The second Ikonos commercial remote sensing satellite is slated for launch Sept. 24 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Space Imaging said Friday. The launch, aboard an Athena II rocket, is planned for 11:22 a.m. PDT. The satellite was shipped Friday from the Lockheed Martin plant at Sunnyvale, Calif., where it was built, to Vandenberg. The first Ikonos satellite was lost April 27 after launch from Vandenberg on an Athena II when the rocket's fairing over the satellite failed to properly release.
NEW SANCTIONS BILL: The full House this week is expected to consider a bill passed by the House International Relations Committee that allows the president to impose new sanctions on any country helping Iran develop weapons of mass destruction. The Administration is adamantly opposed to the bill. In addition to the Iran language, the bill, also marked up by the House Science Committee, imposes sanctions on Russia involving its participation on the International Space Station program. It would cut $590 million in U.S. funding aid to Russia for that program.
OKINAWA SAGA: The government of Okinawa, trying to come up with a way to replace the U.S. Marine Corps' air base at Futema, may have the answer. The local government isn't talking, but the leading contender seems to be reclaimed beach construction of a 370-acre facility with two runways of up to 8,200 feet south of the Marines' Camp Schwab. The government would use the $5.5 billion-plus facility for commercial flights as well. This doesn't appeal to airlines, which think a joint use airport would be dangerous.
BOEING delivered the first of four re-engined KC-135Rs to the Republic of Singapore Air Force, the company reported Friday. The aircraft, originally built as a KC-135A for the U.S. Air Force, was modified with CFM56 engines and the Boeing-developed Multi-Point Refueling System. It is the first aircraft to receive both modifications concurrently at the Military Programs - Wichita Division, part of the Boeing Aerospace Support business. Boeing has modified more than 425 KC-135 tankers to the "R" configuration.
MUM'S THE WORD: The Pentagon isn't talking about State Dept. comments that Alaska will selected as the site of a national missile defense (NMD) system. "The State Department is in charge of policy and diplomatic matters...we are the nuts and bolts people," a DOD spokeswoman said. The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization hadn't even completed the environmental impact studies on Alaska when State Dept. Spokesman James Rubin told reporters last week that Alaska would be the first NMD site.
Lockheed Martin will receive only $4.3 million of a possible $46.3 million bonus for the Titan IVB space launch vehicle program because it made mistakes that resulted in the April 30 failure of one of the rockets and loss of a military communications satellite.
U.S. Army leaders are mapping out a strategy to make the service's light forces more lethal and its heavy forces more deployable. A special group established by Gen. Eric Shinseki shortly after he became Chief of Staff last spring and headed by Gen. Jack Keane, deputy chief of staff, is tackling the job and is slated to report its findings in mid-October at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual convention in Washington. Separate task forces have been set up for strategic vision, manpower, modernization and revamping of Army headquarters staff.
BRAIN DRAIN? One of the least talked about aspects of the defense sector is the ability of U.S. firms to hire skilled workers, particularly those with advanced engineering degrees, Callan says. "The ability of larger firms to hire and retain software and electrical engineers could be an issue of increasing importance because these firms will be competing against a very vibrant commercial technology sector," he says. Callan adds that manufacturing isn't a concern, since aerospace and defense has tended to be one of the better paying manufacturing sectors.
The U.S. is preparing to lodge a charge against the European Commission over a regulation that will ban many hushkitted and re-engined aircraft from European airspace, beginning next May, a top U.S. official told Congress.
ANOTHER BRAC REQUIRED: "We positively need another BRAC," says Ruby B. Demesme, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for manpower, reserve affairs, installations and environment. "We have way too much infrastructure," she says. "Anytime you maintain buildings and land that we have no use for, we're taking away money that we could be using for modernization and people.
Rolls-Royce signed an agreement with First Aviation Services Inc. to buy engine repair and overhaul specialist National Airmotive Corp. for $73 million, the companies reported. Rolls said the acquisition is expected to enhance earnings per share in the first full year of operation and represents the latest move in the company's strategy to grow its aero and industrial engine repair and overhaul business.
Spacehab Inc. lost $2.6 million in its 1999 fiscal year, even though revenues improved 68% to $107.7 million, the company reported. In 1998, the company earned $9.6 million on revenues of $64.1 million.
Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems has won a U.S. Navy contract to supply Laser Guided Training Rounds (LGTRs) for the ninth consecutive year. The LGTR helps train pilots to deliver laser guided ordnance such as the Paveway bomb.
The CIA's latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is old news, some lawmakers and defense committee aides said Friday. The agency, in an unclassified version of the NIE released Thursday, said that during the next 15 years the U.S.
NAVY MISSION EXPANDS: U.S. naval forces are finding that their mission scope is being broadened by precision guided munitions, Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig tells Rotarians in Hawaii. "Many of these are things we don't even traditionally associate with navies and marine corps," he says. "For example, the attack on the embassies in Africa [last year] led to retaliation against [international terrorist Osama] bin Laden. Bin Laden was in Afghanistan. We fired missiles from Navy ships, surface and submarine, against his camps, and I think did a very effective strike.
FULL COURT PRESS: The U.S. Air Force is bringing in its big guns to urge Congress to restore full funding for the F-22 program in the FY 2000 budget. Most of the AF's leading generals will be in Washington this week for the service's annual convention hosted by the Air Force Association. A star-laden press conference has been called for Wednesday morning to help build public support for the program, which faces a $1.8 billion procurement cut in Congress.
Long-standing negotiations between GKN Westland and the Malaysian Defense Ministry for the purchase of Super Lynx frigate-based ASW helicopters were finalized this week with a $160 million contract for six aircraft. Confirming the Malaysian order, GKN Westland Helicopters Chief Executive Richard Case said that it was the first for the Super Lynx in Southeast Asia, and that it was appropriate that it was placed by the Royal Malaysian Navy.
EARLY WARNING PARTNERS: Senators on the Special Committee for Y2K are pushing the Administration to include China, India and Pakistan in its plan to share early warning data with Russia. The U.S. and Russia are working together on a Y2K Center for Strategic Stability in Colorado. The idea behind the center is to share missile-warning data to avoid a Y2K nuclear missile disaster. But Sens. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), who chairs and Y2K Committee, and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the vice chairman, said the U.S. should invite others to join the project.
The GE Aircraft Engines/Harris info-tech joint venture signed a deal with regional airline Comair to demonstrate a high-speed wireless data link to manage and monitor aircraft arrivals, departures and ground movements automatically. GE Harris Aviation Information Solutions, in Melbourne, Fla., says the demonstration covers two new RJ aircraft - the first will be modified in mid-November, followed by a second in December - in a three-month program of 1,000 flights.
NASA has issued formal requests for information on rockets able to launch small payloads from planets Earth and Mars, looking for separate vehicles to lift soil and rock samples from the surface of Mars and for untried space launch vehicles that might need a relatively low-value payload for a first flight from Earth. Separate agency requests for information pulled from NASA procurement websites by the NASA Watch site indicate the Kennedy Space Center wants company information on the two types of vehicle this month.
A consortium test-flying a 707 re-fitted with Pratt&Whitney JT8D-219 engines is counting on newly demonstrated performance improvements over original 707 engines to appeal to military customers. The Dallas-based Seven Q Seven group, which includes Shannon, Ireland-based Omega Air; DER Engineering; BFGoodrich; Nordam, and P&W, has flown its 707 demonstrator more than 20 hours with a JT8D-219 engine installed in the No. 1 position in place of the aircraft's original P&W JT3D/TF3.
RAYTHEON CO. has received a $41.2 million U.S. Air Force award for production of the ALE-50 towed decoy and related equipment. The award is part of the third ALE-50 production lot, or "P3," which was accelerated earlier this year to meet increased requirements in support of Operation Allied Force against Yugoslavia, Raytheon said yesterday. The new award brings the total value of the P3 contract to $95 million, and adds 1,596 decoys as well as various quantities of F-16 launch controllers, magazines and isolation racks to the original Lot 3 contract.
