Private equity investors like to acquire underperforming companies and apply their management expertise to make the operations run more efficiently--and greatly increase market value. Managers at The Carlyle Group must see a lot of potential in Sequa Corp. They agreed last week to pay $175 a share to acquire the publicly traded mini-conglomerate, a 54% premium over the stock's pre-deal closing price and more than double the level at which shares were trading a year ago.
Copa Holdings of Panama is the top-performing carrier of those with annual revenues of less than $1 billion. The airline, and the Latin American region in general, are poised for growth, and Copa's operations are expected to be supported by traffic increases over the next several years.
A panel of aviation leaders is calling for the European Union to name one person to oversee the sprawling Single European Sky initiative, which airline groups say would help address their complaints that SES is moving too slowly and lacks effective leadership.
Orbital Sciences Corp. will pay Alliant Techsystems $62.5 million to develop and produce the largest of three solid-fuel rocket motors that will make up the launch abort system (LAS) for NASA’s planned Orion crew exploration vehicle. The company already has tested this subscale version of the LAS main abort motor four times at its Promontory, Utah, facility—once under the contract with Orbital and three times with its own funds, according to a spokesperson.
Researchers at Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory say they have demonstrated how electromagnetic waves accelerate ordinary electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts that circle the Earth to a state where they become “killer electrons” that endanger satellites, spacecraft and even astronauts. A team of three scientists made the first analysis that determined internal wave-particle acceleration is the only mechanism that could produce localized surges of electrons up to 1,000 times more intense than in normal conditions.
French aerospace and defense industry leaders want their government to give them a role in planning expected program cutbacks and to construct a more dynamic industry geared to expanding exports. Last week, Charles Edelstenne, president of the French defense industries council (Cidef), urged the new administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy to create a high-level forum, similar to one that exists in the U.K., that would allow industry to participate in procurement policy decisions in close collaboration with the defense ministry.
The French government has approved two new aerospace research clusters to complement the main cluster, Aerospace Valley, created last year in southwestern France. One of the new clusters, Pegase, will be devoted to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, airships, helicopters and other light aircraft for surveillance, telecommunications, transportation and security applications (AW&ST Feb. 19, p. 59). Based in Provence, it will be led by Eurocopter, Thales Alenia Space, Dassault Aviation and defense research agency Onera.
Raytheon’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile is being prepped for testing on the Air Force’s F-22 stealthy fighter at Edwards AFB, Calif. The D is the most advanced air-to-air missile now in development, and it will employ a conformal array on the front end of the weapon giving it better range and a widened off-boresight engagement envelope. Its predecessor, the AIM-120C, has now been approved for international sale.
It's only 213 mi. from London to Paris, but when it comes to issues such as competitiveness and efficiency, the English Channel is starting to look wider than the Atlantic Ocean.
Chinasat 5B was the second commercial satellite launch of the year for Long March (AW&ST July 9, p. 32). The first was Nigcomsat 1, built by China’s CAST, which was launched in May.
SES says its new Astra 1L Ku-/Ka-band spacecraft has deployed to its orbital slot at 19.2 deg. E. and is ready to enter routine service. Launched on May 5, Astra 1L will reinforce demand at SES’s prime DTH neighborhood while allowing the redeployment of two existing spacecraft in that area to new slots. Astra 2C will migrate to the 28.2 deg. E. position, which the operator is developing to serve fast-growing U.K. and Irish markets, while Astra 1E will move to 23.5 deg. E., which is intended to serve DTH users across Europe.
EADS Astrium should pass up the chance to make an aircraft for space tourism. On one hand, the aviation industry is worried about the environment but on the other, it floats ideas such as the spaceplane. How green can that be? It’s hypocrisy that EADS’s political masters clamor for improved aircraft emissions while engineers cook up one more idea for heating up the atmosphere. Ditto for Richard Branson and his space tourism “vision” for Virgin Galactic.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials are downplaying the importance of NASA’s aging Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite to hurricane forecasting, saying its loss wouldn’t significantly affect predictions of when and where the storms make landfall. Mary Kicza, assistant NOAA administrator for satellite and information services, tells the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that data on hurricane winds akin to that gathered by QuikSCAT can be obtained by aircraft.
Attributing last year’s $44-million loss to increased competition, fuel prices and war, El Al Israel President Haim Romano admits 2006 was a “rough year.” However, he hopes new aircraft, including two Boeing 777s; flat-bed seating in first- and business-classes on its 747-400s and 777s; a state-of-the-art business lounge at New York JFK International Airport, and new check-in services at Tel Aviv will help El Al regain profitability. The carrier is continuing its focus on fleet and route expansion and increasing customer service. Leading the airline’s U.S.
The U.S. Defense Dept. says it will cease operations in Germany at Buedingen (2008), Gelnhausen (2008), Darmstadt (2009), Hanau (2009) and Turley Barracks in Mannheim (2007), and return the facilities to the host government. The closures are expected to affect about 3,000 military, U.S. civilians and local employees.
The Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council executive committee is finally expected to weigh in on USAF Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley’s controversial proposal to shift management of all unmanned aerial vehicles operating above 3,500 ft. to his service. The group of top brass was scheduled to meet on the issue, which has been opposed by the Army, Marine Corps and Navy, late last week. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England is said to support the idea of a single manager for UAVs, but has stopped short of naming the Air Force for that role.
Iridium Satellite LLC has released a request for information seeking potential partners who might be interested in helping design, build and deploy its Iridium-Next second-generation mobile satellite system. The proposed new network would feature higher bandwidth data transmission, enabling enhanced voice and short messaging service, and could also include navigation units, inter-satellite links and other secondary payloads.
U.S. Air Force has established a training range tailored to the hunt for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), says Col. Jeff Eggers, director of Unmanned Air System Transformation. The range, at Nellis AFB, Nev., contains simulated threats and allows pilots to experiment with tactics on how to find and destroy IEDs.
French executive shuttle startup L’Avion plans to add a second aircraft to meet strong demand for its all-business class Paris Orly-Newark, N.J., run, after just six months of operation. Company executives say the Boeing 757-200 used on the route is now flying 78% full for its six weekly rotations, more than double the figure in the early weeks and 10% above initial projections. A second aircraft will enable L’Avion to double the number of frequencies available to its clientele, which is evenly split between U.S./European and business/leisure travelers, executives say.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has declared a round of ground tests to validate the fire control loop to engage a boosting ballistic missile from the Airborne Laser a success. During flight tests, ABL used its beacon lasers to track a target representative ballistic missile on an aircraft in parallel flight, and for the first time employed a surrogate high-energy laser through its nose-mounted turret. The surrogate laser emitted from the ABL’s modified 747-400 freighter is low-power.
Elbit Systems is instituting a new revenue target after having effectively reached its $2-billion goal set a decade ago. Through a wave of acquisitions, Elbit has transformed itself into Israel’s primary publicly traded aerospace and defense contractor. Now, Elbit President/CEO Joseph Ackerman says he’s ready for the next stage. The stated sales target is $3 billion annually. Revenue this year should reach around $1.9 billion, and backlog could top $4 billion for the first time.
Airbus and Boeing are booking orders at a pace that, if maintained, will enable them to surpass the numbers they achieved in 2005, when records were blown out of the water. One of the big questions for the remainder of the year is whether the torrid rate of order intakes can be sustained to achieve a new high for the industry.
Lufthansa will move its operations in Moscow from Sheremetyevo to the privately run Domodedovo airport as part of the larger shift for all Star Alliance carriers. Operations from Domodedovo will begin in April. Lufthansa also signed an agreement to make AiRUnion a strategic partner. It is an alliance of domestic operators led by KrasAir. Both sides agreed to a joint route network with an aim to optimize transfer traffic through Moscow. The arrangement with AiRUnion, which also uses Domodedovo, puts the carrier group on track to become a Star Alliance member.
The U.K. Defense Ministry is to try out the BAE Systems Herti unmanned aerial vehicle in an operational environment. The Herti could be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan for experimental trials in support of ongoing British military operations.
