Launch of the EchoStar V communications satellite aboard an Atlas IIAS rocket has been postponed from Friday until Monday after a lightning strike at its Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., launch site on Monday, and the Atlas launch after that may be delayed by the changeout of an RL-10 engine on its Centaur upper stage
ARGENTINA has chosen a Northrop Grumman team for a 26-month, $185.3 million program to upgrade the air traffic control system in the northern and central regions of the country. Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (ES3) will install new radars and operations centers, refurbish existing facilities and upgrade Argentina's communications network. Siemens S.A. and Alenia Marconi Systems S.p.A. are teamed with Northrop Grumman.
GenCorp shareholders approved a plan to spin off the company's Polymer Products businesses into a separate, publicly traded company. The vote - 84% in favor - was announced at a special shareholders' meeting in Cleveland. Under the plan, GenCorp will continue to operate Aerojet, its existing aerospace, defense and fine chemicals segment, and its automotive Vehicle Sealing business unit. GenCorp's board of directors will meet Sept. 17 to vote on final approval of the plan.
A month later, some 5,000 users of a computer network run by the U.S. Air Force's 52nd Communications Squadron at Spangdahlem AB in Germany still felt the aftershocks of a database meltdown following routine maintenance in early August, illustrating the potential pitfalls in updating hardware or software.
An independent panel assembled to probe the string of space launch failures Lockheed Martin has suffered over the past year found an imbalance between cost containment and the "mission success" the corporation takes as its motto, with too much emphasis on the former at the expense of the latter.
The addition of 50 CV-22 Ospreys will not fundamentally change the missions of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, but they will bring increased speed, range and flexibility, according to the head of AFSOCOM. The first six operational CV-22s will be based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., in 2004, Lt. Gen. Clay Bailey, commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. Bailey was there for "Tiltrotor Day," which showcased the HV-15 and the MV-22.
Computer Sciences Corp. signed an agreement to buy certain assets of TRW Data Services, a unit of TRW Inc. that provides customized software and systems solutions for high-volume payment processors. Details of the cash purchase were not disclosed. The unit has about 200 employees and annual sales of more than $35 million. CSC said TDS has customers in banking, investments, insurance, retail and telecommunications.
Rockwell Collins and the U.S. Navy have completed four flight tests demonstrating new techniques for control of standoff weapons. The tests, at China Lake Calif., using a T-39 aircraft to simulate a guided munition, demonstrated forward command links and video data backlinks, Rockwell Collins said. It said the system, called Surgical Strike, increases situational awareness and anti-jam capabilities, while reducing mission cost.
Raytheon's AIM-9X Sidewinder missile hit a remotely piloted QF-4 aircraft in its first guided launch from a U.S. Air Force F-15. The missile recently accomplished a similar performance from a U.S Navy F/A-18. The AF and Navy are developing the missile under a joint program. "This flight continues to show the superior performance of AIM-9X, demonstrating the ability to successfully engage targets against difficult terrain," said Chuck Anderson, vice president for air-to-air missiles.
September 3, 1999 AAI Engineering Support, Inc., Hunt Valley, Md., is being awarded a $7,689,446 modification to a cost-plus-award-fee contract, F33657-97-C-2009-P00024, to provide for trainer enhancements and concurrency modifications for the Maintenance Training System Trainers in support of the C-17 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is May 13, 2002. Negotiation completion date was Aug. 30, 1999. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
PGSUS Limited Liability Co., a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Rafael Industries, showcased its first AGM-142 Have Nap air-to-surface missile during ceremonies last week in Troy, Ala. The missile, made under a U.S. Air Force contract, is based on the Israeli Popeye missile and provides the USAF B-52H bombers with a precision, conventional standoff weapon. AGM-142s were first fielded in 1992 and were used during the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia.
The first of 12 new C-130J Hercules aircraft arrived at Royal Australian Air Force Base Richmond, in New South Wales, the RAAF reported yesterday. The order was placed with Lockheed Martin in late 1995. "Australia needs highly mobile, rapid reaction forces and the C-130s help provide that capability," said John Moore, Minister of Defense. "They represent a quantum leap in aerial transport and a significantly improved capability."
Boeing's contract with the National Reconnaissance Office for the next generation of "imagery reconnaissance satellites" does not include actual launch services, as the NRO announced Friday, but only launch integration.
THE FIRST U.S. NAVY F/A-18 arrived at Boeing's Cecil Field Support Center for an avionics upgrade under the Miniaturized Airborne GPS Receiver program. The company recently announced that it would split Hornet work with subcontractor Northrop Grumman at the Jacksonville, Fla., facility.
September 3, 1999 Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $42,671,906 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 14 Modular Mission Computer and Color Multi-functional Display System modification kits in support of the Common Configuration Improvement Program for the F-16 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is September 2001. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-98-C-0035).
US Airways Express has requested bids from Bombardier, Embraer and Fairchild for an order of 100 small regional jets, seating 30-40 passengers, and options for 300 larger regional jets, seating 40 to 69 passengers.
Israel's Rada Electronic Industries Ltd. signed an agreement with Boeing under which the American company will support the marketing and sale of Rada's CATS automatic test equipment. Under the agreement, CATS is among the packages Boeing will recommend on 737 next generation and 777 aircraft. El Al is considering adding 777s to its fleet.
The German government is increasing pressure to create conditions for a merger between Aerospatiale-Matra of France and DaimlerChrysler's aerospace subsidiary, DASA, the German business daily Handelsblatt said Sept. 3, quoting Siegmar Mosdorf, the government's aerospace coordinator.
Europe's Ariane and Russia's Proton rockets both launched communications satellites over the weekend, marking a return to flight for the Proton and maintaining an ambitious pace for the Ariane. The Proton lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 12:36 p.m. EDT Monday, carrying aloft two Yamal-100 communications satellites built for the Gazprom Russian gas organization. It was the first Proton launch since July 5, when a second-stage fire brought down one of the big rockets with a Russian military satellite aboard.
A commercial laboratory in California has been fined $500,000 and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution on a guilty plea to charges it falsified test results on electronic components intended for use on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and U.S. military systems.
The Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche Joint Program Office will move to Huntsville, Ala., on July 1, 2000, Boeing reported yesterday. Arthur Linden, program director for the companies, said the move will provide a closer working relationship with the U.S. Army. The office has alternated between sites near Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn., and Boeing in Philadelphia. About 30 people from the two companies work at the office.
