U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command plans to award a contract to Technovative Applications, Brea, Calif., for design of a prototype command guidance hit-to-kill weapon system for the Short Range Missile Defense With Optimized Radar Distribution (SWORD) program. The prototype would consist of a radio frequency command guided missile interceptor and interferometric fire control radar, the Army said.
Lufthansa Cargo ordered six MD-11 freighters, Boeing confirmed Friday. Lufthansa is exercising three options from a previous order and placing a firm order for three additional aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2000 and continue through 2001. The airline has ordered 14 MD-11 freighters since 1996, with delivery of the first four this year marking the beginning of a fleet renewal program.
A General Accounting Office ruling announced yesterday could lead to the overturning of a U.S. Air Force decision to award a $1.1 billion contract to the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah and its main subcontractor Boeing under which they would assume maintenance of KC-135 and A-10 aircraft now being done at the Sacramento ALC in California.
A missile developed under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's Advanced Fire Support System program may meet U.S. Army requirements for a Modernized Hellfire. The Pentagon agency and the Army realized a couple of months ago that they were attempting in separate programs to achieve many of the same technical performance goals, and this prompted DARPA to recommend that the work be conducted under AFSS, according to David Fields, AFSS program manager.
British Airways selected Rolls-Royce's Trent 895 engine to power its new fleet of Boeing 777s, Rolls-Royce said yesterday. The order, valued at up to $930 million for 16 firm and 16 option aircraft, was a blow to General Electric since BA had selected the GE90 to power an earlier order of 777s. Rolls will be responsible for the life-cycle support and maintenance of the engines.
Given budget trend lines, top U.S. Army acquisition officials realize they will have to cut some acquisition programs, but they want to wait as long as possible to be sure they cut the right ones. "Of course we will have to give up something," reporters were told Friday by Paul Hoeper, the service's assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition. "But you don't decide now what you will give up because you don't have as much information now as you will have when you have to make this decision," he said.
The fiscal 1999 congressional defense appropriations conferees place "full responsibility" on the Defense Dept. "to prudently and aggressively complete" the technical work and testing necessary for an effective national missile defense protecting all 50 states.
The FAA yesterday gave airlines 60 days to inspect fuel boost pump wiring on Boeing 737s with 20,000 to 30,000 flight hours. It also ordered an extra layer of Teflon sleeving to protect the wires. The agency previously mandated inspections on 737s with 30,000 to 40,000 flight hours, but said yesterday that some of the aircraft with fewer hours had also showed signs of chafing, and decided to expand the inspections.
British Aerospace, recognizing U.S. investor interest, has established an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program through J.P. Morgan. Each ADR represents four ordinary shares traded on the London Stock Exchange. The ADRs began trading yesterday in the over-the-counter market under the symbol BTASY.
PENTAGON WEB SECURITY is being reinforced under an order by Deputy DEefense Secretary John Hamre. Hamre wants military web pages scrubbed to ensure protection of information that could be used against U.S. military forces. Hamre was particularly concerned about information on military personnel and their families.
The Marine Corps' Dragon Warrior close-range unmanned aerial vehicle program has prompted several competitors to submit bids to the service's Warfighting Lab at Quantico, Va. The Corps has issued a broad area announcement for the UAV, which is intended to have a range of 100 n. mi., a 30-minute on-station time, a payload of 25 pounds and a dash speed of 125 knots. It will have a shrouded rotor system to allow for safer operations in an urban environment (DAILY, Sept. 8).
Severe breakdowns in the Pentagon's financial and accounting operations have resulted in a number of fraud cases and theft of millions in taxpayer dollars, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said yesterday. Grassley released a series of General Accounting Office reports at a congressional hearing, showing examples of how lax accounting controls, particularly in the U.S. Air Force, allowed at least two people to each steal up to $3 million, practically unnoticed.
LAST EC-135C 'LOOKING GLASS' aircraft was retired Friday by the U.S. Air Force. Five of the aircraft served as flying command posts for the Strategic Air Command and its successor organization, Strategic Command, at Offutt AFB, Neb. The mission is now being conducted by the Navy's E-6B Tacamo aircraft.
Cubic Defense Systems Inc., San Diego, won $130 million from the U.K. Ministry of Defense to field two combat training systems for the British Army. The award includes design, manufacture and delivery of two ground combat training systems for the British Army. They will be located at Salisbury Plain Training Area in the U.K. and at the British Army Training Unit at Suffield, Alberta, Canada.
