To keep its Joint Strike Fighter within cost goals established by the Pentagon, Boeing wants its initial design to come in well under the cost goal to hedge against increases later in the program.
Comsat Corp. endorsed Intelsat's decision to spin off six Intelsat satellites into a separate, publicly traded company called "New Skies Satellites." Comsat President and CEO Betty Alewine said the move "is a huge win for fair competition and shareholder value. The creation of New Skies protects and enhances Comsat's investment in Intelsat, meets U.S. and international competition policy objectives and expands competition in the satellite industry."
Ranking Senate Armed Services Democrat Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.) said he is considering legislating a delay in the U.S. Air Force's planned production schedule for the F-22 fighter to take into account risks in the program. Levin told The DAILY in an interview that he wants to make sure that the Air Force "takes risks into consideration." He said he is considering a number of proposals.
Assistant U.S. Navy Secretary for Research, Development and Acquisition John Douglass said yesterday that funding for low-rate production of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet could be cleared by the end of this week. Production funds were frozen by Defense Secretary William Cohen pending resolution of a wing-drop problem.
The Pentagon should increase the number of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles it plans to buy, according to the Long-Range Air Power panel that reviewed whether or not to buy more B-2 stealth bombers. A summary of the report says the panel "believes that the planned buy of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile should be substantially increased and the JASSM should be a high priority for integration on each of the bomber types." The panel was headed by former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Larry D. Welch.
The U.S. Navy is showing interest in a British Aerospace digital terrain reference navigation system after a F/A-18 flew into the side of a canyon in Oman last September. The system is already being installed on U.S. Air Force F-16s and is on all U.K. Royal Air Force fighters, Kelly Dameron, national sales manager-navigation for BAe Systems and Equipment, said at luncheon in Washington on Monday.
President Clinton on Tuesday certified to Congress that "no additional B-2 bombers should be procured during this fiscal year." The certification is required under the fiscal 1998 defense appropriations act. He said the $331 million appropriated for B-2 bombers in FY 1998 should be used for modification, repair and further upgrades.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON'S Eagle Eye UAV has completed 10 flights and logged more than 10 hours in the air at the U.S. Navy-sponsored Vertical Take-Off and Landing UAV demonstration at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. The tiltrotor has conducted nacelle conversion from the 90-degree VTOL mode to 45 degrees for forward flight. Bell said that within the next couple of flights it expects to transition the nacelles to full forward flight, after which the flight envelope will be expanded further.
No major theater missile defense programs will be increased by significant amounts in the House National Security research and development subcommittee markup of the fiscal 1999 defense authorization, but increases are likely for the MEADS program and lasers, subcommittee chairman Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said yesterday.
Israel Aircraft Industries recorded its first profit in five years, earning $24.3 million in 1997, the first year of operations following completion of a four-year recovery plan. Sales of $1.7 billion were 15% higher than 1996 sales of $1.5 billion, IAI said. Profit before taxes and special expenses stood at $30 million, compared to a loss of $41.1 million in 1996.
The B-2 bomber's sortie rate could be doubled with an extensive maintenance program that would improve both low-observable maintainability and stealth performance, former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Larry D. Welch testified yesterday. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who chaired the House National Security procurement subcommittee hearing that reviewed the Long-Range Airpower report prepared by Welch, indicated that he is likely to increase the B-2 account in the subcommittee's fiscal 1999 defense authorization markup.
MiG Moscow Aviation Production Assn. (MiG MAPO) will suspend operation from April 1 until Aug. 31 in a move some inside the company believe is linked to an upcoming privatization. MiG MAPO is a core company of MiG Military Industrial Complex (MiG VPK), established in January 1996 and including 11 companies involved in development and production of MiG aircraft and Kamov helicopters.
A campaign by the German government to hike European Union funding for aerospace research got a boost last week after a meeting in Bonn between Edith Cresson, head of research for the European Commission, and Jurgen Ruettgers, Germany's research minister.
Rogerson Kratos, Pasadena, Calif., finished a multi-million dollar renovation and enhancement of its design and manufacturing facilities. The company, which supplies advanced avionics systems and instrumentation displays, said it installed two chambers for highly accelerated life testing and stress screening. A third chamber is planned for later this year. Improvements also were made in the PC network, CAD/CAM systems and computerized manufacturing systems. Production facilities also have been completely rebuilt.
Lucas Aerospace, Utica, N.Y., won a contract from Bell Helicopter Textron, Fort Worth, Tex., to supply the main input drive shaft assembly for the AH-1Z Upgrade Attack Helicopter and the UH-1Y Upgrade Utility Helicopter. Bell is under contract to the U.S. Marine Corps for the EMD phase of the program. It is expected to re-manufacture 280 helicopters.
Lockheed Martin and Europe's Sema Group PLC agreed to combine capabilities and resources for logistics support of the Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin announced yesterday. It said specific details concerning work content are being developed at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, Fort Worth, Tex. Sema also will work with Lockheed Martin Information Systems, Orlando, Fla., in other information technology related defense and commercial opportunities.
A senior U.S. Air Force acquisition official yesterday presented alternatives for a national missile defense (NMD) architecture, pushing systems like an interceptor based on the Minuteman ICBM and an upgraded Milstar satellite system, as well as flight tests that the NMD Joint Program Office has not yet approved.
Raytheon Co. said it has been given to go-ahead by the FAA to proceed to operational capabilities testing of its Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) for the Air Traffic Control Beacon Interrogator (ATCBI-6) Replacement program.
William Owens, president and chief operating officer of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), will resign as of June 1, the high tech San Diego company said yesterday.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has refused to buy Soviet- era Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers from Ukraine. The decision, announced last week, came after the two parties failed to agree on a price after four years of negotiation. Yeltsin's press service essentially denounced recent statements of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Col. Gen. Anatoly Kornukov, who wanted to keep the issue of purchasing a few strategic bombers from Ukraine alive.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing ranked first and second, respectively, as the employers of choice of graduating engineering students, according to a new a survey.
NASA managers have seen early "signals" Russia intends to continue working on its share of the International Space Station despite President Boris Yeltsin's top-level shakeup, but they concede that if Russia fails to meet its Station commitments the cost to take up the slack "could run up into the billions very quickly." That kind of money isn't likely to be available in the present budget environment on Capitol Hill, a key member of the House Appropriations Committee warned yesterday as NASA presented its budget request for fiscal year 1999 to the panel.
The House Monday night approved a $147 million authorization boost of fiscal 1998 funds to accelerate missile defense programs to counter an increased ballistic missile threat, primarily from Iran. Each item in the bill, Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) told the House, "has been scrubbed" by Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and "stamped with his approval as a sensible use of funds."
Northrop Grumman has won the U.S. Navy's competition for a major EA- 6B Prowler upgrade that will be fielded starting in fiscal 2004 and provide a more effective suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) capability. The Navy last week awarded a Northrop Grumman-led team a $144.2 million for engineering and manufacturing development of the Improved Capability-III (ICAP III) program. Northrop Grumman, which will act as the integrator, defeated a team of Raytheon, Tracor and Pacer Infotec.
