Lockheed Martin erhält Auftrag der U.S. Navy über 869 Mio. Dollar - 500 Beiträge pro Seite | Diskussion im Forum

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Der US-Rüstungskonzern Lockheed Martin Inc. (ISIN US5398301094/ WKN 894648) hat von der U.S. Navy einen Auftrag im Wert von 869 Mio. Dollar erhalten.

Wie die US-Marine am gestrigen Dienstag bekannt gab, handelt es sich bei dem Auftrag um die Finanzierung der weiteren Produktion der Trident II-Raketen im Geschäftsjahr 2006. Der Auftrag hat eine Laufzeit bis September 2009.

Die Aktie von Lockheed Martin schloss gestern an der NYSE bei 62,76 Dollar.

Wertpapiere des Artikels:
LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION


Autor: SmartHouseMedia (© wallstreet:online AG / SmartHouse Media GmbH),10:01 21.12.2005

[RTLOLDY]

Neues in der Militärtechnik
Unglaublich, aber die Zeit der Zeppeline könnte wieder anbrechen. Unter dem Codenamen Walrus (Walross) beginnen Lockheed Martin und Aeros Aeronautical Group das Luftschiff auf dem Bild zu konzipieren. Es soll 1800 Soldaten transportieren können. Der Grund für dieses Projekt: man könnte damit schneller grössere Truppenteile verschieben als über den Seeweg.

[RTLOLDY]

The Pentagon’s Flying Walrus

Part blimp, part jumbo jet, the U.S. Department of Defense constructs a new type of airship.

The Pentagon pays a lot of money to ship troops and materiél to war zones halfway around the world.

In late August, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded $2.6 billion in contracts to companies like FedEx and UPS for one year’s worth of airlift services. With unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, air freight bills can start to add up.

With the aim of shipping more firepower for less money, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to build a massive mongrel of a flying machine. Dubbed Walrus, the proposed vessel is half jumbo jet, half blimp.

Walrus will stay aloft through a combination of aerodynamics and gas buoyancy. Weapons giant Lockheed Martin is competing with Torrance, California’s tiny Aeros Aeronautical Systems. DARPA is paying both companies about $3 million each to come up with designs for Walrus in one year.

It’s a zeppelin-sized order. DARPA wants the final product to carry 500 tons of war machine 12,000 nautical miles in less than a week. To function in battle zones, Walrus will perform vertical takeoffs and landings on rough ground with obstacles as big as 5-foot boulders.

The usefulness of such a vessel for non-military purposes was evident as New Orleans sank into chaos after Hurricane Katrina left thousands of people stranded, thirsty, and hungry.

While there were reports of angry residents taking potshots at rescue helicopters in New Orleans, the Walrus will face more significant firepower if it is ever dispatched to a war zone.

Edward Pevzner, manager of business development for Aeros Aeronautical Systems, said that even a 1-foot-wide hole in the fabric of a 140-feet-long airship would not bring it down in less than an hour. That’s plenty of time for the pilot to land safely.

Would a surface-to-air missile pose a threat to the Walrus? Mr. Pevzner said he couldn’t discuss details about his company’s plans for the Walrus’ design, perhaps to keep good ideas out of the hands of rival Lockheed Martin.

Both companies have 12 months to deliver DARPA their best proposals, at which time DARPA will pick one company to build a Walrus prototype.

If Walrus works for the Pentagon, there is plenty of demand in the private sector for a bigger cargo carrier. The largest fuel-guzzling Boeing 747 cargo plane can only carry 400 tons.

There has to be demand for an airship that could haul 500 tons directly from a Chinese factory to a Wal-Mart parking lot somewhere in the United States.

And unless the Walrus is touching down at the peak of the Christmas shopping season, landing at Wal-Mart should be safer than Baghdad International Airport.