With production of the first of nine lots of QF-4 aerial targets having just been completed, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force are beginning to consider a follow-on to the unmanned version of the F-4 fighter that now simulates enemy fighters.
Raytheon Co. received the letters of credit needed to finance the System for the Vigilance of the Amazon (SIVAM), allowing it to begin work on the project. Announcing the development yesterday, Raytheon said most of the funding, just over $1 billion, will come from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The rest will come from AB Svensk Exportkredit, Sweden's export bank, Raytheon itself and the SIVAM Vendor Trust.
JOHN HAMRE was sworn in yesterday as U.S. deputy secretary of defense, replacing John White. Hamre, who had been the comptroller for the Dept, of Defense, was confirmed by the Senate last week. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Defense Secretary William Cohen hopes to name a new comptroller soon.
The U.S. Navy may face a problem with supply of engines for the Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle, with Germany's Fichtel&Sachs AG saying it will discontinue production of the SF2-350 that powers the UAV. Sachs has said twice before that the 26 hp engine was going out of production, but the U.S. Navy and Israel, which both use it, were able to work a deal for continued production. But Steven Reed, business development manager for the Pioneer, said the issue may be more serious this time, since Sachs is putting the engine line and tooling up for sale.
Baltimore, will provide a $15.7 million countrywide air traffic control (ATC) system for the country of Georgia, formerly the Republic of Georgia. Electronic Sensors and Systems Div. (ESSD) will make two monopulse secondary surveillance radars and an airspace management system. Other elements of the system include microwave communications, generators and power supplies. ESSD will also provide training and spare parts. Financing for the system will be guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
Danbury, Conn., completed its acquisition of the assets of Metalcoat S.A. Metalcoat, with annual sales of about $1 million, will be run by Praxair Surface Technologies Espana S.A., located near Barcelona, Spain.
Tracor Aerospace Inc., Austin, Tex., said yesterday it has acquired the Military Products Group (MPG) of Calspan SRL Corp. MPG, Dayton, Ohio, makes displays, monitors, radar scan converters, symbol generators and night vision goggle-compatible beacons. It recorded 1996 sales of about $16 million.
Sea Launch Co., the international consortium led by Boeing that is building an oceangoing launch platform for Ukrainian Zenit rockets, has slipped its first flight by about four months, a Boeing spokesperson said yesterday. The spokesperson confirmed a report from Oslo that first launch had been delayed until October 1998. The spokesperson represented the Sea Launch venture in Seal Beach, Calif., near the Long Beach, Calif., home port for the launch platform and its command ship.
Belgium's state-owned aeronautics company, Sonaca SA, looks set to move firmly into the black for the remainder of the decade, following release of final 1996 results and forecasts for the next two years.
A majority of the House yesterday endorsed continuing production of the B-2 bomber as an amendment adding an unrequested $331 million to the fiscal 1998 defense appropriations bill was approved by a vote of 222-200. The fate of the congressional campaign to win funding for a long-term plan for production of nine more B-2s will be decided in a House-Senate conference on the fiscal 1998 defense authorization.
The U.S. Air Force plans to award Motorola's Space Systems Technology Group an engineering and manufacturing development contract to continue work on the Hard Target Smart Fuze. The Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center said in a July 29 Commerce Business Daily notice that two follow-on production options for a total of 500 fuzes will be covered by the deal. The contract is to be awarded in October.
AlliedSignal Aerospace completed its acquisition of Grimes Aerospace from an affiliate of Forstmann Little&Co. Terms of the transaction, announced last week, were not disclosed. Grimes, with annual sales of about $230 million, makes exterior and interior lighting systems, strobes, night vision imaging systems and power supplies. It also supplies aircraft engine systems. The company employs 1,400 people in facilities in Urbana, Ohio; Greenwood, S.C.; Plymouth and Bristol, Conn., and Ocala, Fla.
Raytheon TI Systems (RTIS), McKinney, Tex., and Hughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, Calif., will share a $15.1 million engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract for the U.S. Army's Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3), the companies announced.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $20,873,816 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a basic ordering agreement for engineering support for the Conformal Antenna Integration Phase II effort for the F/A-18 C/D and E/F aircraft. Work will be performed St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by December 2000. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $73,520,267 face value increase to a fixed-price-incentive contract to provide for engineering and manufacturing development of the Ground Based Training System for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed July 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657- 94/C-0006, P00031).
Mason and Hanger Corp., Lexington, Ky., is being awarded a $22,836,507 fixed-price-incentive contract to provide for FY 1998 (phase-in 15 August - 30 September 1997) operation, maintenance, and support of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, Clear Air Station, Alaska, and the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System at Cavalier Air Station, N.D. The work will be performed at Clear Air Station, Alaska (67%) and Cavalier Air Station, N.D. (33%). At this time, $666,102 of the contract amount has been obligated.
Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems&Services won a two-year, $66.3 million option for operations at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., the U.S. space agency announced yesterday. Under the option, the Houston-based Lockheed Martin unit will manage development and certification testing of large rocket engines, including the Space Shuttle Main Engine.
Hayes Targets, a division of Precision Standard, won a nine-year contract from Tracor Inc. to supply tow targets, payloads and countermeasure dispensers for the MQM-107 Kalkara program, Precision Standard announced. Hayes will initially supply 130 TRX radar tow targets, 35 TPT infrared plume tow targets, 11 APC-4 infrared plume wing-tip pods, AWC-1 chaff/flare dispensers and pods for active radar augmentation systems. The equipment will be used by the Royal Australian Navy for crew training and weapon system performance evaluation.
The European Commission is expected to confirm its approval of Boeing Co.'s acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp. on July 30, as scheduled, following the okay Friday of antitrust experts representing member states of the European Union. The commission approved the deal last week after some last-minute concessions by the two companies (DAILY, July 24).
Hughes Aircraft Co., Electro-Optical Systems, El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded a $3,540,000 increment as part of a $15,078,713 cost-plus-award-fee contract for the engineering and manufacturing development of the Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3). A total of 17 systems are being developed. The LRAS3 will utilize the Second Generation Horizontal Technology Integration (HTI) Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) B-Kit. Work will be performed in El Segundo, Calif., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 2, 1998.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. received an order from the Brazilian Army for four S-70A Black Hawk helicopters. The company said delivery will take place next month. The helicopters will be based in Patuca, Ecuador, replacing U.S. Army- operated UH-60 Black Hawks flying peacekeeping missions between Ecuador and Peru.
Raytheon TI Systems Inc., Dallas, won a contract from the Communications Electronics Command (CECOM), Fort Monmouth, N.J., for thermal imaging systems for Bradley Fighting Vehicles (BFV) and Apache attack helicopters, the company announced last week. The first award of $6.7 million is for forward looking infrared (FLIR) technology for night-vision targeting acquisition and fire control capability. The contract could reach a total value of just over $31 million if it is renewed each year and all options are exercised.
Hughes Aircraft Co.'s Sensors and Communications Systems, El Segundo, Calif., said it has delivered two APG-73 radars to the Royal Australian Air Force. Value of the contract was not disclosed. The delivery, under a Foreign Military Sales contract, is the first step in the RAAF's upgrade of its F/A-18A and B models, Hughes said yesterday.
Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems, Albuquerque, N.M., will develop the color Radar Control Display Unit (RCDU) for the United Kingdom's seven E-3D Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Honeywell said the contract is from Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Div., Baltimore, as part of Boeing's U.K. Radar Systems Improvement Program (RSIP). Defense Avionics Systems will deliver 22 RCDUs to Northrop Grumman, with the first two units scheduled for early 1998.
