GLOBAL HAWK LESSON: One lesson of the March 29 crash of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is that testers of such vehicles should be aware that as UAVs fly higher, the risk of unintended flight terminations from unencrypted signals can increase. The Global Hawk, flying at 41,000 feet over the test range complex of Edwards AFB, Calif., received an errant flight termination signal from a range at Nellis AFB, Nev. The result was a rolling, vertical descent to impact at the South Range of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Calif. (DAILY, Dec. 23).
BOEING has picked Kaiser Marquardt to supply the biopropellant engines that will power the U.S. Propulsion Module for the International Space Station. The Van Nuys, Calif.-based manufacturer will provide 100 lbf (490-Newton) engines for the module's attitude control system, and 200 lbf (890 N) engines to reboost the Station. Boeing is building the Propulsion Module as a backup to Russia's Zvezda Service Module.
NEW HYPERVELOCITY MISSILE: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command wants proposals by Jan. 27 for the Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) technology demonstration program. The Army sees CKEM as "the next-generation hypervelocity missile ... smaller, lighter and faster than the current generation but still capable of overwhelming lethality against advanced armor and capable of defeating Explosive Reactive Armor ...
Thomson-CSF will take over Bombardier's 50% share of Shorts Missile Systems Ltd., the partners' joint venture in Northern Ireland on Jan. 31, the companies announced. Thomson-U.K. Holdings' acquisition will allow the Belfast-based business to become part of the core defense activities of France's Thomson-CSF, while remaining a U.K.-registered company. This further strengthens the Thomson-CSF group, which is now claimed as the second biggest defense equipment supplier within the U.K.
ORBIT/FR Inc., Horsham, Pa., said its Nearfield Antenna Measurement System has been ordered for installation at Kirtland AFB, N.M. The system, purchased for antenna test and measurements, is slated for delivery in January. "We are pleased that the Air Force has selected our AL2000 Nearfield Solution," said Thomas J. Burke, ORBIT/FR vice president of sales and customer service.
The U.S. Navy's SH-60R multi-mission helicopter, an upgrade of the SH-60D and other versions, made its first flight Dec. 11, demonstrating a new avionics system for the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin Federal Systems said.
Lockheed Martin Control Systems, Johnson City, N.Y., has been selected to develop the vehicle management computer for Lockheed Martin's entry in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Under the contract, Control Systems will develop the computers during the JSF engineering and manufacturing development phase starting in the second quarter of 2001. The contract is contingent on Lockheed Martin's JSF designs winning the JSF contract, a decision slated for the first quarter of 2001. Lockheed Martin is competing against Boeing for the program.
AEROSPATIALE MATRA Lanceurs will supply composite satellite components to Alcatel Space under a long-term agreement announced in Paris yesterday. Alcatel said it would buy composite satellite structural elements, antenna reflectors and substrates for solar arrays from the Aerospatiale Matra unit. The European satellite maker said it already uses composites in its Spacebus line of spacecraft, while Aerospatiale Matra Lanceurs has supplied composite components for some 70 satellites, including 156 antenna reflectors.
The March 29 crash of a $45 million Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle occurred when the UAV, flying at 41,000 feet over a range at China Lake, Calif., inadvertently received a test signal for flight termination from another range at Nellis AFB, Nev., the Air Force said yesterday. The Nellis range "was outside the frequency coordination zone in which the UAV's mission was being flown," the AF said. The signal, it said, "caused Global Hawk to go into a termination maneuver involving a pre-programmed, rolling, vertical descent...."
Arianespace launched the first of Hughes' new line of HS 702 satellites Tuesday night, orbiting the big Galaxy XI communications platform aboard an Ariane 44L with four liquid-fuel strap-on boosters. Liftoff from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou came at 7:50 p.m. EST. The launch vehicle hit the targeted geostationary transfer orbit for Galaxy XI, and the first signals from the satellite - received 55 minutes after liftoff at Sydney, Australia - indicated it was working normally.
Power limitations experienced by Royal Air Force BAe Harrier GR.7 ground-attack fighters in high ambient temperatures are to be rectified by a 120 million pound ($192 million) Smart Procurement engine upgrade contract announced yesterday by the U.K. Defense Ministry and Rolls-Royce.
The U.S. military has sent eight helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft to aid in the relief efforts in Venezuela following a week of flooding and mudslides, the Pentagon reported. Marine Corps Gen. Charles Wilhelm, chief of U.S. Southern Command, toured the disaster site and found the loss of life "catastrophic," estimating it at between 7,000 and 20,000, or about twice that resulting from last year's Hurricane Mitch, the Pentagon said.
Harsco Corp. said it will pay the U.S. government $11 million to settle a long-standing government investigation of its former BMY Combat Systems Div. If the settlement is accepted by the U.S. District Court, Harsco said, it will end the government's investigation and release it and BMY from further liability for the issues under investigation.
Bombardier Aerospace said SkyWest Airlines has signed a follow-up order for 20 CRJ200 Series regional jets worth about $470 million. The St. George, Utah, airline also took options on 20 more of the 50-seat twinjets, Bombardier said. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November 2000. The deal brings Bombardier CRJ200 orders for calendar year 1999 to 167, a 35% increase over the 123 CRJ sales last year.
L-3 Communications' Ocean Systems, Sylmar, Calif., signed a contract to supply 10 helicopter long range active sonars (HELRAS) to Agusta for more than $30 million. Under the contract, the first two sonars are to be delivered in early 2001 and will be integrated onboard an anti-submarine variant of the EH-101 helicopter for the Italian Navy. The remaining eight sonars will be delivered by the end of 2002.
Howmet International Inc. said it intends to acquire the 19% interest in its Japanese operation owned by Komatsu, under an agreement reached when the two companies established the Komatsu-Howmet Ltd. (KHL) joint venture company in 1994.
Boeing Co. and NASA have modified the prime contract for building the International Space Station, adding almost $537 million to the contract's value and eliminating an incentive fee provision that has been overwhelmed by cost overruns. Under the new arrangement Boeing will work under a cost-plus-award fee/fixed fee structure, with performance reviews every six months, instead of the old cost-plus-award-fee/incentive fee/fixed fee structure.
The U.S. Air Force received its 57th Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter this week at McChord AFB, Wash., the company announced. Delivery of the airlifter, flown by Maj. Gen. Bruce Carlson, director of Operational Requirements, deputy chief of staff, Air and Space Operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, marked the 45th consecutive delivery ahead of schedule by Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs, Boeing said.
L-3 Communications will buy the former AlliedSignal's Space and Navigation Systems business from Honeywell International, including a unit that produces silicon-based Micromachined Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) navigation gear, under a $55 million cash deal announced yesterday. The acquisition, to be completed by the end of 1999, is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2000, L-3 said in a press release.
RAYTHEON SYSTEMS CO., Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded a $46.3 million contract modification for 1,206 EGBU-15 air-to-ground guided munitions for the U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft, 41 weapon control units and associated support, the Pentagon announced. The contract was awarded by the Air Armament Center, Eglin AFB, Fla.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP., Bethpage, N.Y., won a $104.6 million U.S. Navy contract modification for two early warning E-2T aircraft for the government of Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work is expected to be completed by September, 2004. Naval Air Systems Command awarded the contract.
Astronauts Steve Smith and John Grunsfeld replaced the six gyroscopes on the Hubble Space Telescope in a televised spacewalk yesterday, accomplishing in less than six hours the primary task for the STS-103 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Veteran spacewalker Smith and rookie Grunsfeld used power tools to open the sometimes-balky equipment bay doors on the orbiting telescope, snugly berthed on a pedestal in the cargo bay after European Astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy grappled it with the Shuttle's robot arm Tuesday.
INTERNATIONAL LEASE FINANCE CORP. unveiled an aircraft order for up to 100 Next-Generation Boeing 737s. It signed an agreement for 50 firm orders and 50 options. The order was listed in cumulative order totals published by Boeing on Dec. 15 as from an "unidentified customer."
AAI Corp. is leading a team of companies in a bid to win the U.S. Army Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) contract, expected to be announced Dec. 27. Three other competitors are also vying for the contract to supply reconnaissance and surveillance vehicles. A General Atomics/Boeing team if offering the Prowler II; Alliant Tech Systems if offering the Outrider, and a team of TRW, S-Tec and Israel Aircraft Industries if offering the Sentry.
