FLUG REVUE update: Week ending August 25, 2002

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UPDATE
Week ending August 25, 2002

+++ Flood affects fighter buys +++ Maiden launch for new Atlas V +++ Korean T-50 flies +++ Lufthansa surpasses expectations +++ Austrian Airlines has good outlook +++ News in brief +++

Flood affects fighter buys
Eurofighter und Gripen von der Flut unterspült

The devastating floods in central Europe have affected two vital fighter buys, as governments in the Czech Republic and in Austria scrambled to keep their budgets intact for the billions needed to rebuild housing and infrastructure.
In Austria, the much disputed selection of the Eurofighter Typhoon remains intact for the time being, but on August 15, defence minister Herbert Scheibner said that the number of aircraft to be bought will be reduced from 24 to 18. In crisis times, „flexible solutions“ are needed, according to Scheibner, who sees no resistance from within the military, which have always said that 24 aircraft are the bare minimum. 18 Eurofihter are always better than 23 Draken, according to Scheibner. But of course, this number will not allow participation in a EU rapid reaction force. Scheibner also said that there will be no payments for the new fighter before 2006 (instead of 2005). EADS, who is managing the sale of Eurofighters to Austria has shown willingness to negotiate on the new terms.
Meanwhile, on August 19, the Czech defence ministry spokesman Milan Repka has said that that Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik will not submit a plan on the purchase of 24 Gripen fighters. "The minister will instead submit a different plan on how to defend Czech airspace from 2004," Repka said. The Gripen buy was worth about 2 billion Dollars and thus the biggest Czech military order. It failed to gain parliamentary approval by just one vote earlier this year.

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Maiden launch for new Atlas V
Atlas V zum ersten Mal gestartet

On August 21, the first Atlas V launch vehicle scored for builder Lockheed Martin Corp. and launch provider International Launch Services (ILS), placing its satellite payload into orbit with a flawless flight. The rocket lifted off from the new Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral at 6:05 p.m. All systems performed as expected, and the HOT BIRD(TM) 6 broadcast satellite was placed into orbit about 31 minutes later. Satellite owner Eutelsat, of Paris, reported that the spacecraft is doing fine. "Once again the Atlas team has demonstrated its careful preparation and dedication to Mission Success," said Mark Albrecht, president of ILS, which manages all tasks associated with providing launch services on the Atlas. "This is the sixth of six Atlas variants with first-flight success, and the third time Eutelsat has been our inaugural customer. I'm proud we could once again validate their trust and confidence in Atlas."
The Atlas V, produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., is the latest generation in a long line of reliable rockets. Today's flight gives the Atlas family a string of 61 consecutive successful launches over nine years using the Atlas II, Atlas III and Atlas V vehicle configurations. HOT BIRD 6 is the most powerful satellite to be launched for Eutelsat. It is an Alcatel Spacebus 3000B3 satellite carrying 28 transponders at Ku-band and 4 at Ka-band, as well as a SKYPLEX payload for on-board multiplexing. It will be used to provide television and radio broadcast services. The HOT BIRD satellites are positioned at 13 degrees East longitude and deliver 600 television channels and 475 radio services across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

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Korean T-50 flies
Erstflug des Golden Eagle Jettrainers

The T-50 Golden Eagle successfully completed its historic first flight at the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) facility at Sachon, South Korea, on Aug. 20. Lockheed Martin is a major participant in the T-50 program. The T-50 advanced supersonic trainer will have the maneuverability, endurance and modern systems to prepare future pilots to fly current and next- generation fighters such as the F-16, F-15, F-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. These same characteristics give it an excellent capability as a lead-in fighter trainer and potential light-combat aircraft derivative in many air forces. The first flight met its goals of checking air-worthiness, basic systems operation and handling qualities of the aircraft, plus the test instrumentation and telemetry. All systems functioned properly, with no anomalies.
"This was a very enjoyable flight," said Lt.Col. Cho, Gwang-Je, Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) test pilot for the historic flight. "The T-50 is very easy to fly. It has excellent stability and control in the takeoff and landing configuration, just as we expected. We completed all of our test objectives for this flight exactly as on the mission plan. I am looking forward to future flights as we expand the flight envelope. If future flights are as successful as this one, we should have a great advanced jet trainer." Takeoff and landing were conducted at an airfield adjacent to the KAI plant at Sachon. The first flight lasted 39 minutes. The flight consisted of a military power (full power without afterburner) takeoff and climb to 7,000 feet for preliminary tests and then to 15,000 feet, the maximum altitude for this flight. The landing gear remained down for the entire flight, as planned, and a variety of maneuvers and engine transients were conducted. The maximum speed was 245 knots (calibrated air speed), or about 305 knots (true air speed). Maximum angle of attack was 13 degrees. Formation flying was practiced on the wing of an F-16 chase aircraft.

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Lufthansa surpasses expectations
Gutes Haljahresergebnis bei Lufthansa

Lufthansa more than trebled its profit in the first half of 2002 compared with last year to post an operating result of EUR 332 million. "Despite the sluggish economic climate and the aftermath of the terror attacks, we performed outstandingly and thus strengthened our leading position in international competition. Our capacity and cost management measures plus the "D-Check" programme paved the way for this success and proved to be the right approach," said Lufthansa's Chairman and CEO Jürgen Weber. The Group's indebtedness was also reduced appreciably in the first half-year. Good progress was also made towards putting the Catering segment back on course. Consequently, Lufthansa has upped its profit forecast and now envisages a full-year operating result of at least EUR 500 million. At the Annual General Meeting Lufthansa's top managers had anticipated a result of EUR 400 million for 2002. This new projection takes account of all identifiable risks. Should the German economy pick up in the second half of the year, the result could turn out to be even better. This is subject to the proviso, however, that the positive course of business is not impaired by any new terrorist or other global political occurrences.
The Group's revenue between January and June totalled EUR 8.2 billion, which was 4.7 per cent up on the year. Despite the still difficult operating environment, Lufthansa generated traffic revenue in the first six months totalling EUR 5.9 billion, which was 5.8 per cent less than in the same period of last year. The Group's airlines systematically adjusted their capacity to the smaller demand and thus significantly raised the rate of utilisation of their aircraft. These measures taken to optimise the network, together with the positive trend in average yields in passenger business, limited the year-on-year fall in traffic revenue. Other revenue climbed by 46.3 per cent owing to the expansion of the consolidated Group.
Cost cuts in all business segments ensured that operating expenses grew at a slower rate. They totalled EUR 8.2 billion, which was only 3.0 per cent higher than in the first six months of 2001. Although staff costs went up by 10.2 per cent owing to the consolidation of additional companies, they would have decreased by 3.6 per cent without those consolidation changes. The cost of materials fell by 6.3 per cent, while fuel costs plummeted by 22.4 per cent.
"Lufthansa's corporate strategy has proved correct. Quality, flexibility and cost consciousness have lastingly strengthened our profitability," Jürgen Weber pointed out. Thus the Group managed to lift its operating result by EUR 227 million to EUR 332 million. The profit from ordinary activities likewise jumped by EUR 114 million to EUR 138 million. After taxes the net result for the first half of 2002 was EUR -27 million, compared with EUR -43 million at the half-way stage last year.

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Austrian Airlines has good outlook
Positive Signale bei Austrian

After a crucial year for the global aviation industry in 2001, the Austrian Airlines Group succeeded in generating a positive result (EBIT) of EUR + 29.7m in the first six months of 2002 (2001: EUR – 31.5m). The profit before tax (EGT) for the half-year is EUR + 4.3m, following EUR – 70.2m for the comparable period the previous year. Despite the fact that availability was reduced by 6.9 % (availability on scheduled services - 12.1 %) the Austrian Airlines Group even managed to raise passenger volume by 0.5 % to a total of 4,086,918 passengers carried in the first six months of the year. Vagn Soerensen, Chief Executive Officer of the Austrian Airlines Group, made the following comments on this, his first half-year report: “By logically implementing our extensive programme of measures, we have been able to drive forward our strategy of operational restructuring in the second as well as the first quarter. These initial positive results have given us renewed impetus in our mutual efforts. Our situation now demands staying power, consistent value orientation and commercial far-sightedness.”
Compared to the first six months of last year, the Group strongly improved its result in the first half-year of 2002. The EBITDAR reached EUR 252.4m, against EUR 79.7m for the comparable period in 2001. After EUR -31.5m the previous year, the EBIT increased by EUR 61.2m to reach EUR 29.7m. Profit before tax was EUR 4.3m, compared to EUR – 70.2m in the first six months of 2001.

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NEWS IN BRIEF – KURZMELDUNGEN

SWISS is adding top-quality reinforcement to its Executive Management team: Karel Ledeboer, one of the world's leading airline specialists on technical, safety, security and flight operations issues, is to assume the new post of Chief Operating Officer (COO) with immediate effect. The appointment was announced by Pieter Bouw, Chairman of the Board, and André Dosé, CEO, at a media conference today. Bouw and Dosé also outlined the various actions currently being taken to stabilise and enhance the company's technical and flight operations. “We have done and achieved a great deal over the last few weeks,” said Pieter Bouw, Chairman of the Board. “SWISS exceeded most of its business targets in the first five months of the year. And, while we are confronted with various problems in our technical services and among our cockpit and cabin crew corps, our Board and Executive Management are not simply passively observing this series of negative events. Far from it,” Bouw emphasised. Jorgen Orstam and Thomas Brandt, the heads of the company's Technical Services and Flight Operations divisions respectively, welcome this strengthening of the SWISS top management team. They will report directly to the new COO, who, as a member of Executive Management, will have full line responsibility and the corresponding powers and authorities.
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"Delivery of the first new Ariane 5 upper stage will be an important milestone in the continued development program of the European launch vehicle", said Astrium project manager Dr. Jens Lassmann on the occasion of ESC-A shipping in Bremen on Wednesday. "Early in September, after the upper stage has arrived at the European spaceport in Kourou, integration of the complete launch system and thus count down will begin. We assume that this more powerful Ariane version will lift off in the last quarter of the year 2002", Lassmann continued. In addition to improving performance of main stage and boosters, the continued development program specifically deals with the development of a new cryogenic upper stage. These measures aim at increasing payload capacity from currently six to up to ten tons. Within the framework of the Ariane 5 plus program carried out by the European Space Agency ESA, Astrium Space Infrastructure is responsible for the development and construction of the new upper stage. This stage is based on cryogenic propulsion technology and uses supercooled, high-energy propellants (liquid hydrogen / liquid oxygen). Using proven components, development time of the new ESC-A (Etage Supérieur Cryotechnique) was reduced to just more than three years. These components comprise, for instance, the tried and tested propulsion system of the third stage of Ariane 4 including the cryogenic HM-7 engine, oxygen tank and thrust structure which was complemented by a new hydrogen tank. Compared with the present upper stage EPS, which was also developed and built by Astrium Space Infrastructure, thrust increased from 30 to 65 kN (which corresponds to about 180,000 hp). Ariane 5 will thus be able to deliver payloads of up to ten tons into the geostationary transfer orbit (36,000 km). The development contract awarded by ESA covers a volume of approximately 170 million euro and involves about 100 jobs at Astrium's location in Bremen.
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18 people, including 15 foreigners (most of them from Germany) returning from a trek in the Himalayas, were killed when a Shangri-la Air Twin Otter crashed just minutes before it was due to land in the city of Pokhara.
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A Mi-26 helicopter crash that killed 114 people in Chechnya was most likely caused by a rebel attack from the ground, the prosecutor general said, and Interfax reported that a missile launcher had been found nearby. Monday's crash outside the military headquarters at Khankala, near Grozny, has been described as the country's worst military air disaster. "We are investigating several theories of the cause of this incident, but we consider the theory of fire from the ground to be the main one," Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov said, according to Interfax. Citing an anonymous source at the Khankala headquarters, Interfax reported that investigators found a Strela anti-aircraft missile launcher that had been used to shoot down the Mi-26 helicopter. Chechen rebels on Monday claimed that they had shot the helicopter down.
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At a recent meeting for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program, the European Space Agency (ESA) detailed its five-year, Euro 83 million plan to establish environmental information services from space. The GMES program was established by ESA and the European Commission (EC) to exploit more effectively the potential of satellite and other environmental monitoring systems to meet end-user requirements. For ESA, it is the heart of a new program element, called GMES Services, which will support GMES priorities in monitoring environmental stress, analyzing the consequences of climate changes and managing vital natural resources, along with assisting in regional development and humanitarian aid. As the first step, ESA is releasing bid invitations in early September for GMES Services, with European end users actively involved in formulating contract proposals. User stakeholders that already have expressed interest in participating in the GMES Services element include Europe-wide and national environmental agencies, weather and climate forecasters, coastal monitoring and other civil protection, humanitarian aid and related non-governmental organizations, and international bodies responsible for environmental treaties. The bid invitations are expected to result in approximately 10 contracts valued at Euro15 million in total. A briefing is scheduled for 12 September 2002 at ESA's ESRIN facility in Frascati, Italy, to bring together potential bidders for a question-and-answer session on the bid process. Contract proposals are due by mid-November, with the first contracts awarded by the end of the year.
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QinetiQ is to receive £1.8m funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Airbus UK for its research into polymeric composites, which will help Airbus UK to further develop wing technologies for future generations of aircraft. The funding is part of a total £2.6m DTI package for the Civil Aircraft Structural Composites Application Development and Exploitation project (CASCADE). CASCADE, which recently held its inaugural meeting, will be led from Airbus UK's engineering center at Filton near Bristol and will further develop techniques in using composite materials in civil aircraft wings. The DTI funding for CASCADE will, for example, help accelerate the work that QinetiQ has conducted into generating a more widespread use of polymeric composite materials, and thereby their greater transfer from the military to civil sector. QinetiQ's work will also provide underpinning technology to the UK composites aerospace industry, including work targeted at a civil composite wing and the greater use of polymeric composites in stronger, lighter wing technologies.
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Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide today presented its interim results for the first half of 2002. The airport manager achieved significant growth in consolidated revenues, which rose 13 percent to Euro 855.2 million. Consolidated profit climbed even higher by 37 percent to 53.6 million. This strong increase in revenues and profits for the first half of 2002 is viewed by Fraport AG as confirmation of its forecast for positive results for the total year 2002. This growth in revenues can be largely attributed to ICTS Europe Holding B.V. (ICTS Europe) - the European market leader for aviation-related security services - which has been fully consolidated for the first time since January 2002. Excluding this consolidation, Fraport's revenues exceeded the previous year by 3.3 percent. Particularly satisfying was the development of revenues from retailing, which grew by 12.1 percent to about Euro 3 million. Air traffic demand recovered noticeably from the significant decline that occurred after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Group-wide, Fraport recorded 31 million passengers in the first half of 2002, only a 2.6 percent decline versus the same period last year. At Frankfurt Airport (FRA), the Group's most important location, passenger traffic declined by 4.3 percent to 22.9 million. A turnaround has certainly become discernible in the cargo sector, which is sensitive to economic fluctuations. With about 724 thousand metric tons handled at FRA in the first half of 2002, airfreight traffic was still 2.8 percent below the above-average level of the same period last year. In the second quarter of 2002 airfreight tonnage increased for the first time again, growing by 1.9 percent.
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A Russian-built Proton rocket successfully delivered its EchoStar VIII satellite payload into orbit, marking the sixth mission this year for International Launch Services (ILS). The Proton K/Block DM rocket lifted off at 11:15 a.m. local time (1:15 a.m. EDT, 5:15 GMT), and placed the EchoStar VIII direct-broadcast satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit 6 hours and 36 minutes later. This was the third Proton mission of the year for ILS, and the fifth Proton flight overall for 2002. Proton has had 100 percent success in all 24 of its launches over the last 30 months, for both Russian government missions and for commercial flights managed by ILS, based in McLean, Va. This was also ILS' second mission in seven hours. At 6:05 p.m. Aug. 21 EDT (22:05 GMT), the first in the Atlas V series of rockets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and two Russian companies, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia. ILS markets and manages the missions for the Atlas and the Proton. The successful launch of EchoStar VIII brings EchoStar Communication Corp.'s fleet to eight satellites. From its 110 degrees West longitude orbital position, EchoStar VIII's spot-beam feature will allow a more efficient use of spectrum, enabling EchoStar to expand its DISH Network local-into-local satellite TV service and increase in-orbit backup capacity.
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The first of two dozen B-1 Lancers to be stored as part of the Air Force's B-1 fleet reduction plan arrived at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center Aug. 20. The arrival starts a reduction process that will take the Air Force's B-1 fleet to 60 from its current 92 count. Twenty four will be stored at AMARC and another eight will be placed on static display at various Air Force installations, according to Col. Kenneth Lewandowski, AMARC commander. "Of the 24 aircraft to be stored at AMARC, 10 will be placed in an inviolate storage where they'll be preserved and stored intact to anticipate future operational requirements," Lweandowski said. "Fourteen will be placed in an excess storage category where engines and selected parts may be removed and returned to the Air Force supply system." As a result of the reductions, bomber operations have already ceased at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; Robins AFB, Ga.; and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. The remaining active B-1 bomber fleet will operate from Dyess AFB, Texas, and Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
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The Boeing Company began assembling 757s on a moving assembly line in its Renton, Wash. factory. Commercial Airplanes' 737 and 757 Vice President-General Manager Carolyn Corvi and 757 Manufacturing Director Larry Loftis applauded as 757 Functional Test Supervisor Larry Mullins started the 757 moving line. The moving line method moves an airplane 24 feet a day through the final assembly stage. The 100-ton jetliners are pulled by an automatic self-guided tug, the same device being used by the 737 moving line. Along with other lean manufacturing methods, this innovative technique improves production efficiency and quality, while shortening the time it takes to deliver airplanes to airline customers. The Lean system is being implemented in phases, beginning with the last position in the production line. Once implementation is complete, the 757 program expects to reduce flow time and inventory levels by more than 30 percent
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The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of National Defence, announced a $101.7 million contract awarded to Air Canada Technical Services. The support contract will provide continued maintenance and support for five Canadian Forces Airbus A310 aircraft. This is an all-inclusive program that addresses the support requirements for the A310, including maintenance, engineering and material management. Heavy maintenance will be carried out in Vancouver, component maintenance in Montreal, and line maintenance at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
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Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems sector successfully conducted the first inflight sensor payload demonstration of the U.S. Navy's RQ-8A Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle system at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, Calif. The Fire Scout system is in development and low-rate initial production by Northrop Grumman as a force multiplier for Navy forces at sea and Marine Corps forces ashore. The Fire Scout payload, which is supplied by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, Baltimore, Md., consists of electro-optical and infrared sensors and a laser designator/rangefinder, which provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery and data.
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Northrop Grumman Corporation delivered the 14th E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft to the 93rd Air Control Wing (ACW) today, six weeks ahead of schedule. This is the last airplane to be delivered to the active Air Force's 93rd ACW. Effective Oct. 1, 2002, the Joint STARS mission transitions to the Air National Guard under the Air Force's Future Total Force concept. Future deliveries will go to the Georgia Air National Guard's 116th ACW. All E-8C aircraft currently assigned to the 93rd ACW will remain at Robins Air Force Base but will be assigned to the 116th ACW, a new ``blended wing'' with both active duty Air Force and Air National Guard personnel.
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TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $868,700,000 cost-plus-award contract modification to support the research, development, testing and engineering needed to pursue a capability that will provide booster launch detention, and midcourse tracking and discrimination data to the Ballistic Missile Defense System, and will focus on providing the space-based element of the system to enable more effective engagement of threat missiles in all phases of flight. The effort includes exploration and demonstration of critical capabilities via a design and test approach, which builds and deploys satellites of increasing performance and technical sophistication. Initial contract will procure two satellites, with unpriced options to procure up to eight additional satellites. At this time, no funds have been obligated.
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A $4.5 billion contract has been awarded to the TRW Company of Redondo Beach, Calif., to build and deploy the nation's future environmental satellite system, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced. The contract is for the Acquisition and Operations (A&O) phase of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NPOESS will combine the nation's military and civilian environmental satellite programs into a single national system that will significantly improve weather forecasting and climate prediction.
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Thailand's Korat Air Base received the first five of 16 refurbished Lockheed Martin F-16s on Aug. 17 as part of the country's ongoing efforts to modernize its air force. The delivery marks the activation of the third F-16 squadron for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). The U.S. Air Force refurbished and delivered the aircraft. Lockheed Martin provided the upgrade kits for refurbishment and will provide logistics support and maintenance training. Plans call for five more F-16s to be delivered in October and the remaining six early next year.
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"Marsoweb," an interactive Web site developed by NASA, is helping scientists select suitable landing sites for future missions to Mars. Scientists preparing for NASA's next Mars mission, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers scheduled for launch in June and July 2003, are able to view more than 44,000 high-resolution images of Mars collected by the Mars Global Surveyor. Some show detail at less than three meters per pixel. These images are registered with context images and maps of thermal properties, rock abundance, slope roughness and geology acquired by the Viking and Global Surveyor orbiters and with altimeter and mineralogical data returned by Global Surveyor, which is still operating at Mars. The Web site provides scientists with special software tools to facilitate their interpretation of the data.
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BAE Systems has introduced a commercial real-time operating system for aircraft and other safety-critical applications. CsLEOS, a layered, embedded system certifiable to the highest industry reliability standards, draws from decades of experience in design and production of aircraft flight controls. "As a world leader in fly-by-wire flight controls, BAE Systems has incorporated its background in high-reliability electronics into a system that can be adapted to any number of safety-critical applications," said James Scanlon, president of BAE Systems Controls, which developed the operating system. "CsLEOS is the product of our more than 50 years of evolution in military and commercial flight controls." CsLEOS is a commercial, off-the-shelf system employing brick-wall time and space partitioning to operate multiple systems independently of each other, such that if one system experiences a failure, the others are unaffected. The system's ARINC 653-compliant applications programming interface ensures ease of use and certifiability to the highest industry reliability standards for safety-critical use. A flight-worthy version of the system is available now, and a version certifiable to DO-178B, Level A, will be available in the fourth quarter of 2002.
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From 26 August to 6 September, ESA's European Astronaut Centre (EAC), in Cologne, Germany, is for the first time hosting an international group of astronauts for training, in preparation for their missions to the International Space Station. There will be ten participants: four ESA astronauts (Pedro Duque, Leopold Eyharts, Paolo Nespoli and Thomas Reiter), four Japanese astronauts from NASDA (Takao Doi, Koichi Wakata, Satoshi Furukawa and Aikihido Hoshide) and two NASA astronauts (Nicole Passonno Stott and Stephanie D. Wilson). The main objective of this training session is to prepare the astronauts for the tasks they will have to perform when the Japanese experiment module (JEM) and ESA's Columbus laboratory are docked with the core of the International Space Station over the years ahead. After completing their training and certification, the astronauts will be assigned to long-duration missions to the ISS. The advanced training at the EAC will focus on the Columbus systems and the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). It will consist of 24 classroom lectures on the Columbus and ATV systems and 4 on payloads, and 2 sessions in the Columbus Trainer. Instructors are being provided by Astrium for the Columbus systems and Alenia Spazio for the ATV, with ESA/EAC staff as mentors for the Columbus payloads. The astronauts are scheduled to visit Astrium in Bremen on 30 August to get acquainted with the flight unit of the Columbus laboratory module currently undergoing integration.
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Rolls-Royce announced results for the first half of 2002 in line with earlier guidance. “The business has continued to perform as predicted. Average net debt was similar to the level of the first half last year, our liquidity position has been substantially improved and we anticipate the average net debt for the full year to be lower than that given in our earlier guidance. We have made excellent progress with our restructuring programme, which we accelerated as a result of the events of 11 September 2001. I thank our employees and unions for their support during this difficult task“, said Sir Ralph Robins, Chairman Rolls-Royce. Results for the half year ended 30 June 2002 were in line with the guidance provided in October 2001 and repeated in March 2002. Underlying profit before tax was £104 million, reflecting the expected reduction in civil aerospace business following the events of 11 September 2001. Net debt at the half-year end was £770 million, compared to £748 million at the same point last year. Average net debt for the first half was £990 million (2001 £940 million). The company now expects average net debt for 2002 to be modestly better than that given in its earlier guidance.
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Raytheon and the U.S. Navy successfully completed the first demonstration test flight (DT-0) of the Raytheon-produced Tactical Tomahawk at the Naval Air Systems Command sea range near Point Mugu, Calif. This landmark flight test demonstrated new tactical capabilities for the Navy's next generation long-range precision strike weapon. DT-0 demonstrated all pre-launch and in-flight missile functionality. Launched from a vertical ground launcher, the Tactical Tomahawk successfully met all test objectives that included missile performance from pre-flight initialization through simulated attack; demonstration of all flight modes, terminal maneuvers, variable dive angles and fuzing function; and demonstration of two-way satellite communication, en route mission flex and GPS/Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) navigation.
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