Defense contractors are seeing more opportunities in the operations and maintenance (O&M) portion of the defense budget, according to defense analysts. Merrill Lynch aerospace and defense analyst Byron Callan says in an October investors report that "the O&M account ... is an increasingly significant source of funding for companies we cover."
TELSTAR: Telstar 13, launched in August, has completed on-orbit testing and is in operation at its orbital slot of 121 West, Loral Skynet said Nov. 11. The satellite is among four that Loral has agreed to sell to Intelsat pending regulatory approval (DAILY, Oct. 22).
SSGN CONTRACT: The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems a $6.9 million contract to make and install trainers for cruise missile submarine (SSGN) fire control systems. Trident Training Facilities at Kings Bay, Ga., and Bangor, Wash., are scheduled to receive the systems by May 2005. General Dynamics is developing and producing the SSGN attack weapon control system under a contract awarded in December 2002.
United Kingdom charter carrier First Choice Airlines has awarded a 10-year, $70 million maintenance and repair contract to Pratt & Whitney's Norway Engine Center. Pratt & Whitney (P&W) said Nov. 11 that the contract covers 26 CFM56-5B/P engines on 13 Airbus A320/A321 airliners, plus two spare engines. The engine center, at Norway's Stavanger Airport, is one of nearly 30 P&W Aftermarket Services locations around the world.
The first launch of the Advanced Polar System (APS) satellites in DOD's Transformational Communications MILSATCOM (TCM) program has slipped two years to fiscal 2013, according to the Air Force. Following a $100 million congressional budget cut, the Air Force told contractors not to perform work on the APS spacecraft in the next phase of the TCM effort (DAILY, Oct. 22). However, the polar satellites have not been dropped, according to the Air Force.
BAE Systems/Rockwell Collins Data Link Solutions (DLS) won a $56.6 million delivery order for highly sophisticated digital data and voice communications terminals for the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego, BAE Systems spokesman John Dench said.
A system designed to make sure that U.S. Air Force stealth aircraft remain stealthy is expected to begin low-rate production in fiscal 2007, about six years later than originally planned, according to a program official.
The Boeing Co. has created an office to monitor the company's ethics, financials, export compliance and other aspects of internal governance, it announced Nov. 11. Effective immediately, the Office of Internal Governance consolidates internal monitoring functions -- previously performed by different organizations within the company -- under a single unit that reports directly to Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit, according to spokesman John Dern.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is continuing efforts to slim its directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system, with its most compact version slated to become available for use in a year or so, company officials said Nov. 11. The Guardian system, which Northrop Grumman is developing with its own money, will weigh about 115 pounds. That's about 10 pounds less than a predecessor device, the Small Transmitter Laser System, which is used to protect Air Force C-17 transports and other large military aircraft against surface-to-air missiles.
Lockheed Martin plans to resume work in 2005 on the interceptor booster rocket it is developing for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, a company spokeswoman said Nov. 11. A propellant-mixing problem that affected the Lockheed Martin booster prompted the Department of Defense to go, at least temporarily, with an Orbital Sciences Corp. booster. Fielding the GMD system, of which interceptor boosters are a critical part, is slated to begin in September 2004.
Elbit Systems of Israel reported a 2 percent rise in revenue for the third quarter on Nov. 11, but a delay in defense orders caused net profit to fall, company officials said. For the quarter, Elbit's revenue rose from $210.2 million a year ago to $214.3 million. Net income fell from $15.5 million a year ago to $12 million. The results were affected by a $2.8 million tax adjustment and a $2.4 million charge related to an employee stock option plan.
Among the next major hurdles facing the nascent suborbital reusable launch vehicle (RLV) industry are insurance and liability, according to Patrick Bahn, Washington director of the Suborbital Institute and founder of TGV Rockets. The slump in the insurance industry following the 9/11 terrorist attacks has resulted in a "disastrous" situation for RLV makers that could choke the industry before it has a chance to grow, according to Bahn.
NEW DELHI - Several international firms have submitted bids to supply short-range missiles to the Indian air force, after India's indigenously developed Trishul missile delivered poor test results. A senior air force official told The DAILY that after India issued a request in September, France's MBDA and Thales, Russia's Rosoboronexport, Switzerland's Oerlikon Contraves and South Africa's Denel have submitted bids to supply short-range surface-to-air missile systems.
LONDON - Procurement and operating cost overruns are expected to trigger major cuts to United Kingdom defense spending, which will be outlined in a government defense white paper to be published in December. Britain's share of the Eurofighter program is seen as a major target for cuts. It is the U.K.'s largest and most expensive single arms project, with full completion costs estimated at around 18.6 billion pounds ($31.1 billion), up from the original 13.2 billion pounds ($22.2 billion).
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A U.S. aerospace trade delegation completed a tour of central European countries on Nov. 7 with a visit to troubled Czech aircraft producer Aero Vodochody. The delegation, led by Joseph Bogosian, the deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Commerce, included 15 aerospace company representatives from 11 companies, including Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Raytheon. The group visited aerospace companies and government ministries in Warsaw, Bucharest and Prague.
The U.S. Marine Corps is developing a unique nonlethal weapon that would hamper an enemy's mobility by making the ground exceedingly slippery. This "anti-traction" system's polyacrylamide powder is mixed with water and sprayed over flat surfaces to make them slicker than ice. The powder compound is used by the drilling industry, according to George Gibbs, a nonlethal weapons engineer at Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM).
TOW SIGHTS: DRS Technologies will produce and test upgrade kits for night-vision targeting sights on the Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missile system, the company said Nov. 10. The AN/TAS-4(X) TOW Sights will be produced under a $9.3 million contract from the Applied Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University Center for Electro-Optics Research.
