A new breed of Loran "loop" antenna is immune to interference from electrostatic discharge from aircraft, according to recent tests at Ohio University sponsored by FAA in an evaluation of Loran as an aid to the Global Positioning System/Wide Area Augmentation System in IFR navigation.
LOCKHEED MARTIN on Dec. 17 received a $33 million contract for the Powered Low Cost Autonomous Attack Submunition (LOCAAS) advanced technology demonstration. The contract is expected to be completed in Dec. 2001.
NASA's spectacular and complex orbital mission to connect the first two elements of the International Space Station gives Boeing a sharp arrow in its quiver for the upcoming debate over replacing the Space Shuttle. Although an outside NASA consultant has recommended replacing Boeing's Shuttle once Station assembly is complete (DAILY, Nov.
The House Republican leadership is preparing its agenda for the new Congress which starts Jan. 6 and ballistic missile defense has emerged as one of the priority issues. House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) said last week after a leadership meeting that the GOP leadership will push for legislation similar to the statement Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) sponsored in the Senate that would make it the policy of the U.S. to deploy a national missile defense as soon as technologically feasible.
General Dynamics will build the Radar Advanced Signal Processor for improved computers on the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, the company said yesterday. Northrop Grumman awarded General Dynamics' Information Systems unit, Bloomington, Minn., an $11.8 million firm fixed price contract for RASP. The program is part of the Joint STARS Computer Replacement Program.
The U.S. relied on Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles in attacks against Iraq Wednesday, but other weapons were also targeted on enemy air defenses and command and control sites. Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing yesterday that more than 70 ship-based Navy and Marine Corps aircraft from the carrier Enterprise and over 200 cruise missiles were used against more than 50 targets in the first wave of Operation Desert Fox.
U.S. airworthiness regulators want to beef up bird-strike test requirements for large engines, hiking the medium-bird standard by a pound and the large-bird standard by as much as four pounds. Today new engines have to pass bird-strike tests involving medium birds of 1.5 pounds and large birds of four pounds. The Federal Aviation Administration now proposes to make new engines pass tests involving 2.5-pound medium birds, ideally in a simulated flock, and large birds of anywhere from six to eight pounds, depending on the size of the engine's inlet area.
Wayne, Pa.-based Triumph Group is buying Chase Aerospace of the U.K., and says this week that it hopes to finalize the deal before the end of the month. Chase, in Lasham Alton Hampshire, repairs and overhauls auxiliary power units, constant speed drives and integrated drive generators on jetliners and commuter aircraft. Triumph plans to rename the unit Triumph Air Repair (Europe), and expects the business to generate more than $6 million in annual revenues.
The U.S. State Dept. has publicly threatened to continue restrictions on Russian launches of U.S. satellites unless Russian enterprises stop helping Iran's ballistic missile program. James P. Rubin, the department's top spokesman, told reporters Wednesday that while the Russian government has promised to crack down on missile technology transfers to Iran, it does not appear to have done so. The issue arose in the context of Russian aid to Iran's nuclear industry.
The U.S. Army is pulsing industry on how to meet the requirement for a missile to succeed the cancelled Follow-on to TOW (FOTT). The Army effectively terminated FOTT earlier this year when it failed to budget for the program. The competitors were Raytheon (formerly Hughes) and a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon (formerly Texas Instruments). Industry officials told The DAILY this summer they were hoping FOTT would be terminated before the fiscal 2000 budget is released so planning could start for the replacement.
Hot-fire tests of the new RD-180 rocket engine in Russia and Alabama Wednesday have set the stage for the first flight of an Atlas launch vehicle powered by the big Russian engine in the second quarter of 1999, Lockheed Martin Astronauts reported.
Yuri Koptiev, head of the cash-strapped Russian Space Agency, has said he hopes to sells NASA a three-seat Soyuz capsule as an early crew rescue vehicle for the International Space Station early next year to cover an expected shortfall in funding for Russia's Station contributions.
Boeing's effort on engineering definition of the 767-400ER is 90% complete, the company said. John Quinlivan, program manager, said a new interior architecture for the passenger cabin and an updated flight deck have been added to the work statement. He said "virtual teams" have "streamlined development of the airplane's new raked (back-swept) wingtip and auxiliary power unit installation in the tail section."
Rolls-Royce reports a $75 million order from Continental for RB211-535E4B engines to power five firm Boeing 757-200 narrowbody twins. Deliveries will begin in December 1999 and run through June 2000.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory wants proposals from industry that would allow ICBMs to precisely strike buried, hard targets with conventional warheads. AFRL said in a Dec. 18 Commerce Business Daily notice that it would focus on delivery of penetrator warheads at speeds of 4,000 to 6,000 feet per second with an accuracy of less than 10 meters. Penetrator warheads can now strike targets at speeds up to 2,500 fps. The higher speeds would allow destruction of targets that are immune to existing weapons.
The U.S. Air Force has completed its planned series of four tests of a Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile with penetrator warheads, but is likely to repeat one run because of test difficulties. The last of the four prototype tests was completed Tuesday at Eglin AFB, Fla., Frank Robbins, the Air Force's program director for precision strike weapons, said in a telephone interview yesterday. That test involved one of the British Aerospace Royal Ordnance Multiple Warhead System warheads, also known as Broach.
The first full GE90 turbofan with the 93,000-lbst. improvement package is being reconfigured now for tests aboard GE Aircraft Engines' Boeing 747 flying testbed late in the second quarter of 1999, reports GE90 Integration Manager Dick Ostrum. "There will be some ground test in the late May time period, and then [the engine will go] out to Mojave for about a six-week flight test window," Ostrum tells AP.
Rockwell Collins said it has won a contract from Boeing to provide SAT-2000 Aero-I satellite communication systems and CMU-900 communication management units for 120 U.S. Air Force C-17s. The contract represents the initial sale of the two commercial-off-the-shelf products to the Air Force.
GenCorp will spin off its Performance Chemicals and Decorative&Building Products business to shareholders, retaining control and operation of Aerojet, its aerospace, defense and fine chemical segment, and its automotive Vehicle Sealing business unit, GenCorp reported yesterday.
Russia test launched its sixth Topol-M Dec. 8 from the Plesetsk site near Archangel, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. It said the test was the last in a series to verify performance of the three-stage, single-warhead, solid fuel ICBM.
Airframer Cessna has finished the 100th Citation Triple Crown Engine Overhaul, only two years after the Triple Crown program was introduced for operators of Pratt&Whitney-powered Citation bizjets. Each of three tiered overhaul standards - Platinum, Gold and Silver - is offered at prices Cessna claims are below industry averages, with guaranteed turnaround times and prices. "We take our turnaround commitments very seriously and pay significant financial penalties if we fail to complete the engine on time," notes Cessna's Jim Morgan, VP for service facilities.
The Pentagon has selected General Electric and AlliedSignal for a pilot program that could save the Defense Dept. money by moving away from military to commercial packaging of goods. The Pentagon selected packaging in response to a number of industry proposals that said savings in this area could be substantial, Stan Soloway, the Pentagon's acquisition reform chief, told reporters Wednesday. The costs in packaging "really start adding up," he said.
Pratt&Whitney Canada's PW306A and PW306B won type certification from Transport Canada this week and the engines are expected to enter service on their respective applications early next year. The 6,040-lbst. PW306A powers the Israel Aircraft Industries Galaxy long-range business jet, while the 6,050-lbst. PW306B powers the Fairchild Dornier 328JET regional jet, along with its ENVOY3 bizjet derivative. P&WC notes that a "vigorous initial maintenance interval inspection test (IMIT) program is ongoing to prove engine durability prior to entry into service."
The government of Belgium has chosen the B-Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle over two other competitors. Israel Aircraft Industries said a contract for three B-Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems went to the Eagle alliance, a temporary association consisting of Alcatel Etca S.A., Alcatel Bell Space&Defense N.V., SAIT Systems S.A., Sonaca and IAI's Malat Div. Final contenders, in addition the B-Hunter, were the French Sagem Sperwer UAV and the Swiss Oerlikon-Contraves Ranger.
