October 25, 1999

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HEADLINE NEWS

Star Signs Up Singapore, Sets Air Canada Defense

Plans to bring British Midland into the alliance would provide access to London's extensive international hubs

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA,GEOFFREY THOMAS9 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Accelerating Mergers in Europe Sharpen Consolidation Picture

PARIS As another wave of merger agreements broke in Europe last week, the stage is now virtually set for the next major challenge—whether further consolidation can be forged across the Atlantic, or Europe and the U.S. remain separate and competing fortresses.

By PIERRE SPARACO8 min

HEADLINE NEWS

USAF Official Skewers Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON Atop U.S. Air Force acquisition official, Darken Druyun, savaged Lockheed Martin’s handling of many of the service’s programs in a document purporting to be notes from an unvarnished conversation with the company’s president and chief operating officer, Peter Teets.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Buying Comair, Delta Carves a Huge Regional Network

CINCINNATI In acquiring Comair, Delta Air Lines is putting together a regional airline fleet and flight network that could be—in a very short period—the dominant local traffic feed over more than half of the U.S. The $ 1.8-billion transaction, agreed to last week, will create an expanded Delta Connection subsidiary, comprising Comair and Deltaowned Atlanta Southeast Airlines (ASA), with strong ties to new affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) and several other independent carriers.

By JAMES OTT5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Boeing Unit Indicted Over China Dealings

WASHINGTON The indictment of Boeing by a federal grand jury over alleged export control violations by McDonnell Douglas threatens to limit Boeing’s ability to export some of its product. At the least, it exposes the pitfalls U.S. aerospace companies face in dealing with China.

By ROBERT WALL5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Defense Funds Tangled in 2000 Budget Brawl

WASHINGTON The Pentagon’s new budget is hostage to the yearly autumn brawl over federal spending. A $267.8-billion defense appropriations bill sits on the President’s desk awaiting signature, prey to his veto pen because the White House and Congress have failed to find a middle ground on government spending in the three weeks since Fiscal 2000 began Oct. 1.

By PAUL MANN5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Procurement Up 8% This Year

WASHINGTON Overall, weapons procurement funding would rise by 8.3% in Fiscal 2000, or 2.1% above what the Administration sought, if the defense appropriations bill weathers a veto threat. The increase starts from a shrunken base, however; defense procurement experienced a decade and a half of real decline following the Reagan defense buildup of the 1980s and the end of the Cold War in 1991.

By PAUL MANN3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Boeing Adds Clout to Meteor Team

London European missile-makers have turned the tables on rival Raytheon by adding Boeing to their Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) team. By boosting its transatlantic credentials, the Meteor team is now threatening to challenge Raytheon in the U.S market, as well as in the U.K., where the two competitors are locked in a bitter battle to arm Eurofighter aircraft.

By John D. Morrocco3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Jdam Upgrades Take Flight

Washington Boeing is trying to expand the uses and capabilities of the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition and wants to entice the U.S. Air Force and Navy in added capabilities by demonstrating some of the possible upgrades. After testing a 500-lb. version of JDAM this summer (the Pentagon is buying 1,000-lb. and 2000-lb. versions), Boeing is putting forward the concept of an extended-range weapon.

By Robert Wall3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

France Rejects Vega, Rockot Gains Ground

PARIS A last-minute attempt by the European Space Agency to rescue the Vega light launcher project has floundered, virtually ensuring that the project, if it goes ahead at all, will be relegated to a purely Italian national effort. ESA proposed earlier this year that Vega, conceived by the Italian Space Agency ASI, be reinitiated as a European program.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA3 min

October 181999

November 11999

October 25, 1999

October 25, 1999

Star Signs Up Singapore, Sets Air Canada Defense

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA,GEOFFREY THOMAS9 min