Contamination caused a chemical tank to rupture at TRW's Airborne Laser (ABL) facility in San Celemente, Calif., last month, damaging a building and dumping more than 200 gallons of hydrogen peroxide on the ground, but causing no injuries. The incident isn't expected to delay the ABL program - which is intended to field a converted 747 aircraft to knock down ballistic missiles with a laser in their boost phase - but it will add to costs, an official said yesterday. TRW is investigating the incident and a final report is due by the end of October.
The increasing importance of information technology in warfare is being spurred by a shift in attitude that could mean a tremendous upside for IT budgets, according to Michael Kush, chair of the defense team for the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association.
Bombardier said yesterday that it is studying the market for a 90-seat stretch of its regional jet and for a new 100-seat aircraft. First deliveries of the 90-seater could begin in 2002, while the 100-seater would be delayed "slightly" by a go-ahead on the derivative aircraft, said Michael Graff, aerospace president.
Comsat Corp. will appeal and seek a stay of a U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruling ordering a re-competition of its satellite services contract with the U.S. Navy, the company reported yesterday.
Fairchild Aerospace's Dornier Luftfahrt unit and Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. signed an agreement under which IAI will design and make the fuselage and perform final structural assembly on Fairchild's 44-seat 428JET regional jet program. The contract has a potential value of more than $600 million and follows an earlier $80 million contract, signed in June, that made IAI responsible for system engineering and integration, flight testing and certification support on the program, Fairchild said yesterday.
GE Aircraft Engines said that its GE90-94B recently completed a "highly successful" test program on GE's 747 flying test bed, and that the engine now will undergo icing tests at the companies outdoor test facility at Peebles, Ohio. The tests are designed to demonstrate an engine's ability to withstand severe icing conditions with no disruption in power. A second engine, currently on test at Snecma in France, has completed 500 cycles of endurance testing. Rated at 94,000 pounds thrust, the -94B engine will power the Boeing 777-200ER.
House and Senate defense appropriations conferees have agreed informally to restore $1 billion of the $1.8 billion F-22 fighter procurement cut, but have put most of the funding in research and development and added milestones that must be met before any production decision, congressional sources said yesterday. They said the conferees agreed to restore $1 billion, but $775 million of that would be in R&D for further testing. The remaining $275 million would be in advance procurement for up to 10 aircraft, sources added.
Hexcel Corp., Stamford, Conn., said it expects to break even or record a small loss in the third quarter due to inventory adjustments in the commercial aerospace market and a drop in build rates at Boeing.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN'S Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) Sector, Bethpage, N.Y., said it has won one of four contracts from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for electronic warfare system development contracts. The Initial Design Activity (IDA) contract for Project Echidna is for about 14 months and will be negotiated in October. The contract is for an integrated self-protection system design for various types of RAAF tactical fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
The FAA yesterday banned installation of the MD-11 In-Flight Entertainment Network System (IFEN) on all U.S.-registered MD-11s. The agency declined to link the action with the crash of a Swissair MD-11 last year off Nova Scotia in which all aboard died, but said its review "concluded that the IFEN system electrical power switching is not compatible with the deign concept of the MD-11 airplane because it limits the flight crew's ability to respond to a smoke or fumes emergency."
Wyman-Gordon Co. reported earnings of $9 million on revenues of $176.5 million in its 2000 first quarter. A year ago, the North Grafton, Mass., company earned $11.9 million on revenues of $189.7 million. It said 2000 first quarter results are in line with the previous announcement of lower fiscal year 2000 revenues while maintaining margin levels consistent with fiscal year 1999.
GE American Communications Inc. has picked Arianespace to two more of its communications satellites on Ariane rockets, including one on the new Ariane 5. Under a deal announced yesterday, GE-4 will ride to geostationary transfer orbit on an Ariane 44LP before the end of this year, and a second spacecraft will fly on an Ariane 5 "sometime after 2001," Arianespace said.
Britain's Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), with support from the government's British Trade International and Defense Export Service Organization, is sending a trade mission to visit the U.S. between Oct. 4 and 14. Senior management executives from 30 aerospace and defense companies, and specifically those unfamiliar with the U.S. market, will be introduced to the supply/value chains of three prime U.S. companies - Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
Harris Corp. said it has formed a team to respond to an expected request for proposals from the FAA to upgrade its telecommunications infrastructure at a cost of about $1.9 billion. Bob Henry, president of Harris' Government Communications Systems Div., said the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) contract is intended to improve operations and mission-support functions for more than 5,000 facilities. It will run for a base period of three years with an option for a 12-year extension.
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works engineers struggling to build a commercial reusable launch vehicle with a takeoff weight that is 90% fuel have moved the payload for the proposed VentureStar RLV outside the fuselage for "internal packaging efficiency," the head of the VentureStar unit told Congress yesterday.
Northrop Grumman and Honeywell, in a move they said was designed to improve airport safety and efficiency, have integrated radars for surface movement and surveillance with vehicle tracking equipment at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. The companies linked Northrop Grumman's ASDE-3 airport surface movement radar and its ASR-9 airport surveillance radar with Honeywell's TracLink vehicle management and tracking system.
Concepts for predicting El Nino, studying life in the deep oceans with airborne or spaceborne sensors and keeping humans alive on long-duration space missions, either with revolutionary habitats or "providing methods for human adaptation," are examples of the type of work the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) wants in its third round of research grants.
RAYTHEON CO. said it has been selected as one of six Advanced Technology Support Program II (ATSP2) contractors to provide engineering services for the Defense Microelectronics Activity. It said yesterday that with a contract ceiling of $875 million, ATSP2 is the DMEA's new multiple award contract designed to leverage advanced microelectronic technologies to extend the life of weapon systems.
Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. has entered a franchise agreement with an established maritime communications provider for delivery of its low-Earth orbit satellite communications services to ships at sea.
The four unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers invited to the U.S. Army's Tactical UAV fly-off will have to prove that their candidates can travel light and handle the demands of a real-world mission, according to Army Maj. Gen. David Gust, program executive officer for information, electronic warfare and sensors.
Bombardier Aerospace, Toronto, sold six regional aircraft valued at about $127 million to two airlines in Europe and one in the Middle East. Maersk Air, Birmingham, England, a British Airways franchise carrier, converted an existing option into a firm order for a long range version of the Canadair Regional Jet Series 200 aircraft. To date, the carrier has taken delivery of six CRJ200 LRs and has orders for eight more CRJs. The airline was the U.K. launch customer for the new 70-seat CRJ700 Series, which will enter airline service early in 2001.
House and Senate defense appropriations conferees are deadlocked on funding for the Air Force's F-22 fighter program, congressional aides reported yesterday. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will not bend on a proposal he sent to House Appropriations Defense Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) last week, and negotiations have therefore come to a standstill, aides said.
The U.S. Air Force announced nomination of Lt. Gen. Hal M. Hornburg as vice commander of Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. Hornburg is now commander of ACC's Ninth Air Force, and commander of U.S. Central Command Air Forces, Shaw AFB, S.C. Maj. Gen. Charles F. Wald, currently vice director of strategic plans and policy, J-5, Joint Staff at the Pentagon, would be promoted to lieutenant general and become commander of the Ninth Air Force and Centcom Air Forces.
