LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. named Richard B. Caime to the newly created position of vice president for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program. The company, announcing the move yesterday, said Caime will oversee Lockheed Martin's effort to win JASSM development and follow-on production. Lockheed Martin is competing against McDonnell Douglas.
Bell Helicopter Textron yesterday agreed to buy 70% of Romania's IAR S.A. Brasov aircraft manufacturing company at the same time as the government of Romania announced it is buying 96 Bell AH-1RO attack helicopters.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman said yesterday that the latest cuts in the size of the F-22 fighter buy could "turn it into another B-2" bomber program, in which cost per unit shot up as the total buy declined.
The French, German and British effort to develop a joint military satellite communications system has slowed, and there are no signs of movement in coming months, a Pentagon official said yesterday. Discussions of potential cooperation between Europe and the U.S. on the TRIMILSAT program had been expected to lead to the release of a request for proposals in March (DAILY, Feb. 13). But now, says an official familiar with the talks, "nothing happening [this year] wouldn't surprise me."
Teledesic Corp. and Boeing Co. are moving quickly on their $9 billion "Internet-in-the-sky" constellation of low Earth orbit satellites, and expect by the end of the year to name major payload suppliers, the final launch mix and launch sources, according to executives of both companies.
HOUSE AND SENATE Appropriations Committee conferees agreed to provide $1.9 billion in fiscal 1997 supplemental funding to cover costs of U.S. operations in Bosnia and Southwest Asia. They finished work Tuesday on the defense portion of a total $8.4 billion supplemental package, which they were still working through last night. The defense supplemental is $168.5 million less than the White House request. The compromise is $110.4 million less than the amount proposed by the House and $124 million more than the Senate's version.
A MINUTEMAN III ICBM was launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., yesterday in a routine program to verify the continued accuracy and reliability of the type, the U.S. Air Force said. It flew about 4,200 miles in 30 minutes and hit its predetermined target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Pacific. One of the three reentry vehicles was equipped with special ultra-high temperature ceramic material and heat sensors to determine ability of the material to withstand the heat of re-entry. The experiment was jointly sponsored by NASA, Sandia Labs and the Air Force.
The European Commission sent its statement of objections to Boeing Co. on the proposed merger with McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing Chairman and CEO Philip Condit said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission should be given lead responsibility for the case because the issue "so obviously concerns key U.S. interests, not the least of which is in the sovereign area of defense."
Boeing Co. said that beginning in the second quarter of 1998, it will be producing 43 airliners a month - a rate that will exceed the record 40 a month that it projects for the fourth quarter of this year. The previous record, 39.5 a month, was reached in 1992. Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said yesterday that by the second quarter of next year, the production rate of 737 models will be 24 a month; the 747 rate will rise from four a month to five.
A test launch of a Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., is planned for today. The purpose of the launch, in which NASA, the U.S. Air Force and Sandia National Laboratories are cooperating, is to test a Mk. 12A reentry vehicle equipped with a new ultra-high temperature ceramic-material nose tip. NASA said the material is believed to provide better thermal protection. The launch is slated for 4 a.m. EDT.
JAPANESE E-2C aircraft are slated to receive Group II mission suite upgrades. Japan has asked for 13 retrofit kits for about $400 million, the Pentagon said yesterday.
Globalstar LP placed ordered about $275 million of electronics for its 35 Globalstar gateways to be installed around the world, the company announced. The first four gateways nearing completion are in Aussaguel, France; Yeoju, South Korea; Dubbo, Australia and Clifton, Tex. Globalstar said Qualcomm Inc. will provide antennas, radio frequency and interconnection electronics for the gateways, with deliveries scheduled to begin in early 1998.
GREEK AIR FORCE has taken delivery of 40 Lockheed Martin Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared by Night (LANTIRN) pods for its F-16 fighters, Lockheed Martin said yesterday. Greece will fly 16 LANTIRN targeting pods and 24 navigation pods.
A spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said here yesterday that Van Miert rejects as "totally nonsensical" comments about a potential trade war between Europe and the U.S. if he blocks Boeing's proposed acquisition of McDonnell Douglas. The spokesman vigorously denied that Van Miert opposed the deal for political reasons, saying again that Van Miert was "conducting the case strictly speaking as set out in the [EU] merger regulation."
Raytheon Co. said Spain's Ministry of Defense has signed a letter with the U.S. Navy designating the Aegis combat system for its F-100 class of frigates. Raytheon's Electronic Systems Co., Bedford, Mass., provides SPY-1D radar transmitters and Mk. 99 fire control systems to the Navy under prime contracts for the Aegis program.
U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said yesterday that the Quadrennial Defense Review's recommendation to cut the buy of F/A-18E/F fighters to as low as 548 reflected a desire to set up "creative tension" with the Joint Strike Fighter. The intent is for the F/A-18E/F buy to increase if the JSF program runs into trouble, and decrease if it doesn't.
Two Chinese airlines - Sichuan Airlines and China Southern - revealed that they will take some of the 30 A320s and A321s ordered by China last week. Sichuan, which operates three A320s on lease from International Lease Finance Corp., will buy two A320s directly from Airbus, becoming a new Airbus customer. China Southern will take three A320s, increasing its fleet of the type to 20, the largest in China.
Vitro Corp., Rockville, Md., won a five-year, $106.6 million contract, including options, from U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., for work for the Program Executive Office for Surface Combatants (PEO CS)/Aegis Program, Tracor announced. It said Vitro will provide management, ship integration, test and evaluation and configuration management technical support services.
NASA has unveiled a facility to help reduce chemical wastes at its Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The Chemical Crib facility will serve as a clearinghouse for all aircraft-related chemicals at Dryden, and provide a safe environment for storage and handling of potentially hazardous chemicals, NASA said. It estimates the facility will help cut chemical wastes by 50% in three years.
U.S. Army Vice Chief Gen. Ronald H. Griffith is frustrated by what he sees as lack of support for the Tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, but plenty of backing for high-flying UAVs that wouldn't work directly with troops.
NASA's plan to cut $120 million from the Space Shuttle program to protect Russian cooperation in the Space Station is a bad idea, says Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.), vice chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.
The U.S. Air Force in the next few weeks plans to release a new block of software for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) that aims to remedy shortfalls discovered last year by the test community. "The testing is nearly complete," Brig. Gen. Dave Nagy, the head of the Air Force's information dominance directorate, told The DAILY during an interview. Five flight tests have been performed with the new software.
Aero International (Regional), Toulouse, France, sold ten ATR 72 aircraft to China Xinjiang Airlines and China Aerospace Supply Corp., and signed an industrial agreement with Chinese industry, the company announced last week. It said the contract covers the firm sale of five ATR 72-210A worth $80 million, and options for five more. Deliveries will begin in late July and continue through 1998. The industrial agreement is between Italy's Alenia Aerospazio and Xian Aircraft factory (XAC) to make ATR 72 rear fuselages in China.
A team led by Raytheon E-Systems won a contract from the U.S. Army Simulation Training and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM) for the White Sands Missile Range Frequency Surveillance System, Raytheon announced. The initial contract is worth $18.5 million. If all options are exercised, the value could be about $50 million. The system is designed to prevent radio frequency interference on the range that could compromise signals used to track and control missiles, drones or other vehicles during testing, as well as collected mission data.
