THREE JETS IN ONE: Harry Blot, Lockheed Martin vice president and Joint Strike Fighter deputy program manager, has an answer to those who think the JSF should be killed. "The reason that we're into a Joint Strike Fighter program is because the country decided they couldn't afford to buy three individual airplanes [for the different services] and the challenge was - to the government on the requirements side and to industry on the design side - to make one airplane that would accommodate the needs of all three so that we can get the cost down," he says.
ASTRO-SENATOR: Sen.-elect Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a former chairman of the House Science space subcommittee who flew on the Space Shuttle, says he's seeking assignments on the Senate Appropriations and Commerce Committees, both of which have jurisdiction over space issues. Nelson says he has a "slim" chance of getting on those committees because each has only one opening, and because more senior senators are interested in those slots. But he's optimistic that other seats will open up.
The National Defense Political Action Committee says it raised about $10,000 for candidates in last week's congressional elections. The group, which backs military veterans who run for Congress and are deemed to favor a strong national defense, gave that money to 10 candidates, six of whom won. The group endorsed a total of 26 candidates, including 10 winners.
BOOST FOR EUROPEAN SPACE: A strategy aimed at bolstering Europe's space industry has been approved by the European Space Agency and the European Union. The Galileo satellite navigation system and a Global Monitoring and Environmental Security network are expected to benefit from the strategy, which is aimed at launchers, space science and new market opportunities. Initial proposals will be drafted by an interim task force.
Boeing officials report their X-32A Joint Strike Fighter flight test program has resumed a rigorous schedule following a hydraulic system glitch that kept the plane on the ground for three weeks. The aircraft, which is demonstrating both conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) as well as carrier variant (CV) capabilities, resumed flying Nov. 15 following "an interim fix" to the hydraulic system. A company spokesman said the X-32A flew twice more on Thursday, once on Friday, and was scheduled to continue to fly over the weekend.
SPENDING SURGE: U.S. defense spending totaled $281 billion in fiscal 2000, up 7.6 percent from the previous year's $261 billion, the Congressional Budget Office says. Spending in fiscal 2000, which ended Sept. 30, rose only 6.2 percent if adjusted for quirks in the Pentagon's payday calendar that added $3 billion to $4 billion to outlays, it says. But the 6.2% increase was still "well above the 1.0 percent average growth rate of the past three years."
VETERAN FRESHMEN: Defense veterans are winning influence in the new House Republican freshman class. Rep.-elect Edward Schrock (Va.), a former Navy captain from Virginia Beach, was elected president of the class last week. Reps.-elect Todd Akin (Mo.), a former Army officer, and Mark Kirk (Ill.), a Naval Reserve intelligence officer whose squadron flies the EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft, were elected vice president. Schrock says that "bolstering out national defense" will be on Congress' agenda next year.
TRW ICBM SYSTEMS, Clearfield, Utah, has won a $171.2 million contract option for 80 NS-50 missile guidance sets and 45 cable sets in support of the guidance replacement program for the Minuteman III ICBM, the Pentagon said. Expected contract completion date is Dec. 14, 2001. The contract was awarded by the Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah.
MISSILE DEFENSE PUSH: Condoleezza Rice, Texas Gov. George W. Bush's likely pick as national security advisor if he is elected president, continues to praise the concept of ballistic missile defense, saying it is necessary "to prevent threats and blackmail" from weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
A fuel pump turbine blade failed in a Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 rocket engine on a Mississippi test stand, Boeing confirms, but engine damage was "quite limited" and the incident hasn't stalled plans for a new round of tests on an RS-68 mated to the new Delta IV's common booster core. Boeing Rocketdyne is developing the bell-nozzle RS-68 - a 650,000-lbst. hydrogen-liquid oxygen booster engine - to power Boeing's Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV).
The European Union announced Friday that it has asked the World Trade Organization for permission to impose up to $4.04 billion worth of annual trade sanctions on various U.S. products, possibly including "aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof," if the WTO concludes that a new U.S. tax law violates international rules.
RAYTHEON PRESSURE: Raytheon's recent 10-Q third quarter report to the SEC hints that its already delayed business jet, the Premier I, will likely fall farther behind schedule. The company estimates that certification should come 2001, not in the fourth quarter of 2000 as previously expected. Prudential analyst Todd Ernst says this could translate into as much as $95 million in revenues, since he believes Raytheon was aiming for 15 to 20 Premiere deliveries before the end of the year. Raytheon Aircraft Co.
PRIME POST: Former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who won back her seat earlier this month from Rep. Steven Kuykendall (R), tells The DAILY that House Democratic leaders have promised to return her to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence with her seniority restored, meaning she'll be the panel's No. 2 Democrat, behind ranking Democrat Julian Dixon (Calif.). Harman, whose South Bay congressional district is home to a number of aerospace firms, says she'll push for "robust" intelligence budgets, as well as for a strong defense geared toward future threats.
The Dept. of Defense must embrace "real cultural change" and fix what's broken because it is in "deep, deep trouble," according to Adm. William A. Owens (ret.), vice chairman of Teledesic Corp. The former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff estimates that, absent a change, the U.S. in 15 years could find itself with a Navy of less than 200 ships, an Army of six divisions, and an Air Force of 12 to 13 wings, each consisting of 48 aircraft instead of today's 72. The U.S.
The U.S. Air Force awarded an overall contract of $96 million to four companies to participate in the follow-on to the Sounding Rocket Program, or SRP-2. Coleman Research Corp., Orlando, Fla.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Denver, Colo., Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz., and Space Vector Corp., Chatsworth, Calif., are working on the program under the AF's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
FLAP CHECK: Military C-9s are affected by an FAA airworthiness directive aimed at DC-9 jets through the -50 series. The AD, based on a Boeing bulletin issued in September, requires measurements of flap hinge fittings for cracks that could cause inadvertent flap extension.
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems announced completion of the third and final contractor flight test of the Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD). In the Nov. 13 test at Eglin AFB, Fla., the kit was installed on a Sensor Fuzed Munition, which was dropped from an F-16 flying at 15,000 feet and .85 Mach. After release, Lockheed Martin said Friday, the weapon guided to the target area and dispensed its submunitions well within the 100-foot requirement. Two earlier tests were also successful, the company said.
The U.S. Navy Second Fleet/Striking Fleet Atlantic last week concluded a virtual exercise with Defense Command Northern Norway that officials said provided an opportunity to solve interoperability issues now, before a crisis. The exercise, Joint Endeavor North (JEN) 2000, simulated coordinated operations in northern Norwegian waters between a U.S. carrier battle group and Norwegian air and maritime forces. It was entirely computer-simulated and afforded the chance for joint planning, coordination and control, all via computers.
The U.S. Army's award of a $4 billion contract to a joint venture of General Dynamics and General Motors effectively ends the debate over tracked versus wheeled vehicles, and further strengthens GD in its efforts to benefit from the Army's transformation to a lighter, more mobile force. GM GDLS Defense Group, a venture of GM and GD Land Systems, was selected over United Defense LP and a Singapore firm to equip the U.S. Army's interim brigade combat teams with a family of highly mobile, light armored wheeled vehicles.
The European Commission has authorized Snecma's purchase of Hurel-Dubois' pod systems and thrust reverser activities. The European Union's competition watchdog concluded Wednesday that the transaction between Snecma, the French state-owned engine maker, and Hurel-Dubois, the French equipment manufacturer, "will not create or reinforce a dominant position on the relevant markets. The merged entity will have a 23% share of the market for pod systems. BFGoodrich, its main competitor, has 40%.
While military force plays a role in foreign policy, the U.S. shouldn't wield it to fill a diplomatic vacuum, experts at a national security strategy conference said Wednesday in Washington. Instead, panelists at the "National Strategies and Capabilities for a Changing World" event spoke of the need to craft a new security strategy that will leverage American power.
Lockheed Martin reported the first flight of Raptor No. 4004, the first F-22 to fly with the Block 1.2 initial avionics software package. The plane, with Lockheed Martin test pilot Bret Luedke at the controls, made a 37-minute flight from Marietta, Ga., on Nov. 15. The flight accomplished a Defense Acquisition Board criterion, and will be followed by additional flights before the aircraft joins other F-22s being tested at Edwards AFB, Calif.
The House has re-passed the fiscal 2001 intelligence authorization bill after dropping a provision opposed by the White House, but the Senate hasn't decided how to proceed. Senators are still discussing what to do about the provision, which would criminalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. They also are trying to handle last-minute objections to a provision on the declassification process.
Lean manufacturing alone won't solve the aerospace industry's problems, a leading advocate of the process said Wednesday. "Solution thinking" is the next step for those seeking to cut costs and time-to-market by more efficiently managing the chain of actions that delivers value to the customer, said James Womack, president of the Lean Enterprise Institute. Womack was blunt as he spoke to aerospace industry executives at Aviation Week's Aerospace Expo 2000 conference and trade show here.
Russia launched another Progress supply vehicle to Space Station Alpha early yesterday, sending the three-man crew about two tons of propellant, food, water and gear they will need as they continue to set up the orbiting laboratory for long-term operations.
