Corporate News
Boeing, Lockheed Martin to Form Launch Services Joint Venture
The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture that will combine the production, engineering, test and launch operations associated with U.S. government launches of Boeing Delta and Lockheed Martin Atlas rockets. The joint venture, named United Launch Alliance, will reduce the cost of meeting the critical national security and NASA expendable launch vehicle needs of the United States.
United Launch Alliance will be structured as a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin –combining services currently provided separately by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' Expendable Launch Systems division and by Lockheed Martin's Space Systems Company – for launches of each company's respective rockets. Based upon initial estimates, annual savings to the government resulting from the combination are expected to be approximately $100 - $150 million.
Michael C. Gass, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space Transportation, has been appointed United Launch Alliance president and chief executive officer and Dan Collins, vice president Boeing Expendable Launch Systems will serve as chief operating officer. In addition, a Boeing executive will be appointed chief financial officer and a Lockheed Martin executive will be named controller at a later date. These leaders will report to a six-member board of directors, with each company appointing three directors.
The agreement, which is subject to government and regulatory approval in the United States and internationally, also stipulates that the companies will immediately request an order from the U.S. District Court suspending all activity in the pending civil litigation related to a previous competition for launches under the Air Force EELV program. Simultaneous with the closing of the transaction, the parties will dismiss all claims against each other.
Under the terms of the joint venture, Boeing's Delta and Lockheed Martin's Atlas rockets will continue to be available as alternatives on individual launch missions. This will ensure that government customers are able to make decisions that meet the goal of assured access to space with two families of launch vehicles. Upon vehicle selection, the United Launch Alliance team will carry out the mission, including vehicle integration and payload processing.
Lockheed Martin's International Launch Services (including Proton) and Boeing Launch Services (including Sea Launch) are not included in the joint venture. These entities will continue to sell launch services to non-U.S. government customers. Additionally, work the companies are performing independently in support of NASA-sponsored Space Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle concepts for future space exploration initiatives will be excluded from this joint venture.
United Launch Alliance headquarters will be established in Denver with most engineering and administrative activities consolidated at that location's existing Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company facilities. Major assembly and integration operations will be located primarily at Boeing's manufacturing and assembly facility in Decatur, Ala. As part of the joint venture, Boeing's and Lockheed Martin's launch facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California will provide flexibility for meeting the requirements for East and West Coast launches.
United Launch Alliance is expected to have about 3,800 total employees at sites in Colorado, Alabama, Florida, California and Texas. It is anticipated that consolidation of the two organizations eventually will result in the elimination of some undetermined number of positions. A range of services will be made available to support those employees transferring to new locations to work with United Launch Alliance.
Completion of the transaction is expected in late 2005 at which time United Launch Alliance operations would begin.
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Bank of Queensland Extends EDS Outsourcing Agreement
Bank of Queensland has extended and expanded its 10-year information technology and business processes outsourcing agreement with EDS to further support work in Queensland and interstate markets.
Representatives of Bank of Queensland announced that the bank had extended the outsourcing agreement by two years due to the success of the contract to date, particularly in ongoing savings and the support of the bank's state-of-the-art IT system.
Bank of Queensland Managing Director David Liddy said the two-year extension would continue the Bank's annual savings and benefits from the outsource agreement, which are estimated to achieve AU$100 million in prospective cost savings over the original 10-year contract.
The two-year extension is worth an additional AU$140 million in revenue to EDS on top of the original AU$480 million agreed when the contract was signed in March 2002. The contract will now run until 2014.
Now one of Australia 's most technologically advanced banks, the Bank of Queensland, has embarked on an aggressive interstate expansion program, extending its branch network in Queensland , New South Wales and Victoria from 92 branches to 163 in less than three years.
Under the outsourcing agreement signed in 2002, EDS manages all IT infrastructure, applications and all business process services.
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General Dynamics Awarded US$14 Million for Enhanced Reactive Armor Production for Bradley Fighting Vehicles
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a US$13.8 million modification from the U.S. Army's TACOM/ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal (Picatinny, N.J.) for the production of enhanced-capability reactive armor for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System. This award modifies a contract originally awarded in November 2004, bringing the total contract value to US$46.75 million for 152 vehicle sets.
The reactive armor package, designed specifically for the U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle, is made up of "tiles" that fasten to the exterior of the vehicles. Equipped with the General Dynamics reactive armor, the Bradley is better able to withstand a direct hit from a variety of anti-armor munitions, including shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenades, which are prevalent in many of today's regional conflicts.
This contract modification represents the continuation of a successful program with the Army and a successful relationship with General Dynamics' strategic partner, RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd., Ordnance Systems (Haifa, Israel), which will share 50 percent of the production workload. The production program will be directed from the General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Burlington Technology Center, Burlington, Vt., with U.S. tile production occurring at the company's reactive armor facility in Stone County, Miss.
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New Whiting Facility Will Produce Additional Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
Representatives of BP announced plans to invest more than $130 million on new clean diesel facilities at its Whiting, Indiana refinery.
With the addition of a new Distillate Hydrotreater (DHT), the refinery will produce additional supplies of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel that meets or exceeds all on-road diesel regulations. The new unit will have the capacity to produce approximately 36,000 barrels per day of the ultra low sulfur diesel product.
Locally, the project will employ approximately 400 skilled workers during the peak construction period. BP has already begun preliminary work on the project and expects to complete construction in mid-2006.
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Longtime EDS Executive John Wroten To Retire
Representatives of EDS announced that vice president John Wroten retired on May 1 after more than 35 years of service.
Wroten most recently led the company's Administration business support unit, overseeing EDS' global real estate portfolio and employee administration functions. He was also instrumental in the expansion of Legacy, one of the country's most successful suburban office park and retail developments.
Wroten joined EDS in 1969 as a systems engineer. He later served as an account manager on several large life insurance accounts before becoming a regional manager in the company's insurance industry unit. After overseeing Medicaid accounts in four Western states in the late 1970s, Wroten helped establish EDS' state and local government business.
Wroten is a member and past chairman of the North Central Texas Workforce Development Board. He serves on the boards of directors for the North Texas Commission, Presbyterian Hospital of Allen, and the Texas Workforce Investment Council. He is also a past chairman of the Collin County Private Industry Council and the Plano Chamber of Commerce. In 1991, Wroten was named Plano's "Citizen of the Year."
