Lockheed Martin Sanders, Nashua, N.H., said it has completed a series of wind tunnel tests of the aerodynamic design of special purpose high altitude fins on the Fiber Optic Towed Decoy (FTOD). The tests on the off-board component of the Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM) program were conducted at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Grand Prairie, Tex.
A C-141 "Electric Starlifter" aircraft, with electric actuators replacing the hydraulic actuators in its ailerons, is halfway to a flight test goal of logging 1,000 operational hours in 18 months with U.S. Air Mobility Command. If testing is successful, it will be a step on the way to realization of the "More Electric Aircraft" concept, in which centralized hydraulic systems are replaced to eliminate ruptures and leaks, and thus to improve reliability.
The Senate yesterday approved, by a vote of 94 to 4, a $246.9 billion fiscal 1998 defense appropriations bill after overwhelmingly rejecting an attempt to end present law permitting Pentagon contractors to write off the cost of mergers. The bill will now go to conference, but with the House Appropriations national security subcommittee's $248.3 billion appropriations unlikely to clear the House until late July, conferees are unlikely to meet before September. Congress starts a one-month recess on Aug. 2.
CAE INC., Toronto, won a C$21 million contract through its German subsidiary, CAE Elektronik GmbH, to supply the German Air Force with a Tornado full-mission simulator. Delivery is scheduled for the beginning of 2000.
RADA ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES LTD., Herzliya Pituach, Israel, received a contract from the Royal Netherlands Air Force for its FACE system for F- 16s. FACE will feed flight information to voice and data recorders in a Smiths Industries crash-proof box.
TRACOR AEROSPACE INC., Austin, Texas, won a $26 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for 525 AN/ALE-47(V) countermeasures dispenser systems. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in January 1998, and the contract is expected to be completed in September 2002.
THE SENATE has approved the nomination of George Tenet as Director of Central Intelligence. The Senate Intelligence Committee unanimously approved the nomination hours before the Senate action Thursday evening.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has zeroed development funding for the U.S. Army's Airborne Standoff Minefield Detection System (ASTAMIDS), saying the program isn't ready to enter engineering and manufacturing development.
BOEING CO. stands to receive $300 million for support of Saudi Arabia's fleet of E-3 and KE-3 aircraft, the Pentagon said. Support will be provided for five Saudi Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft, several KE-3 tankers, and one KE-3 tactical air surveillance plane. The work is required to "ensure continued operational readiness" of the aircraft, the Pentagon said. It said no offsets are attached to the $300 million deal, which will require about 500 contractor representatives in Saudi Arabia for about three years.
RAYTHEON CO. will sell the home appliances, heating and air conditioning and commercial cooking segments of the Raytheon Appliance Group to Goodman Holding Co., Houston, Tex., for $750 million. The company will receive $550 million in cash from Goodman and $200 million from the sale of Appliance Group receivables. The sale should be completed during the third quarter. Raytheon will keep its commercial laundry business and the electronic controls segment of Raytheon Appliance Group.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS DEFENSE SYSTEMS GROUP, Minneapolis, successfully test fired the XM943 Smart Target Activated Fire and Forget (STAFF) 120mm tank ammunition round May 30 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Ariz. A similar successful test was conduted on March 25.
Record sales and operating income at Raytheon Aircraft and Raytheon E- Systems, and strong sales and operating income at Raytheon Electronics, boosted Raytheon Co.'s sales, but earnings remained flat in the company's 1997 second quarter. Raytheon, Lexington, Mass., said yesterday that it set a second quarter record for sales with $3.3 billion, up 6% from $3.1 billion a year ago. Operating income was up 12.6% to $381.6 million.
Russian space officials are focusing their strategic planning on keeping the Mir orbital station operating into the next century, but they have developed plans to deorbit the huge space complex once it is no longer needed. Although Russia's U.S. space partners are worried that Mir may no longer be safe following its damaging collision June 25 with a Progress supply capsule, loss of the Spektr module in the accident did not result in official Russian reconsideration of long-term plans concerning Mir.
SAGEM SA, Paris, won a contract from the Swedish Ministry of Defense to supply three Ugglan tactical UAVs to the Swedish Army. The system comprises the UAVs and a ground control station.
LITTON'S DATA SYSTEMS DIVISION, Woodland Hills, Calif., won a $12.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy for up to six Scaled Integrated Voice Communication System (SIVCS) switches and ancillary programs. The first system is scheduled to be installed on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), with the remaining systems expected to be completed by June 2000.
ANALYSIS&TECHNOLOGY INC. (ATI), North Stonington, Conn., won a contract from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Systems Division, Newport, R.I., to provide test and evaluation services for surface ship combat systems. The contract, with a potential value of $11.4 million over five years, continues work ATI has performed for NUWC since 1991.
Russian space officials yesterday slipped this week's planned spacewalk to restore power to the crippled Mir orbital station by at least eight days after the cosmonaut-commander of the three-man crew aboard complained of an irregular heartbeat.
The Iridium low Earth orbit satellite communications network has completed an $800 million Rule 144A private debt financing to fully fund its operations through the start of commercial service in September 1998. With the two-tranche financing announced yesterday, the "Big LEO" enterprise has raised $4.715 billion for its worldwide communications network based on a constellation of 66 satellites in low Earth orbit. To date, Iridium has launched 17 of the satellites, 10 on two McDonnell Douglas Delta IIs and seven on a Russian Proton.
DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC., Parsippany, N.J., won a $1.3 million contract through its DRS Electronic Systems Inc. subsidiary to provide Radar Data Distribution Switchboards (RDDS) and support services for U.S. Navy land- based facilities. The awards is an option on an existing contract. Initial funding came in September 1995.
PROSLAVIA CLARUS, Gothenburg, Sweden, will supply its Clarus CAD Real-Time Link software to Lockheed Martin for use in the development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
The European Commission will turn down the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger July 23 "unless a big miracle happens," a European Union source said yesterday in Brussels, where talks between commission officials and Boeing representatives were interrupted at noon local time. EU sources said the commission needed written concessions from Boeing before yesterday evening to be in a position to approve the $14 billion deal on time, and it wasn't immediately clear whether the company made an acceptable offer.
The Senate yesterday included $75 million in its 1998 defense appropriations bill for procurement of flight safety equipment for U.S. Air Force transport aircraft. The money was added through an initiative of Sen. Slade Gorton (R- Wash.). The Air Force is already adding flight safety equipment to its VIP planes. The new money would provide similar systems to regular troop transporters, Gorton said in a statement.
Republicans this week are planning to introduce controversial legislation in Congress that would clear the way for sales of U.S. theater missile defense systems to Taiwan. The legislation is probably the most provocative of 11 initiatives sponsored by Republicans determined to elevate U.S.-China relations into a major issue.
The Senate Appropriations subcommittee funding NASA yesterday approved the $13.5 billion fiscal 1998 amount requested by the agency and funded most major segments at the amounts it asked.
