FAA and Chile's Director General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) has successfully completed the first test flights in Chile demonstrating the capabilities and benefits of the Wide Area Augmentation System, the agency said last week. The test flights were conducted at the Santiago international airport. "This effort represents the latest step toward achieving a seamless, worldwide satellite-based air navigation system," FAA said.
Researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., have evaluated three electric flight surface actuators that promise significant weight savings in future aircraft while improving safety and reliability. Under NASA's Electrically Powered Actuation Design (EPAD) program, each actuator flew at least 25 hours attached to the aileron on the left wing of an F-18 Hornet rigged as a testbed. In all three cases Dryden pilots said the test actuators performed exactly like the traditional hydraulic system.
International aviation authorities are pressing the U.S. to make a better case that the satellite-based Global Positioning System can be a sole means of navigation, reflecting increasing concerns that the U.S. may have oversold its benefits. A memo circulating in the U.S. and at ICAO headquarters in Montreal says the world body is "in a difficult position" for lack of guidance from the U.S. on the sole-means issue. A high-level meeting was planned at the U.S. State Dept. to discuss the issue.
Alcatel and Loral Space&Communications have finished negotiations for the formation of EuropeStar Ltd., a new satellite-services entity that will provide video broadcast and telecommunications services in Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, India and Southeast Asia, the companies reported yesterday.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense will invite four consortia to compete for a private-sector financed Heavy Equipment Transporter service for tanks and other heavy armored vehicles to support the British Army's front line, John Spellar, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defense, announced Tuesday. The competitors will be asked to supply bids for various levels of service, ranging from the provision, maintenance and management of the vehicles, through to full supply, support and operation.
SEN. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE (R-Me.), announced yesterday she will head the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee in the new Congress. She will succeed Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), who will chair the full Armed Services Committee in the session which starts next month. The assignment is expected to be a boost for Snowe in her 2000 re-election campaign. The press release announcing her elevation to the post noted that naval bases and contracts support approximately 50,000 jobs in Maine.
Japan's Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to spend about $74.1 million for technology research next year to support the deployment in 2002 of four reconnaissance satellites to monitor military activities in North Korea, according to press reports from Tokyo.
The U.S. Dept. of Energy yesterday selected the Tennessee Valley Authority to become its future supplier of tritium to boost the yield of nuclear weapons, although the irradiation services will be provided by the Watts Bar and Sequoyah facilities in Tennessee rather than the Bellafonte site in Alabama that TVA preferred.
A European Ariane 42L rocket orbited PanAmSat's PAS-6B direct-to-home television satellite Monday night, marking the 11th Ariane launch this year. Liftoff from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou came at 8:08 p.m. EST, and the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle about 22 minutes later. Ground controllers in Australia determined the satellite was performing normally.
Kawai Isamu, chairman of Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), resigned yesterday amid Japanese press reports he had been indicted on charges he bribed a deputy defense minister in the parliament for help in winning defense business for his company. Kawai's resignation followed on the heels of FHI's suspension by the Japanese Defense Agency. On Dec. 15, the JDA suspended contracts with FHI for one year in connection with the alleged bribery to influence the work-sharing allocation in a development program for the US-1A amphibian rescue aircraft.
Senate leaders have agreed to increase the size of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 18 to 20 seats to include three new Republicans and two new Democrats, Senate aides reported.
Despite the disruption of the impeachment proceedings in the House last week, the Democratic Steering Committee wrapped up most work on setting new committee assignments for the next Congress. Subcommittee memberships and ratios on the panels are still being worked. And the Democrats still need to assign new members to the Intelligence Committee, which is losing three of its Democrat members. But as of yesterday, the following Democrats had been selected to join the following committees:
General Electric Co. plc will separate its commercial businesses from its aerospace and defense activities to prepare for a potential role in the consolidation of the European defense industry, the British company said yesterday. The company said the separation of its businesses "may take one of several forms and will enhance the ability of GEC to create value for its shareholders by leading the international defense industry consolidation."
Moody's Investors Service yesterday downgraded Boeing's senior debt rating from A1 to Aa3, citing the manufacturer's current financial shortcomings, a lower cash flow expectation and the agency's view that Boeing's financial strategy "has changed to one that is less conservative than in the past." The move affects $6.8 billion in long-term debt. The rating agency noted Boeing's continued pricing pressures and the "sliding market share" in its commercial aircraft business.
A Chinese Long March 2C/SD launch vehicle placed two replenishment satellites for the Iridium "Bid LEO" communications constellation in low Earth orbit, and both satellites were reported to be working as planned. Liftoff of the Chinese rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center came at 6:40 a.m. EST Saturday. It was the fifth Iridium launch on the Long March 2C/SD, and the 19th Iridium launch on all vehicle types in as many months.
December 17, 1998 General Electric Co., Lynn, Mass., is being awarded a $19,898,262 firm-fixed-price, delivery order contract for 34 complete 701C Engines installed for the U.S. Army. Work will be performed in Lynn, Mass., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 20, 1997. The contracting activity is the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. (DAAJ09-97-D-0196).
The four-day air war waged by U.S. and British forces against Iraq was classified as highly successful with 85% of targets hit, but it also drastically reduced the U.S. inventory of cruise missiles and highlighted what could be an emerging problem for U.S. force planners.
The Pentagon should fund upgrades that will allow U.S. Air Force bombers to rapidly attack targets with precision weapons as well as other systems that could destroy targets quickly, the Defense Science Board says. "Our primary recommendation is that 'Early and Continuous Combat Effectiveness' be a major organizing construct for the Department's pursuit of Joint Vision 2010," the panel of senior advisors said in its latest study of future U.S. weapons requirements.
Rep. Dennis Haster (R-Ill.), projected as the next Speaker of the House, has a solid record of voting with the GOP on matters of national security and defense spending, but he is not seen as one of the chamber's leading advocates of defense programs. Haster, unchallenged for the Speaker post since Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) announced he would not remain the GOP nominee for Speaker in the 106th Congress, has been endorsed by the top Republican leaders in the House.
