The U.S. Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) radar participated in a NASA missile launch test and a Missile Technical Demonstration (MTD-3) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the Army reported yesterday. A Terrier/Black Brant was launched Sept. 18 and deployed 10 hypersonic experiments with applications to future NASA missions. Data indicated that the objects were tracked by the THAAD radar from the point of initial deployment to the time of loss of track at the radar's lowest field of view.
Daniel E. Brake has been appointed general manager for Aerial Imaging. Jeanne M. Giovannini has been appointed manager, planning and administration for Commercial&Government Systems. David S. Ledgerwood has been appointed director, marketing and program development and vice president, Commercial&Government Systems. Dennis C. Nystrom has been appointed director of strategic planning for Commercial&Government Systems.
The idea of establishing a Pentagon-wide joint rotorcraft office is a good one, but the organization should stay away from conducting science and technology work, Donald M. Dix, who oversees air platforms for the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, said yesterday.
Luis Espino has been named accounts manager for Latin America Telecom based at SPOT's Miami, Fla., office. Christopher Nolan has been appointed Federal Civilian Accounts Manager at the headquarters office.
U.S. Special Operations Command wants its variant of the future Joint Transport Rotorcraft (JTR) to be able to deliver a 25,000-pound payload 500 n. mi. through a defended area and return without refueling, according to notional performance parameters presented Wednesday to the American Helicopter Society.
J. Spencer Davis has been named vice president, corporate communications and investor relations. He replaces Kathleen M. Wailes, who left the company to start an investor relations consulting business in the Washington, D.C. area.
ROCKETDYNE also has conducted the first powerpack test for the XRS-2200 linear aerospike engine that will power the NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype. The propellant flow, non-blowdown test of the engine's turbomachinery and gas generator was conducted at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Six more powerpack tests were planned, Boeing said, noting that three more powerpack assemblies and four complete engines are planned for testing during the development program, including two flight engines.
Pentagon procurement chief Jacques S. Gansler yesterday resisted appeals of House National Security subcommittee chairmen for increases in the U.S. defense budget and, in effect, told them the best way to boost procurement funding was to stop congressional add-ons.
Boeing signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) of Athens in support of the F-15H offset benefits program, Boeing reported yesterday. The U.S. government and Boeing offered the F-15H to Greece for its planned fighter procurement. "This agreement sets the foundation for further development of the existing successful business cooperation between the two companies," Mark Sullivan, vice president of Industrial Participation Programs for Boeing's Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group, said in a statement.
One of the AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopters assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Tex., crashed late Wednesday while exercising on a firing range. The Apache went down at about 6:30 p.m. local time. It was on a firing range with a second AH-64D and both were firing weapons. No one was injured in the incident, according to the U.S. Army. A spokesman said the tailrotor failed and the helicopter went down in a creek. He said the helicopters haven't been grounded, and that the accident is being investigated.
Ronald R. Fogleman, former U.S. Air Force chief of staff, has joined the board of Indiana-based Allison Engine Company which is now conducting business as Rolls-Royce. Carmen L. Lloyd has been appointed president, corporate and regional airlines.
The U.S. Navy wants its next generation of rotorcraft to fly much faster than the SH-60s, CH-60s and HH-60s that will make up its near-term helicopter inventory. "We want to go faster," Rear Adm. Ronald R. Christenson, a helicopter aviator and head of Navy aircraft carrier programs, told the American Helicopter Society Wednesday in Arlington, Va. He added that the Navy sees the role of rotorcraft expanding in the future.
Boeing Co. has issued an advisory to operators of "DC-10 type" airplanes about a "recent incident" involving "burnt and charred" wires for an auxiliary hydraulic pump. The company, in the Oct. 6 "incident advisory" to Boeing operators, made no mention of the Sept. 2 crash of a Swissair MD-11 off Nova Scotia, Canada, killing all 229 aboard, which some have said might have been caused by an electrical problem.
General Dynamics agreed to acquire its third shipyard, National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) of San Diego. NASSCO will join GD's two other shipyards, Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works. Nicholas Chabraja, GD's chairman and chief executive officer, said it "will further strengthen our position as a prime contractor for ship design and construction by extending our reach - both geographically and in product mix."
HONEYWELL SPACE SYSTEMS and Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH (DSS) have entered an alliance to manufacture digital signal processing products using technology from both companies. Under the arrangement, DSS will license Honeywell to fabricate its Scalable Multi-Channel communications Sub-System, a multi-port IEEE-135 compliant communications device, on Honeywell's radiation-hard process. Ultimately the two companies hope to develop jointly standard satellite control and high performance signal processing product lines and market them internationally.
