Boeing Co. is considering long-term relationships with European companies for future weapons business, but a final decision on how to proceed won't be made until the company completes a review of its missile and munitions activities.
NASA mission managers have set up no special precautions or procedures to accommodate retiring Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) on his upcoming Space Shuttle flight, while agency life scientists are eager to see how the 77-year-old lawmaker holds up to the rigors of launch, microgravity and reentry.
The Justice Dept. has notified Congress that Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have settled a long-standing legal dispute over AC-130 Gunship work that will net Boeing about $295 million in payments. Rockwell filed a lawsuit in 1995 arguing the Air Force didn't pay it the money the company was owed for AC-130 work. The suit continued after Boeing bought Rockwell's aerospace operations.
Launch managers postponed the upcoming Ariane 5 qualification flight by 24 hours yesterday after it took longer than expected to fill the big European rocket's hydrazine tanks. Liftoff of Ariane 503 from Kourou, French Guiana, was rescheduled for an hour-and-a-half window that opens at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Originally scheduled for the same time Oct. 20, the flight will orbit a dummy geostationary satellite and send an experimental reentry vehicle toward a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean (DAILY, Oct. 15).
U.S. ARMY has completed operational testing of the UH-60Q medical evacuation helicopter following several months of flight testing. The OT program concluded successfully late last month using three helicopters, a Sikorsky spokesman said. The assessment was conducted by the 50th Medical Company of the 105th Air Assault Division at Ft. Campbell, Ky. Completion of the testing is expected to lead to the first contract to convert Black Hawks to the "Q" configuration. About 15 aircraft are to be modified per year.
Flight testing of the prototype Aerostar/Elbit MiG-21bis Lancer III, featuring new digital avionics, began at Bacau, Romania, on Oct. 6 with a 20-minute sortie in the hands of Israeli test pilot Yehuda Shafir. The chase aircraft for this "in-house receiving flight" was a two-seat Lancer I/B, flown by Col. Gheorghe Simion and Col. Alexandru Lupu of the Romanian air force.
NASA officials yesterday outlined their plans for easing Russia out of its critical role in the International Space Station program, apparently meeting a congressional requirement to free $60 million for immediate use by Russian Station contractors but raising the possibility another $40 million will be needed in December to finish work on a key Russian component.
Lockheed Martin has developed a system capable of passively detecting air targets using broadcast signals generated by unrelated transmitters. "'Silent Sentry' ... doesn't transmit a radar-like RF signature and cannot be detected," said Terry Drabant, president of Lockheed Martin Mission Systems.
A U.S. Marine Corps review of its AV-8B Harrier program following crashes of two of the aircraft in quick succession last year has found that a series of upgrades could reduce the mishap rate by 50%. The Harrier Review Panel made 50 recommendation to address seven "major needs," according to the review group's executive summary, released Wednesday. The needs were identified as follows: -- Fund critical support activities, including engine upgrades and reliability centered maintenance.
The FAA said yesterday it plans to issue orders requiring more fire-resistant insulation on U.S. airliners. The orders would come after a six-month research and development effort getting underway now, itself speeded six months by the Sept. 2 crash of a Swissair MD-11 off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 aboard. Cause of the accident still hasn't been determined, but the crew told controllers there was smoke in the cockpit, and insulation has been suspected as a source.
Some $700 million was provided for U.S. missile defense programs in the $9 billion defense supplemental to which Congress agreed late Wednesday, with the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization free to spend it on any of its programs, congressional sources said yesterday.
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center are studying a version of the big Space Shuttle external tank that would contain less of the hard-to-work aluminum lithium alloy than the new "super lightweight" tank as a way to cut Shuttle costs while still retaining some of the improved performance aluminum lithium offers.
TRW Inc., Cleveland, saw earnings drop 4% due to restructuring charges for the automotive business, the adverse impact of the General Motors strike and economic troubles in Asia and Brazil. The company earned $104.2 million on 13% higher sales of $2.84 billion in the 1998 third quarter, compared to earnings of $108.7 million on sales of $2.52 billion in the previous year.
The Pentagon has formed a National Security Study Group to define the security environment of the early 21st century and develop an appropriate strategy. The group, known as the Boren-Rudman Commission, will be headed by former Sens. David Boren and Warren Rudman. It will have two and a half years to do its work, which includes recommending alternatives to the existing national security apparatus and processes that could better support the new strategy they will recommend.
The U.S. Air Force feels the recent deployment of several B-2 bombers to Guam as a show of force underscored its ability to maintain the stealth bombers overseas because several of the aircraft sustained relatively minor damage during the deployment and continued to participate. At least one of the bombers incurred a static discharge that affected the leading of the wing. The same aircraft was damaged in another discharge several months ago.
Raytheon Travel Air, a fractional ownership company and wholly owned unit of Raytheon Aircraft, has ordered 22 Raytheon-built Premier I entry-level jets valued at $90 million. The aircraft will have will have six seats, an aft lavatory and a refreshment cabinet, said Gary Hart, president.
Senior congressional appropriators expressed doubts that Russia can be kept as an equal partner in the International Space Station program, even as they cleared a $60 million reprogramming for NASA to help the Russians fund completion of a critical Station module.
Raytheon and Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Electronics Industries unit will sign an agreement today to cooperate worldwide on development, production and marketing of airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a freshman Senator with a demonstrated interest in foreign affairs, is interested in filling one of at least two vacancies on the Senate Armed Services Committee next year, a Hagel spokeswoman said. Hagel, 52, served a year as an infantryman in Vietnam, was wounded twice and received two Purple Hearts. He worked on Capitol Hill, became deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration during the Reagan Administration.
The U.S. Army is expected to proceed with the long-planned development of a guided 2.75-inch rocket that would be fired from helicopters, according to industry officials. The Army has been eyeing such a weapon for some time because it would allow precision attack but be less expensive than the Hellfire missile.
Northrop Grumman Corp. profits climbed 18% in the third quarter despite slightly lower revenues due to a drop in B-2 bomber sales and sale of the Grumman Allied Industries subsidiary. The company said yesterday that it earned $116 million on sales of $2.2 billion during the third quarter of 1998, compared to earnings of $98 million on sales of $2.3 billion in the same period a year ago. Operating profit was $298 million, up from $251 million a year ago, reflecting increases in both the Electronics and Information Technology and Services segments.
Hughes Electronics Corp. reported 20% higher sales in the third quarter of 1998, but suffered declines in earnings and operating profit due to the expected increase in DirecTV operating losses. Sales were $1.5 billion during the three-month period, up from $1.3 billion in the same period a year ago. But earnings slipped from $52.4 million to $42.9 million during the same time frame, and operating profit fell from $124.2 million to $67.5 million.
Developing a common interceptor for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program and the Navy's Theater Wide, or Upper Tier, system might look good only on paper, senior U.S. Army officials said yesterday.
