FOUR AND COUNTING: The decision of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of California means there will be at least four vacancies on the House National Security Committee in the next Congress. Harman announced her intentions last week, and with the California filing deadline of March 6, it's not likely she will change her mind in time to file for her present House seat. The California primary is June 6. Ranking Democrat Ronald Dellums' resignation from the House took effect Friday. Rep.
Orbital Science Corp. has scheduled the second flight of its Taurus ground-launched rocket today with a U.S. Navy research satellite and two of its Orbcomm "Little LEO" subsidiary's communications platforms aboard. Liftoff of the Taurus is scheduled for about 10 a.m. EST from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., first placing the Navy's GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO) satellite into a planned 108-degree orbit at an altitude of 779 by 790 kilometers, and then releasing the two Orbcomm data relay satellites a short time later.
FIRST F-22 FIGHTER was transported on Thursday from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Marietta, Ga., to Edwards AFB, Calif., where it will begin flight tests in the spring, the AF reported Friday. The F-22, shipped on a C-5 airlifter, was delivered to Edwards about two weeks earlier than expected, an Air Force spokeswoman said. Flight tests will start at Edwards in the spring, but the AF declined to name a specific date. After more than three months of delays, the plane made its first flight at Dobbins last fall (DAILY, Sept. 9, 1997).
FINAL STAGES: The U.S. Dept. of Energy is about to complete certification of the B61-11 nuclear bomb for all environments. Flight testing is being conducted on only one more environmental condition in which the bomb might be used, a DOE official said. All modifications to the B61-11 penetrator configuration have been completed, and the weapon is considered part of the active stockpile.
STATION COST STUDY: NASA has lost track of just how much its share of the International Space Station will cost, and is running two separate studies to find out. Administrator Daniel S. Goldin tells a suspicious Rep. Bart Gordon, the new ranking Democrat on the House Science subcommittee that oversees the space agency, that overruns at Boeing and extra work backstopping the Russians has thrown the estimate into question.
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization has included an additional $30 million in its fiscal year 1999 budget request to cover the government's portion of an anticipated $42 million cost overrun in the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) program. When BMDO released its FY '99 budget request it said it anticipated the overrun at the completion of the PAC-3 development contract, which would be funded with existing resources (DAILY, Feb. 5).
MOOG INC., East Aurora, N.Y., completed the acquisition of Schaeffer Magnetics Inc., Chatsworth, Calif. Schaeffer, which makes motion control devices and systems for the space industry, employs about 150 people and has about $20 million in annual revenues.
BALL CORP., Muncie, Ind., will relocate its corporate headquarters to its Colorado Engineering Center building in Broomfield, Colo. The relocation will take place in stages and will be completed by the end of the year. Ball has about 180 employees at its corporate offices.
'LEEWAY' FOR THAILAND: The Pentagon is telling F/A-18 contractors to be patient with Thailand, which may have to bail out of a deal to buy eight of the jets because of the monetary crisis there. DOD spokesman Ken Bacon says the Pentagon has urged contractors "to be as flexible as possible to give the Thais some leeway." Bacon mentions options such as a stretchout or delayed payment arrangement, but acknowledges that in the end it is up to the Thai government to decide whether to go ahead with the deal. Defense Secretary William S.
FLAT PANEL DISPLAY MARKET: The growing importance of technology in battlefield management should fuel the U.S. military's demand for Flat Panel Displays (FPDs), according to research conducted by Frost&Sullivan. It says the military spent $415 million on FPDs in 1996, and is expected to spend more than $4 billion by 2005.
TWO U.S. MARINE F/A-18 fighters were involved in an apparent collision over the Arabian Gulf Friday, but both pilots were recovered from the water and were returned to their aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, according to the Pentagon. It said the incident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Bahrain time about 80 miles east of Kuwait City as the aircraft were returning to the carrier from a routine flight in support of Operation Southern Watch.
NASA is taking its first steps toward commercializing the U.S. portions of the International Space Station, but any private money invested in the orbiting laboratory will come too late to help the U.S. space agency through a cash crunch on the project this year.
OPPOSITE APPROACH: While the National Defense Panel argues that the U.S. can trade off current readiness for programs to boost future readiness, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) is urging the opposite approach.
PACIFIC AEROSPACE&ELECTRONICS INC., Wenatchee, Wash., signed a letter of intent to acquire all outstanding stock of Electronics Specialty Corp., Vancouver, Wash., and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Displays and Technology Inc. The transaction is valued at about $8 million in cash and stock. Both companies supply parts to manufacturers in commercial, military and defense sectors of the aerospace industry and have combined annual sales of about $12 million.
The U.S. Air Force and United Technologies' Pratt&Whitney unit will spend the coming months refining a scramjet design as they prepare for a freejet engine wind tunnel demonstration in the next phase of the Storable Fuel Scramjet Flowpath Concepts technology development program.
LOW THREAT: North Korea is the only country aside from the five declared nuclear powers - the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France - that could threaten the U.S. with a ballistic missile in the next 15 years, Defense Secretary William Cohen writes in his annual report to the President and Congress. This threat, exemplified by the Taepo Dong 2, has a low likelihood of being operational by 2005, he adds.
The U.S. Air Force is developing a low-cost battle damage intelligence and battle damage assessment (BDI/BDA) system that would piggyback on munitions and provide near-real time information.
Northrop Grumman has been exploring command and control relationships that would allow an operator to monitor and control multiple Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles. The company has run a series of simulations in recent months to determine the human/system interface to control a UCAV, Greg Zwernemann, manager of advanced uninhabited vehicle concepts for Northrop Grumman in Pico Rivera, Calif., said during a telephone interview.
FIELDS AIRCRAFT SPARES INC., Simi Valley, Calif., signed a letter of intent to acquire Skylock Industries Inc., a designer and maker of hardware and retaining devices for aircraft cabin interiors based in Monrovia, Calif. Terms of the cash/stock deal were not disclosed.
The Interstate Aviation Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States certified the GE90-powered Boeing 777. This will permit Aeroflot, the first 777 operator in the CIS, to take delivery of its first aircraft in April, and the second in October. Both are leased from International Lease Finance Corp.
The U.S. Navy plans to begin procurement this year of the MA-31 supersonic sea-skimming target in a program that may grow to an annual procurement of 20 targets. The MA-31, a variant of Russia's SS-N-22 sea-skimmer, was evaluated by the Navy in a foreign comparative test program that concluded last year. The U.S. partner is Boeing Co. The target is launched from a QF-4 drone.
It's no secret that Defense Secretary William S. Cohen's planned increase of procurement funding, which would carry Pentagon procurement to $63.5 billion in fiscal 2003, depends on achieving savings from base closings, better use of business practices and reduction of excess overhead. But in his testimony last Thursday to the House National Security Committee on the $257.3 billion fiscal 1999 budget, Cohen drew attention to a factor that could complicate DOD plans - the dropping of the budget "firewalls" after fiscal 1999.
PRATT&WHITNEY marked first flight of its PW4098 engine on Feb. 4, on a Boeing 777-300 flying from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. The flight lasted three hours and 45 minutes and included a full 98,000- pound thrust takeoff. P&W said. It said the crew also performed two in-flight starts and completed various stability tests to clear the aircraft for full-crew training flights. The engine-airplane combination will enter service this fall.
Boeing Co. said final assembly and first flight of its two Joint Strike Fighter demonstrators will take place at Palmdale, Calif., with subsequent landings at Edwards AFB, Calif. The anticipated JSF workforce at Palmdale, itsaid, will peak at about 200 workers. About 1,000 Boeing employees now work at Palmdale. The company said it has made no decision on final assembly for future phases of the program.
