AVIATION WORLD'S FAIR: Although Virginia's congressional delegation has backed the Aviation World's Fair scheduled for April 2003 in Newport News, Va., "Washington, D.C., has yet to take that leap," says Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). The Aviation World's Fair is vying with several competitors to be the primary event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered, controlled flight on Dec. 17, 1903.
TOMAHAWK TEST: A Tomahawk cruise missile flew a land attack mission to the China Lake, Calif., test range Aug. 21 after being launched from a submarine submerged off southern California. Seconds after an 8:45 a.m. PDT torpedo tube launch from the USS Salt Lake City (SSN-716), a Los Angeles-class submarine, the Tomahawk transitioned to cruise flight, the Navy said. "It flew a fully guided 811-mile test flight using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to a target impact site on the China Lake range," the service said.
NASA engineers are applying human factors research, as well as point-and-click Internet-style interfaces, to redesign the '70s-era space shuttle displays and reduce the workload on busy astronauts. Bruce Hilty of NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston is co-chair of the Space Shuttle Cockpit Council and a leader of the Cockpit Avionics Upgrade program, which has resulted in 120 new color display designs.
The U.S. Air Force has modified its acquisition strategy to meet its goal of launching more Space Based Infrared Systems Low (SBIRS Low) missile early warning satellites by 2011. The goal is to launch about 30 of the satellites by that date instead of about 20, as previously planned.
Former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) is expected to get the nod to chair the new, congressionally mandated aerospace commission, a source told The DAILY Aug. 23.
The ground processing systems for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) will be operational by the end of this year, according to U.S. Air Force Col. Mark Borkowski, the program manager for SBIRS. "We expect to declare initial operational capability later this year," Borkowski said Aug. 23 at the Fourth Annual Space and Missile Conference here. Ground processing, which is the first increment of SBIRS, is the basis for rest of the program, he added.
The $6.4 billion sale of 80 new F-16 fighters last year to the United Arab Emirates not only helped boost the U.S. share of worldwide arms transfer agreements (DAILY, Aug. 21), it helped give Lockheed Martin what it says was more than half of worldwide fighter export orders for 2000. The company recorded export orders for 220 F-16s last year - 80 from the UAE, 50 from Greece, 50 from Israel, 20 from Korea and 20 from Singapore.
NZ HELICOPTERS: The first two of five SH-2G (NZ) Super Seasprite helicopters produced by Kaman Aerospace International Corp. have been delivered to the Royal New Zealand Navy. The aircraft will become part of the No. 3 Squadron, Naval Support Flight, based in Auckland, the company said. Two more are to be delivered in September, with the final helicopter delivery set for late next year.
A U.S. Army-run program to oversee the production of conventional munitions for all the armed services is inadequate and must be improved, according to an Aug. 23 report released by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences. The committee examined the Army's Totally Integrated Munitions Enterprise Program (TIME), which was established by Congress in 1997 to update the Army's munitions manufacturing capability.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will relax a rule governing the accuracy of digital flight data recorders on hundreds of Boeing aircraft to keep from grounding them. "In the absence of this action, about 700 airplanes could be grounded until the technical problems can be resolved," the FAA said. Because no solution is known, "these airplanes could be grounded for a lengthy period of time," FAA said. "If these airplanes were to be taken out of service, U.S. scheduled air service would suffer extensive disruptions."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has expressed confidence that the amended 2002 defense budget increase will be approved by Congress, despite reports that Congressional Democrats will try to scale it back. The Administration's original FY 2002 budget called for a defense spending increase of $14.2 billion. A June amendment requested an additional $18.4 billion, bringing the total to $32.6 billion - the biggest increase since the mid-1980s.
The Defense Department could field a sea-based system to protect the U.S. from ballistic missile attack much earlier than it envisions by doing away with its usual approach to weapons development, a defense analyst said Aug. 23. DOD's existing approach to weapons development is too slow, bureaucratic and expensive and stifles the rapid development of innovative technology, Heritage Foundation analyst Baker Spring said at a missile defense briefing held by the conservative think-tank.
Singapore has agreed to buy 12 additional AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, The Boeing Co. announced Aug. 23. Terms were not disclosed. Singapore, which had previously ordered eight Apache Longbows, is the third international customer to select the advanced Apache. In addition to the U.S. Army, defense forces from eight other countries have ordered AH-64A and/or AH-64D Apaches
Spaceport Systems International's win of a $24.1 million contract to support National Reconnaissance Office launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., helps strengthen a business that is already "healthy and stable," according to Earl Severo, chief executive officer of SSI, a partnership of ITT Industries and California Commercial Spaceport Inc.
During the first meeting of NASA's International Space Station Management and Cost Evaluation committee in Washington, D.C. August 20, members debated how to get the troubled program back on track politically, while working within the budget constraints set by the Bush Administration.
Additional study is needed to determine whether the Defense Department should share or turn over the 1755 to 1850 megahertz (MHz) band of the radio frequency spectrum to the private sector, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.
STS-105, the 11th shuttle mission to the International Space Station Alpha, touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 2:23 p.m. EDT August 22, after a 90-minute, one-orbit delay due to rain. The landing marks the return of the station's Expedition Two crew - Commander Yuri Usachev and Flight Engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss - after more than five months in space.
MYERS TO CHIEF: President Bush has chosen an Air Force officer, Gen. Richard B. Myers, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and will announce the choice Friday, The New York Times reported Aug. 22. Myers, currently the vice chief of the JCS, would be the principal military adviser to the president and the secretary of defense. He would be the first non-Army officer to head the JCS since the 1980s
Indian software specialists are developing next-generation software for aerial surveillance, according to a well-placed defense source. The surveillance software will be mounted on three A-50 airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) aircraft to be built for the Indian Air Force by the Russian firm Beriev. The aircraft, reportedly an Ilyushin-76 TD transport with a PS-90A engine, will be built in Russia. Israeli Aircraft Industries will provide state-of-the-art communications systems, and India will produce the surveillance software.
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), whose House Government Reform national security subcommittee has scrutinized the F-22 Raptor in a series of hearings in recent years, has told two key lawmakers that he has "little confidence" in the Defense Department's production cost estimates for the Air Force fighter aircraft.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) confirmed Aug. 22 that he won't sign off on the Bush Administration's request for $18.4 billion in additional defense spending for fiscal 2002, saying there isn't enough money to pay for it.
The White House announced August 22 that President Bush has settled on his appointments to the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. These six new appointments fill out the 12-member commission, which was mandated by Congress in the fiscal 2001 defense authorization act.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has received permission from Senate Democratic leaders to stay on the Senate Armed Services Committee and continue as chairman of its strategic forces subcommittee despite becoming a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, a spokesman for the senator said Aug. 20.
Fitch Inc., the international ratings agency, has downgraded slightly Rockwell International Corp.'s credit rating due to concerns about lower margins posted by the company's control systems division. Fitch analysts lowered the rating for Rockwell's senior unsecured debt and bank credit facility from "A" to "AA-." The rating outlook for the company remains stable.
