A group of lawmakers has filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Line Item Veto Act. The 1996 act, which took effect Jan. 1, gives the president the authority to cancel any specific appropriation, any item of new direct spending, or any limited tax benefit contained in a bill that the president has just signed into law.
The U.S. Air Force plans an engineering and manufacturing development program for the Hard Target Smart Fuze, with a follow-on production option for 500 units. The baseline design will be the one built by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Motorola Government Electronics Div. during the advanced development phase, the AF said in a Jan. 24 Commerce Business Daily notice. EMD will center on producibility and reliability improvements.
William S. Cohen, confirmed by the Senate Wednesday to be the next secretary of defense, says the Director of Central Intelligence has the proper amount of influence and control over Defense Dept. intelligence programs.
Raytheon E-Systems will modify and upgrade five C-130 airlifters for the Royal New Zealand Air Force under an $8.3 million contract announced yesterday. The Greenville, Tex.-based company will equip the aircraft for self- protection against attack, installing radar warning receivers, missile approach warning systems, flight deck armor, flare dispensers and other hardware.
The Pentagon's Air-to-Air Joint Systems Program Office will seek a long-term commitment from industry for the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile that would keep prices stable even as Raytheon Co.'s planned purchase of Hughes Electronics' defense businesses eliminates competition for production.
"A robust force, the right rules of engagement, and the resolve to use that force" are the keys to successful military peacekeeping operations, Adm. Leighton W. Smith (USN-ret.) said in a keynote address to a conference here.
New Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the Administration has received reports of transfers of dual-use items from Chinese entities to Iranian government entities which raise concern. "We have encouraged China to adopt comprehensive and rigorous national export controls to help assure that no such cooperation will occur," she said in a written response to a question for the record posed by Sen. Bob Bennet (R-Utah) at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Despite a rough start and persistent shortage of financing, Russia has an ambitious civil space effort planned for 1997. The table below summarizes launches known to be scheduled for 1997 under the civil Federal Space Program. It does not include launches scheduled by Russia's Space Forces and commercial launches for foreign customers.
PRATT&WHITNEY yesterday was awarded an $804 million contract for the Joint Strike Fighter engine ground and flight demonstration program. Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. both picked Pratt&Whitney's F119 engine to power their JSF candidates. Work under the contract awarded yesterday will run through January 2001.
The Pentagon's Cruise Missile Joint Program Office is proposing modification of existing McDonnell Douglas Harpoon missiles to enable them to attack land-based targets and improve U.S. Navy capabilities in littoral areas.
General Electric Aircraft Engines and Pratt&Whitney will jointly continue discussions with Airbus Industrie on a new engine for the projected A3XX airliner, now that Boeing has decided to shelve plans for a stretched 747, a GEAC spokesman said yesterday. The two companies last September announced plans for the GP7176, a 76,000 pound thrust turbofan, envisioned as the first product of the newly formed GE-P&W Engine Alliance. It was planned for the 747-500X and -600X and "other super wide-body aircraft" (DAILY, Sept. 3).
ROBERT STANGARONE, VP-public affairs for Rolls-Royce Inc. in Washington, will join Litton Industries in Woodland Hills, Calif., next month as director of corporate communications.
Sukhoi's Su-32FN, a maritime strike/reconnaissance, ASW and multi-role development of the Su-27 fighter, has completed flight testing, according to a Russian air force announcement from Moscow. The Su-32FN is designed to replace the Su-24, which is similar to the U.S. F-111, in strategic strike roles. The Russian news agency Itar-Tass said it "was told in the air force press center" that the plane "has undergone its complete scheduled state flight program in Russia."
U.S. Astronaut John Blaha returned safely to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis yesterday after a four-month hitch on Russia's Space Station Mir. Atlantis glided to a picture-perfect landing at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 9:23 a.m. EST after skipping an earlier opportunity to land there because of obscuring weather.
KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES will join Rolls-Royce's Trent 900 engine program as a risk-revenue sharing partner. Kawasaki, already working on the Trent 700 and 800 programs, will have a 6% share in the 900 program and will develop and assemble turbine section. Rolls-Royce is also inviting Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Marubeni Corp. to participate on the 900.
McDonnell Douglas Corporation, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, St. Louis, Mo., was awarded a $7,528,580 modification on January 10, 1997, to previously awarded contract N00019-95-C-0162 to exercise an Expanded Demonstration Test option of the Russian MA-31 Aerial Target Foreign Comparative Test. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed by June 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, Point Mugu, Calif., is the contracting activity.
Booz Allen and Hamilton, Inc., McLean, Va., was awarded on January 10, a $24,900,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for design, development, test, evaluation, documentation, delivery and maintenance of Intelligent Tutoring Systems to be configured for various systems on a range of weapons systems. Contract is expected to be completed January 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were 219 firms solicited and 6 proposals received.
Worldwide spacecraft launches in the fourth quarter of 1996 are listed in the following table. A total of 15 launches with 19 spacecraft were performed, all of which reached orbits, although one failed to enter its proper trajectory and soon decayed and two others were lost when they failed to separate from the launch vehicle.
Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $12,021,683 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-95-C-2106 for the installation of Integrated Communications and Advanced Networks (ICAN) system. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2002. Contract funds will not expired at the end of the current fiscal year. SupShip, Newport News, Va., is the contracting activity.
Three North American companies have captured contracts to build satellites for the Asian market, with deals for three U.S. telecommunications platforms and a Canadian remote sensing satellite signed in the past week. Space Systems/Loral has gotten authority to proceed from the China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp. (Chinasat) on Chinasat 8, a C- and Ku-band platform that will provide video, data and digital voice service across China.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE has been selected by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) to supply auxiliary power units (APUs) and avionics for up to 80 Airbus A320 family aircraft that GECAS is purchasing. The contract is valued at about $100 million. GECAS named AlliedSignal Aerospace as its preferred supplier for A320 APUs and avionics involved in this order. GECAS also became one of the first customers for AlliedSignal's new 131-9[A ] APU.
William S. Cohen yesterday won quick approval of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full Senate to be the next secretary of defense, and moved at record pace to a Pentagon swearing-in ceremony. The committee approved President Clinton's nomination of the former Republican senator after a brief hearing notable for a lack of opposition; the Senate later approved him in a unanimous 99-0 vote.
CHINA YUNNAN AIRLINES ordered two 737-300 airliners valued at $68 million, Boeing Co. said. The company's first two announced orders in 1997 have thus come from China. The initial order, from Air China, was for two 747s. EVA AIR of Taiwan will add two more MD-11 freighters to its fleet late this year, according to Douglas Aircraft. It now operates six MD-11s, three of which are freighters.
Engineering and Economics Research Systems, Incorporated, Seabrook, Md., is being awarded a $7,645,232 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement and installation of 50 FY 96 Helicopter Night Vision Systems and the procurement of 49 FY 97 Helicopter Night Vision Systems for the Navy and Marine Corps' CH- 53 Transport Helicopter. Work will be performed in Seabrook, Md., and is expected to be completed by May 1999. Contract funds would not have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
