British Aerospace Systems and Equipment (BASE) has been selected to equip the C-17 Globemaster with its Terrain Awareness Warning System (TAWS). BASE will team with Lockheed Martin Control Systems of Johnson City, N.Y., to provide the TAWS functionality in the video integrated processor (VIP), British Aerospace said. The VIP would help the aircraft perform low-altitude transport missions. The BASE TAWS will provide terrain awareness information to the flight crew throughout the operational envelope of the aircraft, British Aerospace said.
The targets used by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization for theater missile defense tests don't sufficiently represent real threats, and new targets should be developed, according to the House and Senate defense authorization conferees.
NASA's Johnson Space Center has invited potential players in a "highly diversified commercial consortium" to meet in Houston later this month to discuss a privately owned habitation module for the International Space Station.
Acquisitive aftermarket specialist Kellstrom Industries is considering selling some interest in its aircraft and engine sales and leasing businesses to help the company shed impressive debt. Sunrise, Fla.-based Kellstrom says the way it will work is that the company would form "partnerships with premier financial/leasing organizations," while retaining a minority ownership stake in the resulting ventures and a pro-rated interest in the partnerships' earnings stream, as well as managing the ventures through the existing Kellcad division.
ALLIEDSIGNAL said it has completed a successful first run of its new AS900 turbofan engine which will power the new Bombardier Continental business jet and the British Aerospace Avro RJX regional jetliner. The AS900 is a 7,000-pound thrust engine with a 34.2-inch fan and a bypass ratio of 4.2.
Pratt&Whitney is moving its military jet engine business from Florida to Connecticut as part of a downsizing effort that will trim some 1,500 people from its U.S. payroll by the end of next year, and is in preliminary talks with Aerojet that could lead to formation of a joint venture in the rocket propulsion arena.
France, Italy and the U.K. placed a 1.3 billion pound ($2.1 billion) contract for the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS), which will form the heart of the air defenses of their navies. The French Defense Contracting Agency, acting on behalf of the three countries, awarded the contract to EUROPAAMS SAS, a consortium formed to develop the surface-to-air missile system. The group is comprised of Thomson-CSF, Aerospatiale, Matra BAe Dynamics, and Alenia.
Like its development core more than a year ago (AP, Dec. 1997), AlliedSignal's new AS900 turbofan started on the first attempt and accelerated to governed speed without a hitch on its first full engine run, the Phoenix-based enginemaker reported Thursday.
Space Shuttle managers have decided to delay the upcoming launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour 20 to 30 days to inspect its wiring, after tracing an electrical short that shut down two main engine controllers on the most recent launch to an exposed wire probably caused by workers during processing.
Initial tests on a reconditioned Continental O-200 recip of a new, NASA-sponsored magneto-less ignition system demonstrated increased power, reduced noise and vibration, increased lean limits and the ability to maintain engine power without any electrical power, developers claim.
A new, mostly ethanol, replacement for leaded avgas developed by University of North Dakota researchers has cleared its first big test, and if evaluations continue to go well, half of all current general aviation aircraft may be able to use it in about a year and a half.
FAIRCHILD AEROSPACE has delivered the first two 328JETs to Milwaukee-based Skyway Airlines, the launch customer for the new regional jet. Skyway, the Midwest Express Connection, serves 25 cities in the Midwest and Canada. The 328JET, the world's first 32-seat regional jet, will enter service with Skyway later this year. Skyway has five aircraft on firm order and 10 options for others. Fairchild said it has a total of 163 328JETS on the books as firm orders or options. The 328JET is the first of a new family of regional jets and airliners from Fairchild Aerospace.
U.S. airlines will have to replace Mylar insulation blankets on 700 Douglas aircraft over the next four years under an FAA plan announced Wednesday, but an airline industry executive called for more study before the plan is made final. The agency and industry have disagreed on the approach to replacing the insulation ever since it was connected with an in-flight fire on a Swissair MD-11 that crashed off Nova Scotia last September killing all aboard.
Iridium LLC, struggling to meet sales projections for its new satellite telephony service, acknowledged yesterday that it had defaulted on both its $800 million Senior Secured Credit Facility and its $750 million Guaranteed Credit Facility. The default was triggered by failure to meet minimum sales and revenue levels by a deadline set in covenants in the Senior credit facility. The covenant deadlines had already been extended three times. A spokesman for the company said it had not asked for another extension.
ICO Global Communications has fallen short of a $600 million financing target and may lower its goal in a subsequent attempt, the London-based satellite communications firm reported yesterday. It was the second time in less than a month that ICO missed an investment target. A rights offering with a minimum investment of threshold of $500 million that had been extended through July 28 (DAILY, July 20) also fell short. ICO said the latest development would force it to defer payments to suppliers.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said yesterday it will relocate its West Palm Beach, Fla., flight test and S-76 helicopter completion and delivery operations as part of a previously announced restructuring program. The United Technologies company, whose Pratt&Whitney unit is also being reorganized (see preceding story) is looking at various locations for the helicopter operations, and an announcement is expected before the end of the fourth quarter, a Sikorsky spokesman said.
The U.S. Marine Corps grounded all of its AV-8B Harriers late Wednesday after discovering an improperly manufactured cotter key in one of the Rolls-Royce F408 engines that power that plane. The Harrier fleet had been slowly returning to full flight status following completion of detailed engine inspections following three crashes this year.
GenCorp Aerojet has won a "multimillion-dollar" extension to its contract with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to continue development of the Strutjet Rocket-Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) engine through 2001, the company reported yesterday.
The U.S. Army has selected four proven unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems for an autumn fly-off at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. The service hopes to find a system that can meet its brigade commander's surveillance needs at less than $4 million a copy. Making the cut are teams led by AAI Corp., Alliant TechSystems, General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems and TRW Systems and Information Technology Group.
The U.S. Navy fired two Tomahawk cruise missiles from a missile destroyer last week, showcasing a new launch control system for surface ships. The Advanced Tomahawk Weapons Control System Launch Control Group Replacement system managed both launches using two different navigation systems.
The U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, has opened a simulation and analysis facility for in-house acquisition officials. Personnel will be able to use computer models and simulations at the $7 million center to design and test airplanes in a real-time virtual environment.
CURTISS-WRIGHT CORP., Lyndhurst, N.J., will supply Boeing with torque limiter kits for trailing-edge wing flap actuation systems for 757 airliners. The initial agreement extends through October 2000 and is expected to generate sales of more than $10 million.
The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) will make a second attempt at unpowered but guided flight after separating from an U.S. Air Force F-16 this morning at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
