Although the U.S. Marine Corps program to remanufacture McDonnell Douglas AV-8Bs is capped at 72 aircraft, the Marines are interested in remanufacturing 22 more for day attack only, says Brig. Gen. Robert Magnus, Marine Corps assistant deputy chief of staff for aviation. The program would make those aircraft more capable and take their airframes to zero time to help the Marines bridge the gap until the Joint Strike Fighter is fielded.
Congressional sources who support the U.S. Navy's proposal to divide the four New Attack Submarine (NSSN) prototypes between Electric Boat and Newport News say members of the special submarine advisory panel to the House National Security Committee probably overstated Russian submarine capabilities. Sources say there probably is a partisan split on the committee, with most Democrats inclined to support the Navy's plan while procurement subcommittee chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) pushes for an approach that would lead to a more advanced sub. Sen. Joseph I.
The military's information technology community has become pretty good at rapid acquisition, but could use some help in speeding up the budget process to keep pace with emerging technologies, Buchholz says. DOD needs a pot of money to snap up new technologies as they become available in the commercial world, he says. While there must be continued accountability to Congress for budgetary actions, Buchholz beleives more decision-making power should be given to the information technology experts.
Congressional Budget Office analysis raises doubt over the Administration argument that President Clinton's defense budget will overtake the fiscal 1997 congressional budget resolution in the 2001-2002 period. CBO says Clinton's budget has an additional policy that would provide that discretionary spending, which includes defense, would be subject to an across-the-board cut in those two years. Since half of discretionary funding is for defense, it would absorb half the cuts. The policy would be in effect if the more stringent CBO numbers are used in the budget process.
The U.S. Air Force's C-130J airlifters won't be supportable beginning in fiscal year 1998, according to the newest report from the office of Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation. The program "is unexecutable in FY '98 and beyond due to inadequate funding for logistics support," said the report, released last week by the Pentagon. The assessment is based on a lack of money for spare parts, interim contractor logistics support, logistics data and aircraft training equipment.
Russia's creaky Mir space station is back on track after giving its three-man crew and ground controllers in Moscow several bad moments last week when its attitude control system failed. The crew had to burn about 10 kilograms of fuel to stabilize the orbiting laboratory when the onboard computer left it out of control in all three axes while switching to a backup angular rate sensor when the main sensor failed. That left Mir in a low-power attitude relative to the sun, which forced the crew to shut down the main gyrodynes and other electrical equipment.
The Exdrone unmanned aerial vehicle participating in the Marine Corps' "Hunter Warrior" advanced warfighting experiment has shown the effect UAVs can have on an enemy. When troops from the red force heard the Exdrones, "they it the dirt...and automatically it now affects their mobility," Magnus says. "It changes their scheme of maneuver." But, he says, the U.S. military is still only learning the potential of UAVs.
NASA has selected academic partners for new research efforts into the biological effects of radiation in space and the use of microgravity to study fluid physics and combustion science. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif., will serve as a NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) to help define the risks to space travelers from galactic and cosmic radiation. Colorado State University in Fort Collins will be a collaborating partner in the five-year, roughly $5 million effort.
The Pentagon has some barriers in place to prevent hackers from breaking into the defense information infrastructure, but it's hard to tell when they're in the system, according to DOD's top information warfare officials. "We do not detect very well today when someone is messing with us," says Lt. Gen. Douglas D. Buchholz, the Joint Staff director for command, control, communications and computer systems. There's no evidence of any significant hacker "hits" so far, he says. Maj. Gen.
Frank Culbertson, NASA program manager for the Shuttle/Mir phase of the International Space Station program, is in Russia this week for a previously scheduled meeting with his Russian counterparts. But before he goes home to Houston he'll stop in Washington for a headquarters review of the state of the aging Russian orbital platform. Top space flight officials want Culbertson's views on whether Mir is safe and can handle an extension of its service life under a deal worked out last year that would keep U.S. astronauts aboard until at least May 1998 (DAILY, Feb. 1, Dec.
Larry Clarkson, president of Boeing Enterprises, doesn't see the company's joint venture with FlightSafety International being delayed by a labor complaint filed by the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association (SPEEA). "We don't think they will get injunctive relief," he says. "We offered any Boeing employee who doesn't move a guaranteed job in Boeing. We have a significant number of openings in customer support. We don't think anyone will be harmed."
DORNIER GMBH, Friedrichshafen, Germany, opened a military image and map processing and interpretation lab at its Information and Communication Systems Div.
The House National Security Committee says the House Budget Committee should set a fiscal year 1998 defense spending level that, at a minimum, allows for $268.2 billion in budget authority (BA) and $267.5 billion in outlays. The Senate Armed Services Committee has already recommended that the Senate Budget Committee set a topline allowing for the same $268.2 billion in BA. SASC said outlays should be set at $267.3 billion (DAILY, March 13).
Aeroflot's board of directors named Valery Okulov, son-in-law of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, acting head of the airline pending shareholder approval. Okulov was the carrier's deputy chief before Yeltsin appointed Aeroflot head Yevgeny Shaposhnikov presidential adviser for aerospace. The airline's shareholders, of which the Russian government is the largest with a 51% stake, are expected to meet in May or June.
The Marines are also interested in improving their TAV-8 trainer aircraft. Magnus said they wouldn't undergo the full remanufacture program, but would have their Rolls-Royce F402-RR-406 engines replaced with Rolls -408As.
A Patriot missile with enhanced guidance package intercepted a Scud theater ballistic missile on Thursday during testing at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, according to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. It was the second successful intercept using the enhanced Patriot, the Pentagon said Friday. The first successful test took place last month (DAILY, Feb. 11).
President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin said at the conclusion of their summit meeting in Helsinki on Friday that they have agreed on new "distinctions" to differentiate between the strategic missiles banned by the ABM Treaty and new theater missile defense systems that would be permitted. Clinton said the distinctions between strategic and theater systems will allow each country to develop theater missile defenses. He didn't elaborate.
An inquiry into Boeing Co.'s proposed acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp., launched last week by the European Commission (DAILY, March 18), will be completed in July. The EC Merger Regulation requires the commission to reach a final decision in four months. First, the EC said, it will evaluate how the deal will affect Boeing's already dominant position in the large aircraft market.
Saab and British Aerospace have officially opened their Budapest office, which will be tasked with trying to sell the JAS-39 Gripen to Hungary. Concurrently, Sweden's Electrolux opened a factory in Jaszbereny, Hungary, where refrigerators will be built. The plant was located in Hungary by Sweden's industrial Wallenberg Group as part of an offset protocol signed between Saab and Hungary.
The U.S. Navy is about to be cleared to begin low-rate production of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E/F fighter following a Defense Acquisition Board readiness meeting earlier this month. Pentagon acquisition chief Paul Kaminski is evaluating the meeting's recommendation, but has already canceled the DAB scheduled for later this week. This means no stumbling blocks were discovered during the readiness meeting that would require a full-up DAB.
Some U.S. Marine Corps KC-130 tankers on Friday were suspended from flying after a KC-130R from Squadron VMGR-152 in Okinawa, Japan, "tossed a propeller" while on the ground. No persons were injured and only minor damage to the aircraft was incurred, the number two Marine aviator, Brig. Gen. Robert Magnus, told The DAILY in an interview last week. The aircraft was participating in the U.S./Australian "Tandem Thrust" exercise.
BRITISH AIRWAYS announced orders yesterday for three Boeing 757s "as part of a rationalization of its short-haul fleet at Heathrow" airport. The first of the aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce engines, will be delivered in December and the remainder at the beginning of next year. This will give British Airways 51 757s. They mark the first step of a two-year program to narrow BA's short-haul fleet at Heathrow to 767s, 757s and A320s. It plans to redeploy its 737s to "other stations."
NASA will push for dramatic improvements in transportation technology over the next 20 years, trying to reach "stretch goals" in subsonic and supersonic aviation and space launch that are designed to keep the U.S. aerospace industry ahead of its global competition, Administrator Daniel S. Goldin said yesterday.
PEMCO WORLD AIR SERVICES, Denver, won a contract from Gemini Air Cargo, based at Washington Dulles Airport, Chantilly, Va., for maintenance of four McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft. Work will be performed at Pemco's Dothan, Ala., facility.
