The House Intelligence Committee, in a report accompanying its fiscal year 1997 authorization bill, criticizes the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for submitting a "status quo" budget and pushes for increased development of small satellites. Blasting the NRO for an unsatisfactory budget request, the committee says it once again is forced to redistribute funds within the National Reconnaissance Program (NRP) to several "new and exciting processing and exploitation initiatives," which it didn't describe.
Lockheed Martin plans to test its linear aerospike rocket engine on an SR-71A Blackbird in a joint test with NASA at Edwards AFB, Calif., within the next fewmonths. The engine, designed by Rockwell's Rocketdyne Div., will power Lockheed Martin's VentureStar candidate for NASA's reusable launch vehicle program. The equivalent of $1 billion (in 1995 dollars) was spent on development of the engine, the company says. Though the type has been thoroughly evaluated on test stands and in wind tunnels, it has never flown.
Paul Cotter has been appointed C-130J program manager for the company's Avionics Division. He most recently served as business area manager for fire control and sensor systems as well as managing the ground-based radar programs for DSD. Robert Cotter, former director of technical operations for the company's Operations Division, was appointed director for displays and mission computers for the company's Avionics Division.
The Pentagon generally doesn't object to industry exploiting defense technology for commercial use, but there are some things it won't let its suppliers take to the non-military market. Even though industry could expect about $30 billion from commercial EHF services, Gil Klinger, the Pentagon's principal assistant deputy under secretary for space, says the method by which the military gets its secure satellite communications must remain defense unique. Industry won't be allowed to sell a Milstar- like service commercially, he says.
James D. Taiclet was named vice president, military aftersales service. He joins Pratt&Whitney from McKinsey&Co. where he served as a senior consultant.
Richard F. Frazita has been appointed vice president-engineering, command systems. His previous assignments include program manager and engineering director at Hazeltine Corp., and vice president-engineering, for General Microwave Corp.
The U.S. Navy's top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, died yesterday of a gunshot wound outside his home at the Washington Navy Yard. Boorda was taken to a Washington hospital at about 2 p.m. after being shot in the chest. Pentagon officials couldn't confirm reports that the wound was self-inflicted. Few other details were available.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman said yesterday that he was less concerned about North Korea with its Taepo Dong-2 missile threat than about another rogue nation buying its way into becoming a missile power. "I guess I worry less about the North Korea option than some of the others," he told a breakfast seminar on Capitol Hill sponsored by the National Defense University and the American Defense Preparedness Association. He said he was more concerned about nations "with more money to buy better brains."
ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORP., Englewood, Colo., said it has signed an agreement with Ameristar Worldwide Entertainment Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., to sell DISH Network hardware and programming. The affiliation allows Ameristar to demonstrate and sell DISH Network's Direct Broadcast Satellite system across the U.S.
Two U.S. Air Force white papers say that the proliferation of threat systems and budgetary necessity dictate the service's fighter modernization plan, and that its bomber plan is based on the Administration's strategy of winning two near-simultaneous major regional conflicts.
Union leaders in St. Louis will let 6,500 McDonnell Douglas Machinists vote on whether to strike if labor and company negotiators can't agree on a replacement for the company's contract with District 837, which was slated to expire Sunday.
TRW Inc. said it has completed thermal vacuum testing of the Lewis scientific satellite, being built by the company for NASA and slated for launch later this year. TRW said that it is integrating onto the lightweight satellite the three instruments representing its payload, that final environmental verification will be performed this month, and that Lewis should be completed on schedule this summer.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS received a $247.8 million firm fixed-price contract from the U.S. Air Force for a fiscal 1996 buy of six F-15E aircraft and long- lead funding for six additional F-15Es in fiscal '97, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. The buy is part of an Air Force effort to shore-up its F-15E attrition reserve.
A design review of the Land Warrior integrated fighting system which a soldier would wear into battle indicated that the helmet portion of the suit was too heavy, Don Infante, a Hughes vice president and head of the company's Defense Systems unit, told reporters Wednesday. During a review of the high tech suit last week with subcontractor Honeywell, Hughes looked at the weight issue, Infante said at a Hughes technology briefing in Washington. "We didn't like the results" of the first field test at Ft. Benning, Ga., about a month ago, he said.
U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command grounded its C-27A Spartan intra- theater transport planes pending inspection after small cracks were discovered on the horizontal stabilizer attachment of one of its aircraft. All 10 C-27As in USAF inventory are attached to the 24th Wing, Howard AFB, Panama, and have been stood-down until all aircraft have been inspected and cleared for flight. The move comes less than a week after the USAF was forced to stand-down its B-2 fleet because of problems on an engine exhaust clamp.
Lockheed Martin officials yesterday unveiled their "VentureStar" single-stage-to-orbit competitor for NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program. The company on May 13 submitted to NASA its X-33 proposal, a subscale model of a future RLV that would be able to deliver cargo and passengers to low Earth orbit. NASA is slated to announce the winner of the RLV competition within the next two months.
The U.S. Army's two theater missile defense programs, the Patriot Advanced Capability, or PAC-3, and the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) total program cost each increased by more than $1 billion after the programs were restructured by the Pentagon, selected acquisition reporters released yesterday by the Pentagon showed. PAC-3 costs increased 23% from $5.9 billion to $7.2 billion, the March SAR said. The $1.4 billion increase was linked to program changes ordered by the Pentagon earlier this fiscal year.
A CONFERENCE on the Joint Airborne Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) System (JASS) High Band Subsystem (HBSS), slated for June 3-4, has been cancelled and rescheduled for a later time, according to the U.S. Force. The service's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, said in a May 17 Commerce Business Daily notice that the Joint Airborne System Architecture (JASA) Standards will still be released on or about June 3.
A McDonnell Douglas Delta II-7925 rocket is slated to launch the Hughes Communications Galaxy IX satellite on May 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. McDonnell Douglas said it will be the sixth Delta launch in five months, and the fourth from Cape Canaveral this year. It said the launch window will open at 8:36 p.m. and close at 9:37 p.m. EDT. The Delta II will boost Galaxy IX from launch pad 17B into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
The U.S. will destroy five million anti-personnel land mines as part of a policy decision announced by the White House yesterday, but won't completely eliminate its stockpile because of a potential conflict in Korea. President Clinton said the U.S. will restrict its use of the mines, and begin reducing its inventory. He also said the Defense Dept. will boost efforts to find alternatives to land mines.
Profits at Alliant Techsystems rebounded in its fiscal 1996, reaching $47.8 million compared with $74.1 million in losses a year earlier thanks partly to fully integrating the Aerospace Systems Group it bought from Hercules in March, 1995, the company reported yesterday. Boosting margins produced by earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, "has been a top priority since the company's new management team took over in January, 1995," said President and CEO Richard Schwartz in a prepared statement detailing the financial results.
HUGHES TRAINING INC. said it has won a competition to design an air traffic control training system for the Polish Airports State Enterprise (PPL). Under the contract, the terms of which weren't disclosed, Hughes said it will provide integrated tower and radar simulators "to provide a total air traffic control environment for terminal operations." it quoted Zbigniew Salek, general director of PPL, as saying the system "will provide truly realistic presentation of airspace and all ATC operations."
Israel's first commercial satellite and a telecommunications satellite for Indonesia were launched Wednesday from Europe's space center in French Guiana by an Ariane 44L booster.
LOCKHEED MARTIN on Wednesday was awarded a $66.5 million firm fixed price Air Force contract for six F-16Cs and associated alternate mission equipment, the Pentagon announced. Delivery of the aircraft is expected to be completed in November 1999. The purchase marked the Air Force's fiscal '96 F-16 buy, intended to meet a shortfall in attrition reserve aircraft.
