Inc., the companies reported yesterday, and Avondale has given Newport News 48 hours notice that it intends to terminate their merger agreement. "Avondale's board of directors has determined that Litton's proposal to acquire Avondale for $39.50 per share constitutes a 'superior proposal' to the previously announced merger agreement between Avondale and Newport News," Albert Bossier Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Avondale, said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems, Eagan, Minn., is being awarded a $55,990,029 firm-fixed-price contract for the non-recurring effort of 11 P-3C anti-submarine underwater warfare improvement program kits and three retrofit kits for the advanced imaging multi-spectral sensor. Work will be performed in Greenville, S.C. (80%), and Eagan, Minn. (20%), and is expected to be completed by December 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Any decision to exercise shutter control over U.S. remote sensing companies would be made at the Cabinet level, said John Barker, an official with the U.S. State Dept.
Iridium World Communications Ltd. (IWCL) plans to revamp its marketing plan and cut prices, and will try to renegotiate the deals it has made with its lenders. Speaking at the company's annual stockholders meeting, interim Iridium CEO John A. Richardson acknowledged that sales have been disappointing - Iridium LLC, IWCL's parent company, lost $505 million in its 1999 first quarter on revenues of only $1.5 million - but that the problem could and would be fixed.
Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on May 25, 1999; Printed Issue Date: May 27, 1999 ... PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL; CLASSCOD: 58-Communication, Detection, and Coherent Radiation Equipment-Potential Sources Sought; OFFADD: U.S. Army CECOM, CECOM Acquisition Center, Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703-5008 ... SOL DAAB07-99-R-A766; POC SUZANNE ANDERSON, CONTRACTING OFFICER 732-532-5486 or CARL SWENSON, PM MILSATCOM 732-532-9645 x4508
Top officials of the Russian Space Agency and related organizations decided yesterday the 13-year-old Mir orbital station can no longer be maintained in orbit under present budget conditions and will be deorbited in the first quarter of 1999.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on May 26, 1999; Printed Issue Date: May 28, 1999 ... PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SERVICES; CLASSCOD: B-Special Studies and Analyses - Not R&D-
Raytheon Sensors and Electronics Systems, El Segundo, Calif., is being issued a $6,600,000 firm-fixed-price order for five retrofit kits in support of the AN/APG-73 radar used on U.S. Marine F/A-18C/D aircraft. Each kit contains a power supply, a radar receiver, a radar date processor, and an electrical rack. Work will be performed in El Segundo, Calif., and is expected to be completed by December 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
British Aerospace, pressing to sell new fighters to Poland, may be ready to announce a deal with the country for production of the British-designed Sprint primary trainer. BAe, through a 35% share of Sweden's Saab, is offering JAS 39 Gripen fighters to Warsaw. But it is facing stiff competition from several other jet makers, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and a deal to produce the civil/military Sprint in Poland could give it a major offset advantage.
U.S. and U.K. pilots recently flew about 40 missions in the Boeing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) full-mission simulator to evaluate integration of the avionics, mission system software and pilot-vehicle interface, the company reported.
NavCom Defense Electronics Inc., El Monte, Calif., is being awarded a $6,898,845 firm-fixed-price contract to procure 42 AN/UPM-155 radar test sets, including operator training and associated technical data, for the U.S. Navy (4) and the U.S. Army (38). Work will be performed in El Monte, Calif., and is expected to be completed by April 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-99-C-1131).
