Boeing unveiled three commercial derivatives of its Delta IV familyof launch vehicles. The three new vehicles, known collectively as Delta IV Medium-plus,are built around the Delta IV fleet's "common booster core," which is 125feet long and 16 feet in diameter. Capabilities of the fleet togeosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) range from 4,800 pounds (Delta IVSmall) through 29,100 pounds (Delta IV Heavy).
Signaling what may be a Pentagon request for more funding in theoutyears, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Henry H. Shelton saidyesterday that a flat top line means problems for the U.S. Defense Dept. "With a straight top line, we've got some serious problems," Sheltontold the Association of the United States Army in Washington. He added thatthe Joint Chiefs and civilian leadership are in the process of determiningwhat funding is required by the Defense Dept.
GE Engine Services announced formation of a new joint company, GEVarig Engine Services, to be located in Rio de Janeiro. GE, which made theannouncement at the Farnborough Air Show, said it will own 95% of the newcompany, which will maintain and overhaul primarily CFM56-3, CF6-50 andCF6-80C2 engines for Varig and third-party customers. GE Engine Services also announced signing of a five-year, $100million contract with Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville,Ore., for overhaul of JT9 engines on its 747s.
AN OUTRIDER unmanned aerial vehicle crashed early Wednesday after an enginequit, prompting the grounding of all the Alliant Techsystems craft untilfurther notice. The accident occurred at the conclusion of a test flight atAlliant's Glasscock, Tex., facility. The aircraft was in an automaticlanding sequence when the engine stopped.
Airbus Industrie's prospective A318 hundred-seater will cost morethan the Boeing 717 and reach the market later, but the European consortiumbelieves lower operating costs and other advantages will earn it half of a20-year, 1,000-aircraft market. Airbus is offering the downsized A319 to airlines and expects itsboard to decide in December whether to launch the program (DAILY, Sept. 9),but comments at the Farnborough Air Show by Airbus Senior VP CommercialJohn Leahy seem almost to assume a go-ahead.
GREEK AIR FORCE has short-listed a submission from Embraer and Ericsson foran ERJ-145 Erieye airborne early warning system. The Brazilian-Swedishproposal is competing against the Lockheed Martin C-130J and NorthropGrumman E-2C, both of which feature a rotating AN/APS-145 radar. The ERJ- 145 has an electronically scanned PS-890 planar array. Greece is expectedto complete its evaluations and announce a decision before year-end orearly next year.
Turkey is the latest country to express interest in the U.S. JointStrike Fighter, raising the possibility that it will join several othercountries that have already signed on as observers. The U.K. is an active participant with its $200 million investment indevelopment of the multi-role fighter.
The chairmen of the House and Senate defense appropriationssubcommittees are considering expanding an expected Clinton Administrationsupplemental request to shift into the supplemental programs already fundedin the fiscal 1999 defense appropriations bills, congressional sources saidyesterday. The initiative, if it succeeds, would leave room for adding spendingto the FY '99 Pentagon money bills and still stay within the spending caps.
Improved interoperability and a ship-based vertical takeoff andlanding unmanned aerial vehicle are two modernization items that catch theinterest of Adm. T. Joseph Lopez, commander in chief of U.S. Naval Forces,Europe, and Allied Forces Southern Europe. "If I had a buck to spend, I'd spend it on interoperability," Lopeztold a group of defense reporters in Washington on Wednesday.Interoperability should be improved between the U.S. military services andthe military services of other countries, he said.
Russian and U.S. companies have agreed to launch a major project inMarch 1999 to recycle fuel from Russia's ballistic missiles, Oren Phillips,vice president of Thiokol Propulsion, said at the Farnborough Air Show,Itar-Tass reported yesterday. Phillips said the project would be part ofthe Russian-American strategic arms reduction treaty. Phillips will bechief manager of the first part of the project.
Israel's Elta and Germany's Daimler Benz Aerospace have been secretlycooperating on the development of electronic warfare equipment in arelationship that was revealed yesterday by Israel Aircraft Industries. Thecooperation has focused on self-protection equipment for the GermanLuftwaffe. The agreement dates from the 1970s and includes "severalgenerations of electronic warfare products" for self-protection, IAI said.The latest program is the Tornado Self Protection Jammer, which iseffective against both airborne and ground radars.
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) has spent $18million to date preparing its weapons and other network and support systemsfor potential year 2000 computer problems, and the costs are expected toincrease, the head of the BMDO Y2K program said. Maj. Emily Andrew, program manager for the BMDO Y2K program, told TheDAILY in an interview that when BMDO, like the rest of the Pentagon, becameinvolved in dealing with Y2K, officials found they didn't have a clear ideaof which systems could have potential problems.
An article in The DAILY of Sept. 9 inadequately explainedthe focus of the investigation into the Delta III launch failure. A Boeingspokesman stressed yesterday that the investigation team is examining thecontrol system as a whole, and not only a single piece of hardware. "Allthe hardware reacted as it was intended to," the spokesman said. "Theinvestigation team is examining why the control system reacted to a rolloscillation and instead of damping the roll out, contributed to thesituation."
Still in the early stages of development, the future Advanced Anti-Radar Guided Missile is making its first appearance here as a full-sizemodel beside the F/A-18 Hornet in the static display area. The aim of the U.S. program is to develop a long-range, ramjet-powered weapon to attack enemy ground radars, considerably improving on theAGM-122 Sidearm, which is essentially a Sidewinder short range air-to-airmissile. AARGM is intended for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, withthe option of internal carriage on next-generation machines.
U.S. military officials have been unable to confirm North Korea'sclaims that it launched a satellite last week when it fired the Taepo DongI missile. U.S. Space Command, which is leading the search, "has not observedany object" in the orbit where the North Koreans said they placed thesatellite, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Tuesday. He added thatthere appears to be no sign of a new object in orbit "that could correlate"with what North Korea is claiming.
The FAA yesterday gave Lockheed Martin's C-130J its much anticipatedtype certificate, clearing the way for delivery of the new airlifter to theU.S. and Australian governments. The C-130J program completed 30,000 test points and more than 4,100flight hours to receive the required FAA endorsement, Lockheed Martin saidyesterday. Nine aircraft - C-130Js and the stretched C-130J-30 - were usedduring the test program. The U.K., launch customer for the C-130J, accepted its first aircraftlast month. However, it didn't require FAA certification.
United Parcel Service and GE Capital Aviation Services led the latestround of airliner orders, many of which are being announced this week atthe Farnborough Air Show. UPS said yesterday it will buy up to 60 new Airbus A300-600freighters, including a firm commitment to 30 over the next 10 years which,with options, are valued at up to $5 billion. UPS, a new customer forAirbus, will decide between General Electric and Pratt&Whitney to providethe engines.
The Senate yesterday refused for a second time to invoke cloture andclear the way for a vote on a bill making it the policy of the U.S. todeploy "as soon as technologically feasible" a limited national missiledefense, effectively killing the issue for the year. The vote, 59-41, wasthe same as it was in May. The only near-term prospect for achieving the necessary 60 votes forsupporters to proceed would apparently depend on Republicans makingsufficient gains in Senate elections this November to reach that figure andassure a filibuster-proof vote.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIV. of Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), hasDallas, won an enterprise systems development contract from the U.S. NavalReserve Information Systems Office (NRISO), New Orleans, to improvetechnical functionality and reduce redundancy within the DefenseInformation Systems Agency. ACS' Gulf States Operations unit will overseethe contract, initially valued at $6.3 million.
European government ministers expressed aggravation this week aboutcontinuing delays in the corporatization of Airbus, aimed at turning theloose European consortium into a full-fledged, efficient, private company. The initial target for the transformation was Jan. 1, 1999. NoelForgeard, Airbus' new chief executive officer, currently believes theindustry partners will come to an agreement by mid-1999, however. YvesMichot, chairman of the French participant, Aerospatiale, is lessoptimistic. He says he expects a result "before the end of next year."
Photogrammetry techniques originally developed in Canada as afuturistic "collision avoidance system" for automobiles will helpastronauts assembling the International Space Station on orbit "see" wheretheir lines of sight are blocked without the extra weight of specialcameras for each Station element.
The House Republican Policy Committee yesterday called forabandonment of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and pushed the need for anational missile defense (NMD) system. The Republican leadership repeatedly has called for the ABM Treaty tobe done away with, an argument that has fallen on deaf ears in the ClintonAdministration. However, the Republican Policy Committee members stressedthey now have strong backing from a number of heavy hitters in the defensearena to wage this fight again.
Another long delay in starting on-orbit assembly of the InternationalSpace Station could cost the Clinton Administration hard-won support forthe project on Capitol Hill, the chairman of the House committee thatauthorizes NASA spending said yesterday.
Iridium LLC has decided to delay the start of commercial service forits worldwide "Big LEO" low-Earth orbit satellite communications networkfrom Sept. 23 until Nov. 1 to allow more time for testing before payingcustomers start making calls. Edward F. Staiano, Iridium vice chairman and CEO, told reportersyesterday that while the system is essentially complete, with alloperational software loaded and the hand-held satellite telephones workingadequately, he wants more time to work out remaining kinks.
