THORNTON ARNOLD 'T' WILSON, former Boeing chairman and chief executive officer, died in his sleep on April 10 at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 78. Wilson retired in 1987 after 42 years with Boeing. He joined the company in 1943, and was part of the team that developed the B-47 bomber. He became president in 1968 and CEO a year later. He became chairman in 1972.
L-3 Communications said it has won a research and development contract from the U.S. Army to provide a multi-function signal intelligence payload for use on tactical and medium endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The initial contract is worth more than $500,000 with additional options valued at $3.1 million. The advanced reconnaissance system will combine communications intelligence and electronic intelligence to enable real-time data collection in tactical situations, the company said.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of a special House Committee that concluded national security was probably compromised through the transfer of sensitive technology to China, said that the panel will "probably not" release this week an unclassified version of the report it filed late last year.
China ought to be involved into a global security alliance with the U.S., Europe and Japan "of the NATO sort that exists today," Joseph Gorman, CEO of TRW Inc., said yesterday. Speaking at Aviation Week&Space Technology's Aerospace Finance '99 executive symposium here, he noted China's economic and military strength, and said that the U.S. should be "in the business of creating greater interdependency with China, not independency."
LOGICON INC., a Northrop Grumman company, received a $5.1 million delivery order from the U.S. Air Force to provide a leased network license of Oracle software for the AF integrated logistics community.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems has teamed with Boeing, GTE Government Systems, Wang Government Services and GenCorp Aerojet to bid for the U.S. Air Force Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) contract, expected to be worth $1.5 billion over 15 years.
Improved inspections of turbofan engines in use on almost all U.S. jet transports were ordered yesterday by the FAA. The agency told airlines to perform "enhanced" inspections of critical life-limited parts. They also must include the enhanced inspections in their continuous airworthiness maintenance programs. FAA said it issued airworthiness directives (ADs) because its study of "in-service events involving uncontained failures of critical rotating engine parts ... indicated the need for improved inspections."
The Pentagon notified Congress Monday that Egypt plans to buy 24 F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The $1.2 billion contract includes 28 F110-GE-100B engines, 24 AN/APG-88 radars and the integration capability for the Harpoon, heads-up display, multiple boresight indicator, friend or foe identification, and tactical airborne reconnaissance systems. The Egyptian government and Lockheed Martin plan to sign the agreement in May, with deliveries to follow in 2001.
The Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for the merger of United Technologies Corp. and Sundstrand Corp. has expired, the two companies reported yesterday. UTC agreed to acquire the parts maker for $4.3 billion in cash and stock in late February. Sundstrand is slated to be combined with UTC's Hamilton Standard division, forming one of the world's largest suppliers of airframe components and subsystems (DAILY, Feb. 23).
April 5, 1999 Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta Ga., is being awarded a $9,079,000 face value increase to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for three Weather Reconnaissance Modification Kits applicable to the WC-130 aircraft for the Air Force Reserve. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is January 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-95-C-2055-P00022).
April 8, 1999 Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $30,719,256 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order contract to provide engineering and manufacturing support for the follow-on test and evaluation of the F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by November 1999. 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 (N00019-98-G-0037).
Teams are solidifying to go after the U.S. Air Force Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) contract, which will be worth $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion to the winner over the next 15 years. The contractor selected will integrate, operate and maintain the command and control functions of about 40 different systems supporting air defense, space operations and missile warning. Most of the systems, but not all, are located in the Cheyenne Mountain bunker at Colorado Springs, Colo.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on April 8, 1999, Printed Issue Date: April 12, 1999; PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SERVICES; CLASSCOD: A-Research and Development; OFFADD: Naval Research Laboratory (NRL-SSC), Attn: Code 3250, Building 1100, Room 109, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-5004; SOL N00173-99-R-RS02; DUE 052399; POC Contract Specialist, Richard D. Sewell, Code 3235:RS; Contracting Officer, Patricia A. Lewis, Code 3235, (228)688-5784
By merging the data needs of the U.S. government and the strategic needs of a team of key contractors, Space Technology Development Corp. (STDC) is bootstrapping its way into a position to offer commercial remote sensing services. The Alexandria, Va., company has just received its remote sensing operating license from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and is in the process of securing $45 million in equity financing.
A Pentagon spokesman, responding to questions that the Dept. of Defense was leaning toward rejecting the General Dynamics bid for Newport News, told reporters yesterday that a final decision has not been made. Navy Capt. Mike Doubleday said a decision would "come soon, but I can't put a number of days on it."
India's test of a two-stage Angi II intermediate range ballistic missile on Sunday wasn't a surprise to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who said they are kept abreast of such developments by the U.S. Intelligence Community, but they and others are now awaiting a reaction from Pakistan in the next day or two. The 11-minute test firing took the missile into the Bay of Bengal. The Agni II is reported to have a range of 1,250 miles, giving it the ability to hit Pakistan and targets deep in China.
Airborne Express has entered an agreement with General Electric Capital Corp. to purchase five used 767-200s, with the right to buy a sixth, bringing to 28 the number of 767-200s the company has committed to purchase. To date, seven have been acquired and five are in service. The latest aircraft will be delivered this year and next, and a sixth also in 2000 if purchased. The aircraft are now on lease to TWA. Airborne said it will invest about $25 million per plane, including the cost of conversion to cargo configuration.
The U.S. Army's Enhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile (EFOGM), being developed by Raytheon Co., flew Saturday at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., for the seventh time, Raytheon said yesterday. The missile, launched from an instrumented tactical fire unit, demonstrated for the third time the ability of its imaging infrared seeker to detect and track targets displayed on the gunner's console.
April 6, 1999 Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Co., King of Prussia, Pa., is being awarded a $6,926,481 face value increase to a fixed-price-with-economic-price-adjustment contract to provide for on-orbit operations through December 1999 for the Global Positioning System Block IIR satellite. Expected contract completion date is December 1999. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-89-C-0073-P00182).
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Leslie F. Kenne, director of the Joint Strike Fighter Program, has been nominated for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general and assigned to command the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass. She will replace Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish, who has been assigned as director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. Kadish replaces Lt. Gen. Lester Lyles, who will be promoted to general and become AF vice chief of staff.
