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22 Feb 18. Rebranding: Bell Helicopter drops ‘Helicopter’ from name. Bell Helicopter is dropping “Helicopter” from its company name to reflect that it’s more than just a chopper manufacturer, according to a Feb. 22 company announcement.
And with that change, Bell has a new logo.
The name change shows the company’s evolution from a helicopter company into something broader and more innovative. Bell doesn’t want to just be seen as a helicopter company but as a company that is redefining flight.
“Bell has always been about more than just helicopters,” company president and CEO Mitch Snyder said in a statement. “Our team has spent the past 80 years pushing the boundaries of flight and now we will accurately reflect that quest.”
The new logo features a dragonfly on a shield. “The dragonfly can take off and land wherever it wants, fly quickly and efficiently in any direction, and hover at will. It represents the mastery of flight, something Bell strives to achieve,” Snyder said. (Source: Defense News)
22 Feb 18. BAE upbeat on Typhoon fighter jet orders but expects flat earnings. Britain’s largest defence group enjoys rise in underlying sales and cash flow. BAE Systems has signalled optimism for orders for the Typhoon fighter jet even as it warned of flat earnings this year. Charles Woodburn, chief executive, said prospects for new Typhoon orders were “as good as I have seen in the last two years and possibly as good as they have been in quite some time. Landing one, two or three of those orders out there certainly puts us back into growth in Typhoon over the next decade.” Mr Woodburn announced a 4 per cent increase in underlying annual sales and a strong jump in cash flow at BAE, Britain’s largest defence group. The comments will reinforce an increasingly optimistic mood about prospects for a long-awaited order for 48 Typhoon fighter jets from Saudi Arabia. Several people close to sales discussions said in recent weeks that progress was being made though timing was uncertain. Belgium is also looking at the Typhoon and the Rafale, its French rival. The upbeat assessment will reassure employees at BAE’s aerospace sites in Lancashire, where the Eurofighter Typhoon is assembled. Recommended Fabrice Brégier bows out after dogfight at top of Airbus German armed forces in ‘dramatically bad’ shape, report finds 5 concerns for UK-EU defence after Brexit Barely four months ago, the new chief executive announced 1,400 job cuts in BAE’s aerospace division, in part due to the slowdown in Typhon production and in the absence of significant new orders or another air combat programme. Since then, however, BAE has secured a £5bn contract from Qatar for 24 fighter jets, securing production to the mid-2020s. This week the UK government also committed to developing a plan for a combat air programme, although the details and timing remain to be established. Mr Woodburn, announcing his first annual results as chief executive, said BAE had delivered a strong performance in 2017 despite losses and a £384m goodwill writedown in the applied intelligence business. The restructuring announced in October was beginning to deliver results and cost savings were being identified in the supply chain and in purchasing. Mr Woodburn was particularly upbeat about the prospects for improved defence spending in the US, the company’s biggest market outside the UK. All of the main product lines in the US were expected to deliver “good growth”, he said. In the UK, BAE signalled it did not expect a significant impact from Brexit but stressed that the UK should strengthen bilateral ties with European partners. “This will be important for ongoing collaboration in the development of defence capabilities,”