NASA managers yesterday set March 2 as the launch date for the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-67, the second flight of the Astro Spacelab pallet payload of ultraviolet telescopes. Liftoff on the 15-and-a-half-day mission, the longest Shuttle mission ever planned, is set for 1:37 a.m. EST. It will be the eighth flight for Endeavour, the newest Shuttle, and the 68th in the Shuttle program.
The Aerospace Industries Association is pushing Congress to change the tax code so that U.S. defense companies' exports will be taxed at the same low rate levied on commercial exports, taxes are paid on profits rather than costs incurred, and the R&D tax credit is expanded. "These proposals are moderate in nature and reflect our awareness of the fiscal realities of our budget environment," AIA President Don Fuqua said yesterday in a prepared statement.
FRANCE test fired its new M45 long-range missile for the first time yesterday from a nuclear submarine, Reuter reported from Paris. The missile, designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads up to 2,500 miles, will replace the M4 on French submarine.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE has formed a joint venture in Russia with Aviation Corporation Rubin to produce and market wheels, brakes and brake systems for civilian aircraft around the world. Rubin and AlliedSignal Aerospace's Aircraft Landing Systems, South Bend, Ind., will provide products and services for the joint venture, called Rubix. It has already contracted to supply wheels and carbon brakes for the Ilyushin Il-96T/M and Tupolev Tu-204-200/224, AlliedSignal said.
ALLIEDSIGNAL Commercial Avionics Systems, Torrance, Calif., has been chosen by Singapore Airlines for a contract potentially worth $20 million to supply flight safety and data management avionics for 67 Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-300E aircraft it has ordered.
C-17 AIRLIFTER won this year's Collier Trophy award for the single greatest achievement in aviation during 1994, McDonnell Douglas said. MDC, the Air Force and the contractor team will share the award.
Westinghouse Electric Corp. will build a Near-Term Mine Reconnaissance System prototype for U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command under a $43.4 million contract. The contract was awarded on a sole source basis Feb. 10. The submarine-deployed, unmanned underwater vehicle will locate and map mine fields, Westinghouse said.
The Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency wants ideas from industry on the use of unmanned tactical aircraft (UTA) for a variety of missions. ARPA said in a Feb. 15 Commerce Business Daily notice that it needs assistance "in understanding future high payoff concepts for unmanned tactical air vehicles" and that concepts it has in mind "range from cruise missile vehicles to tactical aircraft, encompassing a broad range of tactical missions."
Last week's orbital rendezvous between the Space Shuttle Discovery and Russia's Mir space station opened the door to a true commercial Russian space program a little wider by showing Russian leaders that an international commercial space venture can succeed, according to the U.S. representative for the privatized Russian firm that operates Mir.
The Defense Dept. has released its recommendations for reworking the acquisition oversight and review process. Included are proposals to cut costs and personnel by 50%. The report of DOD's acquisition reform Process Action Team (PAT) is being commented on, and a final version will be presented to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul Kaminisi.
Boeing Defense&Space Group Helicopters Div., Philadelphia, has received a $79.9 million award from the U.S. Navy for 120 kits to replace and upgrade dynamic components in all Navy and Marine Corps H-46 helicopters. Deliveries of kits will begin in September and end in 2001.
Space Systems/Loral reported yesterday that it has successfully demonstrated the ability to use precise measurements from the Global Positioning System to orient a satellite toward Earth after launch. The company said its new GPS Tensor unit was used to orient the German-built Crista SPAS environmental satellite following its launch from the Space Shuttle Atlantic in November 1994.
LITTON'S Advanced Technology Div., San Jose, Calif., is in line to produce 13 AN/ALR-67(V)2 radar warning receivers plus spares for the Italian AV-8B Harrier II Plus program, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command said in a Feb. 13 Commerce Business Daily notice.
Russia's space industry needs a $341 million "emergency" shot in the arm, plus some radical restructuring, to maintain even its present diminished level of activity, according to testimony reportedly prepared for unprecedented parliamentary hearings on the Russian space program.
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL CORP.'S Tactical Systems Div., Anaheim, Calif., is in line to perform engineering services related to the Target Acquisition for Ship Defense (TASD) Dualband Radar System. U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command said in a Feb. 9 Commerce Business Daily notice that Rockwell is the only firm with the knowledge and expertise to do the work.
Procurement of Night Targeting Systems for the AH-1W helicopter is the subject of a request for proposals being released by U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. The NTS is currently manufactured by TAMAM Precision Instruments of Israel Aircraft Industries, and Kollsman Div. of Sequa Corp.
U.S. European Commander Gen. George A. Joulwan told Congress yesterday that he did not favor granting NATO membership to any East European nation until it is integrated into the military structure of NATO-contrary to the National Security Revitalization Act (NSRA), the national security portion of the "Contract With America."
NKF ENGINEERING INC., Arlington, Va., received a $9.2 million contract from the Carderock Div. of U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Arlington, Va., for engineering and technical analysis for surface ships and submarines.
TITAN CORP., San Diego, said its Linkabit Div. has received an award of about $12 million from the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for initial production of Miniaturized Demand Assigned Multiple Access (Mini-DAMA) terminals. The contract-the first for such terminals-"is an important step in building our government satellite communication business," said Gen. W. Ray, Titan president and chief executive officer.
SUNDSTRAND AEROSPACE, Rockford, Ill., said the British Royal Navy has chosen it to supply the powerplant for the Spearfish torpedo. The company's work will be carried out over a nine-year period under a contract of about $175 million. It will supply a gas-powered turbine which burns high energy fuel and an oxidant, Sundstrand said. GEC-Marconi, which manufactures the Spearfish in Hampshire, England, recently received a main production contract from the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
VITRO CORP., Groton, Conn., was chosen by the U.S. Navy for a $9.5 million contract to support of AN/BQQ-5 and -6, and AN/BSY-1 and -2 submarine sonar systems. The contract, from Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment, New London, Conn., calls for Vitro to complete the work by February 2000.
House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) told complaining Democrats Monday the House will vote on the National Security Revitalization Act (NSRA) "sometime Thursday afternoon" after the measure comes to the House floor today. Rep. Ronald Dellums (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the National Security Committee, appealed for more time to discuss the NSRA's provision for developing and deploying a national missile defense "deliberatively, substantively and thoughtfully."
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) should be eliminated within three years and their work should be reassigned to private industry, the Defense Science Board has been told by industry representatives. TRW executive Art Money, representing the American Electronics Association, told the DSB last week that private industry could perform the FFRDCs' tasks "at much lower rates, generally 30 to 50 percent lower in labor and overhead cost."
An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) was fired from a ship for the first time in a Feb. 12 test off the coast of southern California, the U.S. Army said yesterday. It said that a prototype Block 1A ATACMS was fired from an M270 launcher on the deck of the USS Mount Vernon, and that it flew 75 nautical miles to a target area on San Clemente Island. Preliminary indications are that all systems functioned as planned, and that the target "was well within the bomblet pattern," said the Army Program Executive Office for Tactical Missiles.
