U.S. defense modernization is being hampered because many programs "are being 'nicked' or held back because of inadequate Clinton budgets," Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations national security subcommittee, charged in a recent response to a query from The DAILY. "If we can correct this with additional funds then it will be a high priority for us" in the fiscal 1997 defense budget," Young said.
Europe's joint NH-90 utility helicopter made its first flight last month at Eurocopter France's Mairgnane facility under clouds of speculation about the program's future, as defense spending cuts threaten participation by the project's French prime contractor.
HORIZONS TECHNOLOGY INC., San Diego, is developing a computerized system to enhance the maintenance, reliability and safety of the U.S. Marine Corps AH-1W Cobra helicopter. The system, also intended to reduce costs, is designed to track and update data on 78 major components which are known to have limited life. The components will be monitored during each flight. HTI is carrying out the work under a $74,000 contract from Naval Air Systems Command.
A McDonnell Douglas Delta II booster orbited NASA's X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE) Saturday after weather and a technical glitch scrubbed six earlier attempts. Liftoff of the Delta from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., came at 8:48 a.m. EST Saturday, placing the 6,700-pound NASA payload in a 360-mile-high circular orbit 78 minutes later. The satellite's solar arrays deployed as scheduled, setting the stage for a month-long checkout period.
ADM. ARLEIGH BURKE, namesake of the Navy's newest class of destroyers and a three-time chief of naval operations, died Monday at Bethesda Naval Hospital near Washington He was 94. Burke gained fame as a destroyer squadron commander in the Pacific during World War II, and was appointed to the Navy's top job by President Eisenhower in 1955. In that role he pushed the development of the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile and other advanced systems.
Delco Electronics is positioned to expand its GPS-based Telepath vehicle navigation system into the aftermarket arena and drastically reduce prices, industry sources said. The development follows signing of a memo of understanding last week that calls for Trimble Navigation to be Delco's exclusive supplier of GPS receivers. Delco, the Kokomo, Ind.-based subsidiary of Hughes Electronics, is considered the world's largest automotive electronics supplier.
BTG INC., Vienna, Va., is opening offices in Newport News., Va., and Indianapolis, Ind. The company said yesterday that the Newport News office will expand services of its Delta Research unit to the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command/Civil Engineer at Hampton, Virginia, and offer services to the U.S. Navy, Army, and other government and private sector organizations. The Indiana office is an expansion of the company's integration and development work on U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft for Naval Air Systems Command.
Northrop Grumman agreed to pay some $3.6 billion for Westinghouse's defense electronics business, unveiling a deal yesterday rich enough to make a challenge by rival suitors unlikely. Apart from $3 billion in cash, Northrop Grumman will take on some $600 million in unfunded pension liability for the electronics unit's employees. The company noted yesterday that it has secured credit lines with three banks totalling nearly $5 billion to finance the deal.
House members yesterday failed to override President Clinton's veto of the fiscal 1996 defense authorization conference report, leaving final settlement of a number of defense issues up in the air. Language requiring deployment of a U.S. national missile defense by 2003, which triggered the veto, was rejected in the House action, as was Senate language intended to prevent the construction of additional B-2 bombers (DAILY, Jan. 2, 3).
BFGOODRICH AEROSPACE Commercial Aircraft Integrated Systems Div., Vergennes, Vt., has received a contract from Northwest Airlines to supply landing gear indication and warning systems for 106 DC-9 airliners. Deliveries are slated to begin in April 1996. Terms of the contract weren't disclosed.
TORREY SCIENCE CORP., San Diego, will develop and demonstrate a remote communication system for nuclear non-proliferation treaty verification. The company said the Reliable ffordable Global Communications (RACON) system will send information collected by a global network of sensors to the International Data Center, a central monitoring site. The sensors will monitor the atmosphere and oceans for indicators of nuclear testing.
ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS, Minneapolis, will demilitarize some 25,500 M117 general purpose bombs under a 24-month, $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Army Industrial Operations Command, Rock Island, Ill. The 750-pound M117 is no longer maintained in the Dept. of Defense inventory. Alliant's Global Environmental Solutions subsidiary will manage the contract.
Standard Missile Co. (SMCo), established last May by Raytheon and Hughes as the single producer of the Navy's Standard missile, wants to qualify additional suppliers for its next two projects, according to company officials. SMCo has started development of the Block IV version of the Standard to provide the Navy with an area capability against tactical ballistic missiles, and is working on initial design of a derivative known as AEGIS LEAP (Lightweight ExoAtmospheric Projectile).
Defense procurement soared to nearly $7.3 billion in December, exceeding the two previous months combined, and now stands at more than $13.1 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 1996. The breakdown by services for December is: Air Force, 55 contracts totaling $2,806,100,000; Navy, 73 contracts valued at $2,713,900,000; Army, 46 contracts worth $1,529,700,000, and various Defense agencies, 15 awards totaling $248.1 million.
PARKER BERTEA AEROSPACE's Air&Fuel Div., Irvine, Calif., is developing a safer and more durable boom nozzle for testing on KC-135 aircraft. The company said it received an initial U.S. Air Force contract of $125,000 for testing of the nozzle, and that four will be delivered by October 1996. It said the Air Force has the option of procuring up to 20 additional nozzles for testing. The service could ultimately buy nozzles for its KC-135 fleet of some 600 aircraft.
NASA managers are scheduled to hold a flight readiness review (FRR) today for the next Space Shuttle mission, scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., next Thursday despite the federal government shutdown that has idled most operations of the U.S. space agency for the past 19 days.
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S SANDERS UNIT, Nashua, N.H., won a $6.6 million U.S. Navy Foreign Military Sales contract to supply electronic countermeasures test sets and associated equipment and spare parts to the governments of Malaysia and Kuwait. The company said the AN/USM-406D test sets will support AN/ALQ-126 and AN/ALR-67 countermeasures systems on F/A-18 aircraft. It said the USM-406D evaluates mission readiness of ECM systems by providing end-to-end testing data.
ITT CORP., Clifton, N.J., will supply three shipsets of the AN/ALQ-172 (V3) electronic countermeasures systems for the AC-130H aircraft under a $16.9 million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Warner Robins Air Logistics Center. The contract was awarded Dec. 22.
U.S. NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND plans to release a draft RFP on Jan. 10, 1996, for AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning Set microprocessor software upgrade. NavAir said in a Dec. 12 Commerce Business Daily notice that a pre- solicitation conference is planned for Feb. 1, the formal RFP will be released Feb. 15, and proposals are due March 18.
Hughes Missile Systems Company, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded an $11,803,982 cost plus award fee contract for engineering and manufacturing development for integration of and extended Rocket Motor and a Shortened Control Auction System into the AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM). Contract is expected to be completed October 1998. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Aeronautical Systems Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FO8626-93/C-0044, P00019).
Lockheed Martin, Electronics&Missiles, Orlando, Florida, is being awarded a delivery order amount of $725,000 as part of a not-to-exceed $7,112,962 firm fixed price/time and materials contract for FY96 program system support for the Target Acquisition Designating System/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS). Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by September 30, 1996. This is a sole source contract initiated in August 1995. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command, St.
The Pentagon's two orbiting Milstar satellites have successfully relayed a message through their satellite-to-satellite crosslink capability, connecting the National Military Command Center near Washington with Atlantic and Pacific Command headquarters in Virginia and Hawaii with no intervening ground relay.
Japan's government has agreed on a new five-year defense plan that reduces procurement spending by more than $1 billion, and cuts eleven FS-X fighters. Japan's Air Self-Defense Force wanted to buy 141 F-2s - the official designation of the FS-X - of which 74 would have gone to front-line combat units, nine to the Blue Impulse aerobatic team, and the rest to training and reserve units and attrition. But pressure from the finance ministry reduced the buy to 130. The cut aircraft will come from the Blue Impulse unit and the reserves.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a U.S. animal rights group, has targeted a $33.2 million NASA program that plans to study rhesus monkeys in the weightlessness of space, saying it's a waste of money that causes needless suffering by the animals while failing to produce data relevant to human spaceflight.
Lockheed Martin Electronics and Missiles, Orlando, Florida, is being awarded a $24,315,483 modification to a firm fixed price with cost reimbursable provisions contract for Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) depot repair (option calendar year 1996). Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (90%), and Mesa, Arizona (10%), and is expected to be completed by December 31, 1996. Of the total contract funds, $44,971 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on October 8, 1993.
