March 13, 1978

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Aerospace Outlook

Aerospace Sales Forecast Bright Despite Shifts in Military Programs

Outlook for the U. S. aerospace industry at the waning of the 1970s is magnitudes brighter than promised in the recession-stained years at the start of the decade. Sales this year will hit at least $36 billion. Next year they will top $38 billion.

By William H. Gregory

Status of Programs

Status of Major U. S., European Defense, Aerospace Programs

McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter — USAF seeks $1.3 billion for 78 aircraft, $77 million for spares and $10 million for research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E). ■ General Dynamics F-16 air combat fighter — USAF asks $1.37 billion for 145 aircraft, $111.5 million for spares and $107.9 million for RDT&E.

Military

OMB Circular Key to Major Programs

Washington — Office of Management and Budget Circular A-109 has become one of the most critical documents now used in planning major defense systems, ranging from the determination of mission needs to programs and management control. The circular was the result of an Administration conviction that, as outlined by OMB, acquisition of major systems by the government “constitutes one of the most crucial and expensive activities performed to meet national needs.”

Military

Tactical Missiles Draw Defense Focus

Washington — Development of tactical missile systems will become a Defense Dept, priority during the new five-year defense plan term that begins in Fiscal 1979. The stress on missile programs is based on evolving Soviet/Warsaw Pact technology and the high procurement cost of U. S. fighter aircraft.

By Clarence A. Robinson

Military

ICBM Vulnerability Shifts Strategic Weapon Posture

Washington — U. S. will move steadily toward a strategic weapon posture that emphasizes submarine-launched ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles after the mid-1980s as silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles become vulnerable to a preemptive first strike by the Soviet Union.

Military

NATO Facing Challenges In Warsaw Pact, Finances

Brussels—North Atlantic Treaty Organization and, by association, most of Western Europe’s governments and defense and aerospace industries, are likely to find the next two years a period in which political changes, financial turmoil and the ever-growing threat of the Warsaw Pact military might collide to create the most unstable and most demanding period since World War 2.

By David A. Brown

Military

Europeans Press Exports, Collaboration

European military aircraft manufacturers are working hard to gain export sales of their present generation of fighters, trainers and light strike aircraft while looking for international partners for the next generation. Britain, France and Sweden, as well as the three-nation Panavia Tornado multi-role combat aircraft consortium, are aggressively marketing aircraft now in production.

Military

Aerospace Exports Surpass $9 Billion

Washington—U. S. aerospace industry exports, the perennial bright spot in the fluctuating national balance of trade situation, are expected to reach $9.2 billion in 1978, an estimated 20% increase over last year’s total of $7.6 billion.

By Eugene Kozicharow

Military

Licensed Work Spurs Japanese Industry

Tokyo—Licensed production of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 and Lockheed P-3C will infuse badly needed work into the Japanese aerospace sector, which has been sluggish over the past four years because of its small size and the energy crisis.

March 61978

March 201978

March 13, 1978

March 13, 1978