NOT OLD: Recently repaired problems with cracks in space shuttle fuel liners and the bearings of the "crawlers" used to transport the shuttles to their launch pads don't mean the equipment is too old, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe says. Cracks were found in the liners of all four shuttles, prompting NASA to ground them until the cracks were repaired. "This is evidence of diligence, not of age," O'Keefe says, praising NASA's safety inspectors. Atlantis has been deemed ready to go for its Oct.
The Bush Administration's new plan for U.S. security, released Sept. 20, is based on maintaining the American lead in military strength and striking pre-emptively if necessary. But it also sees this as "a time of opportunity" that can lead to "decades of peace."
Congressional advocates of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet seem to be gaining ground in their drive to add money to the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 budget request for the Boeing-made aircraft.
Credit analysts with Standard & Poor's lowered the credit ratings for Loral Space & Communications Ltd. on Sept. 19 over concerns about the company's liquidity. S&P analysts lowered the company's senior unsecured debt rating from "CCC+" to "CCC-" and the senior unsecured rating on Loral's subsidiary, Loral Orion Inc., from "B" to "CCC+." "These downgrades were based on concerns about Loral's liquidity and weak customer demand in the company's satellite leasing and manufacturing businesses," an S&P report says.
With final ground tests completed last week at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., the Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) program is preparing for its first flight in mid-October, according to NASA. The AAW program is a joint effort led by NASA and the Air Force Research Lab, which are sharing the program cost equally, with participation from Boeing Phantom Works. The test aircraft chosen for AAW research is an F/A-18A obtained from the Navy in 1999 and given more flexible wings.
Pratt & Whitney's F119-PW-100 engine, which powers the F/A-22 Raptor fighter, has been declared ready for operational service by the Air Force, P&W said. The granting of Initial Service Release, or ISR, marks the successful completion of component and engine testing, including accelerated mission testing, the equivalent of six years of Air Force service, according to P&W.
Boeing Co. Chief Financial Officer Mike Sears said Sept. 18 that his company and the Department of Defense are discussing "business solutions" instead of having Boeing pay part of a $2.3 billion fine by Sept. 30 for its role in the failed A-12 Avenger program. "We are on a multiple-task conversation with the government," Sears said in a presentation at the Morgan Stanley Annual Aerospace & Defense and Multi-Industry Conference in New York. "We are talking about business solutions that would have us leaving the legal processes on the table."
CONTRACTS: GKN Aerospace North America will develop components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's F135 engine under contracts totaling $14.4 million, the company said Sept. 19. The contract was awarded by Pratt & Whitney, which is developing the F135 propulsion system for Lockheed Martin's JSF. The contracts could lead to manufacturing work that could be worth more than $1 billion over the life of the program for U.S. and international customers, GKN Aerospace said.
The Defense Department has made virtually no progress in recent years in reducing its aircraft accident rate, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service. Improvements in accident rates were common throughout much of the second half of the 20th century, CRS said. For example, the rate for Class A mishaps, the most severe kind of accident, was over four per 100,000 flight hours in 1975 and fell to half that level by 1993.
Deputy secretaries of agencies slated to benefit from a $3 billion plan to upgrade the U.S. airspace surveillance system are set to meet in Washington on Sept. 20. The meeting, whose purpose is to give interagency approval to the plan, follows a Sept. 6 session convened by the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) in which the plan was polished (DAILY, Sept. 6). This month or next, officials will decide how to fund it.
NEW DELHI - India and Israel are expected to soon complete an agreement for the sale of Phalcon radars and Python-4 and Derby air-to-air missiles for the Indian air force. Details of the deal are expected to be ironed out during the seven-day visit to Israel of Subir Dutta, the permanent secretary in the Indian defense ministry. The visit began Sept. 17. Dutta is leading a high-level delegation to attend a meeting of the Indo-Israeli Joint Commission on defense cooperation, a ministry of defense official said.
AMRAAM TEST: Two of Raytheon's AIM-120C-5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles recently were successfully launched in tests using a new AMRAAM software suite, Raytheon said Sept. 19. The tests, conducted at the RFN Missile Test Range in Vidsel, Sweden, marked the first time AMRAAM software development testing has been done outside the U.S., the company said.
Lockheed Martin hopes its small Sentry Owl unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which is being used by the Air Force to provide surveillance at air bases, may be adopted more widely for homeland security purposes, including property monitoring and pipeline surveillance. Formally named the Sentry Owl Force Protection Airborne Surveillance System, the UAV can be programmed for autonomous missions or remotely controlled by two operators. It can fly at altitudes of a few hundred feet for more than an hour.
LAUNCH VIEW: NASA plans to attach a color video camera to the external fuel tank of Space Shuttle Atlantis, slated to launch Oct. 2, which will "offer a unique perspective" to NASA Television viewers during the flight, the aerospace agency said. The camera will provide a view of the front and belly of the orbiter and part of the solid rocket boosters and external tank. The camera is expected to operate for about 15 minutes after liftoff.
The winners of the second round of study contracts for the Army's Future Combat Systems program will be announced around Oct. 10-11, according to a Boeing Co. spokeswoman. "The evaluation process has been completed," Boeing spokeswoman Felicia Campbell told The DAILY Sept. 19.
According to Boeing, the ongoing labor union strike at the company's rotorcraft facility in Philadelphia, Pa., shouldn't have any immediate negative effect on the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program as it nears its make-or-break Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting early next month. The United Aerospace Workers (UAW) Local 1069 went on strike Sept. 14, as a result of an unresolved dispute with Boeing over medical benefits and job classification and seniority rules. After rejecting Boeing's final offer, workers walked out at midnight.
LAUNCH: A Lockheed Martin-built Atlas IIAS booster successfully launched Hispasat 1D, a Spanish communications satellite, on Sept. 18, launch provider International Launch Services said. The satellite launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The satellite, which carries 28 Ku-band transponders, will expand the services offered by Madrid-based Hispasat S.A.
A congressional stalemate over fiscal 2003 appropriations legislation is complicating a Bush Administration proposal to loan Poland $3.8 billion for the purchase of 48 Lockheed Martin F-16s. The Administration announced Sept. 17 it has asked Congress to approve the loan as part of the FY '03 foreign operations appropriations bill. The loan would finance weapons and logistics support as well as the fighter aircraft. But it now appears that Congress may not pass the bill before Nov. 12, the deadline for companies to bid on the Polish fighter contract.
MOSCOW - Space contractor RSC Energia unveiled the firm's proposed Mars expedition project here on Sept. 19. RSC Energia lead designer Leonid Gorshkov said the project includes a 140,000 pound MOK orbital ship, a "solar tug" electrical propulsion module, a landing and ascent vehicle and cargo landing craft. The vehicles would rely on heavy-lift launchers based on Energia's LV family. A manned orbital flight around Mars could be the expedition's first step, Gorshkov said.
Lockheed Martin has received an $18.6 million Air Force contract for production of GBU-10 Paveway laser guided bomb kits. The contract follows the Air Force's determination in August that the company is qualified to build kits for the GBU-10 and GBU-12. Lockheed Martin said it will begin delivering the kits in August 2003 and will complete production in November 2003.
Smaller amounts of growth in defense budgets beyond 2004, and the unintended consequences of military transformation, could negatively affect Lockheed Martin Corp.'s future growth prospects, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. The report forecasts that Defense Department spending on procurement and research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) for the fiscal years between 2002-2009 could peak in FY '03.
