Three enginemakers are vying to power the Aero International (Regional), or AI(R), consortium's proposed new 70-passenger regional jet, two of which represent rivals who are teaming for the first time.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT TEAM visited Canada this week to brief its "Maple Hawk" helicopter proposal. The helicopter, a derivative of the H-60 Black Hawk, is being advanced to fill Canada's requirement for 15 search and rescue helicopters. The team, put together earlier this month, visited Canada even before the formal request for proposal is released, a Sikorsky spokesman confirmed. The team includes Canada's CAE Aviation, Canadian Marconi, GE Canada, IMP Aerospace, and Litton of Canada.
NASA has confirmed that it will send two small soil penetrators to Mars on the Mars '98 Surveyor Lander to test whether the New Millennium technology can help in the search for subsurface water there. Lockheed Martin Electro-Optical Systems has been picked as a "primary industry partner" to help integrate and test the two doorknob-sized penetrators, which will drop off the lander just before it enters the Martian atmosphere and plunge into the surface at about 200 meters per second, driving a probe from one to six feet into the ground.
POSTFLIGHT INSPECTION of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motors (RSRMs) that boosted the Space Shuttle Atlantis to its successful docking with Russia's Mir space station last week revealed unusual erosion in the nozzle on the right-hand motor, leading NASA to set up a team to find out why. Atlantis' STS-79 mission was delayed six weeks while new RSRMs were installed as a safety precaution following discovery of hot gas penetrations in the field joints, but it was unclear yesterday what effect the latest problem would have on the planned Nov.
Saab Military Aircraft is leading a four-country study of the effects of electromagnetic interference on aircraft. The countries - Sweden, France, England and Germany - will spend about $3 million over 40 months under the program, Composites and Advanced Aircraft Technologies Electromagnetic Protection, Saab reported.
DERLAN INDUSTRIES LTD., Toronto, said its Derlan Aerospace Canada unit in Milton, Ontario, has signed a memorandum of agreement valued at $25.3 million with Boeing Helicopters for various transmission components for the CH-46 helicopter. Derlan said it will supply Boeing Helicopters with over 1,900 gears and gear assemblies for the CH-46.
The Pentagon plans to bring the Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicles supporting U.S. operations in Bosnia back to the U.S., largely because weather there is restricting their ability to fly, according to a Defense Dept. official. The arrival of cold weather has grounded the UAVs because they have icing problems in flight, the official said. As a result, commanders have opted to cease using them. The vehicles might be returned to the U.S. as soon as early October.
The U.S. Air Force's F-117A Nighthawks are headed for an upgrade program intended to cut support cost and increase availability, and possibly improve stealth characteristics. The program, known as the Single Configuration Fleet effort, is slated to begin in 2000 or 2001 and cover all 54 F-117s by the end of 2004, the Air Force said yesterday in a written response to questions.
Pole-testing of the radar signature of a full-scale F-22 fighter has begun at Lockheed Martin's Hellendale, Calif., test range, according to Tom Burbage, vice president and general manager of the company for the F-22 program. He told The DAILY last week that signature testing of individual F-22 parts has been underway for the past couple of years. But "going into test right now" is the first 100% model to be tested for radar return.
The U.S. Air Force is testing a new variant of the BLU-109 warhead that promises better performance against hardened targets even though it is smaller, the service said.
The Ericsson Saab Avionics joint venture established earlier this month will try to strengthen the relationship between the two companies beyond business areas directly involved in the venture, the companies say. The joint venture "will further develop and strengthen cooperation with other companies in both groups, mainly Saab Military Aircraft, Saab Dynamics and Ericsson Microwave Systems," the companies said in a recent statement. The joint venture will have access to technology from both Saab and Ericsson.
JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER program office will make its down-select announcement in mid-November, a Pentagon spokeswoman said yesterday. The decision on which one of the current three competitors - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, or a team of McDonnell Douglas/Northrop Grumman/British Aerospace - will be eliminated won't be announced before the week of Nov. 11, she said. It is "99.9% certain" that the announcement will not be made on or before Nov. 7, election day, the spokeswoman said.
NASA wants proposals for the fifth in its series of Discovery low-cost planetary mission, offering as much as $226 million for a mission that would launch before the end of September 2002.
ISRAEL MILITARY INDUSTRIES has won a $21 million U.S. Navy contract to build 98 Improved Tactical Air Launched Decoys for use on F/A-18 strike fighters. IMI, based in Ramot Hasharaon, Israel, will deliver 80 ITALDs to fleet users, 10 for first article testing, and eight for government lot acceptance testing, the Pentagon said.
The Senate and House will take up the fiscal year 1997 defense appropriations bill before adjourning, either as a separate measure or part of a catch-all omnibus spending package, congressional leaders said yesterday. Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) told reporters the defense bill would be acted upon before adjournment, no matter what form it takes. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) expected the whole package to move the House floor before the end of this week.
Raytheon Co. honored ten individuals and ten teams for excellence in technology and engineering. It said yesterday that the Thomas L. Phillips Excellence in Technology Award, named for Raytheon board member and former chairman Thomas L. Phillips, went to the following: -- Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, Kans. Individuals: Ann L. Kolarik, structural integrity analysis; Brian D. Morrison, control by light aircraft control system project. Teams: Premier I Fuselage Shell Team; Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS)
The initial version of Russia's federal budget for fiscal year 1997, prepared by the Ministry of Finance for presentation to the State Duma, appears to set the same level of funding for the national space program as this fiscal year.
Top Samsung group executives are in The Netherlands this week pushing a package to rescue Fokker in which the Dutch government, the Stork group now controlling some former Fokker assets, and Samsung would split ownership of a re-born aircraft company focusing on regional aircraft, officials close to the talks confirmed yesterday.
Lessons learned building and operating the International Space Station, coupled with the possible discovery of fossil life from the Red Planet, could set the stage for an international Mars mission in the first two decades of the coming century, the outgoing chairman of the House Science Committee predicted yesterday.
FREQUENCY ENGINEERING LABORATORIES, Farmingdale, N.J., will supply 16 AN/SLQ-25A torpedo countermeasure systems to U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command under a $10.9 million increase to an earlier contract. The Dept. of Defense announced the award on Sept. 6. It said it "combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (14%), the United Kingdom (31%), and Taiwan (55%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program."
NASA's long-range plans for space transportation technology development focus on a cheap little engine to orbit small payloads, air-augmented rockets to power reusable launch vehicles, and a variety of exotic techniques that would harness the sun's power to drive space launch upper stages.
President Clinton yesterday signed the fiscal year 1997 defense authorization bill that provides $265.6 billion in budget authority - $11.2 billion more for the Pentagon than he requested. Among a number of substantial funding hikes for weapons modernization accounts, the bill adds $914 million to the $2.7 billion request for ballistic missile defense.
