The U.S. government should not continue to spend millions of dollars to enable Lockheed Martin to develop its version of a commercial reusable launch vehicle, while commercial entrepreneurs are putting their own money on the line to build such affordable space transportation, one entrepreneur told lawmakers yesterday.
Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), annoyed at having to read news stories to learn about late deliveries of F-22 fighter subassemblies, lectured F-22 contractors and the U.S. Air Force yesterday on the need for "absolute full disclosure" of any difficulties that arise in the program.
Universal Alloy's Anaheim, Calif., aircraft extrusion mill just won certification to the ISO 9002 quality standard. The company claims to be the first aircraft aluminum extrusion mill in the U.S. to achieve 9002, and the company's new mill in Canton, Ga., should be certified within "a few months," Universal reports.
Even though all four medium-thrust-class enginemakers are pitching proposals to re-engine some 180 four-engine Boeing 707 airframes remaining in U.S. Air Force service as tankers, surveillers and special mission aircraft, industry insiders think CFM International and Pratt&Whitney hold the edge.
Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management won a contract from the Air Traffic Management Bureau of East China for the Pudong Primary Radar Automation System. Lockheed Martin said the contract, from a unit of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), calls for installation of air traffic control systems at Hongqiao International Airport and the new Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.
THE PENTAGON confirmed plans to bolster its surveillance and reconnaissance capability in Southwest Asia. It is sending one Joint STARS, two additional AWACS and one more RC-135. The U.S. already has three AWACS and two RC-135s in theater. The Pentagon said also that the six F-117 stealth aircraft being sent to the Gulf to complement six already there are expected to depart Holloman AFB, N.M., today.
While continuing to focus on leapfrog advances in gas turbine technology for fighters and bombers, managers of the U.S. Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) initiative also plan to widen IHPTET's net to include boosting today's highest-tech jetliner engines to power ultra-long range military airlifters of the future.
The U.S. Air Force just exercised a $44 million option with engine- maker Pratt&Whitney covering the second phase of the Storable Fuel Scramjet Flowpath Concepts (SFSFC) technology development project, in which P&W will continue developing a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet aimed at demonstrating an integrated engine in 2002 or 2003. Work will be managed as part of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Hypersonic Technology (HyTech) program. The 15-month first phase was a $4.5 million program.
Pratt&Whitney Canada signed a ten-year Fleet Management contract with Mesa Air Group for total support of Mesa's de Havilland Dash 8 commuter turboprop fleet, powered by P&WC PW123D engines. The agreement also covers repair and overhaul of accessories, engine components, and engines powering Mesa's Embraer EMB-120 fleet.
Pacific Aerospace&Electronics Inc., Wenatchee, Wash., said it completed the acquisition of the assets and business of Balo Precision Parts. Balo, based in Butler, N.J., designs and makes hermetic enclosures and modules for the military and aerospace industries.
Northrop Grumman and GEC-Marconi Avionics Ltd., Middlesex, England, signed a strategic alliance agreement to jointly pursue potential airborne infrared countermeasures business opportunities based on the new AN/AAQ- 24(V) Directed Infrared Countermeasures Systems (DIRCM), Northrop Grumman announced. The two companies are developing the system under a contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. Testing and production for the MOD is underway, with testing for the USAF scheduled to begin soon.
Boeing, Hexcel Corp., Sime Darby Berhad and Malaysia Helicopter Services (MHS) will form a joint venture to make composite commercial aircraft parts in Malaysia. Financial terms were not disclosed, and discussions related to contractual terms are expected to be completed over the next several months. The joint venture, Asian Composite Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd., will make composite parts for secondary structures for commercial aircraft. The parts will go to Hexcel's Kent, Wash., facility for final assembly and shipment to Boeing and other customers.
Wexford Management ordered 20 firm Embraer RJ-135 jets powered by Allison Engine Co. AE3007A3 turbofans and took options on 20 more, in business potentially worth more than $160 million to the Indianapolis, Ind.-based unit of Rolls-Royce. Launched last fall, the 37-passenger regional jet is expected to make its first flight in the second half of this year, and Embraer hopes to sell some 500 of the aircraft during the next decade.
A "working party" set up to negotiate details of a private commercial spinoff from the Intelsat telecommunications consortium has proposed a six- satellite constellation for the new entity, with up to 17% of its equity available to individual shareholders.
BOEING C-32A, a slightly modified 757-200 airliner, flew for the first time Feb. 11 from Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. The plane, first of four slated to transport U.S. government officials, flew for about two hours and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle. The first two C-32As will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force this spring. The other two will follow later this year. Boeing said the value of the C-32A contracts, including procurement and contractor logistics support through 2005, is about $540 million.
The House yesterday was expected to okay the appointment of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) to the House National Security Committee. Granger would fill the seat of Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), who was killed in a skiing accident last month. Granger last week attended an HNSC hearing at which Defense Secretary William S. Cohen testified on the fiscal year 1999 defense budget request.
Lockheed Martin has delivered the aluminum liquid oxygen tank that will bear most of the takeoff weight of NASA's X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype, marking the beginning of vehicle assembly. The 5,500-pound double-lobed tank was delivered by air to a Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, Calif., where the X-33 will be built over the next 14 or 15 months (DAILY, July 3, 1997). It was shipped Tuesday from the Lockheed Martin Michoud plant in New Orleans.
Two C-17 airlifters will arrive at McChord AFB, Wash., near the end of the month, replacing two older C-141 cargo aircraft, according to Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Wash.). They will be the first of 52 C-17s to be based at McChord. Dicks, a senior member of the House Appropriations national security subcommittee, said he was notified by the Pentagon Tuesday that the two C- 17 Globemaster IIIs would replace the C-141s.
Pratt&Whitney's self-funded F100-PW-229A - a re-fanned F100 fighter engine which can produce as much as 37,150 lbst. - recently ran to Mach 2.0 in a critical altitude test at the company's Wilgoos test facility, and is expected to return to the altitude facility late this month to tune control schedules, the company's top F100 executive tells AP.
Executive of four different U.S. startup companies building commercial reusable space launch vehicles say they have enough capital in sight to build their rockets, but they worry federal agencies may not be ready to regulate routine launches and reentries at sites around the country.
Italy would get 734 Stinger Block 1 International missiles under a $110 million deal with the U.S., according to the Dept. of Defense. The proposed sale, which must be approved by Congress, will improve "the military capabilities of Italy while enhancing weapon systems standardization and interoperability," DOD said Wednesday. It said Italy, which already has Stingers, will use the new missiles to upgrade its air defense capability.
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S C-130J Hercules has begun a tour of Canada and countries in Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, South America and the Pacific Rim. The first leg goes through Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and the Middle East. The tour runs through early June. Orders for the C-130J and the longer C-130J-30 have been placed by the U.K.'s Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Italian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps.
The Boeing team competing to become lead system integrator (LSI) for the Pentagon's national missile defense (NMD) program has proposed an optional NMD site at a location other than Grand Forks, N.D., which is envisioned under the current plan.
