FLUG REVUE update: Week ending November 4, 2001

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UPDATE

Week ending November 4, 2001

+++ Lockheed-Martin wins JSF +++ Embraer ERJ 170 rolls out +++ UAL fires Goodwin +++ Korea rolls out T-50 trainer +++ News in brief +++

Lockheed Martin wins JSF
Milliardenauftrag für Lockheed Martin

On October 26, Lockheed Martin has won the largest military contract ever, a possible $200 billion competition to build the Joint Strike Fighter. Air Force Secretary Jim Roche said on the basis of strengths, weaknesses and degrees of risk of the program that the Lockheed-Martin team was the winner on a "best- value" basis. He said Lockheed-Martin was a clear winner over the team led by Boeing. Total cost of the contract to enter the systems development and demonstration phase is $19 billion. Pratt and Whitney has a $4 billion contract to design and build propulsion systems for the craft. The British will contribute $2 billion to the program.
Lockheed Martin teamed with Northrop Grumman and British Aerospace on the project. Pete Aldridge, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said that both teams "met or exceeded the performance objectives established for the aircraft and have met the established criteria and technical maturity for entering the next phase of the program." The first operational Joint Strike Fighter, now enumerated as the F-35, is scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2008. The F-35 is actually a family of three aircraft designed to replace aircraft in the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the British military. Other nations interested in participating in the program include the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. Roche said that if the military could buy the planes today the Air Force version would cost $40 million per copy. Navy and Marine Corps versions would be "under $50 million."
"We are most pleased and appreciative that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have put their faith in the Lockheed Martin JSF team," said Vance Coffman, chairman and chief executive officer. "We intend to honor that trust by building a truly remarkable, capable and affordable, next-generation multirole fighter, on schedule and on cost. On behalf of Lockheed Martin, I pledge our full commitment to this cornerstone of future defense capability."

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Embraer ERJ 170 rolls out
Neuer Regionaljet von Embraer

Embraer has presented to the domestic and international aviation community the world's newest transport jet - the Embraer 170. The Embraer 170 is fitted with two underwing-mounted engines and can carry 70 passengers with a high degree of comfort at a 32-inch (81 cm) seat pitch. The aircraft is the first member of a new family of commercial jets currently under development that also includes the 78-passenger Embraer 175, the 98-passenger Embraer 190 and the 108-passenger Embraer 195. The Embraer 190 and 195 were launched together with the Embraer 170, in June 1999, with the original designations ERJ 190-100 and ERJ 190-200, respectively. The Embraer 175, which is being officially announced today for the first time, will fill the market segment between the Embraer 170 and Embraer 190 and is scheduled to enter service in July 2004. With the launching of this new product, the certification and first delivery schedules for the Embraer 195 and 190 have now been changed to December 2004 and December 2005, respectively.
The new family of aircraft is being developed through a risk-sharing partnership with world-renowned aerospace manufacturers. The program is budgeted at US$ 850 million, including investments by Embraer and its partners. "This is the most complex and challenging program we've ever developed at Embraer. With the support of our partners, we've succeeded in developing and building the Embraer 170 in the record time of only 28 months. Our airplane offers exceptional quality and performance, low operating cost, plus plenty of comfort for the passengers. Its superb technical and operational characteristics will establish the standards by which other airplanes in this category will be measured from now on", stated Embraer's President, Maurcio Botelho, at the new aircraft's roll out.
Even before the prototype's maiden flight, due to take place before the end of the year, Embraer's order book already has 112 firm orders and 202 options for the new aircraft placed by well-known airlines and aircraft leasing companies, such as Switzerland's Crossair and the United States' GECAS - GE Capital Aviation Services.

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UAL fires Goodwin
Neuer Chef für United

UAL Corporation, parent company of United Airlines, announced that John W. Creighton has been elected chairman and chief executive officer by the unanimous vote of the company's board of directors following the resignation of James E. Goodwin. Mr. Creighton is a member of UAL's board of directors. Mr. Creighton said, "Throughout the time I've been associated with United, I've taken great pride in the depth of talent and dedication that exists at every level of the company. Our ability to pull together and effectively harness these attributes will be critical to United's success during this difficult period for our company and our industry. I appreciate the trust that the board, including the employee representatives, have placed in me. "Our immediate goal is to restore United's financial stability. We intend to work hand-in-hand with our employees and unions to accomplish this task by developing innovative solutions to the issues we collectively face. Of course, our core business and getting our customers where they need to go safely and reliably will be my chief priority. We will continue to cooperate with the government and our regulatory agencies to provide the highest level of security both on the ground and in the air. This is what our employees, shareholders, and customers expect, and this is what we will deliver. I intend to serve until we are confident that the company is on the road to financial stability and has the leadership in place to ensure a thriving United," he continued.

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Korea rolls out T-50 trainer
Neuer Jettrainer fertig gestellt

On October 31, President Kim Dae-jung said that Korea would use a self-developed rocket and put its own satellite in orbit from a local platform by 2005. In a speech congratulating the first rollout of the T-50 training plane, President Kim reaffirmed the nation's ambitious space program. Under the government's plan, Korea will develop a science satellite and put it on a low orbit, 500 to 700 km above the ground. This satellite will be launched on a self-developed rocket at the space center to be built in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, by 2005, the country's space program says. In connection with the T-50, Kim predicted that its exports would amount to as much as $10 billion by 2010, one quarter of the world's military trainer and light attack aircraft market. "The T-50 program is expected to create 20,000 jobs and save $2 billion for the procurement of advanced trainers," Kim said. "This will pave the way for the introduction of next-generation locally developed fighter jets and self-made telecommunications satellites," Kim said. Sacheon was the last stop of President Kim's two-day inspection tour of the Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do province.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

The Military Aircraft Business Unit of EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company is currently conducting negotiations with the Bulgarian Defence Ministry on the modernisation of the country's MiG-29 fleet. On 8 October this year EADS Military Aircraft were invited to enter into detailed discussions on this topic. At the end of September 2001, the Council of Ministers in Sofia decided that the MiG-29 will continue to be the mainstay of the Bulgarian Air Force. The MiG-29 fleet will therefore be modernised and the logistic system adapted to the new circumstances. The necessary work is to be carried out in cooperation with national partner companies, predominantly with TEREM, and could begin as early as next year. In all, 20 MiG-29 aircraft of the Bulgarian Air Force are to be brought up to western standards. The financial volume of the planned measures will total between 50 and 100 million euros, depending on the extent of modernisation specified by the customer.
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Events of September 11th have affected all aspects of American life. The aviation industry has been hit particularly hard in the wake of the horrible acts of terrorism. Operators of Schweizer helicopters, along with the rest of the industry, have suffered loss of business and economic hardship during this difficult period. In response to this tragedy, America as a nation and the entire free world have demonstrated a patriotic resolve that has not been seen since World War II. Schweizer Aircraft intends to do its part to stimulate its market sectors in the best way it can, by helping the operators of its aircraft and by keeping its employees on the job. To further these goals, on October 11th, Schweizer announced a special program aimed at stimulating new helicopter sales and making the operators of Schweizer helicopters more profitable. "The large majority of Schweizer helicopters are operated by hard-working individuals whose economic well-being are tied to their helicopter operations. These people have been adversely affected by events beyond their control. Schweizer Aircraft wants to help re-energize the sectors of the helicopter market that we serve, " says Paul Schweizer, Vice-President of Schweizer Aircraft.
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The Gripen team is delighted to hear Czech government confirmation that its proposal for the sale of 24 or 36 Gripen new-generation, supersonic, multi-role fighters is fully compliant and meets all the conditions set in the tender document for modernization of the Czech Air Force. Since early 1997, Gripen partners Saab and BAE Systems have had a team dedicated to meeting the stated requirement of successive governments in the Czech Republic to modernize the Air Force through purchase of new supersonic aircraft.
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Saab Ericsson Space has decided not to complete the planned acquisition of Fokker Space BV of Leiden, The Netherlands. It has not been possible to reach a consensus between the seller and the buyers, Saab Ericsson Space and Dutch Stork, on satisfactory guarantees for certain earlier commitments. The negotiations have therefore been terminated. "We have not been given satisfactory guarantees, which means that we cannot enter a joint ownership. Although we have had positive expectations for a long time, it has not been possible to arrive at a common solution," comments Bengt Mortberg, President and CEO of Saab Ericsson Space.
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Boeing welcomed news from Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways about its decision to acquire 15 Boeing 737-800s to meet its domestic fleet expansion plans. The first of the airplanes will enter service in January 2002. The balance of the order will deliver by mid-year. Boeing and Qantas are working to finalize the contract. The order is valued at more than $900 million at list prices. Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon announced in Sydney that Qantas would acquire the Boeing 737-800 jetliners to build domestic capacity. "The 737 family answered all of our questions," Dixon said. "We were attracted by its economics, the ease of integration with our existing fleet of 38 Boeing 737s, and indeed by its advanced technology. The capability of the 737-800 will increase our flexibility to improve service and frequency over a wide range of destinations."
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG and lastminute.com, the global online provider of last minute travel and leisure solutions signed a global partnership agreement in Paris which will take effect immediately. The worldwide cooperation agreement will strengthen Lufthansa's partnership strategy with online travel agencies and covers the key markets UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany as well as Sweden and South Africa. The partnership provides lastminute.com with an attractive pricing portfolio and is expected to significantly boost lastminute.com's share of the flights market in Europe and South Africa. Besides ticket distribution, the cooperation will also entail marketing communications with the presentation of the Lufthansa product portfolio, banner placements and the use of lastminute.com e-mail newsletters to more than four million registered clients. "This cooperation marks another step in developing our online potential. The partnership agreement with lastminute.com is an extension of our successful nine-year relationship with lastminute.com's French subsidiary Degriftour, and enables us to further expand our lead position in Europe," said Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President Sales, Lufthansa German Airlines, commenting on the positive outcome.
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Honeywell said it has been selected to supply Honeywell avionics and other products for the new Dassault Falcon 7X business jet and for the engineering and development phase of the C-130 avionics modernization program (AMP). The combined contracts are valued at approximately $1.02 billion over the life of both agreements, which excludes the full production phase of the C-130 program and Honeywell service and maintenance work for both initiatives. Honeywell will supply the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet its EASy Flight Deck avionics, auxiliary power unit (APU), Air Management System (AMS) and, with Parker Aerospace, the Hydraulic Power Generation system. Initially introduced as the Falcon FNX, the newly named Falcon 7X is a new, long-range business jet capable of 5700 NM nonstop, a maximum operating speed of .90 Mach and an altitude of 51,000 ft.
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The European Commission has decided to approve the United Kingdom proposal to grant Rolls-Royce plc a 250 million GBP reimbursable advance for the development of two new large aircraft engines, the Trent 600 and Trent 900. These two engine programs are very ambitious turbomachine programs as they will have to comply for instance with very strict pollutant emission, fuel consumption, safety and noise regulations, while keeping a reasonable weight. The advance will be reimbursed by Rolls Royce to the United Kingdom Government in case of success of the program, based on a levy on engine deliveries and maintenance and support activity. The Commission has analyzed the project in the light of the Community framework for State aid for research and development. It concluded in particular that the project's eligible costs were in line with the framework criteria, that the aid intensity was compatible with the threshold applicable to reimbursable advances in relation to pre-competitive development activity, and that the aid had a clear incentive effect, especially in view of the ambition and the important technological risks carried by the program.
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Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik GmbH (BGT) recently presented a new IR missile warning system for aircraft. Development of the PIMAWS system (Passive IR Missile Approach Warning System) started in 1997 under contract to the German Ministry of Defense, with a significant contribution of in-house funds. Ground testing has been concluded successfully and first flight-testing began in autumn 2001. Development is scheduled to be complete in 2003. PIMAWS operates on a passive infrared system, which makes it particularly suitable for use in the Typhoon European Fighter Aircraft for which the user specified this type of passive system in place of an "active" solution. For complete spatial coverage PIMAWS requires two units installed at the wing tips. The system reliably detects and tracks ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles from launch to post-burnout. The approaching missiles are recognized by intelligent real-time image processing algorithms, ensuring a high safety standard thanks to minimum false alarm rates. Also the system achieves its outstanding performance at comparatively low overall costs.
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