[Premium-Rx] WJ / DRS Gaithersburg is closed

Wed Jan 28 15:10:13 EST 2015

Mark,

That's a good summary! DRS has been in San Diego talking to the people who 
make satellite links for Boeing and the people who make secure radio 
equipment. They are also talking the UAV people who make data collection 
systems. There are many.

I don't think the radio systems will ever go away but the architecture is 
changing dramatically.

Finmeccanica To Sell Off Parts of DRS
By Tom Kington 4:54 p.m. EST January 27, 2015

(Photo: ANDREAS SOLARO, AFP/Getty Images)
CONNECT 19 TWEET 20 LINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
ROME - Italy's Finmeccanica has said it will sell off parts worth ?200 
million (US $224 million) of DRS - the US electronics firm it owns - in 
2015.
In a statement, Finmeccanica did not say which parts of the firm, which it 
bought in 2008 for $5.2 billion, it would sell.
Finmeccanica CEO Mauro Moretti said last summer he was considering selling 
DRS in its entirety and previous managers have also looked at offloading 
parts of the firm.
The announcement came as Finmeccanica released revised forecasts and some 
details of the industrial plan that Moretti has been formulating since he 
took over the firm in 2014
The company said that in 2015 it would also cede to Boeing activity it 
carries out on the B787 aircraft worth ?300 million in revenue.
Finmeccanica is aiming to focus its operation on profitable, high technology 
aerospace, defense and security work, and is still seeking to sell off its 
civilian rail activity.
Japan's Hitachi and China's Insigma have been shortlisted as buyers of 
train-making unit AnsaldoBreda and a 40 percent stake in rail signalling 
company Ansaldo STS.
In a revision of its 2014 forecast, Finmeccanica predicted its new orders 
for the year could reach ?15.5 billion, up from the prediction of up to ?14 
billion made in November.
Finmeccanica said it expects 2014 earnings before interest, tax and 
amortization, of up to ?1.06 billion, above the previous guidance of up to 
?1.03 billion. For 2015, it expects ?1.15 to ?1.2 billion.
Email: tkington at defensenews.com

Best Regards,
Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mark Rauchfuss
To: Steve Pappin
Cc: premium-rx at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Premium-Rx] WJ / DRS Gaithersburg is closed

Here's a clip about finmeccanica-drs and disposal plans:

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/industry/2015/01/27/finmeccanica-drs-italy-sell-off/22425299/

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 4:31 PM, Steve Pappin via Premium-Rx 
<premium-rx at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

This is an update to my post about DRS and what's left of WJ. Terry O's 
comments track what I'm being told. There is a lot of misinformation 
floating around. I got an email from Dave Shane and he clarified exactly 
what has occurred. I will continue to send your requests for support to DRS 
when it is appropriate. Hopefully this clarifies the current situation:

1) Vintage / Legacy WJ product support has been eliminated for most products 
older than 15 years
2) There are no more hard bound manuals. Everything that remains has been 
digitized or was never available in hard copy.
3) There is no longer any support for the WJ 8615, 8617, 8618, 8888, 8716, 
8718 or anything earlier
4) There may be very limited support for the 8711A, 8712A, 8611, and 8607, 
subject to change at any time
5) The Watkins-Johnson facility at 700 Quince Orchard Road Gaithersburg, 
Maryland 20878-1794 closed in December of 2014
6) The new DRS Signal Solutions facility is located at 1 Milestone Center 
Court - Germantown, MD 20876 - USA

Many of the people who worked on the original WJ products are gone but a few 
are still at DRS. The new DRS people are focusing on the new product lines 
and have limited interest in the old product lines. Answers are not going to 
come quickly because legacy products are not a high priority.

Watkins-Johnson is gone. What remains is limited to a handful of resources 
at DRS. The original WJ building is empty. 95% of the WJ contents were 
purged while most of the DRS contents were transferred to the new building. 
A limited number of the original WJ products were converted to DRS products.

There are rumors that new radios with front panels are still available from 
WJ / DRS. I can assure you that this is just a rumor!

I would encourage anyone who still has connections with WJ employees to 
discuss the legacy and collect whatever they can while they can. Like you I 
love the original products but I have limited time to investigate each and 
every one. I also have to focus on the newer products because that's what 
they pay me to do. I will continue to service the original products as long 
as parts and resources are available. If you have any of the early CEI or WJ 
manuals please scan them so that I can post them on the FTP site. This is 
the best way to ensure that the legacy lives on.

Best Regards,
Steve

----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Pappin via Premium-Rx" 
<premium-rx at mailman.qth.net>
To: <premium-rx at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 11:29 AM
Subject: [Premium-Rx] WJ / DRS Gaithersburg is closed

It's official: DRS / Watkins-Johnson Gaithersburg MD is closed. Everything 
is gone. According to Chris Biddix they scrapped everything, hardware, 
replacement parts, demo units, chassis, and all of the printed material. If 
it was physical it was either crushed or incinerated. Chris is going to ask 
if any of it went to surplus dealers but we doubt it. I placed a bid on the 
demo units last year but management decided that the liability was too 
great. All that remains of WJ is intellectual property. The building is up 
for sale. There will be no more new factory replacement parts for WJ radios.

DRS will continue to build the new radios for UAV's and Command Centers. 
None of them have front panels! So any new radios offered will be:
a. Expensive
b. Network Appliances controlled by host computers
c. Require system integration

Best Regards,
Steve

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