The Senate Armed Services Committee last week finished work on its fiscal year 1999 defense authorization bill, which provides no additional funds above the Administration's request. While the committee didn't increase the request, it did shift funding among some programs, realigning some of the Defense Dept.'s priorities. The bill provides $270.6 billion in budget authority, a $2.9 billion drop below fiscal year 1998 in real terms, according to a statement released by the committee.
The Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday approved a bill authorizing funds for fiscal 1999 programs of the U.S. intelligence community. This includes funds for the CIA, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other Intelligence Community entities. Among the areas the committee focused on in the legislation were advanced research and development, expanding the collection and exploitation of measurements and signatures intelligence.
BMW Rolls-Royce is taking a 23.2% stake in the NH90 helicopter engine program under a new agreement with Rolls-Royce Turbomeca, which developed the RTM 322 turboshaft for the NH90. The partnership covers development, production, marketing and customer support for the RTM 322, but only for the NH90 application, and only for the NH90 helos that the German government is buying. BMW Rolls-Royce will assemble NH90 engines and complete final testing at its Oberursel headquarters.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (DASA) will remain part of a merged Daimler- Benz and Chrysler, Daimler-Benz officials said yesterday in announcing a $90 billion plan to buy the American auto maker, but one aerospace analyst said the deal could have several meanings for DASA.
The National Security Agency (NSA) must change the way it makes budgetary decisions and its method of program architectural planning, according to the House Intelligence Committee. The committee, in its report accompanying the fiscal 1999 intelligence authorization bill, credits NSA for some changes, but says the agency can produce more detailed strategic and business plans.
The Ontario government, one of Bombardier's best customers for the Canadair CL-215 water bomber, is cashing in its CL-215 fleet for new CL- 415s powered by Pratt&Whitney PW123F turboprops, a deal Bombardier says is worth C$225 million. Deliveries began last month to Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and will run through December. As part of the agreement, Bombardier will buy back Ontario's nine CL-215s over a three-year period and sell or lease them to other operators.
Continental Airlines' Continental Express subsidiary ordered 25 Embraer ERJ-135 regional jets, moving it closer to its goal of an all-jet fleet within the next five years. The transaction, at a list price of $12.6 million per aircraft, is valued at $315 million. Continental Express also took options on 50 more of the 37-seat aircraft.
Superior Air Parts, the Dallas, Texas-based specialist in components for the piston-powered general aviation fleet, "is in the acquisition mode" these days, following its acquisition of Aircraft Technology Corp./Spirit Air, says Superior President and CEO Bernie Coleman. Aircraft Technology Corp., of Addison, Texas, was Superior's number one rival in the Continental and Lycoming Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) parts business before the March 31 acquisition.
FAA and Boeing officials yesterday said that they had discovered what appears to be arcing from a bundle of high voltage wires in the fuel tank of a Continental Airlines 737. The discovery was made Monday night and Tuesday morning, and yesterday the FAA issued an emergency order requiring that all 737s with more than 50,000 hours be inspected within seven days. The arcing caused two pin holes in a conduit, and the conduit showed traces of fuel leakage, said Rich Breuhaus, chief engineer for fuel system safety for Boeing.
ORDERS: THY Turkish Airlines placed orders for two more CFM56- powered Airbus A340-300s, bringing its total orders to seven for the four- engine aircraft. THY is flying five aircraft today....Air Europe Italy leased two Pratt&Whitney PW4084-powered Boeing 777-200s from International Lease Finance Corp., for delivery in July and October next year. Air Europe currently leases four 767-300s from ILFC.
The House National Security Committee Wednesday night approved a $270.8 billion fiscal 1999 defense authorization that made relatively modest increases in theater missile defense programs, tactical aircraft, innovative technology and precision guided munitions (see table on page 221). The bill is expected to be on the House floor in a week and a half, committee sources said. In missile defense actions, the committee: -- Approved the requested level of $950.5 million for National Missile Defense.
Spence M. (Sam) Armstrong, a retired Air Force three-star general who has been NASA's human resources and education chief since 1991, will take over as head of the agency's Aeronautics and Space Technology Enterprise effective Monday, Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced yesterday.
Tasked to explore ways to cut emissions in a variety of areas, including those from aircraft engines, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has started laying plans to consult with industry about a voluntary program to retrofit older aircraft to make them more environmentally friendly. "What we have talked about is a voluntary program to retrofit older aircraft" with kits that would reduce emissions, an EPA official says, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Voluntary is the key word."
United Airlines credits engine modifications and tighter navigation with allowing it to resume nonstop service this week between Chicago and Hong Kong - a journey of more than 7,700 miles. "Advanced engine technology on the 747-400 has allowed us to offer the year-round service our customers want," says United's VP for international, Chris Bowers. "The new service will allow Hong Kong passengers to connect conveniently with other United flights through Chicago."
The U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin have detected a slight problem in an electronic circuit board that plays a role in steering the kill vehicle on the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile, according to Brig. Gen. Daniel Montgomery, the Army's program executive officer for air and missile defense.
Carson City, Nev.based Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp. won a $16.3 million firm-fixed-price contract to repair some 26,000 high-pressure turbine nozzles used in General Electric TF-39 engines powering the U.S. Air Force's massive C-5 Galaxy airlifters. The contract, awarded by the San Antonio Air Logistics Center at Kelly AFB, Texas, runs through May 2003.
Richard Smallwood, director-business on the board of management for BMW Rolls-Royce, left the German engine manufacturer last month to return to Rolls-Royce, plc where he will be senior VP-customer business Europe, South and Central America and customer business director for British Airways. Smallwood's former responsibilities at BMW Rolls-Royce will be handled by Klaus Nittinger, chairman of the board of management.
NASA'S B-52B SUFFERED what a spokesperson described as "minor" damage when its No. 8 engine pod hit the ground during a touch-and-go landing exercise at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., on Monday. The crew was unharmed, and made a "precautionary" landing at nearby Edwards AFB after the incident, which apparently occurred when the right wing outrigger collapsed during the touch-and-go, according to a spokesperson for NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, which operates the B-52B.
COLLINS FMS-800 Flight Management System has won Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval from the FAA for installation on the U.S. Army's C-12 aircraft and the U.S. Air Force's KC-10 and C-9 aircraft, thus becoming the first military flight management system to receive a TSO, according to Rockwell International. It said the approvals followed testing by the FAA, Air Force and Army over the past several months on all three aircraft.
Microturbo and Turbomeca Engine Corp., both Grand Prairie, Texas-based sister engine units within the French Labinal Group, won U.S. Army Contractor Performance Certification Program - or CP2 - certificates, joining only five other companies to get CP2-certified during the past 12 years. "This means that both Microturbo and Turbomeca have successfully achieved the necessary credentials to be preferred suppliers to the Army," explains James Loftin, in charge of quality at both Turbomeca and Microturbo.
Pratt&Whitney is counting on compelling economics and a strong lease package, as well as a few technical wrinkles, to overcome rival CFM International's perceived commonality edge in the contest to re-engine some 180 four-engine Boeing 707 airframes remaining in U.S. Air Force service.
Fort Worth, Texas-based RTS Rework, Inc. is ready to start a new insulation blanket restoration process on Pratt&Whitney JT8D turbofans and P&W Canada PT6A and PW100 engines. The company just finished installing the necessary equipment and establishing a new department at its facility to handle the work, in which RTS technicians repair cracked or torn sections of blanket foil by applying patches of new foil and attaching it using tack welding. Voids in the blanket's interior are filled with clean fiber from new blanket material.
A plan to boost performance of the Comanche helicopter prototypes before a critical user assessment in 2004 will be partially implemented, Brig. Gen. Joseph Bergantz, director of the program, said yesterday.
The U.S. and Israel are negotiating an extension of the current agreement on the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) program to allow for additional tests and possibly a second radar, Richard Fisher, head of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command's Technology Center, told reporters here. If the agreement is amended it will require additional U.S. funding, but how much is unclear at this time, Fisher said during a media day briefing on Tuesday.
