Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) yesterday introduced in the Senate an amendment that would breathe new life into the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA), the Defense Dept. agency monitoring dual-use exports that has been scheduled for a greatly reduced role starting Oct. 1. Kyl, who offered the amendment to the fiscal 1999 defense appropriations bill before the Senate, said the Pentagon must have "an active role" in advising the president on licensing the export of dual-use technology.
NASA HAS EXERCISED two more options for Atlas launches under its Intermediate Expendable Launch Vehicle contract with Lockheed Martin. Under the contract options Atlas IIAs will launch Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) I and J in December 2001 and June 2002, respectively.
The U.S. Navy wants a prototype radar that could support Standard Missile SM-3 exoatmospheric intercepts and serve as an adjunct or upgrade to the An/SPY-1 Aegis radar.
House members voted 109-323 against the latest attempt to defund the International Space Station late Wednesday, overlooking Russian delays and contractor overruns to give the orbiting facility its strongest endorsement yet as preparations for the first Station element launch go down to the wire. "The Congress has spoken and given overwhelming support," Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) said after the vote. "Now it's time for the president to step up to the plate and ensure that our Russian partners fulfill their obligations."
U.K. AIRLINE EasyJet has ordered 15 next-generation 737-700s valued at $650 million and will take options for l5 more, Boeing said. This brings EasyJet orders to 27 aircraft including 12 737-300s, the first of which is scheduled for delivery next month.
The White House likely will veto the fiscal year 1999 defense authorization bill if it contains language by the House of Representatives restricting the export of satellite components and technology to China, Defense Secretary William Cohen has told lawmakers. The language is "not justified and would be counter to U.S. national interests," Cohen said in a letter to defense authorization conferees. He said he will recommend a veto if the language is included in the final bill.
The U.S. Air Force is planning no future upgrades to the High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) Targeting System (HTS) beyond the improvements it is developing and plans to field in 2000. In its latest budget drills, the service "has not funded for any additional upgrades," according to Judy Stokley, the AF's HTS program director. "It's both a funding and requirements issue," she said in a recent telephone interview from her office at Eglin AFB, Fla.
Two Republican Senators yesterday accused former Hughes Electronics chief executive C. Michael Armstrong of overwhelming U.S. national security and proliferation concerns by pressuring President Clinton to drop sanctions against China on the launch of American satellites.
Reusable space plane costs must be reduced before the U.S. military will buy into the technology, U.S. Air Force Gen. Howell Estes, commander- in-chief of U.S. Space Command, said yesterday, urging that particular attention be paid to propulsion. "The cost of building [a space plane] almost puts it out of the realm of the possible," Estes told reporters in Washington.
A Ukrainian-built Zenit-2 rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday orbited a classified satellite for the Russian Ministry of Defense. The satellite, designated Cosmos 2360, appears to be a low-orbiting signals intelligence satellite. These satellites, known as Tselina-2, have been launched by Zenit rockets since 1985. They operate in near-circular orbits with an altitude of about 850 kilometers and an inclination of 71 degrees.
ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD., Haifa, Israel, acquired 34% of the outstanding shares of Kinetics Ltd., a privately-held company based in Or Yehuda, Israel, for about $2.6 million. Elbit holds an option to increase its holdings to 51%. Kinetics develops new technologies and systems in the field of environmental control for armored vehicles, and develops and makes products and accessories for various combat vehicle applications.
Aeroflot has signed an agreement with the Vorenzh aircraft plant for 20 Il-96M passenger and cargo aircraft equipped with Pratt&Whitney engines and Collins avionics, according to the Itar-Tass news service. The signing was attended by Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, Aeroflot Director General Valery Okulov and Voronezh Director General Vyacheslav Salikov, the news agency reported yesterday.
The N.I. Kamov Experimental Design Bureau yesterday rolled out its newest development, an advanced attack helicopter called the Ka-60. The new helicopter, presented at the Lyubertsy facility in the Moscow region, drastically differs from the traditional Kamov design of two counter-rotating main rotors and no tail rotor.
HARTCOURT COMPANIES INC., Artesia, Calif., signed a letter of intent to acquire all outstanding shares of MK Aviation S.A. of Panama for $12 million in cash and stock. MK, established in 1978 in Panama City, specializes in aircraft leasing. In 1997, the company reported revenues of $33.3 million with earnings of $1.7 million. Following the completion of the acquisition, scheduled by the end of August, MK will open offices in Los Angeles.
BOULLIOUN AVIATION SERVICES yesterday placed orders for 30 Next-Generation 737s and took options on another 30 in a deal with a total value of up to $2.6 billion. Deliveries are to begin in 2001 and continue through 2006 to the aircraft leasing and finance company, which has been wholly owned since 1994 by Japan's Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co. Boeing said 995 Next- Generation 737s have been ordered since the program was launched in November 1993.
Richard Schwartz, departing as chairman and CEO of Alliant Techsystems, has worked on nearly every big U.S. space and missile program since the mid-1950s, and says he now leaves the company in a strong position as the technology and opportunities in space are growing.
Boeing Co. has teamed with Mauser-Werke Oberndorf of Germany and Primex Technologies to offer a 27mm aircraft cannon as a candidate for use on the Joint Strike Fighter. Boeing, which is competing separately with Lockheed Martin for the 3,000-aircraft JSF program, said yesterday that it has signed a teaming agreement with Mauser and Primex to produce the gun. It said the 27mm cannon is one of several being considered for the JSF.
LADISH CO. INC., Cudahy, Wis., signed a long-term purchase contract with Sino-Titanium of Baoji, China, to buy more than 1,200 tons of titanium ingot for its forging operation.
The U.S. Air Force next week plans to test a 90% scale unpowered Space Maneuver Vehicle at Holloman AFB, N.M. On Aug. 4, the 22-foot-long, 2,600-pound, graphite-epoxy/aluminum SMV will be dropped from a UH-60 helicopter at 9,000 feet, accelerate to 160 knots and perform an autonomous approach and landing, the Air Force said. Total flight time is expected to be 1.5 minutes.
The world-wide development of ICBMs is likely to proceed relatively quickly and they are even expected to fall into the hands of non-state players, U.S. Air Force Gen. Howell Estes, commander-in-chief of U.S. Strategic Command, told reporters yesterday in Washington.
BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENSE will award contracts next year to help define two new aircraft carriers and determine the type of aircraft they will carry, MOD officials said yesterday. They also said the MOD will soon issue requests for proposals for aircraft to fill its near-term and long-term airlift needs. In addition, they said, a decision is expected by the end of the year on the U.K.'s requirement for the ASTOR airborne battlefield reconnaissance system. The moves were sparked by the Strategic Defense Review, released this month.
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first two rounds of testing the Joint Direct Attack Munition from the B-1B bomber and is moving forward with development/operational testing on its threshold platforms, the F/A-18 and B-52. The B-1B/JDAM combined development and operational testing concluded July 17 with a mission flown from Edwards AFB, Calif., to the Navy's China Lake test range, according to Don Hutcheson, Boeing's JDAM business development director, and test manager David Martin.
