J. LELAND 'LEE' ATWOOD, former president and chief executive officer of Rockwell International Corp., died Friday of natural causes in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 94. Atwood was instrumental in helping Rockwell attain leading roles in the F-100, X-15, B-1 and Space Shuttle programs. In the early stages of World War II, he convinced the British to let Rockwell predecessor North American Aviation manufacture a new fighter, the P-51, rather than modify their Curtiss P-40s. In addition, he played a role in design and production of the B-25 bomber.
A second Japan Airlines 747-300 has arrived at Boeing Wichita to undergo modification from domestic to international passenger configuration. JAL plans to modify four of the aircraft, which it says will give it the flexibility to configure passenger seating in four different arrangements to match the routes flown. The first airplane arrived in Wichita last November and was redelivered last month. The second airplane will be returned to JAL in May, when the third is to be delivered.
Senior members of the House Armed Services procurement and research and development subcommittees, in a joint five-hour-plus hearing last week, expressed concern about cost growth in the U.S. Air Force's F-22 fighter, underfunding in the Army's RAH-66 helicopter and a funding constrained delay in delivering the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft to the Marine Corps. Program executives acknowledged cost growth in the F-22 as well as the Joint Strike Fighter, and funding constraints in the Comanche and V-22 programs.
March 1, 1999 Lockheed Martin Western Development Laboratories, San Jose, Calif., was awarded on Feb. 26, 1999, a $13,291,449 face value increase to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for upgraded operational switches for eight Air Force Satellite Control Network sites. These switches distribute communication between remote tracking stations and control nodes. Expected contract completion date is Dec. 31, 2000. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity (F04701-96-C-0018-P00051).
CHC HELICOPTER CORP., St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, lost $3 million on sales of $36.6 million in its 1999 third quarter, compared to a loss of $1.6 million on sales of $71.3 million in the same period a year ago. CHC said results reflected the normal season downturn in the company's helicopter operations and were in line with expectation.
March 1, 1999 TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., was awarded on Feb. 26, 1999, a $12,669,147 face value increase to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for engineering services and technical assistance through September 1999 in support of Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., and Air Force Space Command. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42610-95-C-0043-P00091).
KLM Engineering&Maintenance and Canadian Marconi Co. have completed flight tests they said will result in a supplementary type certificate for a "comprehensive 747 cockpit upgrade" that will extend the life of the carrier's 13 747-200/300 fleet "well beyond the year 2010."
The U.S. Army and Navy demonstrated for the first time the ability to tie the Army's Aerostat platform into the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) to transmit target data to a Patriot missile defense system, an Army official said yesterday.
The Boeing-led Sea Launch venture, reportedly under investigation by a federal grand jury for possible criminal violations of the Arms Export Control Act, last week completed integrated tests of its Ukrainian/Russian launch vehicle and oceangoing Norwegian/Russian launch support hardware, Boeing reported.
March 1, 1999 Nichols Research Corp., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $12,427,361 face value increase to a cost-plus-award-fee contract to provide for a Regatta computer system in support of the Major Shared Resource Center, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Expected contract completion date is April 30, 2001. Negotiation completion date was Feb. 17, 1999. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (DAHC94-96-C-0005-P00075).
Cyber attacks on the U.S. military are likely, and could render satellites worthless for communications and surveillance, a new subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee was told Friday. The Emerging Threats subcommittee is chartered to look at threats such as weapons of mass destruction and electronic warfare that could harm the U.S. homeland, troops deployed abroad or allies.
British Aerospace said its 20% share of Airbus caused a loss of $40 million last year, and it attributed the results to a price war with Boeing.This would mean the consortium lost about $200 million. Boeing reported its first annual loss in 1997. However, even though the Airbus consortium lost money, the partner companies made a profit through the sale of parts to Airbus. Other consortium partners are DASA, Aerospatiale and CASA.
Members of the Senate Armed Service Committee promise to put $325 million back in the defense budget for Space Based Infrared System-Low Orbit (SBIRS-Low). The money could put the program back on track for early deployment and save $800 million in the long run, senators believe. One member gave Acting Secretary of Air Force F. Whitten Peters a tongue lashing last week for canceling program contracts before notifying Congress.
The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says classified or "black" programs constitute about $15 billion or 17% of the Defense Dept.'s fiscal year 2000 acquisition (procurement and research and development) funding request. As in the past, CSBA says, the Air Force's FY 2000 request contains by far the largest share of DOD's acquisition funding, with classified programs accounting for $6.5 billion or 33% of the AF procurement request and $5.3 billion or 40.3% of its R&D request.
NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) spacecraft reached its 340-mile circular orbit after a delayed launch Thursday aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL booster staging out of Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The air-launched Pegasus was dropped from its L-1011 carrier plane at 9:57 p.m. EST and delivered the satellite to its orbit after a nine-minute boost, according to Orbital.
The U.S. Commerce Dept.'s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center develop standards and test procedures needed to produce traceable high-accuracy measurements of large optics for the next generation of space-based telescopes, the U.S. space agency announced. Under a new memorandum of understanding between NASA and NIST, Marshall and NIST's Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory will collaborate on high-accuracy measurements for optics larger than 0.4 meters in diameter.
Heico Corp. reported earnings of $3.2 million on sales of $28.2 million in its 1999 first quarter, up from earnings of $2.3 million on sales of $19.8 million in the same period a year ago. The company, based in, Hollywood and Miami, Fla., said strong performance from both its Flight Support Operations and its Electrical&Ground Support operations led to the improvements.
NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works accepted the high-efficiency launch site for the X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype from Sverdrup Corp., which built the facility on a flat stretch of desert near a patch of old rocket test stands at Haystack Butte on Edwards AFB, Calif.
NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) spacecraft spun out of control Friday after a successful launch Thursday night, and controllers declared a spacecraft emergency as they tried to recover the $49 million astronomy satellite. In an agency announcement Ken Ledbetter, director of the Mission and Payload Development Div. at NASA headquarters, said engineers believed the frozen hydrogen used to cool the wide-angle infrared telescope aboard WIRE was venting hydrogen gas as it warmed up, imparting a spin to the spacecraft.
"Composite-related manufacturing changes" have forced a six-month slip in the first drop-test of the X-34 reusable launch vehicle testbed, says Spence M. (Sam) Armstrong, associate NASA administrator for aero-space technology. Armstrong tells the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee the drop test, designed to test the autonomous landing system on the Orbital Sciences vehicle, is now planned for September. Orbital is building the two X-34 vehicles on a fixed-price contract, Armstrong says, so there will be no additional cost to the government.
FAA executives expressed confidence they will meet the June 30 deadline set more than a year ago to attain "100% implementation" of Year 2000 computer date changeover measures. Administrator Jane Garvey and Roy Long, director of the agency's Y2K program office, said at a briefing Thursday in Washington that this does not mean there will be no disruptions, such as baggage system problems, on what Garvey said is "going to be an unusual day." But both likened the problems expected for airlines and airports to those produced by bad weather.
