Francis L. Shill (see photo) has been named vice president/project director for Computer Sciences Raytheon at Patrick AFB, Fla. He was senior vice president/general manager of the Services Contracts Div.
Federal investigators have broadened their examinations of the possible transfer of sensitive U.S. space technology to China. They are looking at an additional launch failure review and whether American engineers asked leading questions of their Chinese counterparts.
An accident investigation into the Feb. 18 crash of a U.S. Air Force B-1B concluded that a short circuit triggered by pushing the No. 3 engine fire button shut down the three remaining engines, forcing the crew to eject. About 3.5 hr. into a routine 6-hr. training mission from Dyess AFB, Tex., a No. 3 engine auxiliary drive system light illuminated, warning of a possible low oil pressure or over-temperature condition in that engine's accessory gear box. The crew followed proper procedures and shut down the No. 3 engine.
THE SR-71 BLACKBIRD may be reactivated following last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling, 6-3, against the President's line item veto authority. The Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft was killed by the veto last year, angering some lawmakers and military officials (AW&ST Dec. 8, 1997, p. 25). Congress had authorized and appropriated $39 million this year to operate the aircraft, and now the search will begin to see what the Air Force has done with the money.
INDIA HAS MOVED its air force's South Western Air Command (SWAC) from Jodhpur in Rajasthan state to Gandhinagar (near Ahmedabad) in Gujarat state. The air command's area of responsibility has been enlarged to underline the strategic importance of the region, which includes crude oil and natural gas reserves and offshore assets. Gujarat draws on oil and gas fields offshore of the Mumbai (Bombay) area and is the hub of northwest India's oil and gas supply region.
The U.S. is letting the so-called revolution in military affairs slip through its fingers. It is squandering the opportunity to exploit the American edge in information technologies--or at least delaying the resulting military advantage by decades. Two bellwether defense technologies are in jeopardy: battlefield digitization and the small, but crucial, fleet of E-8C Joint-STARS aircraft.
THE FIRST AIRBUS A330-200 powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 turbofans made its first flight on June 24. The 100-flight-hour certification program is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS, the first Asian airline to operate the 777 and among the region's biggest customers for the twinjet, is set to take delivery of its first model -300 on June 30. But the Japanese carrier also has announced that it will delay delivery of nine aircraft during a three-year period beginning next April. It did not specify types or manufacturers. Counting this week's delivery, it has 30 aircraft on order. Deliveries of 10 are still planned in the fiscal year that ends next Mar. 31--two 747-400s, four 777-300s, two 777-200s and two A321s, an ANA official said.
CORPORACION DE LA AVIACION CUBANA concluded an order for four 44-seat ATR 42-300 twin turboprops. They will be used by Aerocaribbean and Aerogaviota on Cuba's domestic system and short-haul international routes.
Aerospace officials in India have begun research on an unmanned single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that could be used to launch intelligence and surveillance satellites. The Aerobic Vehicle for Advanced Trans-Atmospheric Research (Avatar) is envisioned as the size of an aircraft fighter and would be powered by a turbofan ramjet, officials say. Avatar would take off like a conventional aircraft and climb to a cruise altitude, where a scramjet would propel it to Mach 7. A rocket engine would accelerate into final orbit. After deorbit, the craft would land on its own power.
Abdulaziz A. Sugair has become chairman of the Alsalam Aircraft Co., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is the president/CEO of the Advanced Electronics Co. and succeeds Adnan Dabbagh.
Europe's ambition to create a civilian global navigation satellite system (GNSS) complementary to--and eventually independent of--the military GPS and Glonass networks has taken a major step forward.
SOUTHERN CHINA WILL GET A NEW APPROACH control center, which Telephonics is under contract to install at Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. Included in the system will be Telephonics' AeroTrac ATC system, which has the capability to fuse multiple-radar data. Eventually, the center is expected to become the equivalent of a Tracon for the entire Pearl River Delta, which includes Hong Kong, according to Telephonics.
On the eve of the U.S./China summit of Presidents Clinton and Jiang Zemin, two Sino specialists here said reports that Beijing will buy two-seat, long-range Su-30 fighter-bombers are overblown. China is ``no doubt negotiating for Su-30 [and other aircraft like AWACS and tankers], but there are major limitations to actual acquisition and deployment,'' says Ken Allen, a former Air Force officer who served as assistant air attache to Beijing. He said China has trouble maintaining the 50 top-of the-line Su-27 fighters it already operates.
Higher funding and a greater sense of urgency are needed to develop new sensors for detecting uranium, plutonium and possibly other radioisotopes, says a new think-tank report on the nuclear terrorist threat.
Roy A. Anderson, former chairman of the then-Lockheed Corp. and now chairman/CEO of the Weingart Foundation, has received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. c
A FEDERAL JUDGE WAS EXPECTED to decide last week whether Raytheon must share with Lockheed Martin internal documents that would shed light on its stand on Lockheed Martin's proposed acquisition of Northrop Grumman. At least some of those documents were furnished to the Defense Dept. as part of the Pentagon's evaluation of the merits of the proposed deal. Raytheon maintains it did not oppose the transaction.
Space Imaging has again delayed the launch of its 1-meter resolution Ikonos 1 commercial imaging satellite to perform unspecified ``additional tests.'' The company had earlier delayed the launch by six months, to late June, to permit more software testing. Launch is now planned for ``later this year.''. . . Mobile Communications Holdings Inc. awarded a contract to Boeing to build the first two satellites for the Ellipso mobile telephone system. . . . WorldSpace Corp. says it is on schedule to begin operating its first satellite, AfriStar, by the end of 1998.
Australia faces isolation unless it acts quickly to abandon its long-regulated aviation industry in favor of open skies, according to a government policy panel. If adopted, open skies would mean a radical overhaul of Australian aviation and hit the industry as Qantas and Ansett battle declining Asian passenger loads and a weakened Australian dollar--while considering alliances that will transform their marketing strategies.
FAA inspectors are scrutinizing America West's maintenance records after discovering that the airline may have operated a 737-100 for thousands of flights without performing a mandatory structural inspection.
Boeing Delta 3 managers believe they can keep the first launch of the large new booster on schedule for a first flight in early August in spite of the need to remove all of the vehicle's nine solid rocket boosters to reinstall explosive cords on the solids. The first Delta 3 is stacked on Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral (see p. 56). Routine batch testing of thin-layered explosive (TLX) lines used to ignite and separate the Alliant Techsystems solid rocket boosters showed that a particular TLX manufacturing batch could malfunction.
Aircelle, a joint subsidiary of Airbus Industrie and Hispano-Suiza Aerostructures, will seek to secure a major role in the engine nacelle market. The initiative results from Airbus' decision to acquire separately the engines and nacelles for its commercial transports. The European consortium's goal is to directly control a critical airframe component that plays an important role in aircraft cost, performance and flight safety. Previously, Airbus acquired complete propulsion systems, including nacelles, from engine manufacturers.
AlliedSignal is forming a new satellite command, control and communications network to offer flight operations and telemetry data processing services to commercial and government customers. The DataLynx system plans to offer customers a wide range of services, from ``per-pass'' augmentation during launch to complete, ``cradle-to-grave'' operations, AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp. President Ivan Stern said. ``People are overbuying by getting dedicated ground systems that they don't need,'' Stern said.
