Defense electronics company Orbit International said Nov. 8 that its net sales, earnings, net income and backlog all increased for the third quarter of 2005 and for the first nine months of the year. Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Orbit reported that net sales for the quarter were up 43.3 percent to $6.5 million; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) zoomed up 110 percent to $1.1 million; net income increased to $772,000 from $604,000 in the same period the year before; and backlog went up 4.4 percent to $13.1 million.
The U.S. Navy's EA-18G program is considering pursuing a next-generation jammer and other upgrades that could be fielded on the electronic attack jet after it enters service in a few years, a government program official said Nov. 8. While the ALQ-99 radar jamming system has done "a great job" on other Navy aircraft and initially will be adequate for the EA-18G, it might eventually have to be replaced due to high support costs and the need to keep up with changing threats, said Capt. Steve Kochman, the Navy's EA-18G program manager.
Following an October announcement by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), congressional negotiators working out the fiscal 2006 Department of Energy spending measure did not include previously requested funds for the proposed nuclear bunker-buster. "The conference agreement provides no funds for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) feasibility study," they said in their conference report, available Nov. 8.
Lockheed Martin, prime contractor for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has finished installing landing gear on its first flight-test jet and is about to begin putting on the tails. Installation of the vertical tails is expected to start within a week, and horizontal tail installation is set to begin in early December, according to a Lockheed Martin spokesman. BAE Systems built the horizontal and vertical tails. Other future steps include adding a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine in February 2006. Key steps
Lockheed Martin said Nov. 8 that it has been awarded an $89 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to provide Pakistan with six long-range AN/TPS-77 transportable mobile radar systems. The company also will furnish support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical data, personnel training and equipment and logistical support services under the Foreign Military Sales contract.
L-3 Communications announced Nov. 8 that its L-3 Titan Aviation and Maritime division has been awarded a five-year, $105 million contract to provide training program management, curriculum development, instructors and other administrative support personnel to the U.S. Coast Guard's major training centers.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are concerned that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency doesn't have enough available aircraft, or access to other U.S. aircraft such as from the Defense Department, to stop large drug shipments bound for the United States. Conferees to an agreement on the fiscal 2006 Science, Commerce and Justice appropriations measure said in a report accompanying the deal, released Nov. 8, that the problem is most acute in key transit countries, which they did not identify.
Congress is set to provide more money for the Bush administration's plans to return U.S. astronauts to the moon and beyond, as well as furnish more money than the White House requested for NASA's aeronautics research and several space and science missions.
Essex Corp., which develops optical technology for the intelligence and defense community, said Nov. 7 that it expects third-quarter 2005 revenue to more than double and net income to more than triple. The Columbia, Md., firm said preliminary, unaudited results show third-quarter 2005 revenue of about $42.7 million, compared with $16.7 million in the same period of 2004. Third-quarter 2005 net income will be about $2.2 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with $589,000, or 4 cents per share, for the same period in 2004.
Defense electronics and propulsion company DRS Technologies said Nov. 4 that revenue grew 14 percent and net earnings climbed 35.7 percent in the second quarter of 2006. The Parsippany, N.J., company also posted a 15 percent revenue jump for the first six months of fiscal 2006 and a 32 percent increase in earnings.
A Senate Democratic attempt to transfer $50 million from the budget authorization for ground-based missile defense interceptors in fiscal 2006 would later cost $270 million to restart the interceptor production line, Senate Republican opponents of the move claimed.
General Dynamics Land Systems will get U.S. Army Stryker combat vehicles ready to return to combat under a $69 million "reset" contract, the company said Nov. 7. The company will service, repair and modify 265 Stryker vehicles returning from Iraq, restore them to a like-new condition and get them ready for the next deployment. The vehicles to be serviced under the contract have been in Iraq since October 2003, supporting two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $60 million contract to begin production of the next five RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles. The contract covers long-lead items for the aircraft themselves, enhanced integrated sensor suites, one mission-control element and one launch-and-recovery element.
IED MEETING: Navy officials are meeting with university leaders Nov. 7 and 8 in Washington to discuss the service's "Manhattan Project" to counter improvised explosive devices. The long-term effort is focused on basic research to defeat the IED threat (DAILY, July 29).
U.S. Marines in Iraq are plagued by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) more than any other tactical threat, and the relatively low-key weapon will be the hallmark of future warfare, the commandant of the Marine Corps said Nov. 7. Gen. Michael Hagee, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, said IEDs should perhaps be renamed because they are no longer so "improvised."
BUYBACK: Northrop Grumman has entered into a $500 million accelerated share repurchase program with Credit Suisse First Boston, the defense giant said Nov. 7. The company bought more than 9 million shares at $55.15 each from CSFB. The accelerated program is part of the $1.5 billion share repurchase program the company announced late last month (DAILY, Oct. 26). The company expects to complete the buyback program in the next 12 to 18 months.
Sweden-based Kockums AB said it will upgrade two Swedish navy submarines that will be transferred to Singapore's navy. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kockums said Nov. 4 that it will modernize a pair of Vastergotland-class subs and convert them for operation in tropical waters. The contract also includes a logistics package and crew training. The training will be conducted by the Swedish navy in Karlskrona.
The Naval Air Systems Command has turned to Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Missile and Fire Control for a $65.5 million contract for qualification testing and retrofit of 5,100 laser-guided bombs with a Global Positioning System and inertial navigation system, as well as support equipment for the Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb program. The work will be performed in Archbald, Pa., and is supposed to finish in April 2007. The contract was competitively procured and two offers were received, according to a Nov. 4 Pentagon announcement.
Pratt & Whitney is weeks away from completing the first flight-test engine for the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, according to a company spokesman. Work on the major pieces of the F135 engine is "well under way," and Pratt & Whitney expects to finish assembly near the end of November, company spokesman Matthew Perra told The DAILY in a recent e-mailed response to questions. Pratt & Whitney began building the system in August in Middletown, Conn. (DAILY, Aug. 24).
DynCorp International of Fort Worth, Texas, has won a $9.1 million delivery order to refurbish U.S. Army UH-1H Huey helicopters, the Defense Department said Nov. 7. The order is part of a $406 million contract. The work will be done in Panama City, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 27, 2009. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
