U.S. Air Force Electronic Systems Center has awarded a $10 million contract to ITT Gilfillan, a unit of ITT Industries' Defense & Electronics Group, for its commercially developed GCA-2000 Tactical Air Traffic Control and Landing System. ITT said the GCA-2000 is designed to provide the Air Force with the capability to field an air traffic control system to support bad weather operations anywhere in the world on short notice. ITT said the GCA-2000 is the latest generation in all-weather surveillance and landing radar technology developed by ITT Gilfillan.
NASA has created the post of Chief Technologist with responsibility for overseeing the agency's technology investment. The move is only one of several changes laid out in NASA's new strategic plan. "It has been recognized that technology development is not an independent business unit, but is fundamental to the successful performance of each Strategic Business," Administrator Daniel Goldin said as the plan was released last Thursday. Therefore, in addition to establishing the office of Chief Technologist, NASA has eliminated the Space Technology Enterprise.
SLAM STUDY: With the fiscal 1998 defense appropriations conference having spoken first and authoritatively on the JASSM/SLAM-ER Plus issue, there was little the defense authorizers could add in their conference report. Rather than remain silent on the issue, the conferees directed the secretary of defense to review the JASSM and SLAM-ER Plus as separate and as joint programs for the Air Force and Navy, and report to Congress within 60 days after enactment of the bill.
Examples of European transnational cooperative activities in the field of defense are listed in this table, included in a 33-page Oct. 29 report from the General Accounting Office titled "Defense Trade: European Initiatives to Integrate the Defense Market" (NSIAD 98-6).
TACTICAL TOMAHAWK: If U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen determines that it's critical to initiate the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile program in fiscal 1998, he should submit to Congress an FY '98 reprogramming request, the defense authorization conference report says. The Navy estimates that by exploiting commercial manufacturing processes, a life cycle savings of $400 million over the currently planned Tomahawk Block IV is possible.
The Pentagon is allowing defense contractors to overcharge the U.S. government by claiming that certain products are available in the commercial sector, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said. Harkin asked Defense Secretary William Cohen to work to change acquisition policy, particularly regarding what contractor products can be deemed "commercial." Recent changes in federal acquisition regulations have exempted contractors from supplying cost data if their products are classified as commercial, Harkin said.
Hughes Space and Communications Co. has awarded a $3.13 million contract to Applied Signal Technology Inc. to provide digital processing ASIC cores for the Milsatcom Advanced EHF engineering and model program. Under the subcontract, Applied Signal will assist a team headed by Hughes to develop an engineering model of an advanced digital signal processor with anti-jamming protection to be used in the next generation of military communications satellites.
NASA and contractor engineers on the X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype program encountered no major surprises in a week-long critical design review at Edwards AFB, Calif., last week and appear to be on the road to fly in July 1999, according to Gene Austin, NASA's X-33 program manager.
Failure of the U.S. Dept. of Energy to use important security measures, including background checks on foreign visitors at its nuclear weapon laboratories, may have resulted in "sensitive subjects being discussed with foreign nationals ... ," according to a General Accounting Office report.
TAIWAN MISSILE DEFENSE: Before adjourning for the year, the House is expected to take up a series of bills dealing with U.S.-China relations, including one measure that calls for the U.S. to help Taiwan develop a ballistic missile defense system, says House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.). The bill, H.R. 2386, would require the Administration to develop plans for systems capable of defending Taiwan as soon as reasonably possible and calls for the president to approve sale of such systems to Taiwan.
MONITORING WMD: The Intelligence Community also is making progress monitoring countries developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Tenet reports. At least 20 countries, some hostile to the U.S., already have or may be developing nuclear or biological and chemical weapons and the systems to deliver them, Tenet says. The IC has identified a biological agent research, production and storage complex at Stepnogorsk in Kazakhstan, and is supporting high-level U.S./Kazakhstan talks intended to assist in dismantlement of weapons. This marks the first time the U.S.
SWEDEN AND C2W: Sweden is taking a closer look at command and control warfare (C2W), and has launched a study to look at doctrine, planning and procedures, as well as systems, says Col. Bertil Wennerholm, head of electronic warfare for Sweden's armed forces headquarters. The study, to be completed next December, will be broad in scope but won't address the industrial base issue. That was settled several years ago when Sweden decided to maintain an industrial base for such systems.
A problem with the Ariane 5 booster's main stage left the satellites it carried in Thursday's launch from Kourou, French Guiana, about 2,000 miles lower than their planned orbit, a European Space Agency spokeswoman said Friday. The solid rocket strapons of the 169-foot-high Ariane 5 worked correctly (DAILY, Oct. 30), but the main cryogenic stage burned shorter than planned, the spokeswoman said in a telephone interview.
'CONTINUING DISPARITY': Noting the "continuing disparity" between the operational requirements of the unified commanders-in-chief and the U.S. Navy's plans for modernization of the P-3C patrol plane fleet, the congressional authorization conference has directed the secretary of the Navy to assess the situation and to deliver a report early next year with the fiscal '99 budget request. The $3.2 million fiscal '98 P-3C request to continue engineering and manufacturing development of upgrades was boosted by $10 million.
MARKET AVAILABILITY: The U.S. should take greater advantage of the availability of foreign weapon systems in the market place to learn more about them, military officials tell the Old Crows. Rear Adm. "Carlos" Johnson points out that "there's almost nothing that's not for sale." Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul V. Hester says the U.S. should increase its exploitation of foreign military equipment to improve its electronic warfare capability.
Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical says the Miniature Air Launched Decoy it is building under an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration has the potential to become a Low Cost Autonomous Attack System. If the U.S. Air Force-Defense Advanced Projects Agency initiative is given the go-ahead, MALD could become a competitor in the AF's LOCAAS program, which is looking to become an Advanced Technology Demonstration next year. The AF is working with Lockheed Martin Vought Systems on the program and Raytheon TI Systems also has expressed an interest (DAILY, Sept. 15).
The U.S. Navy's first production T-45C Goshawk jet trainer, equipped with a new digital cockpit, was presented to the service in a ceremony Friday at Boeing's St. Louis facilities. The T-45C, equipped with the digital Cockpit-21, will be used to train pilots for F/A-18 Hornets, AV-8B Harrier IIs and other carrier-based aircraft. The first Cockpit-21 aircraft now goes to NAS Patuxent River, Md., for testing of the production configuration. The second is slated to arrive at NAS Meridian, Miss., in December.
U.S. Navy under secretary-designate Jerry M. Hultin testified that Navy and Marine Corps modernization "has come very close to the margin," placing at risk the services' ability to execute missions validated by the Quadrennial Defense Review. Hultin's comment was contained in advance questions and answers released at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination last Thursday. Hultin said that if confirmed, he would "particularly like to give priority to continued recapitalization" of Navy and Marine Corps procurement accounts.
Boeing Co. signed a $3 billion agreement to deliver 50 airliners to China - 36 737s, 8 777s, 5 757s, and 1 747. The agreement, signed in Washington during the state visit of Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, gave the company a major commitment to the 737 line, helping it to steal momentum from Airbus Industrie which gained a foothold for its A320 family by selling 30 of the twinjet narrowbodies to China in May.
A consortium of British Aerospace and Daimler-Benz Aerospace won the bidding to buy the Siemens Defense Electronics Group of Germany's Siemens AG, the companies announced yesterday. Observers said the move was a step in the right direction for consolidation of the European aerospace and defense industry, but that bolder steps will have to follow.
The U.K. government is expected to release a request for proposal this week to determine which lasers are available to upgrade the AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis Directed Infrared Countermeasure system. The RFP will lead to a technical assessment of laser options, Michael Brashear, director of IR products for Northrop Grumman, told reporters Wednesday in Washington at the Association of Old Crows convention. He said Northrop Grumman, which builds DIRCM for the U.K. and the U.S. Special Operations Command, will respond with a laser upgrade it has been working on.
Airbus Industrie Chairman Jean Pierson is demanding more public money for aeronautical research in Europe. European governments should reaffirm the value of their aerospace industries, "and that reaffirmation should be backed up by a commitment to increase funding in research and technology to a level which brings it, if not on a par, close to that of the USA," said Pierson this week in Toulouse during the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the first Airbus aircraft, the A300-B1.
Improved inspections of critical components of commercial aircraft engines will begin on a "priority basis" in the first quarter of 1998, the aim being to reduce high-energy parts failure by 40% over the next five to 10 years, FAA said. Tom McSweeny, director of aircraft certification, said Wednesday that improved practices and technology to detect potential defects and prevent uncontained engine failures can cut the historical causes of engine-related accidents.
NASA is seeking Congress to grant waivers from liabilities associated with testing advanced space transportation research and development systems, including the X-33 and X-34. Yesterday, NASA and industry officials presented their case on the need for liability protection to the House Science Committee's subcommittee on space.
