Party fights over the emergency supplemental bill on the Senate floor yesterday halted Senate Armed Services Committee work on the 1998 authorization bill. Several SASC subcommittees had intended to mark up their portions of the FY '98 defense spending bill, but were caught up in a broader party dispute over the supplemental package, which was vetoed by President Clinton on Monday. The only SASC subcommittee to complete its work was the airland panel.
MD EXPLORER helicopters were granted flight status Saturday. McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems told operators on May 29 not to fly them until further notice. A broken adjustable collective link was discovered on one of the helicopters. McDonnell Douglas began making replacement parts after completing the design analysis. "That decision allowed us to have the parts ready for installation on the aircraft just as soon as lab and flight tests were complete," Erv Hunter, vice president of the light helicopter division, said in a prepared statement.
ADVANCED AERODYNAMICS&STRUCTURES INC. said the State of California approved funding that will enable the company to issue industrial development bonds to build its 225,000-square-foot manufacturing and administration facility as planned at Long Beach Airport. The company intends to begin producing its Jetcruzer 500 corporate aircraft there in the second quarter of 1998.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a $91,104,000 face value increase to a firm fixed price contract to provide for one Atlas IIAS commercial space launch vehicle. The work will be performed at Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, Littleton, Colo. (55%); United Technologies Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla. (25%) and at various other locations. Contract is expected to be completed May 2000. At this time, $9,110,400 of the total contract funds have been obligated. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
A cockpit system designed to give pilots real-time information on weather conditions around the country and potentially the world will be flight tested on a United Airlines DC-10 under a contract with NASA's Langley Research Center, McDonnell Douglas said. The Cockpit Weather Information System (CWIN), developed by a consortium led by McDonnell Douglas Advanced Transport Aircraft Systems, Long Beach, Calif., will be evaluated for six months.
Georgia Tech Research Corp., Atlanta, Ga., is being awarded a $11,151,287 cost reimbursement type contract to provide for analysis and experimental investigations in support of the Electronic Warfare Techniques Analysis/Radio Frequency Countermeasures Investigation. This program seeks to exploit emerging technologies that have application to deficiencies in countermeasures and electronic support measures. The work will be performed at Georgia Tech Research Corp., Atlanta, Ga. (68%) and University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio (27%).
General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded $11,353,950 on May 30, 1997, as part of a $22,707,920 firm fixed price contract for 547 Pulse Jet Systems and Subkits (515 in support of the M1A1 Abrams Tank). Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich., and is expected to be completed by April 28, 2000. Of the total contract funds, $11,353,960 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on March 31, 1997. The contracting activity is the U.S.
A RUSSIAN PROTON-K heavy booster yesterday lifted a classified military payload toward orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, apparently paving the way for Russia's planned launch of seven U.S. Iridium low Earth orbit communications satellites on a booster with the same configuration. Liftoff came at 11:57 a.m. EDT, but no data were available on the satellite's orbit. Reportedly a new type of imaging reconnaissance platform, the satellite was expected to receive the designation Cosmos 2344.
A decision by Indonesia to cancel a planned buy of nine U.S. F-16 fighters, part of a package of 28 originally intended for Pakistan, puts the U.S. Air Force's search for a customer back to square one. Jakarta turned down the buy last week because of criticism in the U.S. of its human rights policies. Pakistan wanted the jets but Congress denied the sale because of its apparent pursuit of nuclear weapons. In return, funds from any sale would go to Islamabad in compensation for payments made when the planes were ordered.
THE PENTAGON yesterday endorsed the tri-service Outrider unmanned aerial vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration in a critical program review, allowing the program to proceed in the development of the Tactical UAV. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps agreed to remain in the program, a Pentagon official said yesterday. In a statement, the Pentagon said the program has made "considerable progress" since April and has logged four flights. Two were completed last week.
Executives of the United Space Alliance joint venture that holds the Space Flight Operations Contract (SFOC) with NASA for day-to-day Space Shuttle operations believe USA is on track to assume a larger role and free NASA employees for activities aimed at space exploration beyond Earth orbit.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing to upgrade its fleet of 126 C-5 airlifters, replacing the flight control system and adding equipment for Global Air Traffic Management. Although flight controls and GATM are considered separate efforts, the Air Force says in a June 4 Commerce Business Daily notice that they may be common enough to be treated as a single acquisition. "Total subsystem performance and integration will be a critical aspect of this acquisition," the AF says.
The four partners of Airbus industrie have agreed on a broad outline of reorganization, according to Aerospatiale Chairman Yves Michot, but a spokesman for German partner was less definitive. The new company, to be set up by 1999, will have none of the partners' assets, but will have "a management mandate" over them, Michot said. Michot compared the future Airbus to trans-national British-Dutch companies Unilever and Royal Dutch Shell which, he said, "rely on national aggregates."
Texas Instruments Defense Systems Group and Lockheed Martin signed an agreement under which TI will assist with the development, production and support of the Integrated Core Processor for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), Lockheed Martin said. The agreement will remain in effect after the planned sale of TI's Defense Systems and Electronics Group to Raytheon Co.
Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, who was in line to succeed Gen. John Shalikashvili as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked Defense Secretary William Cohen to remove his name from consideration. He will continue to serve as vice chairman. Ralston was forced to make the move after revelation last week of an adulterous affair he had 13 years ago.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House National Security procurement subcommittee, has given the strongest signal to date that he will oppose changing present law to permit a U.S. Navy-backed teaming arrangement between General Dynamics' Electric Boat and Tenneco's Newport News Shipbuilding on the New Attack Submarine (NSSN) program. Hunter's decision, if upheld in the subcommittee and the full committee, would mean that at the very least the issue couldn't be settled until the conference on the fiscal 1998 defense authorization.
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, Huntington Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $45,000,000 modification to an undefinitized contractual action (will be a firm fixed price definitization contract) for 16 Mast-mounted Sight Systems to support the Lot XIV production contract for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior aircraft. Work will be performed in Monrovia, Calif., and is expected to be completed by July 31, 1999. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on June 28, 1996. The contracting activity is the U.S.
About 200 companies, nearly half of them foreign, have booked all available exhibit and flight line space at this year's Moscow Air Show, scheduled Aug. 18-24 at Zhukovsky near the Russian capital, Itar-Tass reported. U.S. participants include Boeing Co., which collaborated with Tupolev on evaluations using the Tu-144 supersonic transport aircraft as a testbed, and Pratt&Whitney and Collins, principal U.S. associates of Ilyushin in the Il-96M/T project. More than 100 aircraft will be on display at the show.
Stewart and Stevenson Services Inc., Sealy, Texas, is being awarded a $7,000,000 modification to a fixed price with economic price adjustments contract for engineering change proposals to redesign the M1079 Light Medium Tactical Vehicle Van. Work will be performed in Sealy, Tex., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 1998. Of the total contract funds, $7,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were three bids solicited on Sept. 20, 1990, and three bids were received. The contracting activity is the U.S.
EUROCOPTER consortium and Intertechnique of France, unsuccessful last week in their attempt to fly a single-engine light helicopter across the Atlantic, said they intend to try again. The flight of an Ecureuil ended after 2,800 kilometers, following the third of five planned inflight refuelings, when an auxiliary fuel tank developed a leak. The aircraft returned to and landed safely on the tug Picardie, over which it had refueled. The leak was caused by an auxiliary tank soldering problem that couldn't be repaired safely aboard the tug.
McDonnell Douglas has been awarded a $1.3 billion contract for full funding of fiscal 1997 low rate initial production of the U.S. Navy's F/A- 18E/F Super Hornet, the Pentagon said. The money will buy eight single-seat F/A-18Es and four two-seat F/A-18Fs.
Lockheed Martin is beginning a final series of tests to prepare the F- 22 fighter for its first flight within the next few weeks. The flight will take place at Marietta, Ga. Two days of auxiliary power unit testing were to begin Saturday but were delayed because of weather. The tests should be completed early this week, and will be followed by six days of engine runs.
General Dynamics Defense Systems, Pittsfield Mass., is being awarded a $17,611,246 fixed-price contract for production of the Guided Missile Director Mark 82, Mod 0 with Director Control Mark 200, Mod 0 for DDGs 85, 86, 87, and 88 and for Spanish F-100 class ships F-101, F-102, F-103, and F-104. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (54%), and the Government of Spain (46%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $29,323,058.
