The U.S. Air Force is launching a $304.5 million program to upgrade Pratt&Whitney F100-PW-220E fighter engines powering McDonnell Douglas F- 15s in service with Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) and U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It could mark something of a setback for rival GE Aircraft Engines, which had hoped a year ago that qualifying the F110 on the F-15 would position the engine for a competitive re-engining program for the aircraft (AP, Jan. 18, 1996).
A geared-fan turbofan, an Advanced Ducted Prop (ADP) derivative and even some version of the joint GE-Pratt&Whitney GP7000 turbofan will all be on the table next week when P&W is set to revive talks with Airbus Industrie on powering the hoped-for A340 stretch, sources confirm to AP. GE Aircraft Engines set the stage earlier this week when it couldn't work out an acceptable business deal with Airbus to develop an all-new 60,000 lbst.-class turbofan for the A340-500 and -600 (DAILY, Feb. 12).
RUSSIA'S SOYUZ TM-25 capsule docked with the Mir orbital station Wednesday, delivering two Russians and a German for the 20-day Mir-97 mission (DAILY, Feb. 11). Cosmonaut Vasiliy Tsibliev docked the capsule to Mir manually after a sensor indicated a roll mismatch between the two spacecraft and automatically commanded a pullback when only three meters separated Mir and the Soyuz. The reapproach took less than two minutes.
The Congressional Budget Office released a study presenting seven cost-saving options to the Pentagon's plan to build three new tactical aircraft the F/A-18E/F strike fighter, the F-22 fighter and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The plan, which CBO says would cost some $350 billion, has created sticker shock on Capitol Hill.
Boeing's next-generation 737-700 made its first flight over the weekend, powered by 26,300 lbst. CFM International CFM56-7 medium turbofans. Aircraft certification and entry into service with launch customer Southwest Airlines is slated for October. The 737-800 is due to enter service in March, 1998, and the -600 will follow in August.
Interlake Corp., involved in engine component manufacture and repair, garnered negative ratings from debt-watcher Moody's Investors Service for some $60 million worth of convertible, exchangeable preferred stock. "Interlake operates three cyclical businesses through two divisions," Moody's says, explaining that its ratings "reflect the company's large debt burden and modest interest coverage measures....There are no clear indicators of significant, fundamental growth."
AlliedSignal Aerospace will power 12 four-engine Avro RJ-85s for Northwest Airlines under a new $60 million contract for LF507s, AlliedSignal reports, and deliveries under the contract have already started. The LF507 - inherited with AlliedSignal's acquisition of Textron Lycoming - has had a checkered past, but the program's new patron has invested in three initiatives designed to enhance the engine's reliability while cutting maintenance costs, improving the spare parts program, and putting more emphasis on field support.
ASTRONAUTS ABOARD the Space Shuttle Discovery used the robot arm to grapple the Hubble Space Telescope early yesterday, setting the stage for four days of spacewalks to upgrade the orbiting observatory with more sensitive scientific instruments and new housekeeping hardware. Astronaut Steven Hawley snagged the telescope at 3:33 a.m. EST as it orbited southwest of Mexico and maneuvered it onto a work platform in Discovery's cargo bay.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG is "back in the black" and "on the road to success" after a tough period of restructuring since 1995, President and Chief Executive Manfred Bischoff said yesterday in Munich. He also warned, as he has in the past, that European aerospace companies will "suffer" in competition with their American counterparts if they don't make some major changes.
Turkey yesterday signed with Sikorsky Aircraft for four S-70 Sea Hawk helicopters. The deal is reportedly worth $113 million and includes spares, ground support and training. The ship-based Sea Hawks are used for surface anti-submarine warfare and sea rescues. A Sikorsky spokesman said Black Hawk and Sea Hawk derivatives are flown by 22 countries, including Spain, Australia, Japan and Greece. The Royal Thai Navy is soon scheduled to receive the first of six Sea Hawks it has ordered.
Billing himself as a "conservative futurist," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) vowed yesterday to make cheap access to orbit and space commercialization top priorities in his upcoming tenure as chairman of the House Science subcommittee on space and aeronautics. "Cheap access to space is important because it makes possible the commercialization of space," Rohrabacher said. "We're not just talking about the private sector's involvement in NASA programs, but creating a whole new sphere of economic activity above our heads."
TRW received a subcontract from Boeing Helicopters Div. to implement an addition to the avionics program for the U.S. Army's Boeing/Sikorsky Comanche helicopter, a development that TRW said increased the value of the contract by $56 million to a total of about $93 million. TRW Avionics and Systems Div., San Diego, said the work will give the Comanche an avionics and communications package to allow demonstration of advanced reconnaissance capability, especially during Force XXI exercises.
Japan's Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) will soon start license-building General Electric F110-GE-129 turbofans for the Mitsubishi F-2 close air support fighter, formerly known as FS-X, IHI says. Japan's Air Self-Defense Force is due to buy 130 of the single-engine aircraft, but IHI wouldn't say how many engines it is committed to assemble under the agreement worked out with GE last November.
Rolls-Royce Trent turbofan partner Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan may be preparing to pull its recently committed 6% stake in the Trent 900 derivative program, sources here say. Following Boeing's decision to shelve plans for a stretch 747, KHI appears to be studying the feasibility of withdrawing from Rolls' entry for that project, although the enginemakers continue to pursue their engine concepts for Airbus' projected A3XX.
Several years after the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command stated a need for a stealthy transport aircraft, it is still struggling to fund a development and acquisition program.
Alliant Techsystems said sales increases in three business groups led to a 17% increase in its third quarter revenues. It said net income grew 38% as it earned $17.2 million on sales of $300.8 million. In the same quarter of the previous year, the Minneapolis company earned $12.5 million on sales of $257.1 million.
LOCKHEED MARTIN SANDERS, Nashua, N.H., won a $56 million contract from the U.S. Navy for continued production of AN/SRS-1A Combat Direction Finding (Combat DF) systems. Sanders will provide seven complete systems, consisting of distributed deck-edge and mast-mounted antenna arrays and equipment racks and three upgrade field kits for deliveries over the next two years.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE will seek FAA certification of a ground proximity warning system (GPWS) for helicopter use. The new system is a version of the company's Mark VII GPWS. Certification is expected for Sikorsky S-76 series helicopters by April.
The Pentagon next month will submit for final approval a plan that lays out the general direction of future U.S. military space developments. The National Security Space Master Plan (NSSMP), which went through a series of other reviews last year, is being readied for submission to the Joint Space Management Board, a coordination panel of top U.S. defense and intelligence officials. John Fulton, who has been working on the plan for the deputy under secretary of defense for space, said yesterday that final approval is expected in May.
SPACEHAB INC., Vienna, Va., reached an agreement with Northrop Grumman Corp. to purchase the assets of Aerotech Space Operations L.P., which provides satellite launch-site preparation services for commercial launches. Aerotech operates out of facilities in Titusville, Fla., and Los Angeles. Terms of thedeal, which is expected to be completed this month, were not disclosed.
GenCorp said its Aerojet unit received an $82 million contract from the U.S. Army for 600 Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) projectiles. The contract, which also funds test equipment and tooling for high rate production of the artillery precision weapon, is scheduled to run through December 1998 and may increase to over $150 million by October 1999 if all options are exercised, GenCorp said.
NASA will spend as much as $500 million during the next five years to help reduce aircraft accidents, according to a report issued yesterday by Vice President Gore's Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, which also called for an acceleration of air traffic control modernization.
EDO ELECTRO-OPTICS, College Point, N.Y., won a $7.6 million contract from Boeing Co. to produce infrared Earth sensors for Navstar GPS Block IIF satellites. Options valued at $20.4 million can be exercised through 2012.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House National Security research and development subcommittee, yesterday said he will release a Congressional Budget Office study of three major U.S. tactical aircraft programs - the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-22 fighter and the F/A-18E/F strike fighter. It is expected to conclude that, as presently structured, they are unaffordable. "This is a train wreck waiting to happen," Weldon said in a statement.
