Cost of the U.S. Navy's Area Wide lower tier theater missile defense (TMD) program has increased by $537 million, due in part to design problems in Raytheon's Standard Missile Block-2 IVA, the Navy has informed congressional appropriators. Navy officials told The DAILY in February they were reviewing a new baseline for the Navy Area Wide program, due to a number of challenges including engineering problems with the SM-2 Block IVA (DAILY, Feb. 23). At that time cost estimates had not yet been determined.
Russia probably will continue to operate the 13-year-old Mir orbital station after August, when it was scheduled to be de-orbited, Russian Space Agency General Director Yuri N. Koptiev told the Itar-Tass news agency. "Investment programs have already been developed for several further expeditions," Itar-Tass quoted Koptiev as saying April 2.
The Aerospace Div. of Advanced Communication Systems Inc., Fairfax, Va., will help the U.S. Navy develop new ways to track the structural fatigue life of its aircraft under a five-year, $46 million contract with Naval Air Systems Command.
Gretchen W. McClain, the top International Space Station official at NASA headquarters in Washington, has told colleagues she will soon leave the agency for a post in the private sector, sources said yesterday. McClain, who is deputy associate administrator (Space Station), will join Station Program Manager Randy Brinkley in leaving the U.S. space agency (DAILY, April 7). An agency source said there was no connection between the two departures.
A Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey has been flown from NAS Patuxent River, Md., to NAS China Lake, Calif., in a U.S. Air Force C-17 airlifter for ballistic survivability testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Div. The U.S. Navy plans to perform penetration tests on the fuselage using live ordnance in October. Engineers will use the data to determine vulnerability of the aircraft in simulated combat conditions.
U.S. tankers and airlifters augmented by contract carriers are as busy supporting Operation Allied Force today as they have been during recent operations in the Arabian Gulf, said the director of global readiness at Air Mobility Command's Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill.
A Small Reconnaissance Ship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has left Sevastopol for the Adriatic Sea, where it will monitor NATO sea forces engaged in the aerial bombardment of Yugoslavia.
TRW INC. said it is teaming with five other companies to compete for the U.S. Air Force's Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC2) contract, which could be worth more than $1 billion over 15 years. TRW and its teammates - ITT Industries, SAIC, IBM, Harris Corp. and Oracle Consulting - will compete for the contract to integrate some 40 air, space and missile defense command and control systems into one, which will give commanders in chief and others at Space Command and NORAD a common global battlefield picture based on shared, real-time data.
Angel Technologies Corp., St. Louis, said its High Altitude Long Operation (HALO) Proteus aircraft reached 50,500 feet during a four-hour test flight over Mojave, Calif. The aircraft is designed to fly above commercial air traffic and adverse weather to provide broadband services at an initial rate of 16 gigabits per second. Several aircraft will fly over major cities to provide wireless service in metropolitan areas, which the company plans to extend to worldwide coverage.
STEVEN D. DORFMAN, vice chairman of Hughes Electronics Corp., will retire on June 1, the company announced. A 42-year Hughes veteran, Dorfman oversees the company's satellite manufacturing and satellite component operations, as well as its 50% interest in HRL Laboratories In Malibu, Calif. Before becoming vice chairman, Dorfman, 63, was executive vice president of Hughes Electronics and chairman of Hughes Telecommunications and Space Co.
Even though weather is clearing over Yuglosavia, NATO aircraft "have not achieved the level of damage" on fielded Serbian forces that they would like, Royal Air Force Air Commodore David Wilby said yesterday. Briefing reporters in Brussels, he said without elaboration that NATO is "continually adapting our tactics to resolve this frustrating situation." He said that "operations are ongoing against Serbian armored forces on the ground in Kosovo..." and that "our pursuit and attack of these units...will be relentless."
Randy Brinkley, who has managed NASA's International Space Station effort since it was redesigned in 1994 to bring Russia into the program, is leaving the U.S. space agency for the private sector at the end of the month. With his departure NASA veteran Tommy W. Holloway will take over as Station program manager, while Ronald D. Dittemore will replace Holloway as the Space Shuttle program manager.
Boeing is offering a new main-gear wheel and carbon brake designed especially for the 767-200/300 by French manufacturer Messier-Bugatti, Boeing said yesterday. "Our airline customers told us they wanted a second option for 767 brakes," said Dan Mooney, 767 chief project engineer. He said the Messier-Bugatti brakes are equivalent in performance to the AlliedSignal brakes introduced last year. Either suppliers' wheel and brake system can be installed on any carbon-brake-equipped 767.
A shifting of U.S. forces in recent days to accommodate demands of the Yugoslavia air campaign is a sign of the forces' flexibility to meet the requirements of theater commanders, said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Charles F. Wald, vice director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. Air Force F-117 pilot who ejected over Yugoslavia March 27 and was rescued hours later described "enormous" negative g-forces that nearly prevented him from reaching the ejection seat grips. The pilot, whose identity is not being revealed, recounted parts of his experience in an interview published on the U.S. Air Force Web site. The interview was conducted at Aviano AB, Italy.
LUCAS AEROSPACE said it has received the Airbus Repair Station Performance Award for its ranking in the top five of 21 North American repair stations tracked by Airbus Industrie for outstanding repair time performance in 1998.
LOCKHEED MARTIN MISSILES AND SPACE won a $17.7 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide for the Beam Control Test Program in support of the Space Based Laser program. The effort includes beam control testing of the Alpha Hydrogen Fluoride Laser. Expected contract completion date is Dec. 31, 1999. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles, awarded the contract.
The Titan IV/B returns to flight April 9 when the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin Astronautics launch the rocket carrying a Defense Support Program satellite from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., April 9.
FAA officials promised yesterday to "announce shortly" a decision on a revised schedule for the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), and which color display will be selected for the system's 173 Tracons and 190 military facilities. Competing are Raytheon's Early Display Configuration (EDC) which is part of the original STARS program, and Lockheed Martin's Common Automated Radar Terminal System (Color ARTS).
Although it is unclear whether Russia has gained access to the wreckage of the U.S. F-117A stealth fighter bomber shot down near Belgrade last week, Russian researchers clearly want a look at the advanced technology it contains. While the Russian Interfax news agency announced that at least some of the wreckage has been shipped to Russia, other sources do not confirm this. The Yugoslav Serbs reportedly want to exchange parts from the plane for new Russian surface-to-air missiles to use against attacking NATO warplanes.
The Aerospace Corp. has created a new office in Colorado Springs that will apply the experience gained over 39 years as an independent technical consultant to government and industry to the commercial satellite sector. Edward C. (Pete) Aldridge, president and CEO, said Monday the corporation's new "Space Operations Support Office" (SOPSO) will focus on the issues that contribute to disrupted satellite service, including radiation, spacecraft charging, micrometeroids and space debris.
From Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on March 29, 1999; Printed Issue Date: April 1, 1999; PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS; SUBPART: SERVICES; CLASSCOD: A-Research and Development; OFFADD: DOC, Mountain Administrative Support Center; Acquisition Management Division; 325 Broadway, MC3; Boulder, CO 80303; SOL NRMGM-907545DT; DUE 040899; POC Doris Turner, Purchasing Agent, 303-497-3872; FAX: 303-497-3163
