GE'S ROWE DIES: Brian H. Rowe, the larger-than-life figure who led General Electric's aircraft-engine business through a period of tremendous growth and to eventual market dominance, died Feb. 22 following surgery. He was 75. Under Rowe's leadership, GE launched the CF34 small turbofan series, the F110 fighter engine that helped stoke the so-called "Great Engine War" between GE and rival Pratt & Whitney, the GE90 that has become the world's most powerful aircraft jet engine, and the partnership with SNECMA of France that became CFM International.
SAT LAUNCH SET: EchoStar Communications will use an International Launch Services Proton Breeze M vehicle to launch a satellite in 2008. EchoStar is not disclosing what satellite that will be. A Proton M also will launch the Ciel-2 for Canada's newest satellite operator, Ciel Satellite Group, in late 2008. Ciel-2 is an Alcatel Alenia Spacebus 4000.
The Defense Department's fiscal 2008 budget request includes just more than $1 billion in programs that could support the development of anti-satellite and space-based weapons capabilities, according to a new analysis from the Center for Defense Information (CDI). "Congress must become more aware of these efforts, and ensure that such programs do not go forward without in-depth scrutiny of their purposes and possible long-term impacts on U.S. space security," CDI Director and report co-author Theresa Hitchens said in a statement.
Silence about the key capabilities of the second-generation Super Hornet's advanced radar and integrated sensor package is being broken by U.S. Navy and aerospace industry officials just as President Bush's budget faces scrutiny by Congress. The design will give the Block II Boeing-built Navy aircraft a fifth generation capability similar to that of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, says Capt. Donald Gaddis, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program manager.
Feb. 26 - 27 -- 15th Annual International Conference on ISO 9000, Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando, Fla. For more information call (412) 782-3383 or go to www.iso9000conference.com. Feb. 26 - 28 -- 18th Annual NDIA SO/LIC Symposium & Exhibition, "Warfare in the Seams: Defense and Industry Partnering to Win the Long War," Hyatt Crystal City, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.ndia.com.
OFFICIAL DENIAL: More than 20 countries have missile technologies, and in all likelihood, more will follow, says U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. "We have been surprised in the past, and we anticipate that we will be surprised in the future," he said at a National Press Club event Feb. 22 in defense of U.S. proposals to base ballistic missile interceptors in Europe. They are not designed against Russian threats, he contends.
AEROSTATS: U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) are collaborating on the development of a 71-meter (232-foot) aerostat that could be tethered at sea and operate with a variety of payloads at 15,000 feet altitude. The two organizations plan to start by developing a sea-based 38-meter prototype featuring a weather-hardened design capable of carrying 500 pounds of surveillance equipment.
REPLACEMENT SAT: Telenor Satellite Broadcasting plans to select a supplier by the end of April to build a replacement for its Thor 3 telecom satellite. Although the Norwegian satcom operator had considered Ka- and S-band payloads for the spacecraft to enable it to expand into new services, it opted for an all-Ku-band unit to ensure critical broadcasting capacity if there is a problem with Thor 5 (formerly Thor 2R). Thor 5, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is to be launched in the fourth quarter by International Launch Services.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been looking at aircraft capabilities in its award protest review for the planned combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) fleet of more than 140 helicopters worth between $10 billion and $15 billion, defense analysts say. Boeing last year won the contract with a variant of its H-47 Chinook. Losing contractors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky quickly protested. Lockheed has contended that the Air Force gave different directions to the different contractors putting together the bids.
The U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program's budget plans do not outline funds for its high-profile vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft, and spending would emphasize ships over aircraft in coming years, according to budget documents and official statements.
NO EASING OF ITAR: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton says he doesn't foresee any easing by Congress of the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The aerospace industry has complained for years that stringent technology transfer rules make it hard to do business in a global marketplace. "I know the rhetoric. I do not foresee a change," Skelton tells editors from the DAILY.
With the heat on to submit its proposal for the Joint Tactical Radio System Air/Maritime/Fixed (JTRS AMF) by March 16, the Boeing team's focus is on thermal management.
RADAR RESERVATIONS: The Air Force has quietly revealed over the past couple of years that the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars in its F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and E-8 Joint-Stars aircraft (if the latter is upgraded with the now-cancelled E-10's MP-RTIP radar) can do more than find small, even stealthy missiles.
ARMY VEHICLES AWARD: The U.S. Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) has awarded Oshkosh Truck Corp. an $878 million contract to continue production on the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTV), the company announced Feb. 23. The contract covers new production of the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), Palletized Load System (PLS) vehicle and PLS trailer, which are used for logistics support roles. Oshkosh will deliver 1,857 new vehicles and 2,599 new trailers under the contract.
UPPER STAGE: NASA on Feb. 23 released the final request for proposals (RFP) for the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle upper stage. Proposals are due to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center by April 13, and the prime contract will be awarded in August. Final manufacturing and assembly of the stage will take place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, where the space shuttle's external tanks are built.
Spacehab announced Feb. 21 that it is dropping all litigation against NASA seeking reimbursement for the company's Research Double Module (RDM), which was lost aboard the shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003. "Spacehab believes that the potential benefits that may be achieved by dismissing the claim against NASA, who is the company's largest customer, outweigh any potential benefits that may be achieved by continuing the litigation of claims against the agency," Spacehab said in a statement. Two separate claims
The U.S. Air Force changed the wording of a key performance parameter (KPP) during a crucial phase of the proposal requests for its high-profile multibillion-dollar combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter competition without explicitly alerting contractors to the alteration or its impact. While defense acquisition experts agree the wording change itself is substantial - and could have had a major impact on the competition - they disagree whether the Air Force should have made the change without drawing attention to it.
In developing the initial work for the Alternative Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS), a possible competitor to the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Air Force is looking for methods to boost technology and adhere to cost and deadline requirements, according to an industry day briefing. In a call for white papers for AIRSS development, the Feb. 21 briefing said the government has a particular interest in: * Affordability and feasibility of designing for two IR WFOV payloads with two Focal Plane Array (FPA) types;
If XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio succeed at winning regulatory approval of their $11.4 billion merger, the technical integration of the two systems could take years to complete.
FALCON FLIGHT: The next flight attempt for Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) low-cost Falcon 1 rocket has slipped to mid-March at the earliest, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's vice president of business development. The earliest launch window for the flight out of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean opens on March 9. "We certainly hope to launch prior to the 16th of March," Shotwell says.
Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin used bolt cutters and wire ties to get a malfunctioning radar-navigation antenna out of the way on the International Space Station Feb. 23, freeing one of two Russian Progress vehicles docked at the station to depart.
