Clinton Administration officials yesterday rejected the notion that the commercial space launch activities that have been authorized with China have benefited that country's military capabilities. Their testimony to Congress contrasted with national security policy experts' statements on Wednesday warning lawmakers that all U.S. satellite launches on Chinese rockets benefit the Chinese military (DAILY, June 18).
FAIRCHILD CORP., Dulles, Va., completed its exchange offer for all shares of common stock of Banner Aerospace. About 3.7 million shares of Banner common stock was exchanged. The offer expired June 9 and will result in 2.2 million shares of Fairchild stock being issued to Banner shareholders who tendered their shares.
Miami-based jet engine parts-maker and distributor Heico Corp. agreed to buy another jet engine parts specialist, PTM International, for $15 million in cash. If PTM, also based in Miami, meets certain earnings targets during the next two years, Heico will pay the sellers an additional $5 million. PTM designs and makes factory new, FAA-approved replacement components for gas turbine engines, a business that netted PTM some $2 million on $5 million in revenues last year. Through April, PTM had earned just under $1 million on net revenues of $2 million.
Lagging software development and testing for the International Space Station has expert advisory panels in the U.S. and Russia concerned that a major glitch could escape notice until something fails to work on orbit. A special NASA Advisory Council task force on Station operations reported yesterday that both the U.S. and Russian Station programs have encountered "developmental and verification problems associated with software," and are working together to coordinate a "comprehensive" software development schedule for all Station partners.
AlliedSignal is planning a satellite command, control and communications network called DataLynx to "complement the company's skills in space operations and telemetry data processing and form a new hardware/services offering," company officials said yesterday. The system, to be fully operational by May 2000, will provide full end-to-end satellite services and offer customers a buy-by-the-use option, they said.
Canadian accident investigators blame a bearing lubrication problem for the failure of a Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6A-67B turboprop that downed a V. Kelner Airways-operated Pilatus PC-12 in Newfoundland on May 18, and now they're trying to recreate the failure to look for ways to prevent similar troubles on other -67Bs.
Harboring doubts about whether jet engine parts broker and overhauler Kellstrom Industries can hang on to its fat margins, corporate debt-watcher Moody's Investors Service assigned speculative grades to some $230 million worth of Kellstrom debt. Sunrise, Fla.-based Kellstrom has enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years by buying up inventories of parts, whole engines, and rival companies, a strategy that puts a premium on being one step ahead of the market's probable demand for specific types of parts.
MAJ. GEN. BORIS VOROBYOV, commander of the training center for pilots of the Russian ground forces, was killed June 17 in the crash of a Ka-50 Black Shark attack helicopter near the center at Torzhok, according to published reports from Moscow. Itar-Tass quoted a defense ministry spokesman as saying a rotor blade broke off while the helicopter was performing a maneuver at an altitude of 50 to 100 meters. Vorobyov was described as a Black Shark test pilot who has demonstrated the helicopter at international air shows.
Signature Flight Support's West Palm Beach, Fla., maintenance shop won AlliedSignal approval as a TFE731 engine line service center, along with Bell Helicopter Textron approval as a service center for Bell 206 and 407 series helicopters.
The House yesterday, in a 409-10 vote, passed a resolution creating a panel to investigate allegations that Loral Space and Communications transferred sensitive technology to China. Rep. Christopher Cox. (R-Calif.) is chairman of the of the committee, and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) is the ranking Democrat (DAILY, June 16, 17). Cox earlier this week asked the House Rules Committee to give his panel primacy over eight other house committees with jurisdiction for a six-month investigation.
Raytheon Systems Co. won a $141 million contract from the German government to upgrade ground equipment associated with the German Air Force Patriot Air Defense System. The upgrade will bring the units up to Patriot Phase Three ground configuration, making them equal to Patriots fielded by the U.S. military, Raytheon said.
Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces launched six low-orbiting satellites for military communications yesterday, but an apparent launch vehicle malfunction left the satellites in an irregular orbit which may cripple their normal use by the Russian military.
The European Commission has closed its investigative file on research subsidies for the now-defunct Fokker 70 regional aircraft development project. The decision, announced yesterday, follows assurances from the Dutch government that it will recover grants worth 163 million Ecus ($177.7 million) from the estate of the project's bankrupt manufacturer, Fokker Aircraft N.V.
The House Appropriations Committee, following the direction in the House authorization bill, has told the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization to consider "an alternate contractor" for the intercept missile. The language, written into the fiscal 1999 House Appropriations Committee report, released yesterday, assures that the idea of a second source to Lockheed Martin will be an issue in both the appropriations and authorization House-Senate conferences.
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold executive sessions to further review the record of U.S. Air Force Secretary-designate Daryl L. Jones, who was questioned extensively Tuesday by members of the committee over allegations made against him, Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) has announced.
Each bit of technological know-how the Chinese glean from launching U.S. satellites translates either directly or indirectly to their military capability, a panel of security policy experts told lawmakers yesterday. The U.S. has doubled China's experience in launching multiple payloads through launch efforts for programs like Iridium, Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Washington, told a joint hearing of the House National Security Committee and International Relations Committee.
Daniel P. Burnham will leave his position as a vice chairman of AlliedSignal Inc. to become president and chief operating officer of Raytheon Co. on July 1, the companies announced yesterday. Burnham will succeed Dennis J. Picard as chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon on Dec. 1. Picard, 65, has previously announced his intent to retire.
MARY O'NEIL MCCARTHY has been named special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence programs in the office of the White House National Security Advisor. She succeeds Rand Beers. McCarthy had been director of intelligence programs on the National Security Council staff since July 1996.
The U.S. Army's future anti-armor kinetic energy missile may add an anti-helicopter capability. "Ultimately, I'd want to hit helicopters, not just tanks," George Snyder, chief of systems and warheads at the Army's Missile Research Development Center, said in an interview. The development of a small KE missile in the Compact KE Missile (CKEM) Technology program may allow the target set to be expanded.
France's Thomson-CSF is considering increasing its holdings in Italy's Elettronica even as Thomson bids for the outstanding shares of Dassault Electronique. Thomson, which currently holds 33% of the Italian electronics company, is considering boosting that share to about 50%, Patrick Monclar, Thomson's director of strategy and development for electronic warfare and intelligence activities, said yesterday in Washington.
The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved a $250.7 billion fiscal 1999 defense appropriations bill after rejecting an attempt to shift some of the money added for unrequested C-130Js to the F/A-18E/F strike fighter to make up for the cut of three Super Hornets from the request. The attempted shift, offered by Rep. David Obey (Wis.), ranking Democrat on the full Appropriations Committee, was defeated by voice vote.
The U.S. Defense Dept. yesterday declassified its first reconnaissance satellite, one that gathered electronic intelligence on Soviet air defense radars and whose approval for launch came from President Eisenhower only four days after the May 1, 1960, shoot-down of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 over the Soviet Union.
NASA has largely agreed with an independent assessment that International Space Station costs will grow while the schedule slips over the next five years, estimating an even larger cost overrun than the panel headed by former TRW executive Jay Chabrow but arguing the stretchout can be minimized with careful management.
