The fiscal year 2001 intelligence authorization legislation recommends a number of classified funding changes to support modernization of National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) activities, according to documents filed with the bill.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, says the panel added $150 million to the fiscal 2001 defense appropriations bill to identify and evaluate the potential problem of cyber-war. "The big money will come when we start implementing" recommendations for dealing with the problem, he adds.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE'S newest customer in Europe, Italian regional airline Air Dolomiti, ordered three CRJ200 Series LR (Long-Range) regional jets for about $72.5 million. Air Dolomiti, slated to take delivery of the jets from late 2000 through early next year, is Bombardier's 12th European airline customer and will be the first Italian carrier to operate the CRJ. Also included in the deal are options for three more CRJs, either the 50-seat CRJ200 or the 70-seat CRJ700 Series aircraft.
KEEPING THE SECRETS: As the Federation of American Scientists releases satellite photos purporting to show that Chinese airpower wouldn't be sufficient to knock out Taiwan, speakers at an AIAA conference ask whether the U.S. government needs to put its foot down on distribution over the Internet of commercial imagery, particularly value-added services. John Copple, chairman and CEO of Space Imaging USA, says the U.S. gained information superiority based on the freedom of information and can capitalize on open source data better than any other nation.
International Lease Finance Corp. placed another big Airbus order, buying 40 A320 family aircraft, seven A330-200 widebody twins, and three more four-engine A340-600s, Airbus Industrie said yesterday. The -600 won't enter service until 2002. Deliveries are slated for between 2001 and 2008, though ILFC's deal with Airbus lets it adjust the mix of types to meet airline demand. At list price the order would be worth about $3.5 billion, but most customers don't pay list. ILFC, moreover, is Airbus' largest single customer.
BOEING-BUILT DELTA II rocket carried the a new Lockheed Martin-built Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., late Wednesday, as the Eastern Test Range continues to clear a crowded schedule. Liftoff of the rocket from Pad A of Launch Complex 17 came on time at 9:48 p.m. EDT, and the satellite reached its planned 11,000-mile-high circular orbit. It will replace one of the original GPS satellites launched 11 years ago (DAILY, May 10).
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee yesterday approved a $288.6 billion fiscal 2001 Pentagon money bill that increases the Clinton Administration's defense request by $4 billion while making important if not large dollar changes in major tactical aircraft programs.
Operational testers of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet found that the aircraft was better than the F/A-18C in terms of survivability. The DAILY incorrectly stated in an article in the May 9 issue (page 210) that it was inferior.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) continues to expand its technology base by casting its business net wide enough to include 52 new companies through advertising on the Internet. Under a Director's Innovation Initiative (DII), the NRO this year awarded 59 contracts, at a maximum of $350,000 each, for all classification levels, by solicitation on the Internet. This is in addition to the Commercial Imagery Initiative under which the NRO is buying satellite images from commercial vendors.
The House Armed Services Committee late Wednesday approved a $309.9 billion defense authorization bill, adding $4.5 billion to President Clinton's request for fiscal year 2001. The committee increased the president's request for procurement by $2 billion to $62.3 billion and raised the requested amount for research and development by $1.4 billion to $39.3 billion.
A HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE hearing on NASA's plans for its Mars exploration program in the wake of last year's failures was postponed yesterday because of conflicts with the schedule on the House floor. The hearing was not immediately rescheduled, although NASA officials said it could be as early as next week. The hearing will be Administrator Daniel S. Goldin's first chance to tell congressional critics how the agency plans to fix the problems raised by loss of the two Mars '98 spacecraft (DAILY, May 11).
While Lockheed Martin F-22 program officials believe they will meet all ten Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) criteria by the December deadline, they now say completion and first flight of Aircraft 4006 may be a greater challenge than flying the Block 3.0 avionics software, long the focus of congressional criticism.
Boeing and its UAW Local 148 in Long Beach, Calif., and Local 1482 in Melbourne, Ark., have ratified a new four-year labor agreement. It will be retroactive from May 1 and will run until April 30, 2004.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION yesterday officially cleared the way for creation of the European Aeronautic Space and Defense Company (EADS), subject to certain conditions. The companies merged in the process include DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), Aerospatiale Matra and Spain's CASA. EADS said competitive concerns raised by the Commission regarding two satellite equipment markets, antenna reflectors and central tubes, were resolved (DAILY, May 10).
House International Relations Committee ranking minority member Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) announced yesterday that he has introduced a bill to return licensing jurisdiction for commercial satellite exports to the Commerce Dept. The bill, introduced Wednesday, would reverse Congress' 1998 decision to transfer jurisdiction to the State Dept. To address concerns about dual-use exports to China, the bill contains "strict security guarantees" requiring commercial satellite exports to that country to be reviewed by the Defense Dept.
The U.S. Marine Corps is less concerned that the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase of the Joint Strike Fighter may slip by a few months, as was proposed in the House Appropriations defense subcommittee yesterday, than at the prospect of a cut to the overall program funding that was also proposed.
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army have chosen four teams to begin the first phase of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) effort, intended to design and demonstrate systems that can be cornerstones of the Army's transformation to a lighter and more mobile force. The conceptual design phase lasts 24 months, and the government and industry will share cost of the effort. The government is contributing $10 million to each team. Team leads and amounts each team will contribute are as follows.
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $107.1 million contract for nine F-16C Block 50 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, with an option for one additional F-16C. The aircraft represent the first of the 30 F-16s the USAF plans to buy over the next several years, as requested in the fiscal year 2000 president's budget.
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY was closed yesterday as the 4,000-acre Cerro Grande wildfire continued to burn in Bandelier National Monument near the New Mexico-based nuclear weapons design facility. The lab's S-Site is closest to the fire, but no explosives or radioactive material are in danger. Officials were anticipating 25-30 mph winds with gusts up to 35 mph. Gusts to 50 mph were forecast for Friday. Five aerial tankers with fire-retardant slurry, seven water-carrying helicopters, 21 fire engines, four bulldozers and up to 600 firefighters are battling the blaze.
The Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday completed its markup of the $309.8 billion fiscal 2001 defense authorization and boosted spending by $4.5 billion with $3 billion of that pumped into procurement for a total of $63.28 billion. Research and development was increased by $1.45 billion over the Clinton Administration request to $39.31 billion. SASC Chairman Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) said that for the first time in many years, there is "a real increase in both [defense] authorization and appropriations."
SAAB AIRCRAFT recently loaded inventory, including new and refurbished components, for Saab 340 and Saab 2000 regional aircraft, on the PartsBase.com electronic marketplace. Saab hopes to save money by using the site to reach a fragmented customer base -- which means Saab will not have to incur costs to build its own spare parts website. If all goes well, says Leif Nyberg, Saab Aircraft's director of customer support services, the company might be interested in "experimenting" with the site's auction features.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has been preaching the lessons of the two lost Mars '98 spacecraft lately to agency engineers and contractor brass, arguing for a back-to-basics approach to spacecraft design and testing that several independent review panels found was missing on the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander programs.
A mixed group of space veterans and rookies will fly the Space Shuttle Discovery next year to deliver the second full-time crew to the International Space Station, along with experiment racks for the U.S. Laboratory Module. NASA said James D. Wetherbee, a U.S. Navy captain who has flown four Shuttle missions and commanded three, will command STS-102, the eighth Shuttle mission to the International Station. James M. Kelly, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, will serve as pilot on his first Shuttle flight.
U.S. NAVY is taking a unique approach to procuring spare parts for aircraft, submarines and ships, awarding its first contract from a reverse online auction last week. The reverse auction -- a forum that enables buyers to solicit bids over the Internet and sellers to view competitive offers -- was hosted by FreeMarkets Inc.
