Japan Air Lines subsidiary J-AIR has ordered two Bombardier CRJ-200 50-seat jets for use on local and regional routes. The carrier, based in Hiroshima, will take delivery of the first aircraft in a year and the second in March 2001. It now operates five Jetstream 31s. J-Air was founded by JAL Flight Academy but was established as an independent company in 1996.
MORE EA-6Bs: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jay Johnson says the Navy has included new funds in budget plans for another squadron of EA-6Bs. "To meet these expanded requirements and reduce operational stress we are restructuring the EA-6B community to include another squadron," Johnson says. Increased support requirements during the Kosovo operations stressed the EA-6Bs. "This surge required the use of personal and equipment from non-deployed squadrons, placing added stress on people and resources," he says, commenting on lessons learned from the Kosovo operations.
Air Force acquisition must be tailored to meet a broad range of options in order to meet the challenges of 21st century, including a tight budget environment, according to Dr. Lawrence J. Delaney, Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition.
Lockheed Martin is making no comment on messages that appeared recently on a World Wide Web message board that apparently reflected a Sept. 15 discussion between Darleen Druyun, principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and management of the Air Force, and Lockheed Martin President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Teets.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) sector has formed a supply team to provide parts, assemblies and repair kits for F-5 fighter and T-38 trainer aircraft, according to the company. The supplier team includes Derco Aerospace Inc., Milwaukee, Wisc., which is to manufacture F-5 parts and assemblies; Wyvern Technologies Inc., Santa Ana, Calif., F-5 electronic components and assemblies; Commerce Overseas Corp., Hawthorne, N.Y., parts, and Kitco Inc., Springville, Utah, repair kits.
INCOMING: Daniel R. Mulville, NASA's chief engineer, is likely to face sharp questioning on the enlarged space transportation research program when he testifies before the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee this week, but he'll be catching flack for his boss - Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. Some panel members are unhappy with new requirements Goldin added to the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) that Mulville is conducting.
The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., and Boeing, Anaheim, Calif., integrated product team recently tested the Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL), a new military search and rescue communication handheld survival system, with good results.
Chris Cool was appointed vice president - manufacturing, quality and lean initiative of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) sector, the company reported. The appointment becomes effective with the year-end retirement of Vinny DeStefano, president - manufacturing and quality.
A failure review board investigating last month's loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter will make "specific recommendations" to the team controlling the Mars Polar Lander before the lander's trajectory toward its Dec. 3 landing near the planet's South Pole is adjusted, the panel's chairman said Friday. Art Stephenson, director of Marshall Space Flight Center, stated in a status report his board was homing in on the root cause of the Sept. 23 loss, and was already making "informal" suggestions to the lander team.
Brian Wright has been named vice president, Integrated Architecture for Rockwell Collins, the company reported. Wright will lead efforts to develop avionics platforms and architecture systems for the company's air transport, business and regional and government customers. Wright also will take over the role of director of Engineering for Business and Regional Systems, overseeing all engineering activities.
MIXING AND MATCHING: The new European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Co., or EADS, will lead to more specific groupings of "commercial aircraft, military aircraft, electronics, etc.," says Richard Aboulafia of The Teal Group, Fairfax, Va. The next phase, he says, "will involve mixing and matching EADS with other people's business units." Part of the push on specific groups will be triggered by doubts about the conglomerate ideal, with some of the larger U.S. companies having problems lately.
TESTING ONGOING: The linear aerospike engine built by Boeing Rocketdyne to power the X-33 may get its first hot-fire test this week. Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center could light the inside-out rocket engine for a five-second test as early as today, but only if they are confident they can do so without wrecking the unique hardware. The first test was to have been conducted last week, but was delayed for additional safety checks, and it may be delayed again.
Mexico will buy 24 Bell 206L-4 LongRanger helicopters, valued at $35 million, the Attorney General's office in Mexico announced. The office uses a fleet of Bell helicopters to locate and destroy marijuana and poppy plantations in Mexico's anti-drug efforts, according to Bell Helicopter Textron. The purchase follows recent agreements between Mexico and the U.S. which showed a need to improve drug eradication efforts.
PAC-3 DELAY: The U.S. Army is delaying this week's scheduled test of the Patriot PAC-3 until the first week of November, sources say. The Pentagon wouldn't comment on the reason for the slip or whether it was technical. Meanwhile, sources say the Office of the Secretary of Defense has given PAC-3 the green light to move into low rate initial production. PAC-3 completed the two successful intercepts it needed to move into LRIP. This week, the joint U.S./Israeli Arrow theater missile defense system is slated for an intercept test.
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command awarded Data Link Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a $39,897,225 firm-fixed-price option for the U.S. Air Force Multifunctional Information Distribution System - Fighter Data Link (MIDS-FDL) program.
The House International Affairs Committee is slated on Tuesday to mark up a bill increasing U.S. assistance to Taiwan through the sale of a variety of weapons, including ballistic missile defense systems. The committee was scheduled to mark up the bill on Friday until opposition from some Republican members forced a postponement.
Boeing Phantom Works awarded Curtiss-Wright Corp., Lyndhurst, N.J., a contract Thursday to supply concept demonstrator hardware for the advanced Unmanned Air Vehicle (UCAV) program. Curtiss-Wright Flight Systems (CWFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright, is to supply a Weapons Bay Door Drive system utilizing rotary actuation technology combined with an electrically driven and controlled power drive unit for two Concept Demonstrator aircraft.
Cordant Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, earned $42.1 million in the 1999 third quarter on sales of $602.6 million, up from earnings of $38.5 million on sales of $595 million in the same period a year ago, the company reported yesterday. "We had a very good quarter," said James Wilson, chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite the greater than expected downturn in commercial aerospace and production problems at Howmet Aluminum, we delivered a solid 12% growth in earnings from operations."
SPACE TRANSPORTATION: The Clinton Administration has decided to back NASA in a request for $5.4 billion to spend over five years on all aspects of advanced space transportation, including upgrades to the Space Shuttle and flight test vehicles that could lead to a Shuttle follow-on. The White House Office ofManagement and Budget has signed off on the plan, which will be included in NASA's fiscal 2001 budget request.
LESSONS LEARNED: New Gencorp chief Bob Wolfe says second-tier aerospace and defense companies need to pay attention to what is happening with the primes on how to go about the consolidation phase. "We've learned some very valuable lessons from larger companies and have to apply those immediately," he says. One lesson is "not to go out and buy for the sake of buying."
Engine failure was found to be the cause of an F-16C crash July 12 near Cannon AFB, N.M., according to the accident investigation board report released Monday by the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command. The pilot safely ejected after the engine failed, but the aircraft was destroyed when it hit the ground in a military operating area. The engine shutdown was caused by catastrophic failure in the high pressure turbine assembly when two blades separated due to fatigue, the Air Force said.
U.S. Joint Forces Command, assessing results of a first joint experiment, has identified new ways to eliminate theater missile threats other than a direct attack, Adm. Harold W. Gehman, Jr., the head of the command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Coleman Aerospace Co., Orlando, Fla., has received a $21 million contract for the second phase of an effort to develop the Long Range Air Launched Target (LRALT), an aircraft-launched target for missile defense tests.
