FLUG REVUE update: Week ending July 18, 1999

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UPDATE

Week ending July 18, 1999

+++ German Navy Super Lynx rolls out +++ DFS presents results for 1998 +++ NASA, Boeing sign X-37 agreement +++ Boeing results please analysts +++ News in brief +++

German Navy Super Lynx rolls out
Super Lynx für die Marine vorgestellt

On July 14, the first of the German Navy's new Mk88A Super Sea Lynx helicopters was presented at a ceremony at GKN Westland in Yeovil, UK. A second aircraft was shown in flight, demonstating the enhanced maneuvrability of the improved Lynx. The first three aircraft will be delivered to Germany by September, with the remaining four to follow by the end of the year. The Super Sea Lynx Mk88A is the latest and most capable of the Lynx naval family. Fitted with marconi Sea Spray 3000 radar and multi-role turret (MRT) forward looking infra red, Rolls-Royce Gem 42 engines and BAe Matra Sea Skua air to surface missiles, it is a significant force multiplier for the German Navy's Type 122 and 123 frigates. The Navy had to fight hard to get the order through in 1996, as the replacement NH90 is still years away and it faces a shortage of helicopters anyway. Besides the new machines, the seventeen Mk88s in service will be upraded to the new standard, in a deal that will see most of the work performed at Europter Deutschland at Donauwörth.

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DFS presents results for 1998
Flugsicherung legt Ergebnisse vor

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH can be rated number one among European air navigation services organisations. For Dieter Kaden, Chief Executive Officer of DFS, this is the result of a performance competition initiated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in which DFS ranked second in the world after Australia. At the DFS press briefing on annual results, which took place in Langen near Frankfurt, Kaden said that DFS in 1998 earned a revenue of DM 1.358 billion and that the profit for the financial year amounted to DM 12.1 million. Capital expenditure totalled DM 290 million, inter alia, for the new control towers in Leipzig and Hannover and the air traffic control system P1 of the new control centre in Langen. For the current year, DFS is again expecting a positive annual result so that it will be possible, as in previous years, to submit a proposal to the shareholder, the Federal Republic of Germany, to significantly reduce air traffic control charges. Kaden announced that he wants to reduce terminal charges by 5% and route charges by 4.5%. Last year, the DFS air traffic controllers safely handled more than 2.32 million flights in German airspace, i.e. 20% more than in 1993, the year DFS was founded.
European air navigation services already made the headlines a few months ago because of delays in air transport. Kaden said that in the high-density airspace above Germany, the situation is essentially normal. On a European level, he said, DFS is in a satisfactory position. The official annual statistics for 1998 state that DFS only has a 7%-share in air traffic flow management measures in the whole of Europe. The share of France amounts to 24%, and that of the United Kingdom to 13%.

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NASA, Boeing sign X-37 agreement
Pathfinder spaceplane ordered by NASA

On July 14, NASA and Boeing completed negotiations on a $173 million cooperative agreement to develop an experimental space plane called the X-37, which will serve as a test bed for new reusable launch vehicle technologies. The reusable vehicle (formerly known as the Future-X Pathfinder) can be ferried into orbit by the Space Shuttle or launched by an expendable rocket. It will be unpiloted, autonomously operated and capable of speeds up to Mach 25 while demonstrating aircraft-like operations. The design, based on the Boeing space maneuver vehicle, will incorporate advanced technologies and processes from throughout the company. "X-37 will serve as a test bed for 41 airframe, propulsion and operations technologies designed to make space transportation and operations significantly more affordable," said Ron Prosser, vice president of Advanced Space for Boeing Phantom Works.
The vehicle is 27.5 feet long with a wingspan of 15 feet. It has an experiment bay seven feet long and four feet in diameter. Its shape is a 120 percent-scale derivative of the X-40A, an unpowered Air Force vehicle also designed and built by Boeing, which was released from a helicopter and glide- tested in 1998. The X-40A, which lacks the X-37's advanced thermal protection materials, rocket engine, experiment bay and other spacecraft systems, will be drop-tested from a B-52 carrier plane to reduce risk prior to expanded testing with the X-37. Rapid prototyping of the X-37 will be conducted at Boeing facilities in Southern California and St. Louis. Assembly, integration, checkout and test are planned at the Boeing X-vehicle production facilities in Palmdale and Seal Beach, Calif. The first unpowered drop test of the vehicle from a B-52 is planned for fall 2001 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Two orbital tests are planned for 2002.

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Boeing results please analysts
Gute Boeing-Ergebnisse im zweiten Quartal

Boeing reported second quarter net earnings of $701 million, up $443 million over the same period in 1998. Revenues for the quarter were $15.1 billion, a 13 percent increase over the same period in 1998. Reported second quarter net earnings included a gain of $181 million, associated with a federal income tax audit settlement covering 1988 - 1991. Boeing second quarter earnings for the comparable period in 1998 were $258 million, or $.26 per share, and were reduced by $78 million, relating to the planned termination of the MD-11 program and additionallate delivery costs associated with Next-Generation 737 aircraft. "The second quarter results demonstrate growing momentum and confidence. I am very proud of the Boeing team's performance against our business plan," said Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Phil Condit. Boeing delivered 165 commercial airplanes this quarter - on time, and with 17 percent fewer employees and a 10 percentage point improvement in overtime from the highest levels in 1998.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

On July 12, Eurofighter has formally opened ith Programe Office in Athens. This follows the selection of Greece of the Eurofighter as its next high-performance fighter. "I look forward to concluding our contract negotiations with Greece later this year, and see our Programme Office as being a permanent and active focus here in Athens for any support and assistance which is required in cementing the Eurofighter partnership between Greece, the programme headquarters in Munich, and all our governmental, military and industrial colleagues on the programme throughout Europe", Brian Phillipson, Managing Director of Eurofighter, commented.
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Eurocopter Deutschland has opened a new rotor blade test facility at its Donauwörth factory. It houses the test stand for the Tiger blades, but is flexible enough to conduct tests on the CH-53 blades and others as well. The new facility on the south side of the field frees space on the north end which is needed to enlarge the area for ground tests and flight operations of the Tiger and later NH90 helicopters.
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The Tiger helicopter has completed its test campaign with the HOT anti-tank missile at the German Army range at Meppen. Four HOTs were fired in June and July from PT3, two of them at night. Ranges were 3900 m at maximum, and simulated targets were 2,3 x 2,3 m large. Even simulated fog was introduced to test performance parameters. HOT will be fitted to German Tigers as the new PARS 3 is not yet ready.
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On July 14, Sikorsky announced a restructuring program that will consolidate its Connecticut operations and reduce the workforce by 1,100 people during the next year. The restructuring plan will strengthen the Company's position in the future marketplace, which during the past decade has shifted from a U.S. government-driven market to a global market with an international and commercial base. "Given the magnitude of this restructuring, I have authorized a voluntary early retirement program for eligible salaried and hourly employees to help ease the transition of personnel," said Sikorsky President Dean C. Borgman. "Through this restructuring, we will build a stronger competitive company to ensure our continuing leadership position in the global marketplace."
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Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has not yet made a recommendation on whether to clear British Aerospace's takeover of General Electric Co Plc's Marconi Electronic Systems defence arm. The OFT's decision on whether to advise the government to approve had been expected by the two companies early this month. But an OFT spokesman said the recommendation had not yet been sent to the Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers who must then pass judgement.
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Sue Lyons, Managing Director of Defence (Europe) for Rolls-Royce plc, has won the business category of the European Woman of Achievement Awards, presented at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. Presented by the British section of the European Union of Women, the awards aim to raise public awareness of the increasingly important contribution of women to pan-European advancement.
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Arianespace will increase its launch rate during the second half of the year to satisfy operators' needs and make up for delays in satellite deliveries during the first half of 1999. With two flights in the first quarter of the year, two additional flights in August, and six flights planned from September to December, the company expects to match last years' performance. In 1998, Arianespace orbited 14 satellites on 10 Ariane launchers, demonstrating the flexibility, availability and reliability of the Arianespace launch service. The upcoming flight schedule and choice of launcher versions will depend on the arrival time of the satellites at the launch site in French Guiana.
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For better telephone availability for customers Lufthansa has opened a new call center in Cape Town. A staff of about 50 there are already taking customer calls. The new call center is one of seven operated by Lufthansa in four continents (Dublin, Cape Town, Kassel, Melbourn , Los Angeles and Toronto) to enhance telephone availability. It will initially handle overflow calls routed there from Germany, but later expand its services to South Africa and other African countries.
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United Airlines has selected Pratt & Whitney PW4090 engines for nine more Boeing 777 aircraft which the airline recently ordered. United operates 37 of the Boeing twin jets and with its latest order now has 24 additional aircraft on firm order. Pratt & Whitney powers all of United's 777s.
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