Three Russian companies that manufacture missile hardware have been publicly implicated in abortive attempts to sell their wares to Iran, according to press reports from Moscow. The Kuznetsov Science and Technology Complex in Samara; the Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) in Zhukovsky and the Mytishshi Machine- Building Plant all were in talks with Iranian representatives over possible export sales when Russian counter-intelligence officials shut down the discussions, according to the independent Russian Center for Political Studies.
Bell Helicopter Textron has sold ten additional Huey II helicopter upgrade kits to the Colombian National Police, adding to eight already delivered to the Colombian Air Force. The kits will allow Colombia's police to operate the helicopter more efficiently in the country's high and hot environment, Bell said. The upgrades are expected to be carried out in Colombia.
TWA disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is talking with Boeing about acquiring 24 new MD-83 airliners. If the deal goes through, it could extend the MD-80 production line several months beyond the now planned mid-1999 suspension. About four MD-80s a month are being built.
Second flight of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is being planned for this Saturday at Edwards AFB, Calif., by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The first flight took place Feb. 28. The second flight, which may be delayed by weather, will expand the flight envelope, lasting 2.6 hours and reaching 40,000 feet. The initial flight lasted 56 minutes and reached 36,000 feet.
Government remote sensing data distributed at low cost or free of charge will "impede" efforts to develop a commercial remote sensing industry, the head of SPOT Image Corp. warned yesterday.
The Indian Air Force will upgrade more than 120 MiG-27 fighters, according to China's Xinhua news service. It quoted an air force official as saying the upgrades would involve the radar, avionics and weapon system. A team will study the air force's requirements and work out which equipment will need to be imported, the official said, adding that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. would probably perform the upgrades.
Raytheon Co. has won a $168 million U.S. Air Force contract to build 554 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles under a long-term price agreement hammered out last year. The total value of the contract for production of Lot 12 missiles will reach $243 million, the Air Force said.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has called on his designated but unconfirmed prime minister to "strictly" adhere to plans for funding space activities, and promised increased funding for Russia's space program.
BOEING said it has completed detailed design of forward fuselage components of the X-32 Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator planes, and is building parts for forebody assembly this summer. Touting manufacturing advances, the company said it is using fiber placement technology to cut the cost of making composite parts by 40%. The aircraft's inlet duct will be a single- piece composite structure.
The Pentagon said yesterday it will invest $50 million in the next three years to fund 27 proposals submitted for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Next Generation Internet effort. DARPA is using the investment to develop technologies for ultra high- performance networks. Some of the technologies will be tested on DARPA's SuperNET wide-area experimental networking testbed, DOD said.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace set records for sales, operating profit and orders in 1997 but reported significantly lower earnings due to lower tax revenues and rising exchange rates, the company said in its annual report. DASA earned DM 7 million ($3.8 million) in 1997 on 20% higher sales of DM 15.3 billion ($8.4 billion), compared to earnings of DM 1.2 billion ($658 million) on sales of DM 12.7 billion ($7 billion) in the previous year. The company said the earnings plunge came from considerably lower tax revenues because of the deferred tax liabilities.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has named Terry A. Graham executive vice president and chief operating officer of its Aeronautical Systems Div., Marietta, Ga. He had been executive VP and chief operating officer of Allison Engine Co. Before joining Allison, Graham was VP for business development and product support at the Aeronautical Systems Div. Prior to that, he was president of C-130 programs.
FAA yesterday unveiled a package of aviation safety initiatives called "Safer Skies" designed to bring about a five-fold reduction in fatal accidents. Some of the initiatives, which had been recommended by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission last year, already have been implemented voluntarily by industry which, along with pilots, praised yesterday's action.
Japan's Ministry of Transport, the Defense Agency and the local Ibaragi government agreed April 7 to construct a 2,700-meter second runway at Hyakuri air force base that eventually will relieve congestion at Tokyo Narita. Hyakuri is 70 kilometers northeast of Tokyo and 45 km north of Narita. The new runway, to be built on the west side of the field, is not expected to be operational until 2005. After completion, a portion of Narita's traffic will be shifted to Hyakuri, the fourth joint military/civil airfield in Japan.
During the first quarter of 1998 a total of 20 space launches with 37 spacecraft were performed worldwide, including one launch failure and one in-orbit failure. The U.S. conducted 11 launches with 26 satellites, including one for Great Britain and one for Intelsat. Russia made three launches with three satellites. Arianespace performed three launches, orbiting four satellites for Brazil, Inmarsat, Eutelsat and France. Japan orbited one domestic satellite and China launched two U.S. American satellites on one rocket.
Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler is expected to finalize a memorandum today redesignating the first two production F-22 fighters as pre-production vehicles, and delaying a production decision by one year. The restructuring would leave the Air Force program largely intact, retaining $595.1 million in fiscal 1999 procurement funds to buy the two fighters. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said yesterday that the two aircraft will be delivered with their full electronic suites, contradicting what some DOD officials said last week (DAILY, April 13).
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities has recommended type validation of Boeing's 737-800, the final hurdle before certification. The approval comes one month after FAA certification. Launch customer Hapag-Lloyd of Germany is scheduled to take the first 737-800 this month. The charter airline will use the 160- to 189-seat aircraft to replace its -400s and -500s.
Two microprobes that will slam into the surface of Mars after a piggyback ride to the Red Planet on the Mars Polar Lander could pave the way for a new generation of robotic planetary science probes, according to the NASA project's manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $16,980,000 face value increase to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for eight APG- 68(V)5 fire control radar systems applicable to the F-16 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed December 1999. At this time, $8,490,000 of the contract funds have been obligated. This effort supports foreign military sales to Bahrain. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-98-C-2008).
With three retirements, a death and half a dozen or more close House races this fall, 20% or more of the membership of the 55-member House National Security Committee may be replaced, an examination of House races indicates.
TRW, Incorporated, Redondo Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $27,900,000 face-value-increase to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to definitize the Space Based Infrared System Low Program Flight Demonstration System contract. The work is expected to be completed October 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-92/C-0062, P00096).
Rockwell Collins Inc., Communications Systems Division, Richardson, Texas, is being awarded an $8,000,000 modification to a firm-fixed-price/time-and- materials contract for reconfiguration and fixed site installation of Single Channel Anti-Jam Manportable Terminals (SCAMP). Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas (88.5%); Concord, Mass. (4%); McLean, Va. (3%); Lowell, Mass. (2%); Redondo Beach, Calif. (1%); Calabasas, Calif. (.5%); Rochester, N.Y. (.5%); and Encinitas, Calif. (.5%), and is expected to be completed by Feb. 23, 2002.
After declaring its desire to enter the U.S. Air Force's Space Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS-Low) competition, Spectrum Astro is now waiting for a sign from the government to see if there is real interest in an alternate competitor. "We're trying to provide [the government] an alternative" to traditional contractors, Dave Thomson, Spectrum Astro's president, said in a telephone interview.
