The Defense Department - the biggest consumer of petroleum in the U.S., and possibly the world - could produce more capable weapon systems by paying more attention to making them fuel efficient, according to a new report by a Defense Science Board task force. "While recent DOD policy guidance has placed heavy emphasis on improved reliability, it has overlooked the substantial performance gains that can also be achieved through energy efficiencies," the report says. "These include greater range, lighter weight systems, and reduced combat vulnerability."
Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems (NE&SS)-Surface Systems announced the opening Aug. 8 of its Theater Network Integration Center in Moorestown, N.J., which will integrate the U.S. Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and Aegis Combat System and test them for use in theater ballistic missile defense systems.
ASTRONAUT ROBERT D. CABANA has been named NASA's director for human space flight programs in Russia, effective Aug. 8. Cabana will oversee human space flight operations and will be NASA's lead representative to Rosaviakosmos, the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, and its contractors.
CAE of Toronto has signed a contract with Eurofighter Simulation Systems GmbH for the Eurofighter Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids program, the company announced Aug. 8. Under the terms of the $26 million contract, CAE will develop and deliver the synthetic environment simulation for 27 training devices, including full mission simulators, cockpit trainer/interactive pilot stations and other equipment.
A successful test launch of a Raytheon UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile from the United Kingdom Royal Navy attack submarine HMS Trafalgar Aug. 7 has put the system on schedule to reach operational capability with the RN by the end of the year. The test, which took place at 8:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time in the Gulf of Mexico, makes Trafalgar the third Tomahawk-capable RN submarine. The Royal Navy is the first and only military outside the U.S. to obtain the system. Three previous Tomahawk tests were conducted with the RN in November 1998.
NASA's Genesis spacecraft was launched Aug. 8 on its mission to collect samples of the "solar wind" and return them to Earth, after being delayed for more than a week due to equipment checks and bad weather. A Delta II rocket carrying Genesis launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 12:13 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Sixty-four minutes into the mission, the Genesis spacecraft separated from the Delta's third stage.
The executive committee of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee was told Aug. 8 that fuel tank inerting to prevent another TWA 800 accident is too expensive, Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported. The ARAC working group report is now under consideration by the executive committee, which has several options, including accepting the findings or sending it back for more study, according to FAA.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued its long-awaited final rule governing the operations of repair stations, saying that the "current repair station regulations do not reflect changes in repair station business practices and aircraft maintenance practices." The agency said the new rule reduces duplication of regulatory language and eliminates "obsolete information," Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported.
NASA's New Millennium Program has selected 13 organizations to study advanced technologies that could fly in 2004 and 2005 as part of the agency's Space Technology 7 project. Space Technology 7 is intended to test and evaluate advanced technologies that could be used on future NASA missions. It is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said the DOD is "engaged in ... a very significant paradigm shift" with the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), but offered few details on its progress while speaking to reporters Aug. 8. "We started with two major regional contingencies, which we came up with over 10 years ago. But the review groups found this construct "increasingly inappropriate," said Wolfowitz, who appeared at the Pentagon with Gen. Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will meet its short- and medium-term profit targets for 2001, the company announced Aug. 8. Last year, EADS officials projected a 15 percent increase in earnings for 2001 over the company's earnings of 1.4 billion euros ($1.23 billion) for 2000.
A prototype arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) for aircraft use has completed ground tests and is set to begin flight testing aboard an FAA 727 and a Navy C-9 later this month at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The last set of ground tests built upon previous testing done onboard a parked C-9 and 727 to ensure normal onboard aircraft functions didn't trip the breaker.
COMTECH TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP. will provide tactical over-the-horizon microwave troposcatter communications equipment for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence under a $5.9 million contract, the company announced Aug. 8. The order was awarded to Comtech's Orlando-based Comtech Systems Inc. subsidiary by Cogent Defense Systems. The equipment will be part of an overall communications network being developed by Cogent for the U.K.'s Rapid Reaction Force.
Earnings for Loral Space&Communications, Inc. went up 40 percent in the second quarter of this year, driven by its high-profit-margin Fixed Satellite Services segment, company officials reported Aug. 8. Company officials reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $62 million for this quarter, versus the $44 million the company reported last year at this time.
Brazil's Embraer, the world's fourth largest jet aircraft manufacturer, signed a contract with the Brazilian air force on Aug. 8 for 76 ALX light attack aircraft. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Capable of carrying an array of conventional and "smart" weapons, the ALX is a derivative of the Super Tucano. It can be configured as a single-seat or tandem two-seater for training and operational missions in the Amazon region. First deliveries are planned for 2003.
Japan's three major heavy industry companies, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji, have submitted proposals to the Self-Defense Agency for the MPA and C-X military aircraft. The MPA is intended to replace the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Lockheed/Kawasaki P-3C anti-submarine warfare aircraft and the C-X will replace the Air Self Defense Force's Kawasaki C-1 tactical transports. The proposals were due July 31.
The stealthiness of both the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the B-2 bomber make the combination "an awesome force to be reckoned with," according to the Air Force's JASSM program manager, Col. Tim Moore. Testing of Lockheed Martin's JASSM on the B-2 bomber should be wrapped up by late fall or early winter, Moore said in a telephone interview from his office at Eglin AFB, Fla.
Lockheed Martin's Army Tactical Missile System Block II Missile successfully dispensed 13 tactical Brilliant Anti-Armor submunitions during a July 21 test at White Sands Missile Range, the company announced Aug. 7. The missile was launched against an array of armored vehicles and accurately delivered the 13 submunitions - known as BAT - to their target area, according to Lockheed Martin. The Developmental Test-5 met Army Test and Evaluation Command entrance criteria for operational testing, which will begin this month, the company said.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems Sector delivered the first Block 20 E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) production aircraft to the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 6. The company said delivery of the aircraft, which contains commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) computer technology for operating the Joint STARS surveillance equipment, came more than three weeks early.
Japanese manufacturers sold nearly $8.4 billion worth of aerospace products in fiscal year 2000, which ran from April 2000 to March 2001, according to the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. The total sales were up 5.8 percent from fiscal year 1999, according to the society. The total includes $6.8 billion earned by production and $1.6 billion from overhauls and repair work.
House Armed Services Committee member Tom Allen (D-Maine) is considering offering an amendment to the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill in September to require the president to seek financial contributions from American allies if they are going to be protected by U.S.-made missile defenses, a spokesman told The DAILY Aug. 7. Allen hasn't committed to offering the amendment because the House isn't expected to consider the authorization bill for another month or so, Allen spokesman Jim DeWan said.
Next year Northrop Grumman Corp. will begin flight testing an experimental airframe designed to produce quieter sonic booms, in support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Quiet Supersonic Platform (QSP) program (DAILY, Mar. 1). The two-year, $35 million QSP program is aimed at laying the foundation for quieter supersonic aircraft that will be able to fly unrestricted over land - an activity currently requiring an FAA waiver.
Actions on Major Programs in the Fiscal Year 2002 Defense Authorization Act (dollars in millions) Major Army Programs FY 2002 Budget R&D Quanity Procurement RAH-66 Comanche $788 UH-60 Blackhawk 12 $175 CH - 7 Upgrade' $295
THE BOEING CO. has received a second order from the U.S. Air Force for a C-40 aircraft, as part of a program to replace the Air National Guard's C-22B fleet. The order, announced Aug. 6, is the second C-40 order under an Air Force contract awarded to the company in February. The C-40, based on the 737, has a 5,000 nautical mile range, compared with the C-22B, which has a range of 2,000 n.m. The Air National Guard will operate the aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
As South Korea nears a decision on its $3.3 billion F-X fighter program, tentatively scheduled for the fall, sources and news reports say the competition - once considered a done deal for the Boeing Co. - may still be up for grabs. It is widely expected that Boeing will win the competition with its F-15K, an updated version of the F-15E. However, recent reports indicate South Korea has been giving at least some consideration to the competing Eurofighter, the French Rafale, and the Russian Sukhoi Su-35.
