House National Security Committee actions on major programs in the Pentagon's fiscal year 1998 budget request are listed in the following tabulation, released yesterday by the committee. Dollar figures are in millions. FY98 Budget Request H.R. 1119 R&D Qnty Procrmnt R&D Qnty Procrmnt Major Army Programs Apache Longbow* n/a 44 $511.9 n/a 44 $540.3
House Science space subcommittee members completed their work yesterday on a new commercial space bill that would ease the licensing process for commercial remote sensing satellites, authorize the FAA to license commercial spacecraft reentries for reusable launch vehicles and require a report on commercial opportunities aboard the International Space Station.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said he is willing to give the Administration flexibility on the date of deployment of a National Missile Defense, and whether it would be based at one or more sites, in return for a commitment to deploy a system. Weldon, chairman of the House National Security research and development committee, told reporters at a breakfast meeting in Washington that the Administration could have "flexibility on systems," but he wants a commitment now to deploy.
A contractor who provided computer software development support to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Air Force and the Navy has agreed to plead guilty to charges he embezzled at least $450,000 from a profit sharing plan that included federal funds included as costs under government contracts, according to NASA's Office of Inspector General.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, in its fiscal year 1998 authorization bill, cuts the U.S. Air Force's research, development, test and evaluation request for Joint STARS aircraft by $20 million and directs the Dept. of Defense to look at follow-ons. The Air Force had sought 19 Joint Surveillance Target Acquisition Radar System jets, but the Quadrennial Defense Review recommended 13. In another area, the committee provides $100 million in FY '98 to re- engine four RC-135 intelligence aircraft.
The House and Senate yesterday both passed $8.9 billion emergency supplemental packages which include $1.9 billion for the Pentagon to cover the unanticipated costs of U.S. troop involvement in Bosnia. The supplemental package was stripped of the continuing resolution (CR) that resulted in President Clinton's veto of the package when it was first sent to the White House (DAILY, June 11). The Senate's package passed the bill 78-21 and the House passed it 348-74.
COMPUTER TOOL that simulates the curing of composite parts has saved about $2 million on the F-22 fighter program, according to Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems. The Code for Optimizing Batch Runs in Autoclaves (COBRA) is a PC-based program that models the curing of large composite parts and unitized structures. LMTAS says the process has allowed it to deliver a 98% acceptance rate on autoclave processed parts for the first F- 22. The program is now being adapted for commercial use for the Great Lakes Composite Consortium, LMTAS said.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS/LOCKHEED MARTIN joint venture will develop a Tandem Warhead for the Javelin anti-armor missile under a pre-planned product improvement program. The venture received a $3.5 million contract for the work on Monday, and the total contract value could reach $9.1 million, according to a Pentagon announcement.
A Boeing team will bid on a Dept. of Defense Global Broadcast Service (GBS) contract to be awarded in September, Boeing announced yesterday. The team, which includes Microsoft, Harris Corp., Lucent Technologies, Pacific Sierra Research and TRW, will demonstrate part of its GBS proposal at the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association (AFCEA) convention in Washington, June 17-19.
Roy D. Bridges Jr., director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., has completed his management team with the appointment of three space agency veterans to top jobs at the Florida launch facility. Loren Shriver, a three-time Space Shuttle astronaut who has been launch integration manager at KSC since May 1993, will become deputy director for launch and payload processing on Aug. 15, once the STS-85 mission is launched aboard the Shuttle Discovery. Selected as an astronaut in 1978, Shriver was pilot on STS-51C and commanded STS-31 and STS-46.
Future U.S. Army program plans don't depend on savings generated by another series of base closings, Maj. Gen. David Heebner, who heads the service's program analysis and evaluation branch, said yesterday. Heebner noted that the Army nonetheless fully supports the BRAC initiatives. At the same time, he cautioned that savings from additional rounds wouldn't materialize anytime soon. And, he noted, a substantial up-front investment will be required.
The new political climate in Europe, which swept the Labor Party to power in Britain and gave the Socialists the upper hand in France, will certainly slow aerospace industry consolidation on the continent, but American companies may only be able to benefit to a certain degree, observers say. At the very least, the situation will be a hot topic at next week's Paris Air Show.
Retired A-10 close support planes now in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., could make a comeback - without pilots. Mission Technologies, Inc., San Antonio, Tex., plans a demonstration program involving three unmanned A-10s. In a proposal to be made to the government, according to Tom Turner of Mission Technologies, they would show their ability to perform strike, battle damage assessment and decoy missions. If funding is approved, Turner told The DAILY, unpiloted A-10s could be flying in two years.
The Naval Research Laboratory is conducting applied research of micro-aerial vehicles that could be used for the non-lethal suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD).
President Clinton said yesterday he will nominate Jane Garvey as FAA administrator and George Donohue as deputy administrator, nominations that have been expected by the aviation community for more than two months. Garvey and Donohue still must be officially nominated by Clinton and confirmed by the Senate. Paperwork on Garvey is expected to be sent to the Senate Commerce Committee by the end of the week, and Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday he intends to move quickly on it.
ARINC, Annapolis, Md., and Jacobsen's Pilot Services (JPS), Long Beach, Calif., signed an agreement to install a prototype satellite-based waterway navigation and docking aid for commercial shipping in Long Beach Harbor. The aid, called PilotMate, will use the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology employed by commercial aircraft. The project, set to begin in July, will work with an existing radar-based vessel tracking system operated by JPS. The system will be made at Arinc's San Diego facility.
NASA's most advanced robotic rover has completed a simulated month- long mission on the surface of Mars, taking almost 600 photographs, deploying various scientific instruments and collecting soil and rock samples in an ancient lake bed in the California desert picked for its similarity to Martian terrain.
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen told the House National Security Committee in no uncertain terms that he is against a proposed cut in the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F strike fighter program that would slash the number bought in fiscal year 1998 from 20 to four. The procurement subcommittee of the panel on Tuesday chopped the $2.261 billion request to $375 million, and substituted a $900 million buy of 20 F/A-18C/Ds (DAILY, June 11).
The Senate Armed Services Committee, marking up its fiscal year 1998 defense authorization bill, proposes cutting the U.S. Air Force's $2 billion funding request for the F-22 fighter to about $1.5 billion, sources said yesterday. The 25% cut, however, isn't final and is subject to change. The committee intends to continue deliberations on the bill today, and to wrap up before tomorrow.
India's first Russian-built Sukhoi 30 fighters were declared operational yesterday in ceremonies at a base near Pune in Maharashtra, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. It said ceremonies marking the event at the Lohegaon base were attended by Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, commanders of the Indian armed forces and Albert Chernyshev, Russia's ambassador to India.
Philippe Debrun, general manager of Revima, a Sogerma-Socea subsidiary, has been chosen to be chairman of Aerospatiale aircraft manufacturing subsidiary Socata, succeeding Jean-Marc de Raffin Dourny. Debrun has been with Groupe Aerospatiale since 1985. Before Revima, he was president of Barfield, a U.S. subsidiary of Sogerma-Socea, and VP of subsidiaries and shareholdings at Aerospatiale.
Boeing representatives will appear before the European Commission in Brussels today to defend their company's proposed acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, a Boeing spokeswoman said. She said two representatives will argue their case before the commission, competition experts from the 15 member states of the European Union, European aerospace and defense companies and other interested parties. One of the EC's main concerns is Boeing's move to lock three U.S. airlines - Continental, Delta and American - into 20-year, sole-supplier agreements.
ITT Cannon, White Plains, N.Y., a unit of ITT Industries' Defense&Electronics group, increased its ownership of its joint venture company ITT Cannon (Zhenjiang) Electronics Co. Ltd. from 51% to 90%, ITT said. ITT partner Zhenjiang Connector&Switch Factory (ZCF) will retain a 10% stake. The joint venture, located in Zhenjiang, China, on the Yangtze River, employees 180 people and serves 25 China-based customers.
Arinc Inc. and its Indonesian affiliate, P.T. Darma Tridimensi, will provide data link services for Future Air Navigation System I air-to-ground communications at the Jakarta Area Control Center's new Hughes Guardian automated air traffic control system. To be operational by autumn, the communications service will provide automatic dependent surveillance for aircraft with Boeing's FANS I flight management system - currently about 100 aircraft operated by more than 10 international airlines - and comparable equipment.
