12 Mar 04. Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that Boeing has not given up hope in getting back into the UK FSTA tanker project. The source suggests that the Treasury is casting its slide rule over the reported forecasts by the EADS consortium for earnings from civil chartering operations over 20 years. The figure of £600m is being banded around as a possible benchmark, any drop in this figure may result with the Treasury being landed with another large bill from the MoD!
10 Mar 04. Elbit Systems Ltd. reported its consolidated results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2003. Consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003 increased by 8.5% to $898m from $827.5m in 2002 Consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter of 2003 increased by 10.3% to $262.8m from $238.3m in the corresponding quarter in 2002. Consolidated net earnings for the year ended December 31, 2003 were $45.9m compared to $45.1m in 2002. Diluted earnings per share in 2003 were $1.14 as compared with $1.13 in 2002. Consolidated net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2003 were $12.5m compared to $13.1m in the same period in 2002. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2003 were $0.31 as compared with $0.33 for the fourth quarter of 2002.
01 Mar 04. NATO welcomes the agreements reached between the United States and the European Commission on overall principles governing Galileo/GPS cooperation. Vital NATO military capabilities are protected under this arrangement. The Alliance looks forward to the successful resolution of the remaining legal and procedural aspects.
11 Mar 04. A controversial US air force plan to acquire 100 in-air refuelling aircraft from Boeing claimed its first Pentagon casualty yesterday, when the Bush administration’s choice to become secretary of the army withdrew his candidacy. James Roche, current air force secretary, was chosen by Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, to head the army last July with a mandate to reform the service. But a campaign by Senator John McCain, a powerful member of the armed services committee, to fight the Boeing project effectively killed Mr Roche’s chances after the senator accused the air force of impropriety in the refueller deal.
09 Mar 04. The Aeronautical Programs department of French defense procurement agency DGA (part of the Ministry of Defense), awarded a contract to Thales Training & Simulation (TT&S) and Thales Communications (TCF) to study the “simulation facilities inter-base connection system” (CISIM). Recent technological developments in simulation and the synthetic environment, along with an ability to interconnect combat aircraft simulation systems, means better solutions for the collective training of every link in the operational chain, from Joint Forces Air Component Command to crews. TT&S and TCS will identify the main technical and operational aspects of a distributed simulation system (advantages and drawbacks), and propose solutions to meet specific air force requirements. Data security will of course be a top priority.
10 Mar 04. Brazil’s government said on Wednesday it will try to ensure that local firms benefit from a planned purchase of new fighter jets but denied it would give specific help to aircraft maker Embraer if it and its French partners do not win the deal. In a statement, the defense ministry said interpretations of declarations by Defense Minister Jose Viegas this week that Embraer would receive help from the government if it lost the $700 million contract for the jets “were not correct.”
06 Mar 04. Halliburton Co., facing a barrage of questions about its handling of contracts to support the U.S. in Iraq, said that refunding or withholding billing on substantial portions of its government work could “materially and adversely affect our liquidity.” The disclosure, made in Halliburton’s annual 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes as the Pentagon pressures the company to prepare final docum