Ducommun Inc. acquired Sheet Metal Specialties Co. (SMS), a maker of complex assemblies and subassemblies for commercial and military aerospace applications based in Chatsworth, Calif., Ducommun reported yesterday. Greg Schrott, president of SMS, will remain with the company, and SMS will report through MechTronics of Arizona Corp., a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Ducommun. SMS reported sales of $9.8 million in its most recent 12 month period. About 25% of SMS's sales are in aftermarket spares of aircraft structural components.
Coltec Industries posted robust first quarter profits and buoyant cash flow on the eve of its merger with BFGoodrich, reporting 11% better profits of $27.5 million on slightly higher sales of $376.2 million and positioning the Coltec units to generate more than $100 million in free cash flow this year.
U.S. Space Command will begin conducting Y2K compliance testing of the Global Positioning System on four separate days beginning today and running through mid-May. The tests involve a single satellite and will not interfere with GPS users, the command said yesterday.
A computerized aerospace prototype pattern-maker developed by Sanders Design International Inc. under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research contract is said to double the state of the art in measurement accuracy. Sanders said its "Rapid PatternMaker" system can produce three-dimensional tooling patterns as large as one cubic foot, with an average error of 0.02mm.
U.K. enginemaker Rolls-Royce's piece of the new NATO Flight Training Canada (NFTC) program comes to some 100 million pounds, Rolls' U.S. unit reports this week. The NFTC, in the works for nearly a decade, brings together Hawk Mk. 115 jet trainer-maker British Aerospace, the Defense Systems Div. of Canada's Bombardier, Inc., Rolls-Royce and an international corps of instructor pilots from several nations to train pilots from member nations in a 700,000-square-kilometer range over central Canada.
FAA yesterday proposed to order tests for Pratt&Whitney PW4000 engines to prevent high-pressure compressor surges, a move already underway by Pratt in cooperation with the airline industry.
One innovative U.S. Navy ensign is demonstrating the promise of desktop simulation for the service's aviation training program, and Navy leaders plan to stretch the technology to encompass surface and undersea warfare applications.
Sikorsky Aircraft wants $197 million added to the U.S. Army and Navy procurement budgets to purchase 15 more H-60 helicopters than the services requested in the fiscal year 2000 budget. The helicopters would help satisfy "valid unfilled requirements for H-60 variants in the Army National Guard and the Naval Reserve," according to the company's written proposal. They also would bring the Pentagon order to 36 helicopters a year, a level at which Sikorsky representatives said they can stabilize the production line and the helicopter's cost.
A #41.3 million U.S. Air Force award to Boeing Tuesday to make 95 Block 1 AGM-86C Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles from excess AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missiles (DAILY, April 22) is to replenish the service's supply of CALCMs expended during Operation Desert Fox in Iraq last December, not to replace missiles fired in the air war against Yugoslavia, an AD spokesman said.
Honeywell's Sensor and Guidance Products division, Minneapolis, said it has won a contract from Boeing to build a depot tester for the F-15I fighter, slated for use by Israel. The contract, for which it gave no amount, follows an F-16 depot contract with Lockheed Martin for the Republic of Korea Air Force.
Japan's Defense Agency chose Rolls-Royce AE 2100J turboprops to power the latest version of the four-engine US-1A Kai short takeoff and landing (STOL) amphibious aircraft. Rolls is adapting the AE 2100J for operation in the salt and spray of the marine environment, which will also boost the new variant's operational range by 20% to 2,500 nautical miles. Top speed will rise 12% to 300 knots. The AE 2100J's power will give the aircraft an edge in search-and-rescue operations in rough seas where steep takeoffs and landings are required, Rolls says.
The U.S. Marine Corps is testing new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology in its Urban Warrior trials, with the goal of putting the small intelligence gatherers at the disposal of battalion and company commanders. Long term plans, according to a senior officer at the USMC Warfighting Laboratory here, include hand-launched UAVs for platoons and squads.
China obtained at least basic design information on several modern U.S. nuclear reentry vehicles, including that of the Lockheed Martin Trident II submarine launched ballistic missile, according to a special investigation team reporting to the Director of Central Intelligence.
Raytheon Co. earned $215 million in its 1999 first quarter before the effect of an accounting change, the company reported yesterday. Including the effect of the previously reported $53 million after-tax adjustment, the company earned $188 million. Sales climbed 7% to $4.90 billion during the period, up from $4.57 billion in the first three months of 1998. Excluding the effect of divestitures during the year, sales increased 11%, as Raytheon reported strong year-over-year sales growth in each of its business segments.
Edward F. Staiano, vice chairman and CEO of Iridium LLC, resigned yesterday, and the board of directors appointed a five-member executive committee to manage day-to-day operations of the Washington, D.C., telecommunications company. One of the executive committee members, John Richardson, who has been CEO of Iridium Africa, will be interim CEO. Staiano also resigned his position as chairman of Iridium World Communications Ltd.
Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Ark.) blasted the Clinton Administration for the current air-launched cruise missile shortage and warned that a shortage of the Navy's ship-launched cruise missile also is looming. "The severe shortage of cruise missiles diminishes some of our military options and surely makes the world a more dangerous place," Murkowski said in a floor speech on Monday. "But the shortage of cruise missiles also reflects on the shortsightedness and over commitment made by the Administration over the last few years."
Raytheon Co. has completed testing of a key component of the Wide Area Augmentation System, being developed to provide navigation for all phases of flight, including precision approaches, using Global Positioning System satellites. The company, which is the WAAS prime contractor for the FAA, used 25 installed reference stations, two master stations and Inmarsat geosynchronous satellites in a 72-hour signal-in-space test.
CHANGAN AIRLINES of central China ordered three Q400 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft from Bombardier Aerospace. The $60 million sale is the first for the new 78-seat regional aircraft in China.
EarthWatch Inc. has ordered another one-meter resolution commercial remote imaging satellite from Ball Aerospace&Technologies Corp., including a Ball camera, the Boulder, Colo.-based satellite-maker reported.
Honeywell Inc. reported earnings of $105.4 million in the 1999 first quarter on sales of $1.99 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company earned $96.3 million on sales of $1.92 billion. The Space and Aviation Control segment contributed $581 million in sales and $83.3 million in operating profit, up from $547.4 million in sales and operating profit of $70.3 million in the first three months of 1998.
The FAA, acting on a report of a burned insulation blanket, ordered operators of 45 U.S.-registered MD-11s to conduct inspections. The agency said mechanics performing routine maintenance on one of the Boeing trijets found evidence of wire chafing in the cargo loader control unit and burned insulation. FAA also said the incident does not appear related to the crash last September of a Swissair MD-11 off Nova Scotia, in which all 229 aboard were killed. Wiring problems were suspected in that accident.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to eliminate pooling of interests as a method of accounting for mergers and acquisitions, a move that industry analysts said may increase M&A activity in the near term but have little effect on defense consolidation in the long run.
DECISION on a contractor for the color display of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) could be announced this week or next, the FAA said Monday. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are competing for the contract. FAA hoped to announce a winner earlier (DAILY, April 7).
