The RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter program is "very streamlined" at this time and could "easily be fielded two years earlier" than planned, Army Assistant Secretary for Research, Development and Acquisition Gilbert L. Decker said yesterday. Acknowledging that such a move would require putting increased funding into Comanche sooner, Decker said he would "like to see it done."
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL CORP., Anaheim, Calif., on March 29 received a $5 million addition to an earlier U.S. Air Force contract to provide additional interim contractor support activities for the AC-130U aircraft. The Defense Dept. said on April 1 that the work will be performed at Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
The U.S. Army plans to buy 229 Multiple Launch Rocket System Extended Range rocket pods in low-rate production this fiscal year with options that could push the total buy to 1,573 systems, according to an April 11 Commerce Business Daily. In addition to the 229 MLRS-ER buy this fiscal year, the "anticipated option quantities for FY '97 and '98 are 346 rocket pods and 998 rocket pods, respectively, and will include requirements for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers," the notice said.
WILLIAM REYNARD, 53, director of NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System, died April 10 in Palo Alto, Calif., of complications from a kidney transplant. He had headed the ASRS since 1976.
CUBIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS, San Diego, on April 1 received a $7.1 million increase to an earlier contract from the U.S. Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Eglin AFB, Fla., for initial ground and airborne hardware components for the Nellis Air Combat Training system, Nellis AFB, Nev., and the Tyndall Range Expansion System, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
China will decide by the end of June whether Boeing, McDonnell Douglas or Europe's Aero International (Regional) consortium will be the western partner in a planned 100-seat aircraft development program, officials said yesterday. Dutch airframer Fokker, now bankrupt, had also been competing for a role in the project, but parent Daimler-Benz of Germany pulled the bid when Fokker's financial problems began to mount earlier this year.
LORAL AEROSPACE CORP., Sunnyvale, Calif., on March 29 was awarded $7.2 million by the U.S. Air Force as an addition to an earlier contract. The Dept. of Defense said on April 1 that the contract definitizes fiscal year 1996 operation, maintenance, and support of the Air Force Satellite Control Network Indian Ocean Station, and that work on the contract is expected to be completed in September 1996. The contract was awarded by the 50th Space Wing Contracting Squadron, Falcon AFB, Colo.
The U.S. Army has deployed one of its two prototype Joint Tactical Ground Stations (JTAGS) to Europe. The DAILY reported April 11 (page 67) that both have been deployed to South Korea.
Stronger research and development partnerships hold the key to maintaining the U.S. technological edge in the post Cold War era, according to a report from the Washington-based Council on Competitiveness.
LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP., Denver, will provide launch services for existing Titan II and IV rockets under a $1.7 million U.S. Air Force contract awarded April 2 for the period from Oct. 1, 1995, through Sept. 30, 2003. At this time, the Defense Dept. said, $240.6 million has been obligated. It said the services include ground system and facility maintenance, launch preparation, post-flight activities, and environmental compliance, and that the work will be performed at Cape Canaveral AS, Fla. (70%) and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (30%).
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin will formally pledge his government to continued funding for its share of the International Space Station "in the next few days," according to the head of the Russian Space Agency.
ELECTROSPACE SYSTEMS INC., Richardson, Tex., beat two other competitors for a $17.4 million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McCellan AFB, Calif. The Dept. of Defense said the contract calls for on-site organizational maintenance of the Command and Control Switching System (CCSS) from FY1997 through FY2001. The CCSS provides secure telephone communications for the Department of Defense. DOD said the work will be performed at various installations around the world.
Hughes and Japan Satellite Systems (JSAT) have determined that a leaking altitude/orbit control fuel tank on the JC SAT-1 communications platform will cut the satellite's service life by about a year an a half.
BOEING AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONICS, Seattle, received a $9 million contract March 29 from the U.S. Air Force's Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, for engineering and technical services to support the Peacekeeper and Minuteman ICBMs.
LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP., Denver, received a $631 million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center on April 1 for final assembly and checkout of existing Titan II and IV launch vehicles for the Oct. 1, 1995-Sept. 30, 2003 period. The Pentagon said $77.7 million has been obligated, and that the services also include launch vehicle storage and production of spares.
The RAF launched a major reorganization of its support helicopter force (SHF) to absorb new helicopter procurements and to adjust to the imminent withdrawal of U.K. helo forces from Germany. On order today are another 14 Boeing CH-47D-standard Chinooks and 22 Westland/Agusta EH101 transport helicopters, which will alter the shape of the SHF when they begin to come on line.
Dutch airframer Fokker's bankruptcy has claimed its first balance sheet, with a $14.2 million pre-tax charge at Coltec Industries to cover the sudden stop of landing gear and flight control shipments wiping out the bulk of the company's first quarter earnings, posted yesterday.
A senior NASA scientist has suggested to the three industry teams working on proposals for the X-33 testbed that tether deployment systems could be a low-cost alternative to upper stages for raising the altitude of payloads orbited by reusable launch vehicles (RLVs).
NASA SHUTTLE CARRIER AIRCRAFT was to begin the flight from Edwards AFB, Calif., to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., with the Space Shuttle Atlantis today after crews replaced an engine that caught fire on takeoff April 5.
China Aviation Supplies Corp., or CASC, signed a $1.5 billion contract for 30 Airbus A320 narrowbody twin jetliners yesterday, but left the engine choice open. Ten jetliners are earmarked for Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, which will get its first A320 in 1997. Other Chinese carriers, such as China Eastern, China Northern and Sichuan, will get the rest, but CASC hasn't yet announced their distribution.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS' Marine Systems Group has won a $13 million contract from Canada's Dept. of National Defense to produce upgrade kits for Mk. 46 lightweight torpedoes.
Almost as soon as President Clinton on Tuesday signed legislation giving the president the ability to remove specific items from appropriations bills, Capitol Hill aides and observers began trying to determine just what line item veto power will mean for the annual defense budget process.
Modest increases in three programs unique to nonproliferation and counterproliferation, which now have total annual funding of about $1 billion, are being recommended by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The CSBA, formerly the Defense Budget Project, examined the three programs in its report, "Challenges&Opportunities: U.S. Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation Programs in 1996." The programs are as follows:
The U.S. Army and Air Force are considering development of a follow-on to the Army's Joint Tactical Ground Station that would allow for in-theater space management as well as traditional space exploitation capability, an Army official said.
The U.S. Air Force is asking for industry proposals for a conventional munitions upgrade for the B-1B bomber, and has raised the prospect of a competition between Rockwell International and McDonnell Douglas. The Air Force's solicitation said "Contractors may be required to submit two proposals: (1) on their proposed design and (2) adapting the current Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tailkit to a Mk.82 bomb utilizing a wireless GPS and weapons mission data interface," an April 10 Commerce Business Daily notice said.
