A proposal to buy three or four Hughes HS-601 communications satellites to upgrade Russia's obsolete space communications infrastructure has run into stiff opposition from Russian firms that want the business for themselves, according to the governmental Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper. Both manufacturers of communications satellites and operators of space communications systems are considering Western technologies as a way to improve service here, but they clash about the best way to use it.
An effort by Sikorsky Aircraft to design an engine infrared suppression system for the CH-53E helicopter will be leveraged by the U.S. Marine Corps, according to a May 30 Commerce Business Daily notice. The notice, from Naval Air Systems Command, said Sikorsky will receive a non-competitive award, based on an unsolicited proposal, to determine how much the CH-53E's IR signature must be reduced to improve survivability, and look at the effectiveness of suppression devices, jammers, expendable flares and threat warning devices.
Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center, builder of Russia's share of the International Space Station, plans to extend its commercial activities and to earn as much as $500 million-$600 million from them during 1997, according to the Khrunichev press center.
Britain's defense forces are about to undergo their third major upheaval since the end of the Cold War. A "Strategic Defense Review," promised by the new Labor government before it swept to victory on May 1, will be implemented this summer and completed by the end of the year.
ROMANIA will buy a Shadow 600 unmanned aerial vehicle system and related equipment for $20 million under a contract with AAI Corp., according to AAI's parent, United Industrial Corp. United Industrial said yesterday that delivery of the systems, training and support will be completed within the next 18 months. It said Romania will finance the deal through the Defense Export Loan Guarantee Program, which was passed into U.S. law last November. AAI, it said, will be the first company to take advantage of the program, intended to put U.S.
MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES of Beirut took delivery of the first of two Airbus A321 airliners being leased from International Lease Finance Corp. Airbus Industrie said yesterday that the second A321 will follow later this month. It said the delivery makes MEA the first A321 operator in the Middle East.
PAUL H. PATTEN, a former McDonnell Douglas executive and test pilot, died May 17 in Los Alamitos, Calif., of a heart attack at age 72, the company said. He joined Douglas Aircraft Co. in 1951, working on the DC-6, DC-7 and DC-8 programs. Upon retirement in 1989, he was director of test and evaluation.
Indamer Co. Pvt. Ltd., a regional distributor of Raytheon Aircraft Co. based here, is suing the Sri Lankan government for reneging on a deal to buy four used Beech KingAirs, Indamer sources said. The petition, filed in the Supreme Court at Colombo, Sri Lanka, names Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Chandrananda de Silva, Air Force Chief Oliver Ranasinghe and five other senior government officials. It describes what it says is their failure to send a letter of credit confirming the deal as "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS instructed operators of its MD Explorer helicopters not to fly them until further notice after discovering a faulty part that needs to be redesigned. It said yesterday that a broken adjustable collective drive link was discovered May 8 during a post-flight inspection. Thirty-one of the helicopters are in service under 20 operators.
Sabreliner Corp., St. Louis, Miss., is being awarded a $42,500,000 firm- fixed-price contract to procure 17 T-39N aircraft, related mission support equipment, peculiar spares, data, and one ground-based training system for the Undergraduate Flight Officer Training Program. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Fla. (87%), and Perryville, Miss. (13%), and is expected to be completed by September 1998. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
Boeing Co. says it has completed testing of the life support system to be used in the flight test program of the F-22 fighter, expected to begin next month. The system is designed to shield the pilot from head injuries, chemical and biological environments, fire, noise, cold water immersion and ejection at high speeds and high altitudes.
General Electric and Germany's MTU have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-produce and share revenues from the manufacture and sale of the T700/T6E growth engine for Germany's NH90 helicopters and other new NH90 programs around the world. GE Aircraft Engines said yesterday that the engine, which it is developing with Alfa Romeo Avio and FiatAvio, will be flight tested in an NH-90 later this year. "Germany plans to acquire a fleet of 243 NH90 helicopters, for which more than 500 T700/T6E engines will be required," said Louis A.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is trying to head off the expected nomination of Pentagon Comptroller John J. Hamre to be Deputy Defense Secretary and has sent a letter to President Clinton charging Hamre with allowing "illegal" progress payments to contractors. Grassley told Clinton that he opposed the elevation of Hamre to replace John White, who is leaving, because he "authorized and protected an illegal payment operation." Defense Secretary William S. Cohen has recommended Hamre for the No. 2 Pentagon slot.
The primary challenge in the Airborne Laser program is integrating various technologies and packaging them on a 747 aircraft, said U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Thomas Moorman. Moorman said at a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill last week that while the challenge of the physics of the system is behind the AF, "we are not home free technologically." ABL, he said, is "the most revolutionary technology in the defense budget today."
The projected expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe gives a boost to U.S. and Western European aerospace companies trying to sell their products in three former Warsaw Pact nations. While the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland won't be rushing into any major buys, industry and congressional officials say some initial agreements may be inked with other NATO members as early as the end of July, following a meeting in Spain on the expansion. Firmer requests could be made within a year. The Senate must still approve the initiative.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has been cleared to flight test all-electric flight controls for the Joint Strike Fighter. The company said yesterday that it will modify the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI)/F-16 test aircraft for first flight with the system at Fort Worth, Tex., in early 1999. After initial tests there, it will be flown to Edwards AFB, Calif., for a program of more than 60 flights. Hydraulic system controlling primary flight control surfaces will be replaced by an all-electric system.
Hughes Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $7,803,100 letter contract modification to a not-to-exceed $17,200,000 firm fixed price contract for conversion of the STINGER Reprogrammable Microprocessor (RMP) Missile to the STINGER Block 1 configuration. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by April 30, 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 19, 1997. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Boeing North American, Inc., Seal Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $21,211,735 face value increase to a cost plus award fee contract to accelerate production by three months of seven Global Positioning System/Communication and Navigation System/Joint Direct Attack Munition integration kits applicable to the B-1B aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed December 1998. At this time, $1,394,000 of the contract funds have been obligated. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Boeing North American is waiting for decisions by two European countries on aircraft upgrade programs, and is getting ready to begin production for a third, company executives said here.
Honeywell Inc., Albuquerque, N.M., is being awarded a $6,273,192 modification to a $12,077,270 firm-fixed-price contract for 13 Shipsets and related services for the Lot XIV option for the Control Display System to be utilized on the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Aircraft. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, N.M., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 1, 1996. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command, St. Louis, Mo.
Boeing Defense and Space Group, Wichita, Kansas, was awarded on May 20, a $24,000,000 firm fixed price contract to provide for long lead materials and effort to support Re-engine Modification Hardware Kits in the following quantities for the following aircraft: four for the RC-135E, and two for the KC-135A aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed October 1997. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was one firms solicited and one proposal received. Solicitation began April 1997; negotiations were completed October 1997.
TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, , is being awarded a $59,199,244 cost plus award fee contract to provide for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) Engineering Model Program. This program is a pre-Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) risk reduction program that will mitigate technical risks of the Advanced EHF communication satellite program through design and verification activities in key tech. Contract is expected to be completed May 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
With the U.S. Air Force paying increasing attention to the future replacement of its F-15E and F-117 aircraft, Maj. Gen. Charles Link, special assistant to the AF Chief of Staff, says F-22 contractors must deliver the air superiority jet as promised if they also want it to be chosen as the next long-range interdiction fighter.
