Transfer of the Italian Space Agency's "Leonardo" Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) to NASA is slated for Sept. 25 at Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. agency said. The 4.5 ton MPLM, a reusable logistics carrier, is the primary delivery system used to resupply the International Space Station and return Station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. The cylindrical module, 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, is one of Italy's major contributions to the Station program, NASA said.
Boeing says it will have a short take-off and vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter design ready in the very near future that will satisfy the U.S. Marine Corps, which says it hasn't seen an acceptable design so far from either Boeing or Lockheed Martin. "We think we're pretty close," a Boeing official said. He said the company is now putting together the latest JSF Preferred Weapon System concept, with which, it hopes, "the Marines will be satisfied."
The U.S. Air Force's Air Mobility Command is taking a close look at electronic warfare enhancements for its fleet of airlifters, as well as other large aircraft. AMC recently concluded an infrared countermeasures operational requirements document and is writing an electronic warfare roadmap, Col. Ryan Dow, AMC's requirements chief for plans and programs, said in a telephone interview from the command's headquarters at Scott AFB, Ill. He said the flurry of activity is aimed at validating long-range EW plans, rather than responding to specific threats.
A week after senior U.S. military leaders spelled out what they said were readiness and funding concerns to President Clinton, the White House has promised the Pentagon it will increase its budget top line. Clinton has sent Defense Secretary William Cohen a letter promising to increase the budget authority for the Pentagon, a defense official said. The size of the increase wasn't specified, although it is expected to be several billion dollars.
The U.S. Air Force will test a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) on a QF-4 drone to determine if the system could allow unmanned aircraft to operate in commercial airspace. "TCAS could enable jet-powered UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], and to a lesser extent, propeller-powered UAVs, to fly in any airspace," said Capt. Charles J. DeLuise, the AF Battlelab's TCAS project officer. The Battlelab is using a TCAS system on loan from AlliedSignal Aerospace.
While the U.S. armed forces may consider control of space an "inherently military function," they probably will not be able to achieve such a goal without close cooperation with commercial space companies, according to Bob Davis, president of R.V. Davis&Associates of Washington D.C. and former deputy under secretary of defense for space.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The avionics industry must make a greater effort to involve airline pilots in the development of new systems and technology, according to Capt. Greg Saylor, system manager, technical requirements for Delta Airlines. In the keynote speech Monday to the Avionics '98 conference here, Saylor noted an inherent reluctance by airline pilots to abandon systems they have used for years.
Esco Electronics Corp., St. Louis, said it will explore the possible sale of its Systems&Electronics Inc. (SEI) subsidiary. SEI designs and makes aircraft cargo loading systems, high mobility trailers, airborne radar, automatic test and measurement systems and fire support systems.
The U.S. Air Force will wait a while before asking industry to provide a small space launch vehicle to replace Orbital Science Corp.'s Pegasus and Taurus launchers. The AF issued a market survey this summer to determine if it could begin a program to buy commercial rockets to put 300-pound to 2,000-pound payloads into a 400 n. mi. sun-synchronous orbit (DAILY, July 9).
September 18, 1998 Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $46,900,000 face value increase to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for modification of six Air Force Reserve C-130J aircraft to perform weather reconnaissance missions. This effort includes associated data and spares. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 1999. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-95-C-2055-P00014).
EUROFIGHTER COUNTRIES have signed production contracts worth about $8.3 billion for the first lot of 148 of the jets. The contracts were signed Friday in Munich.
Top officials of the U.S. and Japan this weekend committed to continuing talks about cooperative missile defense programs, but fell short of agreeing to start a cooperative development program. "We intend to continue close cooperation with the United States on ballistic missile defense," Japanese foreign minister Masahiko Koumura said following a meeting in New York of the security consultative committee on Sunday.
SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737-600 airliner. SAS, launch customer for the type, took delivery of the plane in Seattle on Sept. 18. It is due to enter service Oct. 25, flying from Stockholm to Paris, according to Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. SAS has 55 next-generation 737s on order, and options for 40 more. The 737-600 won type certification from the European Joint Aviation Authorities last week, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last month.
Boeing Co. is funding development of a tailkit for use on a lightweight version of the Joint Direct Attack Munition that is being targeted at a variety of users, including international customers. Boeing started seriously working last year on the variant of the JDAM kit for the 500-pound Mk. 82 bomb, and is getting ready to flight test a couple of prototypes early next year, Carl A. Avila, Boeing's JDAM program manager, said in an interview in Washington. He said the Mk. 82 was selected because "it's the most prolific bomb in inventory."
The "spiral development" process has proven successful during the early parts of the U.S. Air Force's first Expeditionary Force Experiment (EFX 98), AF officials said. EFX 98, which started Sept. 14 runs through Sept. 26, is the first experiment with distributed command and control on a large scale. Spiral development, which integrates more people and systems in preparation for the command and control experiment, has been used for 24 different initiatives taking part in the experiment (DAILY, Sept. 14).
September 15, 1998 Lockheed Martin Logistics Management, Greenville, S.C., is being awarded a $26,859,052 face value increase to a fixed-price-incentive-firm-target-with-award-fee-contract to provide for FY 1999 aircraft maintenance and related services in support of Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training in the T-37, T-38, and AT-38B aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 1999. The 82nd Contracting Squadron, Sheppard AFB, Texas, is the contracting activity (F41689-97-C0504-A00045).
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. plans to launch eight Orbcomm data communications satellites aboard a Pegasus XL rocket on Sept. 22. The Dulles, Va., company said the launch, from its L-1011 Pegasus carrier aircraft near NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Va., will bring the total number of satellites deployed for the Orbcomm network to 28. The launch window is open from 1:21 a.m. to 1:36 a.m., EDT, with a target launch time of 1:29 a.m. EDT.
A team of the U.S. Air Force's Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah and Boeing Co. yesterday beat Lockheed Martin for over $1 billion in KC-135 and A-10 aircraft maintenance and other work now being conducted at Sacramento Air Logistics Center in California. The Sacramento center, at McCLellan AFB, Calif., was selected to be closed by the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure commission. The competition was the first to include a public/private team. The AF initially rejected the idea, but it was mandated in the 1998 defense authorization bill.
Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary John Hamre has told lawmakers that the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile will not be terminated, at least not for now. Hamre met with members of Congress two weeks ago and again last Wednesday night with congressional aides of several members on the Senate and House defense committees. In those meetings, he laid out options being discussed for overhauling the missile program, including killing it altogether, Hill sources said.
September 17, 1998 Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, Colorado Springs, Colo. is being awarded a $5,371,115 face value increase to a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide software upgrades to the Orbital Analysis System's anti-control capability. The work will be completed September 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-96/C-0032, P00021).
Continental Airlines yesterday completed the first commercial flight using a GPS Landing System (GLS) developed by Honeywell and Pelorus Navigation. The flight, an MD-80 on revenue service, originated in Washington D.C. and made landings in Newark, N.J., and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The GLS is expected to provide a cost-effective way to alleviate airport congestion and delay at far less cost than an Instrument Landing System.
