The Global Hawk high altitude endurance unmanned aerial vehicle completed a series of critical taxi tests at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Saturday, moving it closer to first flight. The Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical UAV, which is about the size of a U-2 aircraft, completed three separate taxi runs, each in excess of 7,000 feet, a TRA spokesman said yesterday. Despite the successful tests, the Global Hawk will not fly until early next year.
Japan's Engineering Test Satellite No. 7 (ETS-7), scheduled for launch next week on an H-2 rocket, is scheduled to carry out a total of seven rendezvous and docking experiments to prepare for operations on the International Space Station. The National Space Development Agency (NASDA) has designed ETS-7 with a target satellite and a chaser. After the spacecraft reaches its 350- kilometer orbit (217 miles), the chaser will separate from the target and move about nine kilometers (5.6 miles) away.
Lee B. Holcomb has been named chief information officer at NASA headquarters, Washington, D.C. Holcomb succeeds Ronald S. West who retired earlier this year.
Terry Lewis has been appointed head of production and will be responsible for the overall management of aircraft hangar maintenance activities, component overhaul shops and engine overhaul shops in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Pentagon's projected costs to improve the air defense and command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) capabilities of new NATO members is too low, according to a report from a private Washington research organization. The Pentagon's estimated total cost to improve C3I capabilities of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland is $2 billion to $3 billion; it puts the cost for air defense improvements at $2.1 billion to $2.9 billion.
Michael Molyneux has been named president of Cytec Fiberite Inc., of West Paterson, N.J. This company was established in September 1997 when Cytec acquired most of Fiberite Inc.'s business and combined it with Cytec Engineered Materials Inc.
Michael J. Gaines has been appointed vice president and controller of Hughes Electronics and will also serve as the company's Chief Accounting Officer in Los Angeles, Calif.
Raytheon Aircraft received a $71 million contract modification from the U.S. Air Force for the Ground Based Training Systems (GBTS) portion of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program. The company said the modification covers four years of engineering and manufacturing development for GBTS components. Additional options through 2005 could bring the value to $183 million.
The Pentagon announced potential foreign military sales totalling $753 million, most of which would involve support for aircraft programs of Taiwan. All must be approved by Congress. Taiwan has been offered $420 million worth of pilot training and logistics support under two separate FMS agreements. No offset agreements are included. Under a $280 million deal, Taiwan would receive pilot training and logistics support for its F-16 fighters. Taiwan flies about 150 F-16A/Bs. The services would support Taiwan's long-term pilot training program at Luke AFB, Ariz.
DRS TECHNOLOGIES, Parsippany, N.J., completed the acquisition of the Applied Systems Div. of Spar Aerospace Ltd. for about $29 million in cash. The acquisition, headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada, will operate under the name DRS Flight Safety and Communications.
John D. Tyson, former vice president of business development at Boeing's McDonnell Aircraft and Missile Systems Division, will be president and chief executive officer of Tyson Futures Inc., a management and marketing consulting firm in St. Louis, Mo.
Post-flight debriefings of U.S. astronauts who have spent time on Russia's Mir orbital station are disorganized and poorly disseminated, preventing NASA and its independent advisory panels from taking full advantage of the astronauts' costly experience with long-duration spaceflight, NASA's inspector general has found.
Boeing Co. has received a $452 million contract for engineering and manufacturing development of E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) improvements, the Pentagon said. The work will focus on improvements to the radar, communications, avionics, computer and navigation systems. The work is to be concluded by July 2001.
WATKINS-JOHNSON CO., Palo Alto, Calif., completed the divestiture of its defense electronics, microwave components and subsystems business to Stellex Industries, a corporation managed by Mentmore Holdings Corp, New York. The business, based in Palo Atlo, will be operated as Stellex Microwave.
