17 Sep 02. The U.S. Air Force said on Tuesday that it is still pursuing a plan to lease 100 commercial Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA – News) 767s and convert them into aerial refueling tankers but acknowledged it also has begun work to directly acquire the tankers if the White House cancels the leasing deal.

Air Force Secretary James Roche said on Tuesday he was continuing discussions with the White House Office of Management and Budget, which has set very specific conditions in order for any leasing arrangement to win approval.

18 Sep 02. BATTLESPACE witnessed the spectacular launch of a Lockheed Martin-built Atlas IIAS rocket which successfully carried a Spanish communications satellite to orbit, as the Editor arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne Beach, in the seventh mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS).

The satellite is Hispasat 1D. It will provide communications, broadcast and multimedia services in Europe, the Americas, North Africa and the Middle East for Madrid-based Hispasat S.A. The Atlas IIAS lifted off at 6:04 p.m. EDT (22:04 GMT), and released the satellite into orbit about 29 minutes later. The launch was conducted by a combined team of ILS, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT – News), Hispasat and satellite builder Alcatel Space.

20 Sep 02. Shares of Bombardier Inc (Toronto:BBDb.TO – News) tumbled 10 percent to a new six-year low on Friday morning as financial concerns mounted over Canada’s largest industrial group, already pressured by the aviation market downturn.

Bombardier’s widely-held class B stock fell to a low of C$4.42 in morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, before edging up to C$4.50, down 40 Canadian cents from the previous close.

19 Sep 02.Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault, Dassault Aviation’s family holding, said on Thursday that increasing its stake in defense electronics company Thales SA “is not on the agenda.”

“In some government quarters, they are trying to play around with this,” a spokesman for GIMD said. “But we aren’t involved.”

The comment follows a report in French daily Liberation, saying GIMD, which owns 5.8% of Thales, is eyeing the 15.8% stake held by telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel SA (ALA).

19 Sep 02. Deutsche Telekom AG still hopes to get part of a EUR6.5bn German army communications order, even after a group it led lost the first round of bidding, board member Josef Brauner said Friday.

In June, the Defense Ministry awarded preferred-bidder status to a group including European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. , Computer Sciences Corp.’s German unit and MobilCom AG. The decision surpised some who had expected the Deutsche Telekom-led group, which included Siemens AG and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM – News) to get the nod.

19 Sep 02. The Wall Street Journal reported that EDS has slashed its earnings estimates for the third and fourth quarters and into next year, and said it would generate less cash than expected. EDS shares plunged 36% in after-market trading.

19 Sep 02. Shares in BAE Systems Plc (London:BA.L – News) dived to their lowest level for seven years on Thursday to extend their fall since last week’s bleak half-year results to 35 percent.

At 1432 GMT the shares were down 26-1/4 pence, or 13.1 percent, at 174-3/4p, after falling to 173-1/2p, their lowest level since September 1995.

16 Sep 02. The U.S. Navy, on Friday, September 13, 2002, awarded a $3.2bn contract modification to Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD – News), for the construction of six new DDG 51-Class AEGIS Destroyers. Bath Iron Works is the lead designer and builder of the DDG 51-Class Destroyers.

The six ships complete the seven-ship DDG multiyear contract for BIW over the 2002-2005 timeframe.