U.S. NAVY has suspended the AH-1W Integrated Weapons Systems competition pending review of its requirements. It said yesterday it is again looking into how to fund two planned upgrades-equipping the helicopter's cockpit with IWS for about $60 million and, depending on the availability of funds, adding a four- blade rotor system for $100 million to $200 million. A decision on how to proceed will be part of the FY '97 budget process.
U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command is looking into the acquisition of limited quantities of non-development, FAA-certified transport and medium range aircraft, according to two May 8 Commerce Business Daily notices. The transport requirement is for an all-weather short take-off and landing aircraft capable of operating from a 1,500-feet runway. The plane should also have rear ramp loading capability and be able to carry half- size cargo pallets. The Army wants six aircraft and life cycle contractor support.
DCX INC., Franktown, Colo., said it has received contracts from Northrop Grumman Corp. totaling $463,000 for interface test adaptors and transformer assemblies used in the downsized testor for the McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter. DCX said yesterday that the contracts are the first it has received from the Bethpage, N.Y., subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. The company said it has also received a $159,000 contract from Woodward Governor of Loveland, Colo., for wire harnesses used on marine governors in defense applications.
The U.S. Marines Corps' top aviation priority is still the V-22 Osprey, but there are several other key aircraft projects that need congressional support, a senior Marine officer told a Senate panel. Lt. Gen. Charles Wilhelm said in addition to the V-22 his aviation priorities are the conversion remanufacture of AV-8B attack aircraft; modernization and digitization of the AH-1W "Super Cobra" attack helicopter; and completion of a buy of CH-53E helicopters to replace CH- 53Ds being used by reserve forces.
The National Weather Service's $351 million Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) "does not provide certain capabilities that some users say are critical to ensuring safe aviation," according to a report to the General Accounting Office. Six of the eight sensors in the ASOS "do not meet key contract specifications for accuracy or performance," GAO said.
President Clinton and Russia's Boris Yeltsin yesterday came to terms on the compliance of theater missile defense systems with the 1972 Anti- Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, but failed to set up specific demarcation guidelines as initially requested by the U.S. In a statement to clarify the ABM treaty, the two leaders agreed at their Moscow summit that the treaty and TMD "are not inconsistent with each other," a senior Defense Dept. official told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday.
The U.S. Air Force believes its streamlined acquisition process will allow fielding the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile's follow-on within four years-around the time TSSAM itself was to have entered service, an Air Force acquisition official said yesterday.
The U.S. Army wants ideas from industry on a long-range rocket that would deliver targets for tests of theater defense missiles. The system, to be land-, sea- or air-launched, would have a range of 2,000 to 3,500 kilometers and be able to deliver re-entry vehicle targets at velocities of 2.5 to 4.9 kilometers per second, Army Space and Strategic Defense Command said in a May 10 Commerce Business Daily notice. Payload throw weight should be at least 650 kilograms.
Tight funding has prompted the U.S. Air Force to proceed for the moment with engineering and manufacturing development of only two of the four parts of the Advanced Strategic and Tactical Infrared Expendables (ASTE) program.
Fokker said in a statement last week that it will conduct a feasibility study for a new 100- to 120-seat jetliner jointly with its parent Daimler Benz Aerospace, Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) and Samsung Aerospace Industries. DASA earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with AVIC and Samsung for joint development of a new aircraft. Fokker said the agreement will be signed May 15.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) would trim federal spending for general science, space and technology by $7.9 billion in budget authority and $6.7 billion in outlays through 2002, according to committee documents released yesterday.
U.S. ARMY MISSILE COMMAND is soliciting industry interest for airborne and field sensors test and evaluation support services for the Redstone Technical Test Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. "This effort supports the testing of optical and electronic sensor packages and the development of unmanned aerial vehicle testbed technology," MICOM said in a May 8 Commerce Business Daily notice. It said the program will require 5,604 man-hours of effort.
Technologies to detect weapons concealed on individuals are being solicited by the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency. The AF's Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, N.Y., said in May 8 Commerce Business Daily notice that it and ARPA are seeking proposals "for the innovative development and demonstration of technologies for the unobtrusive, accurate detection of concealed weapons, principally handguns and stabbing and edged weapons concealed on individuals."
The Senate yesterday confirmed John Deutch as the 17th director of central intelligence (DCI) by a vote of 98-0, clearing the way for him to begin implementing major changes in the way the U.S. intelligence community does business. Shortly afterword, the White House announced the nomination of John White, chairman of the Pentagon's roles and missions commission, to succeed Deutch as deputy defense secretary. White's appointment, which is subject to Senate approval, had been expected for several weeks (DAILY, April 18, page 90).
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP., McLean, Va., is in line to carry out a Time Critical Target (TCT) integration effort for U.S. Army Missile Command. MICOM said in a May 8 Commerce Business Daily notice that the program is the result of an unsolicited proposal.
The U.S. Air Force will issue its long-awaited request for proposals as early as Friday for the "evolved" expendable launch vehicle (EELV) that is its responsibility under the Clinton Administration's access-to-space policy, but rocket-builders were warned yesterday that the upgraded vehicle will have to compete with NASA's reusable launch vehicle (RLV).
The "interim" results of a U.S. Navy study have determined that dual shipyards should be retained for the DDG-51 destroyer program even though the effort has been scaled back in the service's proposed fiscal 1996 budget, Navy acquisition chief Nora Slatkin told a Senate panel yesterday.
Thailand is looking into acquiring F-18s, but the negotiations are still in their early stage, according to Capt. Joe Dyer, the Navy's F-18 program manager. Thailand is eyeing new, off-the-production line F/A-18C/Ds, but since its requirement hasn't been formalized, the number is unclear, Dyer said. In addition, he said, Spain is looking into buying 24 additional F/A- 18A/Bs to complement its existing Hornet fleet. The Spanish Hornets would come from the U.S. Navy's current inventory.
The U.S. Navy's newest F/A-18 variant will go into flight tests well below the design-to weight laid out in program specifications, leaving sufficient room to compensate for unknowns later on, a Navy official said. Capt. Joe Dyer, Naval Air Systems Command's F/A-18 program manager, said that following engineering and manufacturing development (EMD), the F/A-18E/F will weigh more than 600 pounds less than the design-to weight of 30,516 pounds. "I have high confidence that we're going to achieve that," he told reporters during a program update on Monday.
The U.S. Air Force plans to buy additional telemetry systems for the AMRAAM missile from Harris Corp. The AF's Aeronautical Systems Center, Eglin AFB, Fla., said in a May 9 Commerce Business Daily notice that it intends to exercise the Lot 3 production option with Harris for 125 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) Warhead Replacement Tactical Telemetry (WRTTM) systems. Harris' Government Aerospace Systems Div., Melbourne, Fla., is the designer and developer of the WRTTM.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has dedicated a new satellite-based weather communications system at its headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. The World Area Forecast System (WAFS) is expected to provide pilots with improved aviation weather forecasts as satellite broadcasts from the system will give pilots on the ground access to detailed, up-to-date significant weather forecasts and charts of forecast upper-air winds and temperatures for use in flight planning.
A SAUDI CONSTRUCTION FIRM, Al-Yusr Townsend and Bottum, is suing several of Raytheon's engineering subsidiaries for $10 million in a Philadelphia court, claiming they interfered with the firm's contracts causing AYTB to lose more than $30 million. Raytheon yesterday denied the accusations, saying that "this is a commercial dispute between joint venture partners governed by an arbitration provision," adding that it has already filed a motion to dismiss the suit for that reason.
RAYTHEON CO.'s Electronic Systems Div., Bedford, Mass., has won an additional $7.3 million under a U.S. Army contract for new Patriot equipment training of about 600 personnel between March 8, 1995, and May 31, 1996. The Dept. of Defense said May 1 that the sole source contract was originally awarded on Oct. 20, 1994, by Army Missile Command.
The Tier II Plus unmanned aerial vehicle will have no problems finding a radar capable of fulfilling its technical requirements, but the program's tight budget guidelines pose a cost problem for the radar, according to a study presented Monday in Alexandria, Va.
Lockheed Missiles&Space Co. chose an Alliant Techsystems/Thiokol joint venture to develop and produce all three stages of the motors powering Trident II missiles, eliminating United Technologies' Chemical Systems Div. (CSD) from the Trident program. In previous years, CSD built the third stage of the submarine-launched missile's motor, but spokesmen said that the Navy wanted to find ways to reduce the number of contractors on the program, which led to LMSC running a competition for the new contract.
