A crack developed in the wing of an F-2 fighter during a recent static test, according to sources in Japan's Defense Agency and the aerospace industry. The agency and F-2 prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have declined to comment.
Special review teams comprised of heavy hitters experienced with problem-plagued development programs of the past are due to report by early fall on how Lockheed Martin should proceed with future development and testing of the troubled Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile.
Pratt&Whitney wrapped up a little more than three weeks of initial testing on its F119-611 Joint Strike Fighter turbofan powering the Lockheed Martin team's X-35 JSF concept demonstrator. Officials say the engine - FX661 - now has about 50 hours of test time, and is ready to go for altitude testing at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engine Development Center in Tullahoma, Tenn.
Talks between the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to resolve concerns about the proposed merger of the two companies failed (DAILY, July 16) because it would take too much effort to constantly monitor the combined company, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said yesterday. "We could not simultaneously meet two demands," he said. "The first was maintaining certain amounts of competition both in terms of price and technology. And second, maintaining our commitment to smarter, less intrusive buying practices."
LOCKHEED MARTIN Information Systems has won a U.S. Air Force contract to supply goods and services associated with flight systems training at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The five-year Training Systems Acquisition contract is intended to shorten delivery time for simulation and training capabilities.
Pratt&Whitney just completed tests on its XTC-66 core engine, developed during the second phase of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) under the Advanced Turbine Engine Gas Generator (ATEGG) program. The XTC-66 is the forerunner of the core destined to power P&W's recently launched PW8000 geared turbofan (AP, Feb. 27) and PW6000 JT8D replacement.
The Asian economic crisis will probably bite down harder and longer into airframers' balance sheets than the airframers or securities houses so far have been willing to believe, a new forecast from veteran aerospace analyst and JSA Research President Paul Nisbet suggests.
Alliant Techsystems will build the fiber-placed composite pivot shaft for the Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter under a subcontract that could reach a value of $175 million through 2012. Alliant said yesterday it has received an initial $7 million contract to transition the program from development and production and for the first two production options
Japan and Spain have both received letters of offer from the U.S. for AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles worth a total of $74 million, the Pentagon said. Spain, which already has AMRAAMs, would buy 100 AIM-120Bs, 48 launchers, and support equipment and documentation for $52 million through foreign military sales channels. Japan would buy 40 AIM-120Bs and support materials and documentation for $22 million. The deal would also be an FMS arrangement.
Flight safety will not be affected by projected Year 2000 computer problems, according to officials of Airbus, Boeing and the FAA. But, they said at a conference in Arlington, Va., software problems caused by Y2K bugs could affect inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, creating bookkeeping and accounting problems for airlines.
Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.) said programs that were line item vetoed in the fiscal 1998 defense appropriations act should be treated by the Administration as if they were automatically reinstated, as in a successful veto override by Congress. Young, chairman of the House Appropriations national security subcommittee, acknowledged in an interview with The DAILY that he may have to get a legal ruling on the situation. The line item veto, enacted by Congress in 1996, was struck down by the Supreme Court last June 25 in a 6-3 ruling.
ORDERS: Never mind. As the last AP went to press, Airbus Industrie said USAirways hadn't yet picked engines for their newly ordered A330 widebodies (AP, July 6). Maybe not, but Chairman Stephen Wolf, trying to soothe U.S. reporters in Paris wondering about the carrier turning away from U.S. aerospace, said he planned to buy Pratt&Whitney PW4000 series engines for the jetliners....Air Tours confirms it will take two more Trent 700-powered A330-200 aircraft in addition to two announced last year, Rolls reports.
NICHOLS RESEARCH CORP., Huntsville, Ala., won contracts valued at more than $2 million from the U.S. Army for systems integration and support at Fort Belvoir, Va. The Project Manager, Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (PM, NV/RSTA) and the Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) are the principal customers.
The Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday wrestled with contradictory and strongly held evaluations of Florida State Sen. Daryl F. Jones' fitness to be the next Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, and the day- long hearing left the committee no closer to deciding the fate of the nomination. At one point, Sen. Dirk Kempthorne (R-Idaho), obviously upset by the contradictory testimony from two credible panels, asked: "What is going on here? To me this is ripping the Air Force apart."
See a Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems illustration which shows the relationship between the Pratt&Whitney F119-611 Joint Strike Fighter main power turbofan and the Rolls-Royce LiftFan for short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) operations on the Lockheed Martin X-35 JSF candidate, on the hard copy of this issue
The U.S. Air Force has completed a 1,000 hour operational flight test program of the "Electric Starlifter," a C-141A fitted with electric actuators on both ailerons. The 1,000-hour goal is a departure from past practices - it's usually about 30-40 hours - but it will allow collection of more reliability and maintainability data, program officials have said.
NASA'S X-33 reusable launch vehicle testbed program will mark its second anniversary today with a two-hour webcast from the Palmdale, Calif., Lockheed Martin facility where the suborbital prototype is being built. NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works managers will present progress reports and take questions from both a live audience and web participants. The digital audio webcast will run from 1:30-3:30 p.m. EDT at http://www.nss.org/x33>
Boeing Co. has won a $5.5 million U.S. Air Force contract to upgrade AGM-86C Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs). Under the contract, announced by the company yesterday, Boeing will develop and build 28 retrofit kits for delivery to the AF in the year 2000. The number of CALCMs to be upgraded wasn't released. CALCM is non-nuclear version of surplus nuclear-armed Air Launched Cruise Missiles.
A joint NASA/European Space Agency investigation board has concluded controller errors on the ground rather than an onboard problem caused the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft to spin out of control last month, which could mean the spacecraft can be recovered later this year.
NASA has set up a program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to coordinate the U.S. space agency's efforts to spot, characterize and track asteroids and comets that pose a potential threat to Earth. The Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL has a goal of locating at least 90% of the estimated 2,000 large asteroids and comets that approach the earth by the end of 2010. "Large" in this context is defined as at least one kilometer in diameter.
Boyd Givan, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Boeing Co., plans to retire Sept. 1, the company announced. It said the search for a successor will be conducted among internal and external candidates. Givan joined Boeing in 1966 after working at Arthur Andersen&Co. and Martin Marietta. He moved through the management ranks in the Commercial Airplane Group and become vice president-finance in 1988. He has served as CFO since 1990.
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities is expected to ask its 27 member nations to certify the Boeing MD Explorer as capable of category A performance this month, Boeing said. The JAA validation would pave the way for the Explorer to be certified and to operate throughout the JAA community. The action will make the twin-engine, eight-place Explorer the first helicopter in its weight classification to achieve the higher safety, reliability and performance category.
British Aerospace has conducted the first flight of a Tornado F3 aircraft with Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), and noted no effect on handling of the aircraft. BAe Director of Flight Operation Derek Reeh and Chief Navigator Jim Stuttard flew a 30-minute test sortie from BAe's Warton plant in Lancashire with the missiles, BAe said yesterday. "The test went perfectly with the excellent handling qualities of the aircraft unaffected by this new missile," Reeh said.
Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) today will introduce an amendment to the fiscal year 1999 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill to kill the International Space Station. Roemer has failed in the past to kill the program, and is not expected to succeed this time. Last week the Senate, in a 66-33 vote, defeated an amendment by Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-
