With enough cash to qualify as a small bank, a booming, recovering jetliner market, and two new transport products to launch, why did Boeing decide to buy Rockwell's decidedly non-commercial aerospace and defense operations? "Three things were part of our strategic look," says Boeing CEO Phil Condit. "Historically, and I believe to a large degree going forward, the commercial side tends to be countercyclic" to the defense business.
Boeing plans flight tests in October for the CH-47 Chinook it has modified in preparation for the Army's CH-47 Improved Cargo Helicopter program to reduce the helicopter's vibration. Sam Sutter, Boeing's ICH program manager, says the initial lab analysis is complete and the modified Chinook is now being built up for flight testing. Prototypes of the T55-GA-714A engine are being installed. The Army is slated to take delivery of the test asset, outfitted with stress measurement equipment, in December for flight testing at Ft. Rucker, Ala.
Lockheed Martin has opened a new regional office in Miami that it said will better support its business initiatives in Latin America. The company expects its Latin America business to double in the next five years.
The Pentagon Inspector General has cleared U.S. Special Operations Command of any wrong-doing in the acquisition of the AC-130U gunship. Allegations were made to a Defense Dept. hotline that SOCOM violated acquisition rules. The IG sided with SOCOM on all four issues - that competition wasn't full and open; that a prototype system isn't needed; that the funding profile wasn't inappropriate, and that operational requirements don't meet user needs.
Annual operation and support costs for the missile defense systems projected under the Republican Defend America Act would range from $2 billion to $4 billion a year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in documents released Friday. Answering questions posed by Sens. Jim Exon (D-Neb.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, and Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), whose home state would host a missile defense site, CBO said that the costs-in constant 1997 dollars-would not reach the $2-4 billion level until about 2010 if the law is passed.
The new DOD space architect is scheduled to review a series of findings on how to improve satellite tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C), U.S. Space Command Chief nominee Lt. Gen. Howell M. Estes says in response to questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Establishing an integrated TT&C management process among civil and national security space agencies with agreed upon standards and common protocols will be key to realizing longer term improvements," he says.
The Predator unmanned aerial vehicle's days as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration are coming to a close and the U.S. Air Force is beginning to take over program responsibility. Hawley said Air Force representatives are now at Predator's base in Hungary to orchestrate the "gradual handoff" of the system. The USAF will take full control of the systems in September.
McDonnell Douglas should net about $169 million after agreeing to settle an eight-year dispute with the U.S. Navy over who should pay for the raft of modifications needed to make the T-45 trainer acceptable to Navy evaluators, the company reported Friday.
The Navy intends for its planned arsenal ship to be equipped in the future with a ballistic missile defense capability, Chief of Naval Operations nominee Adm. Jay L. Johnson says in response to questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee. The arsenal ship could use its Standard missiles for a BMD capability, he says. And a naval version of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) would provide arsenal ship with a strong fire-support capability, he adds.
HOUSE MEMBERS approved the $265.6 billion fiscal 1997 defense authorization conference report by a 285-132 vote Thursday night and sent it to the Senate for final congressional approval.
Congress should be careful as it drafts legislation designed to promote space commercialization that it doesn't deprive the U.S. space remote sensing industry of the investment it needs by allowing the government to "shutter" satellite imagery systems for political reasons, aerospace and media industry representatives warned.
Northrop Grumman has scored its first target hit with the Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) submunition in the 10-test contractor development test series, the Army said Friday. Last Tuesday's test was the second in the series at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., during which a total of 16 submunitions will be dispensed. The BAT engaged a T-72 tank that was part of a remotely controlled moving column of tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The U.S. Air Force is still working the kinks out of its Air Expeditionary Forces. The Air Force needs to better coordinate "getting the airlift and the tanker support" for AEFs, Gen. Richard E. Hawley, commander of Air Combat Command, tells reporters. He says that "is not easy to do when it's not a crisis," as was the case for past deployments and for the up-coming deployment to Qatar. But, Hawley says, at least in crises the AEFs will get priority for tanker and airlift support.
The HMMWV (High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle) proved itself a suitable platform for the Line-of-Sight-Anti-Tank (LOSAT) weapon system in a June 25 test firing at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Lockheed Martin Vought Systems reported. The test was conducted to gauge launch effects of the kinetic energy missile on the HMMWV and its crew. Post launch readings fell within the Army's acceptable range, the company noted. The service is evaluating LOSAT on the HMMWV because the previously planned platform, the Armored Gun System, was canceled.
The combination of proposed House and Senate reductions in the Titan IV rocket program would delete the entire budget for the fiscal 1997 buy to launch Milstar satellites, the Pentagon says in a package of appeals sent to congressional defense appropriators. The reductions would also defer procurement of solid rocket motors to boost earlier Milstar and Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites, and slip a DSP and a classified launch, DOD says.
House Speaker Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) won't decide whether Rep. Joseph M. McDade R-Pa.), acquitted on bribery and corruption charges, can take over as chairman of the Appropriations Committee until the new Congress convenes next year, provided, of course, Republicans retain control of the House. Because of the charges against him, McDade was forced to step aside and Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) was named Appropriations Chairman in the present Congress.
Russia launched its Progress M-32 cargo capsule to the Mir space station early yesterday, sending almost three tons of supplies to the three-person crew aboard the orbital station only six days after officials decided to shift the capsule to a new Soyuz booster. Liftoff of the replacement Soyuz-U from Baikonur Cosmodrome came just as the clock ticked past midnight Moscow time (4 p.m. Wednesday EDT), and it appeared the launch put the Progress capsule on target to dock with Mir tomorrow.
Buying Rockwell's aerospace and defense units will help Boeing build a soup-to-nuts business in space transportation, as well bolster a growing portfolio of prime defense contracts, Boeing Defense&Space Group President Jerry King told The DAILY yesterday. In a prepared statement detailing plans for the transaction (see preceding story), King said the deal would "significantly enhance" Boeing's capabilities in space systems, including space transportation, satellites and space station programs, as well as information and battle management systems.
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee said they hoped the Senate would confirm Adm. Jay L. Johnson as chief of naval operations before departing for its August recess. Johnson, now vice CNO, appeared before the committee Wednesday. He was nominated for the top Navy slot by President Clinton after CNO Adm. Jeremy Boorda took his own life on May 16. Johnson said in response to questions from the committee that:
REP. JOSEPH MCDADE (R-Pa.) was acquitted of bribery and corruption charges yesterday by a federal jury in Philadelphia. The 17-term congressman has been on trial for charges that he accepted $100,000 in gifts from several defense contractors in return for help in winning defense work contracts.
RAYTHEON ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS received a $118.6 million contract from U.S. Army Missile Command to manufacture Hawk phase III hardware kits for Saudi Arabia. Raytheon said the contract is part of an existing program for Saudi Arabia to upgrade its air defense with Patriot and Hawk improvements. The total value of the contract is estimated at $195 million if future options are exercised for technical training and in-country support.
Lt. Gen. Howell M. Estes III said he will continue to be a strong advocate for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) if he is confirmed to become commander-in-chief of U.S. Space Command. Estes made the comment Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which must recommend his nomination to the full Senate. The Senate is expected to act quickly. Estes said SBIRS "is critical to serving USSPACECOM, NORAD and our other unified command customers around the world."
Boeing agreed to buy Rockwell International's defense and aerospace operations for about $3 billion, which would quickly boost its space capabilities - particularly its space propulsion portfolio - in time for a future increasingly tied to the space marketplace.
A SPECIALLY EQUIPPED Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle yesterday designated a target for a laser guided missile in a demonstration at Eglin AFB, Fla. The UAV's laser designator illuminated a stationary tank target, allowing a ground-launched Hellfire missile to engage it. The Hunter was flying at about 3,900 feet, just below cloud cover, according to a spokesman for the UAV Joint Program Office. The laser designator was placed in the Hunter's basic electro-optical/infrared payload built by Israel Aircraft Industries.
NASA's DC-XA reusable launch vehicle prototype will likely be declared a total loss following Wednesday's landing mishap, although safety considerations at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., thwarted a thorough examination of the wreckage until late yesterday.
