The U.S. Air Force has become embroiled in a controversy over an impending divestiture. At the heart of the controversy: more than 100 chimpanzees at Holloman AFB, N.M. The base has been home to monkeys since the early days of the space program. They were to have been sold to a research facility, but animal rights activists have protested, saying the chimps must be retired.
NASA's "Fastrac" rocket engine, under development at Marshall Space Flight Center as a simple, low-cost propulsion for small space launchers, has cleared critical design review and is moving into assembly and testing, the U.S. space agency announced.
Assembly of the first C-17 airlifter of a multi-year buy of 80 - the 41st Globemaster III - began May 29 at McDonnell Douglas' Long Beach, Calif., plant, the company said. MDC said the assembly began in the wing area, as wing spar sections were loaded into assembly fixtures. Delivery to the U.S. Air Force is slated in August 1998. In 1993, MDC noted, the U.S. Defense Dept. threatened to cap C-17 production at 40 aircraft unless significant improvements could be made in schedule, quality and cost.
Senate and House appropriations conferees have no intention of reopening work on the $1.9 billion defense portion of an overall $8.4 billion supplemental package, a House appropriations committee aide says. They plan to reconvene Wednesday to try to resolve differences between their versions of the package. A number of issues must be resolved before it can move forward, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.) says he wants work done by the end of the week.
Final assembly of the first 100-seat MD-95-30 began Saturday at Long Beach, Calif., when workers lowered the center fuselage barrel onto the wing, Douglas Aircraft Co. reported. Workers soon will join all three fuselage sections and attach the nose and empennage. The aircraft is scheduled to be standing on its landing gear by the end of June.
House and Senate conferees are expected to work out differences on their congressional budget resolutions this week, but for defense, with the same funding totals for one year and five years in both versions, the only issue is a resolution on tactical air. Sponsored by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and adopted by the Senate Budget Committee, the sense of the Senate resolution directs the Pentagon to report back to Congress on how the Quadrennial Defense Review's restructuring of the tactical aircraft modernization program will make it more affordable.
The joint venture of Texas Instruments and Lockheed Martin on Friday was awarded a multi-year contract by the U.S. Army for Javelin missile systems with a total value of $745 million. The initial award is for $192.4 million. Options could increase the total contract to $908 million, the Pentagon said.
THE FAA, following McDonnell Douglas' lead, ordered the grounding of MD-900 Explorer helicopters (DAILY, May 30). The company had requested emergency action by FAA.
E'PRIME AEROSPACE CORP. has submitted a program introduction plan for the canister Eagle S-Series launch vehicles to the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. First launch is anticipated in the first quarter of 1999.
Initial data from a reentry test last month of a new ceramic thermal protection system (TPS) material shows the material - hafnium diboride silicon carbide composite - could enable sharp leading edges in hypersonic vehicles.
The Pentagon is developing and procuring large-scale computer training simulators without adequate control and oversight, The DOD Inspector General said. "Control and oversight are lacking because DOD has not assigned a single manager the responsibility and authority for oversight and coordination of large-scale training simulations," the IG said in a report.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) is eyeing U.S. technology derived from the venerable Atlas booster as a way to upgrade its new solid-fuel J-1 rocket while cutting its cost. Due out in 2003, the J-1A would use either a LOX/kerosene first stage based on Lockheed Martin Atlas designs, or a derivative to the H-IIA solid rocket motors proposed by Nissan.
The U.S. Air Force says reliability problems with a cargo aircraft loader capable of handling 60,000 pounds have been corrected, and that it's back on track to replace aging 40,000-pound loaders now in use. Problems with the new loader, a product of ESCO Electronics Corp.'s Systems Electronics Inc., led to postponement of initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), which has now been rescheduled for this fall. The first four loaders will also be fielded this year - two to Ramstein AB, Germany, and two to Dover AFB, Del.
The U.S. Army, trying to determine the appropriate size of a modern division, is evaluating a unit with a large aviation component. The service's Training and Doctrine Command is looking at the feasibility of divisions with 15,000 people instead of the current 18,000, according to Gen. William Hartzog, TRADOC commander.
Raytheon Co. will provide support for Saudia Arabia's Hawk and Patriot air defense batteries under a $484 million contract, the company said. The work will include technical assistance, training and logistics. The contract will run through December 1999. William H. Swanson, Raytheon executive vice president, said the award is a sign of the "strong relationship" between Saudi Arabia and his company.
Orbital Sciences Corp. hopes the technology it wrings out on NASA's X- 34 suborbital flying testbed will evolve into a commercial reusable launch vehicle able to orbit Taurus-class and smaller payloads at much lower cost than today, according to OSC's X-34 program manager.
A new contract signed by Saudi Arabia and France marks the first export sale of Aerospatiale's Aster 15 ship defense missile, developed with Italy's Alenia. Aerospatiale said last week that the "Sawari 2" contract, signed through the export aid organization Sofresa, covers a third frigate of the Royal Saudi Navy, and potential upgrades to all weapon systems in the program.
Poland's PZL Mielec has won an $80 million contract to provide 24 small transport aircraft to the Venezuelan army. Delivery of the Skytruck airplanes will take place by the end of 1998. The aircraft, which can carry either cargo or 18 passengers, will be used to combat drug trafficking.
SEMICONDUCTOR LASER INTERNATIONAL CORP., Binghampton, N.Y., has won a U.S. Air Force contract to provide the Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, N.M., with semiconductor laser fabrication technology.
Thai Airways International ordered four A330-300 and five A300-600R aircraft from Airbus Industrie. Deliveries of the A300s will begin in the first quarter of 1998, and Thai will take its first A330 in the second quarter of that year. Both types will be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW4000 series engines. The carrier now has placed 45 orders for Airbus widebody aircraft. The Thai deal increases A330/A340 orders to 361 from 42 customers and A300/A310 orders to 748 from 83 customers.
European airworthiness authorities agreed Tuesday to a Rolls-Royce plan to adopt the Trent 800 engine's gearbox lubrication scheme to the Trent 700 after a string of inflight shutdowns blamed on the gearbox led Airbus A330 operators Cathay Pacific and Dragonair to ground their fleets over the weekend, a Rolls spokesman said. Rolls is shipping components to its Hong Kong Aero Engine Services, Ltd., venture (HAESL) with Cathay, which should begin installing the new components and restoring aircraft to flight status this week.
NASA's Polar scientific satellite, launched late because of quality- control concerns at manufacturer Lockheed Martin Astro Space, has vindicated itself with spectacular images of what scientists believe to be small comets breaking up at high altitude in Earth's atmosphere, possibly confirming an earlier theory about "holes" in the upper atmosphere.
The U.S. Marine Corps wants to develop and begin fielding by 2003 a new Shoulder-launched Multi-Purpose Assault Weapon (SMAW), and hopes to put funding in place as part of the fiscal 2000 Program Objective Memorandum exercise. The weapon "must be a light, man-portable, fire-and-forget weapon," the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Dahlgren Div. said in a May 29 Commerce Business Daily notice. It should be able to fire a variety of warheads.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems is testing a scale model of a "joined wing" aircraft that would be able to perform tanker and transport missions more efficiently than current planes. The company said yesterday that four successful flights of the 6.5- foot wing span remote controlled model have been made so far at Marietta, Ga., since March 7.
