Industry News
Intel Invests $650 Million In U.S. Manufacturing Site
Representatives of Intel Corporation announced plans to invest US$650 million in the company’s existing manufacturing site in New Mexico. The investment will be used to increase the capacity of the 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in Rio Rancho, N.M., called Fab 11X.
Construction and new tool installations are scheduled to continue through 2006, with production operations set to begin through the new expansion in early 2007. This investment in New Mexico will result in the creation of more than 300 new manufacturing jobs.
This investment is part of Intel’s strategic goal to increase manufacturing on 300mm wafers that use 90nm, 65nm and future process technologies. Intel has several fabs manufacturing with 300mm wafers today. These facilities are Fab 11X in New Mexico, D1D and D1C in Oregon and Fab 24 in Ireland.
Manufacturing with 300mm wafers (about 12 inches in diameter) dramatically increases the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost compared with more widely used 200mm (eight-inch) wafers. The total silicon surface area of a 300mm wafer is 225 percent, or more than twice that of a 200mm wafer, and the number of printed die (individual computer chips) is increased to 240 percent. The bigger wafers lower the production cost per chip while diminishing overall use of resources.
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ThalesRaytheonSystems Receives $120 Million to Deliver Advanced Command and Control Systems for the Swiss Air Force
ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) has received US$120 million in contracts from the Swiss defense procurement agency, armasuisse, to provide the Swiss Air Force with advanced Link-16 connectivity for their fighter aircraft. The funding represents a continuation of work by TRS on the FLORAKO command and control program.
FLORAKO is a high performance air defense and air space management system developed by TRS. It went into operation on Feb. 2, 2004, after successfully completing final tests and operating in parallel with the previous Swiss air defense system. FLORAKO comprises master surveillance radars, a data and communication system, a new airspace management system and new air command and control centers.
The upgraded FLORAKO systems will transmit voice and data over an encrypted link, provide nation-wide Link-16 coverage, allow the aircraft to acquire Link-16 before take-off and incorporate multifunctional information distribution system (MIDS) technology. MIDS technology will help pilots to overcome the challenges of gathering data while flying their aircraft over the mountainous Swiss terrain.
Florako Phase VII is slated for completion in late 2008. Work will be performed by ThalesRaytheonSystems employees in Fullerton and Massy, France. Swiss industry will also participate in the system's deployment.
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Raytheon Receives $93 Million U.S. Navy Logistics Support Award for F/A-18 Threat Protection Systems
Raytheon Company has been awarded a US$93 million contract option for performance based logistics (PBL) support of its ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver system for the U.S. Navy. The ALR-67(V)3, which is the state-of-the-art radar warning receiver on U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F carrier-based tactical aircraft, continues to successfully support Navy troops in Middle East operations.
The award was received from the U.S. Navy's Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), Philadelphia, Pa., and includes five annual PBL support periods. The contract scope includes total mission support of fielded ALR-67(V)3 systems, including repairs, spares, reliability and maintainability system improvements, obsolescence management, and field installation support.
Contract performance is measured based on requirement metrics for availability and reliability and is managed with a comprehensive, web-based PBL information management system fully integrated with Navy supply systems.
The award includes provisions for additional spares, which are being ordered under a separate corresponding production contract with the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. The option award follows six annual support periods ordered under the initial $58.5 million PBL contract, which began in 1999.
The ALR-67(V)3 system provides advanced techniques to detect and identify threat radar emitters, thereby enhancing the survivability of aircraft equipped with the system. A total of 284 radar warning receivers plus spares has now been ordered under the overall production program. Future international sales of the system are also possible. Work on the radar warning receiver system is being done at Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business by its Electronic Warfare Systems organization in Goleta, Calif., with support provided by facilities in El Segundo, Calif., Forest, Miss., and McKinney, Texas.
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Lockheed Martin Receives $76 Million U.S. Navy Contract
Lockheed Martin has received a U.S. Navy contract to complete the integration and flight testing of five airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) systems with the MH-60S multimission helicopter. The contract establishes a new funding increment for an earlier award that focused on design engineering and partial AMCM systems integration.
Under this second phase contract, valued at US$76.6 million, Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, NY will finish linking the Lockheed Martin-designed AMCM Common Console with the two mine detection systems and the three mine neutralization systems that comprise each AMCM suite. The Common Console is the on-board control system that will allow the AMCM operator inside the helicopter to deploy and control each asset while performing mine countermeasures. Work is scheduled for completion by 2010.
In addition to hardware and software updates to the Common Console, Lockheed Martin will update the cockpit avionics software to enable the pilot to fly the correct flight pattern for the mine detection or neutralization system the aircraft is carrying.
Lockheed Martin has designed the Common Console for the MH-60S AMCM mission, and also provides the Common Cockpit™ avionics suite, which is common to all MH-60R and MH-60S helicopters. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation designs and manufactures the MH-60R and MH-60S aircraft and is responsible for the mechanical and electrical modifications on the airframe.
The two sensor systems that detect mines are the AN/AQS/20A sonar array and the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS). The three mine neutralization systems are the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS), the Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS), and the Organic Airborne and Surface Influence System (OASIS).
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Dell Selects Pasay City for Philippine Contact Center Site
Representatives of Dell announced the company will establish its new customer contact center in the SM Mall of Asia office complex in Pasay City, extending its Philippine presence to two locations - a recruiting and training center in Makati City, and the new facility in Pasay City.
Dell selected the Philippines for its new customer contact center because of the strong language and communication skills of its high-quality workforce. With its English-savvy population, about 100 similar facilities in place and 650,000 students, the Philippines is fast becoming the contact center location of choice in Southeast Asia.
The Pasay City contact center will open in February 2006. It will provide service and technical support to Dell consumer customers in the United States.
Dell also announced that it has hired its first 50 Philippines employees, including trainers, coaches and managers, with plans to begin interviewing on Nov. 1 to fill its first class of 100 agents. The company is looking for professionals with contact center experience, technical certification or technical college degrees and is collecting resumes at its employment website www.dell.com/manila.
An online innovator and leading consumer technology company, Dell is using the Internet, including an on-demand webcast and online advertising, to reach prospective employees.
The pre-employment interviews and testing beginning Nov. 1 will be at the 17,000 square-foot Makati Recruiting and Training Center, a state-of-the-art training center dedicated to contact center professionals, on the 27th floor of the RCBC Plaza Tower. The center is equipped with labs that simulate the networked home environments and issues typical of the troubleshooting provided by Dell technical support representatives.
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DARPA Micro Air Vehicle Passes Key Milestone Towards Future Combat System Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
The Future Combat Systems (FCS) program has passed a significant milestone in its progress toward selecting a Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system. The announcement was made by Boeing and partner Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the Lead Systems Integrator team for the U.S. Army's FCS program.
The Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), developed by Honeywell under a two-phased Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency advanced concept technology development contract, has achieved a technology readiness level 6. The readiness level is based on recent successes during government acceptance tests and pre-experimentation flights. The level 6 designation is consistent with FCS requirements to begin transitioning the technology to the FCS program.
The Micro Air Vehicle contract provides critical development in two key technology areas essential to meeting FCS Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle requirements: a ducted fan design providing hover and stare capability coupled with a small heavy fuels engine. The FCS program will continue to work with DARPA and Honeywell to transition the heavy fuel engine technology as it matures through the remainder of the DARPA contract.
Leveraging DARPA's investment in the Micro Air Vehicle technology, Boeing issued a system engineering contract in December 2004 to Honeywell to conduct a gap analysis identifying what additional development was required to transition the DARPA vehicle to an FCS-compliant Class I UAV system. Under the extended, nearly-three-million-dollar contract announced this week, Honeywell will continue the systems engineering analyses leading to a System Functional Review in March 2006. Following a successful review, Boeing intends to award a Class I UAV System Development and Demonstration contract to Honeywell. The development and demonstration phase will continue through FY2014 and will include the development and flight test of unmanned, autonomous vehicle prototypes.
The FCS Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is one of four classes of FCS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems that are organic to platoon, company, battalion and brigade echelons and form the airborne component of the FCS network providing protection and information for troops on the ground. Together, they constitute four of the 18 systems, which, together with the network and the soldier, will make up FCS.
The FCS Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle will be used for reconnaissance, security and target acquisition operations in open, rolling, complex and urban terrain. Each system – comprising two air vehicles, a dismounted control device and associated ground support equipment – will be carried by selected platforms and dismounted soldiers, and will use autonomous flight and navigation with vertical take-off and landing and recovery capability.
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Huawei Officially Opens inTouch Lab
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. one of the world’s leading telecommunications and networking equipment suppliers, opened the company’s first inTouch Lab Experience Center dedicated to creating a dynamic marketplace of services and applications for telecom operators. Combining simulated environments with proof-of-concept testing, Huawei’s inTouch Lab is a center of innovation focused on connecting global carriers, content/service providers, application providers, terminal providers and other customers and partners in an open cooperation platform.
Based in Shenzhen, China, the Huawei inTouch Lab Experience Center will be more than just a new service experience center. It will deliver an environment that helps to boost the development of data and voice value-added services, including trial-run services for operators. This Experience Center is segmented according to end-user scenarios, including office set-ups, business center scenarios, home and recreation areas. Each area will feature and demonstrate a variety of services relevant to the consumers in that particular scenario.
The introduction of 3G and broadband services has created an “experience economy” as a result of the ever-changing mobile lifestyle that consumers are currently leading. Operators, equipment manufacturers, application developers, and content providers are beginning to work together to create value-added services that will meet these needs. To further the progress and development of this value chain and to create the necessary applications and services, Huawei has set up the inTouch Lab, based on a central concept of creating “Experience for a Better Life”.
In addition to the inTouch Lab, Huawei has also developed the Huawei inTouch Lab Partnership Plan, which provides a series of services for the partners, including open interface and platforms, development tools, technical support and a test environment. The plan also provides ideas to help partners prepare for the launch in terms of contents, applications, terminals and terminal software. Huawei will also work closely with partners on joint activities including marketing, R&D, service innovation and concepts.
The inTouch Lab was unofficially opened in December 2004 and went through a trial and testing phase. More than 20 operators have since set up and run tests on new services and applications in the Lab, while more than 10 partners have joined the inTouch Lab Partnership Plan to work with the operators to create these new services. Jamda, the biggest content provider in Europe, and 123MultiMedia, the biggest content provider in France as well as China’s Sina and Tom Online have also participated in the Huawei inTouch Experience Lab and Partnership Plan.
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Air China Inks Maintenance Contract with Rockwell Collins
Air China has signed an exclusive three-year firm fixed labor repair agreement with Collins Aviation Maintenance Services Shanghai Limited (CAMSS), a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and China Eastern Airlines.
Under the terms of the agreement, CAMSS will provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for avionics and IFE equipment. Air China, the national airline, will be channeling work of all the airlines under its umbrella via this agreement.
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Connexion by Boeing and UTStarcom Make In-flight Mobile Phone Calls a Reality
Connexion by Boeing, a business unit of The Boeing Company recently concluded a week of demonstration flights in Europe that showed travelers how mobile telephony in flight can be provided safely and conveniently for passengers in flight.
During flights aboard a Boeing 737-400 test and demonstration airplane, Connexion One, guests sampled not only the Connexion by Boeing SM high-speed, real-time Internet service, which now includes four channels of live TV, but also used roaming-enabled mobile phones to make and receive phone calls.
The ability to make Global Standard for Mobile (GSM) and code-division multiple-access (CDMA) calls over Connexion by Boeing's system was made possible through Alameda, Calif.-based UTStarcom, Inc. UTStarcom supplied its MovingMedia 2000 all-IP mobile network infrastructure equipment to Connexion by Boeing and also provided technical support on the ground for call switching and completion.
Connexion by Boeing intends to enable mobile phone devices onboard commercial airplanes utilizing the existing broadband satellite link and make this available to its airline customers as early as 2006.
