Boeing has delivered the last two 767-300ER jets on order to Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines after getting final tariff waivers from the Government of the Russian Federation, according to Commerce Secretary William Daley. "This delivery culminates year-long efforts by the Administration to secure waivers from onerous tax and duties on these aircraft," Daley stated Friday.
The following changes have taken place at the California-based Space&Electronics Group (S&EG): Joanne M. Maguire has been appointed vice president, Group Development. Richard A. Croxall has been appointed vice president and chief engineer. Frederick L. Ricker has been appointed to succeed Maguire as vice president and general manager of the Space and Laser Programs Division. James W. Burnett has been appointed to succeed Ricker as vice president and general manager of Electronics&Technology Division.
Experts in materials science and other exotic fields will begin cutting samples this week from the cracked composite liquid hydrogen tank for NASA's X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype, hoping to pinpoint why the tank failed during a dynamic test last year. Members of a 50-strong failure review team working at Marshall Space Flight Center, where the test took place, plan to put the samples under the microscope and conduct other analyses as they wrap up the hands-on part of their work.
Lynne M Degand has been named vice president of Finance and Business Development for the Engineered Industrial Products segment. Cheryl D. Fells has been named vice president of Organizational Development and Administration for the Performance Materials segment.
The Mars Society has picked a Colorado firm to build a fiberglass habitat prototype that will be field-tested using Devon Island in the Arctic as an analog for the Red Planet. Infrastructure Composites International will build the primary structure for the Mars Arctic Research Station (MARS) at its Denver facility, using an advanced fiberglass honeycomb technology pioneers by Infrastructure Composites and Mesa Fiberglass of Commerce City, Colo., the Mars Society reported.
NASA's Imager for Magnetosphere-to-Aurora global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft is set for launch Feb. 15 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., into a highly elliptical polar orbit where it can image the earth's magnetosphere as it changes shape.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Tex., has been awarded a $65 million contract for high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) launchers for the U.S. Army, the company announced. HIMARS, a mobile artillery rocket system, puts the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) on a wheeled chassis. The HIMARS is transportable by a C-130 and can carry a single six-pack of MLRS rockets or one Army tactical missile system (ATACMS) on a new 5-ton Army truck.
Orbital Sciences Corp. reports a firm contract backlog of $2.05 billion for 1999, with a total contract backlog including options of about $4.75 billion. The Dulles, Va.-based company said it received about $1.5 billions in new orders last years - about $700 million for satellites and related systems; about $170 million for launch vehicles; some $360 million for sensors and electronics, and almost $280 million for ground systems and software.
House Republican Conference Vice Chair Tillie Fowler (R-Fla.), a key member on the House Armed Services Committee, announced she will not seek re-election. Fowler sits on the Military Readiness Subcommittee and is the second most senior member on the Military Installations and Facilities Subcommittee. A strong supporter of defense issues in the House, Fowler is also the only woman on the House GOP leadership team. She chairs the House Transportation Committee's panel on oversight and investigations as well.
ASM AMERICA has delivered one of its Epsilon E2000 reactors to Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector for the production of silicon germanium microwave transistors, ASM America's parent company, ASM International N.V., reported yesterday. The Northrop Grumman unit plans to use the transistors in its new ASR-12 solid-state airport surveillance radar, which will be the only such radar to use SiGe microwave power transistors. The SiGe transistors offer improvements over silicon transistors in terms of power efficiency and speed.
A government/industry team investigating last year's failure of one of the composite liquid hydrogen tanks for the NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 reusable launch vehicle testbed has at least another week of work to do, and probably won't report its findings until the middle of next month, program spokesmen said yesterday.
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures sector has delivered the 100th Gulfstream V wing produced at the company's Vought Center in Dallas, Tex. The first 94-foot long integrated wing was designed and produced in 25 months, the company reported. "The results are visible to our customer," Vern Broomall, vice president for commercial programs, said in a statement. "Lean implementation has reduced waste, improved process flows and quality and significantly lowered costs."
THE FAILURE REVIEW TEAM appointed to investigate the loss of two NASA Mars probes last year will hold its first meeting today, amid public suggestions from engineers at Lockheed Martin Astronautics - builder of the two spacecraft - that the Mars Polar Lander may have fallen into a large crater upon touchdown. In response, specialists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said yesterday it's simply too soon to tell. JPL project scientist Richard Zurek said only 10% of the possible landing area contains slopes steep enough to damage the lander.
Orbital Sciences Corp. plans to begin a series of 16 tow tests with its newly upgraded X-34 unpowered-flight test vehicle by the middle of next month as it continues to prepare for a series of five drop tests of the winged reusable launch vehicle prototype later this year.
Initial flight tests on Kaman Aerospace's SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite helicopter are underway, with the aircraft's performance meeting expectations, the company reported yesterday. Kaman is building 11 of the multi-mission helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy and expects to deliver the aircraft early next year. "The initial test objective is to test the dynamic components an instrumentation to make sure everything is working properly," stated George Haliscak, Kaman's chief test pilot.
The U.S and Russia should embark on a joint program to develop boost-phase intercept ballistic missile defense capabilities, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said in a letter to new Russian President Vladimir Putin Weldon, chair of the House Armed Services Committee's panel on research and development, also chairs the Russian Duma-U.S. Congress Study Group, in which leaders from both countries meet to discuss defense issues of mutual concern.
Computer Sciences Corporation has signed a 10-year outsourcing agreement with two subsidiaries of United Technologies Corporation worth $507 million over the next decade, SCS announced. So far in fiscal 2000, CSC has announced contracts totaling about $9.5 billion with commercial, government and international customers, a significant increase in business for the company. In the comparable period for fiscal 1999, CSC had signed contracts worth $4.0 billion, excluding a multibillion-dollar contract with the IRS.
The Army has awarded three contracts worth more than $143 million to Lockheed Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Tex., for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile program, including one finalizing transition of the missile into low-rate initial production (LRIP).
Racal Electronics Plc and Thomson-CSF have confirmed they are discussing a possible deal in which the French defense giant would buy the British conglomerate, ending recent media speculations. Racal's Board of Directors stated that the company had been approached by Thomson-CSF, but cautioned that a formal offer has not and may never be received from Thomson. Thomson-CSF confirmed it contacted Racal last November regarding the possibility of an offer.
Britain's Civil Aviation Authority has approved a visual guidance system (VGS) kit developed by BAE Systems for installation in next-generation Boeing 737-600/700/800 series transports. BAE Systems launched a certification program for Cat III operation of its VGS in these aircraft early in 1998, in connection with the award of contracts for as many as 500 of these systems to equip new-build Boeing 737-800s of American Airlines due to enter service last year.
BFGoodrich has been selected to upgrade the wheels and brakes on more than 750 of the U.S. Air Force's F-16 fleet, the company said yesterday. The initial contract term is expected to run about three years and earn about $30 million, a company spokesperson said. The contract structure includes a base and option period, each running about 18 months although the option period can kick in earlier.
Galaxy XR, the second of three big geostationary communications satellites PanAmSat hopes to launch in a four-month period to serve North America, has arrived in French Guiana for its Ariane 4 launch later this month. PanAmSat said Galaxy XR will become the fifth satellite in the Galaxy cable neighborhood, which delivers cable television channels to most of the 11,000 cable systems in the U.S. It will also deliver Internet and telecommunications services to "high-profile" U.S. customers, the company said.
Boeing officials met with members from its second largest union yesterday morning in an attempt to avert a strike by workers. Leaders of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) plan to hold a rally at Boeing headquarters tomorrow to persuade the aerospace conglomerate's management to improve the technical workers' contract terms.
