DIVIDEND: Raytheon Co. said Dec. 14 that it has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 22 cents per share of its common stock. The dividend is payable on Jan. 31, 2006, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Jan. 3, 2006.
Frederick J. Harris has been named a corporate vice president and president of subsidiary National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. He replaces Richard H. Vortmann. Deborah Lucas has been appointed a corporate director and will serve on the board's Audit Committee and Benefit Plans and Investment Committee. Chris Marzilli has been named a corporate vice president and president of business unit General Dynamics C4 Systems. Marzilli replaces Mark A. Fried.
Rep. David Hobson (R-Ohio), a major thorn in the side of Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) advocates, warned mid-level Bush administration personnel to drop any future efforts to resurrect the nuclear bunker-buster and promised to kill it again next year, if confronted. "It's dead, forget about it! Go conventional," Hobson said Dec. 14 at the Center for American Progress in Washington. "If I have to kick three times or four times, I'm going to keep kicking at it until we think we've totally gotten it out of the way."
EXPANDING: Rolls-Royce and Timken announced an alliance on Dec. 14 to increase the parts and services that Timken will offer under license from Rolls-Royce for Model 250 helicopter turboshaft engine parts and component repair. The engine is used widely in light helicopters, Timken said.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is on the verge of naming retired USAF Brig. Gen. Simon P. "Pete" Worden director of the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., sources told The DAILY. The agency is putting together its Lunar Robotic Exploration Program at Ames, and both Worden and the director he would replace have experience in the field.
Defense electronics and support company Engineered Support Systems Inc. said Dec. 13 that its fiscal 2005 net revenue grew to a record $1.02 billion while net income climbed 12.1 percent. The St. Louis-based company also posted gains in both categories in the fourth quarter of FY '05, with net revenue inching up 2.3 percent and net income improving 7.5 percent. The FY '05 net revenue gain was a 15 percent increase over net revenue of $883.6 million in FY '04. Net income for FY '05 was $85.1 million, compared with $75.9 million the year before.
The Missile Defense Agency successfully tested an operationally configured Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor missile, MDA said late Dec. 13.
The aerospace industry's recovery remains on course, but real sales growth is expected to slow in 2006 as a surge in civil aircraft revenues is partially offset by lower military aircraft sales. That's the upshot of an annual forecast unveiled by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) on Dec. 14. The trade group sees U.S. aerospace sales reaching $184 billion next year ($176.8 billion in current dollars), an inflation-adjusted increase of 3.9 percent over 2005 and less than the 5.7 percent increase the industry is expected to notch this year.
General Dynamics will acquire information technology and systems integration company Anteon for about $2.2 billion, including the assumption of Anteon's $100 million debt. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the deal, which calls for General Dynamics to pay $55.50 in cash for each outstanding Anteon share. Assuming approval from Anteon shareholders and the regulatory process, the transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2006.
Defense business pushed Cubic Corp.'s sales up 11.3 percent in fiscal 2005, but contracts to install several automatic mass transit revenue collection systems drove net income down 68.5 percent, the company said Dec. 14. FY '05 sales grew to $804.3 million from $722 million the year before, but net income fell from $36.9 million, or $1.38 per share, to $11.6 million, or 44 cents per share, in '05.
Adm. Walter F. Doran (USN Ret.) has been named Navy Service Executive. Dan Smith has been appointed to the Alliance Principals' Council for Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer Program. Smith is president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
The Pentagon must do more to promote the interoperability of unmanned aerial vehicle systems by developing appropriate joint standards and performance measures, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Although UAVs have proven operationally valuable, the Defense Department "has encountered challenges which have hampered joint operations at times," the report says.
Raytheon said Dec. 12 that the U.S. Navy approved its systems requirements review for the futuristic CVN-21 aircraft carrier's warfighting information technology systems. Those systems include all government furnished combat systems, C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and aviation support systems.
Citing progress on projects related to the Increased Capability III jamming system, E/A-18G aircraft and Trident D5 missile, Herley Industries Inc. said Dec. 13 that net sales rose 24.9 percent and net income climbed 11.1 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2006. The Lancaster, Pa., company, which designs and builds microwave technology products for the defense, aerospace and medical industries, said first-quarter 2006 net sales jumped to $41.9 million, compared with $33.5 million for the same period the year before. The first quarter ended on Oct. 30.
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Ron Kadish says he is "optimistic but skeptical" that the sweeping changes to Pentagon acquisition being recommended by his reform panel will be implemented. Formally called the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment Project, the panel was charged by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England with performing an "integrated acquisition assessment." England has made the panel's recommendations part of the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review, Kadish said. The group will release its final report Dec. 14.
S-92: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a United Technologies Corp. unit, has signed a five-year contract to provide four S-92 helicopters to CHC Helicopter Corp. to perform commercial search-and-rescue missions for the United Kingdom Maritime and Coastguard Agency starting in July 2007. Sikorsky said it is the first time that its medium-lift helicopter has been selected for a dedicated search-and-rescue mission.
