Russian ground controllers are a little uneasy that problems redocking a Progress supply capsule have left one of the two main docking ports on the Mir orbital station uncovered. Normal operating procedures keep the two ports covered most of the time, either with a Soyuz capsule or a Progress, for a reason. Without something docked to the port, its rubber pressure seals are exposed to the extreme heat and cold of orbit, and they are already well beyond their planned service life.
Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations panel on national security, wants to know why the Air Force calls the B-1 the "backbone" of its bomber force. "We talk about B-1, but it's never done anything," Young says, "...the B-1 has never been used in a combat role." Muellner says the B-1 continually demonstrates its capability in global power exercises. "We've been very aggressive in upgrading B-1 computers and defensive systems," he says.
An E-8C Joint STARS aircraft will participate in the U.S. Army's Advanced Warfighting Experiment March 23-29, according to the U.S. Air Force. It said the 93rd Air Control Wing, Robins AFB, Ga., is sending 140 people and the E-8C to Nellis AFB, Nev., to provide battle management data for a brigade combat team at the Army's National Training Center, Ft. Irwin, Calif. The deployment marks the first exercise for the 93rd ACW, which was established on Jan. 29.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are reconsidering how to look at space, Estes confirms. Overall, he says, "we're moving from supporting from space to operating in space," and that is now being addressed. However, he notes, "I'm not trying to say we are going to do this."
STANDOFF LAND ATTACK MISSILE completed a functional ground test in mid- February, McDonnell Douglas said. The test duplicated the first 20 seconds of flight. The aim was to demonstrate post-launch critical functions, including wing deployment and engine start sequencing, before next month's first flight.
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters participating this month in the U.S. Army's Task Force XXI experiment at the National Training Center, Ft. Irwin, Calif., are equipped with a new, digital messaging system designed to improve connectivity with ground units. Eight OH-58Ds scheduled to participate in the experiment during the last two weeks in March are carrying the Embedded Tactical Information Control System (ETICS), according to Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems, Albuquerque, N.M.
AlliedSignal Aerospace received an order from United Airlines for Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS) for about $14.6 million, AlliedSignal said. United was the first airline to win certification for the new systems on a group of working aircraft. In October, the airline and AlliedSignal Commercial Avionics Systems received FAA certification to use the EGPWS on Airbus A-320s, and United installed it on 12 aircraft for evaluation. United's purchase brings total EGPWS sales to more than 1,000, AlliedSignal said.
The chiefs of the U.S. military services are making their "wish lists" known to Congress, at the request of lawmakers, but are trying not to step on Defense Secretary William Cohen's toes in the process. Cohen warned them against sending such lists to Capitol Hill unless he sees them first. While the chiefs are keeping their word in public, some anonymous faxes are being sent to Congress. And one chief was said to have whispered his list over the phone to a key staffer.
The Space and Missile Tracking System (SMTS) "remains technically and from a schedule standpoint a high risk," says Lt. Gen. George K. Muellner, principal deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition. The service is following congressional direction and accelerating the program from a 2006 to 2004 fielding. But, he says, several of SMTS sensor technologies need time to catch up.
EFW INC., Fort Worth, Texas, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., Tel Aviv, won an $8.3 million contract from Lockheed Martin Tactical Air Systems to supply more than 200 avionics systems for F-16 fighters.
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston will head NASA's new National Space Biomedical Research Institute, once envisioned as the pilot project in a nationwide series of cost-saving science institutes that was dropped over difficulties with federal "revolving-door" and pension legislation. NASA said Friday Baylor will head a consortium that will include Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab, MIT, Morehouse School of Medicine, Rice University and Texas A&M. Johnson Space Center will sponsor the institute.
The debate within the Pentagon on how to carry out space control for the future space architecture is still raging. Air Force Gen. Howell Estes, commander-in-chief of Space Command, tells reporters the debate is likely to continue a few more months. At issue is the mix of space-based, aircraft-based, and ground-based systems.
The Pentagon's review of the THAAD program following its fourth failure to intercept a test missile will take six to seven weeks, according to Pentagon acquisition chief Paul Kaminski, who chartered the review.
NASA is doing a good job of handing off day-to-day Space Shuttle operations to the United Space Alliance (USA) consortium, thanks in large part to the professionalism of the individual government and industry managers involved in the transition, but problems could develop when those managers retire, the head of an independent safety review panel told Congress yesterday.
U.S. MARINES flew into Albania yesterday morning to rescue about 50 Americans from civil unrest in the country. Four CH-46 helicopters from the 365th Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron deployed from the USS Nassau, USS Nashville and USS Pensacola, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Friction over the growing use of jet aircraft among regional carriers - underscored by American Airlines' recent dispute with its pilots - shouldn't hurt growth prospects for the aircraft and its engines over the long run, says GE Small Commercial Engines chief Lloyd Thompson. "The natural evolution of the marketplace will help to resolve that issue," Thompson tells AP. "Not only is the product appealing to our airline flying public, but it also has proven to be extremely profitable."
The Dow-UT composite engine parts venture will demonstrate its latest component - a fan inlet case for UTC engine unit Pratt&Whitney's F119 Advanced Tactical Fighter turbofan - with new funding through the Pentagon's Affordable Composites for Propulsion (ACP) program. The FIC replaces a titanium part on the existing F119 and saves more than 15 pounds per engine. Moreover, it costs substantially less to make because it's molded as a single piece and doesn't require various details, machined separately, to be put together.
One of the next major trends in space will be moving radar and other surveillance systems to orbit, Air Force Gen. Howell Estes, commander in chief of Air Force Space Command, predicted yesterday. Under the concept surveillance would join weather, communications, intelligence, navigation and missile warning as missions that have migrated to space over time, Estes said during a press briefing at the Pentagon. Space-based surveillance would allow a "relatively transparent" view of the world.
Ground controllers deorbited the Progress M-33 automated cargo vehicle Wednesday after last week's unsuccessful attempt to redock it with the Mir orbital station. The deorbit burn occurred at 06:23 Moscow Time (10:23 EST Tuesday) and the vehicle reentered the atmosphere over the southern Pacific. Progress M-33, launched Nov. 20, 1996, was initially docked with Mir on Nov. 22. After unloading supplies and fuel it was undocked in early February to leave the port clear for Soyuz TM-24 with a Russian-German crew, which arrived on Feb. 12.
The U.S. Air Force is considering a large re-engining program that could apply to a host of different planes, including the B-52 bomber. "We're looking at not only the B-52 but other re-engining issues," Air Force acquisition chief Arthur Money told The DAILY in an interview yesterday. Other planes that might be included in the program are the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, the RC-135 Rivet Joint and some other C-135 variants, Money said.
The U.S. Air Force would spend around $117 million on improving fighter engines in fiscal 1998 if Congress adds money to the AF budget request. Two engine programs are on a list of 34 FY '98 unfunded priorities totaling $2.2 billion the AF submitted to Congress after being asked to do so by House and Senate committees. Both programs were previously in the AF Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP), and the additional funds would only be used to speed up the existing efforts.
