The Comanche helicopter program is seeking $3.7 billion for the 1998-2003 program objective memorandum (POM) being formulated in the Pentagon this year, an amount that officials say would allow fielding three years ahead of the current schedule. The figure is "a bit larger" than called for in initial plans, Brig. Gen. Jim Snider, the Army's Comanche program manager, said at the Army Aviation Association of America's annual symposium here. But, he noted, it includes $2 billion for procurement of 24 helicopters.
Auditors from the General Accounting Office have found $653 million in unspent fiscal 1995 funds in NASA's Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE) accounts, leading a key House Republican to order an investigation of what he called a "slush fund" in the politically charged Earth monitoring program.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall told a critical House Appropriations subcommittee chairman yesterday that the 5% saving offered by McDonnell Douglas on a seven-year buy of 80 C-17 airlifters is "the best value" for the U.S., but if the buy comes in below contract, the Air Force "will share in the saving." Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the national security appropriations subcommittee, told The DAILY after the hearing that "my position is the same after the hearing as before the hearing."
ENCORE COMPUTER CORP., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will supply Northrop Grumman Corp. with real-time systems for the French Navy's E-2C Tactics Trainer. Encore said yesterday it has received an $840,000 contract for the work. It said the French Navy has chosen three Encore RSX systems for a simulator to be located at the French Naval Air Station (FNAS) Lann-Bihoue in Lorient, France.
FLOW INTERNATIONAL CORP., Kent, Wash., said it has sold a multi-purpose machine tool to Northrop Grumman Corp. for $3.5 million. It said the 8-foot by 46-foot system will be used for precision machining of three-dimensional composite parts for the F/A-18 fighter. Flow's ASI Robotics unit, Jeffersonville, Ind., will make the gantry robot and automatic tool changer that controls the equipment.
Boeing Co. has commended Dow-United Technologies Composite Products, Inc., of Wallingford, Conn., for using a new process to create the first set of complex parts for the wings of the F-22 fighter. During a ceremony at the Dow-UT factory, Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and F-22 program manager, praised the company for delivering the initial set of 44 F-22 wing parts, called sine wave spars.
A long-range planning effort launched last year by U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Ronald Fogleman (DAILY, Sept. 21, 1995) will recommend this fall the broad strategic thrust required to develop the "Air Force after next," according to a senior USAF officer. Maj. Gen. John Gordon, who heads the long-range planning office, told reporters Monday in his Pentagon office that the effort is a "work in progress," with conclusions still to be reached.
Despite certain military-technical advances, Chinese success in any major military confrontation with Taiwan could be costly and uncertain at best, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments concludes in a new report. Fears of a military confrontation between China and Taiwan have focused on Chinese and Taiwanese capabilities for conducting military operations across the Taiwan Strait.
With McDonnell Douglas' balance sheet now fully recovered after years of struggle, President and CEO Harry Stonecipher plans to take a conservative approach to acquisitions and divestitures as the industry's consolidation continues to unfold.
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL said that F.P. (Fred) Moosally has been named vice president-congressional relations. Moosally, who joined Rockwell in 1991 and who was most recently director-congressional relations, plans and directs legislative affairs for the company and is a focal point for congressional contacts for RI's aerospace and defense businesses. He is based in Washington and reports to J.H. (Joe) Garrett, VP government affairs and marketing.
While closing on Lockheed Martin's acquisition of Loral Corp. appears to be running a few weeks late, Chief Financial Officer Mark Bennett said yesterday that with no major regulatory or other roadblocks looming, the deal should close soon.
The Pentagon is considering moving an integrated command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I) advanced concept technology demonstrator now in Bosnia to South Korea when U.S. troops withdraw from Bosnia, vice chairman of a special Defense Science Board task force said yesterday.
A story about the unit price of the C-17 in The DAILY of March 26 (page 469) was wrong in several respects. First, Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman is Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, not head of Transportation Command. Second, the unit price of the airlifter has dropped below $212 million - an AF spokeswoman said yesterday that for the last 80 planes, the unit flyaway cost is $183 million, and under MYP the flyaway cost is $173 million (both amounts in FY '96 dollars); total flyaway cost for the last 80 airplanes is $14.8 billion.
Lockheed Martin has completed wind tunnel testing of a model of its Joint Strike Fighter proposal which program officials say validated their design. The 86%-scale sheet-metal model had been at NASA's Ames Research Center for a series of tests, including several weeks of testing in the 80- by-120-foot wind tunnel. Earlier testing was conducted at Ames' Outdoor Aerodynamic Research Facility.
Northrop Grumman Corp. said yesterday that the 12,500-strong work force of its Military Aircraft Systems Div. in Southern California will be cut by 2,100 people by the end of the year. It has already laid off 400 since January. The company cited declining production work on the B-2 bomber, a drop in development effort on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the effect of cost reduction initiatives on the F/A-18C/D Hornet production program.
A DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT has been signed for Concurrent Computer Corp.'s previously announced buy of the real-time computing business of Harris Computer Systems Corp.
The U.S. Navy yesterday asked a Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee for at least $3.8 billion to carry out the operational prototype program for the new attack submarine program, but carefully avoided expressing a preference for any of the three alternatives it presented to Congress. Rather than state a preference, John W. Douglass, Assistant Navy Secretary for research, development and acquisition, said it was important to get on with the competition between General Dynamics' Electric Boat and Tenneco's Newport News Shipbuilding.
The future for non-U.S. sales of both the C-17 airlifter and the MD-17 - the plane's commercial cargo-carrying variant - could become clear as soon as the end of this year, but more likely will be settled by the end of 1997, McDonnell Douglas President and CEO Harry Stonecipher said yesterday. The final structure of the AF's proposed multi-year buy of the C-17 has to be worked out first, he explained, because "when you talk about selling an airplane, you have to be able to give a price."
The Dept. of Defense's total costs for the Bosnia operation are uncertain at this time, but could very well exceed its initial estimate of under $2 billion, the General Accounting Officer reports. The Army's costs, estimated to represent about two-thirds of the cost of the operation, are likely to exceed DOD's estimate, and the Air Force's costs are likely to be less than the estimate. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and House National Security Commietter member Bob Dornan (R-Calif.) requested the GAO review.
Thiokol Corp., the solid-rocket motor specialist split off from then- Morton Thiokol in 1989, has big expansion plans for its newly acquired turbine-castings company Howmet Corp., which Chairman and CEO James R. Wilson said yesterday could grow to account for more than half of Thiokol's business by 1999.
After years of growth through acquisition, Lockheed Martin's management is ready to add a new word to its strategic vocabulary - divestiture - but don't just assume that only means marginal businesses will leave the fold, CFO Mark Bennett says. While he readily allows that a company such as the former Martin Marietta materials subsidiary, a major supplier of aggregates in the U.S., "will be considered as a candidate to monetize in some form," a huge chunk of money could also be generated from real property.
AlliedSignal Aerospace said it finalized an agreement to form a joint venture with the Chinese Research Institute of Aero Accessories, the environmental control systems supplier for the state-owned Aviation Industries of China (AVIC).
The U.S. Navy has not established clear priorities among all of its mine warfare programs to sustain the development and procurement of its most needed systems, the General Accounting Office reports. Consequently, the Navy has experienced delays in delivering new systems to provide necessary capabilities, GAO says. In addition, the Navy has identified shortfalls of about $99.5 million in the development of its shallow water projects, it adds.
Lockheed Martin is responsible for two-thirds of the F-22 program, while Boeing holds the remaining third. The DAILY incorrectly reported March 21 (page 438) that Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems is building two-thirds of the aircraft. In fact, Aeronautical Systems, in Marietta, Ga., is responsible for 35%, and Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems, in Fort Worth, Tex., is responsible for 32.5%.
In its first public statement since FAA sent it a "cure" letter on the program to develop the Wide Area Augmentation System, the industry team handling the $475 million contract said it "remains confident" that it can deliver "a WAAS system that meets all of the FAA's requirements." The team, composed of Wilcox Electric, Hughes Aircraft and TRW, was told by FAA that it had until April 2 to correct "performance deficiencies" (DAILY, March 20). The cure letter listed 10 areas that are "endangering performance of the WAAS contract."
