A lightweight satellite designed to sense the electromagnetic pulse of the sort of low-yield explosion a nuclear club newcomer might develop will also test a unique composite bus structure that largely avoids the expensive custom layup used in past composite satellite structures.
Orbital Sciences Corp. engineers are working to correct a malfunction in a second on-orbit Orcomm satellite. Orbital engineers detected a problem during the past weekend with the satellite's subscriber communications subsystem, the company said yesterday. The subsystem is responsible for communicating with ground terminals that will be used by Orbcomm subscribers to send two-way messages via the satellites (DAILY, July 1, 1994, page 7).
The German Air Force today is slated to take delivery of a newly modified aircraft for use under the Open Skies agreement. The German defense ministry said Tuesday that plane, a Tupolev Tu-154M transport inherited from the former East Germany, has been fitted with imagery systems and is slated to get three more sensors under an additional upgrade: -- An infrared scanner, for which the contractor has not yet been selected.
SLC-6, the multi-billion dollar facility at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., that has never been used, is preparing for its first launch. Lockheed Martin last week delivered a launch control van, payload fairing, and other components to SLC-6 for its first Lockheed Launch Vehicle (LLV) flight. LLV's debut test flight is expected in late-spring or summer, when it is scheduled to place the 300-pound GEMStar communications satellite in a 360 nautical mile polar orbit. SLC-6 was originally built for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program that was terminated by President Nixon.
MARYLAND'S General Assembly has adjourned for the year without passing a proposed tax on video programming, including direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services, the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association reports. A similar bill in Virginia passed but was amended to exempt satellite-based services. Similar legislation is still pending in Pennsylvania and Florida.
NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND plans to conduct a competition for production of the Advanced Tomahawk Weapon Control System (ATWCS). Plans call for release of a draft RFP in October, the formal RFP in March 1996, contract award in October 1996, and first deliveries in October 1997, NavAir said in an April 6 Commerce Business Daily notice. Planned quantities, it said, are 27 Phase 1 Track Control Group kits, 16 Phase 2 Launch Control Group kits, 9 Phase 1 LCG/TCG suites, and 5 submarine ATWCS kits.
VITRO CORP., Rockville, Md., will provide engineering services too the U.S. Navy for surface ship sonar and combat systems under a $9.2 million contract from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment, New London, Conn. The company, a subisiary of Tracor Inc., said its services will include analysis, test and evaluation, and fabrication for systems aboard FFG-, DD- and DDG-class ships.
NAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND said it is solicting designs and concepts for a Towed Active Receiver Subsystem (TARS) "to demonstrate bistatic mid-frequency performance in reverberation limited environments." NavSea said in a two-part "broad agency announcement" in the March 23 issue of Commerce Business Daily that the effort "includes relevant research, analysis&design, towed array and associated modules, any enabling technologies to miniaturize components, integration, and test&evaluation support."
MARTIN MARIETTA, Government Electronic Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corp., received a $73.5 million U.S. Navy contract for Aegis Combat System (ACS) baseline upgrade and critical experiment development. The sole source contract was awarded April 12 by U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command.
Aerospace restructuring charges turned first quarter net earnings into a net loss at Sundstrand Corp., but Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Don O'Hare predicted "accelerated recovery in commercial aerospace sales" and increased the company's forecast of full-year earnings. O'Hare said Sundstrand still thinks its 1995 aerospace operating profit margin will be about 13% on flat sales, but "we anticipate that our operating margins will improve in 1996 and then return to historical levels as the benefits from the current restructuring take effect."
Six of the ten Republican freshmen on the House National Security Committee won by less than 55% in a good Republican year and thus will probably face strong Democratic challenges next year.
The U.S. Army's Phoenix battle command mission support system is an example of the success of the Advanced Concepts and Technology II (ACT II) program and the use of inputs from Battle Labs in speeding up acquisition, Col. William Hubbard, Battle Lab Integration, Technology and Concepts director said Monday.
Sens. Dirk Kempthorne (R-Idaho), Hank Brown (R-Colo.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) are cosponsoring an amendment that would create a defense export loan guarantee program. Lieberman says the program would level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers once an export license has been approved, noting that American companies must compete against European and Canadian companies that benefit from government support, including subsidies in some cases.
DEFENSE NUCLEAR AGENCY is soliciting industry for studies to identify alternative methodologies for elimination of Ukrainian SS-24 ICBMs, with emphasis on the disposition of the missiles' solid rocket motors and propellants. DNA made its announcement in an April 18 Commerce Business Daily notice.
COMPTEK FEDERAL SYSTEMS INC., Buffalo, N.Y., will provide software development support services to ensure the operational readiness of fleet, shore, and other electronic defense systems used by the U.S. Navy. The company, a subsidiary of Comptek Research Inc., will carry out the work under an $11.9 million contract from Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, ISE East Coast Detachment (NISE East), Norfolk, Va. Comptek said the base year of the contract begins April 15, 1995, and is valued at up to $2.3 million.
The U.S. Navy is gearing up for another test of commercial satellite use to meet the fleet's bandwidth requirements. The service plans to select a commercial bandwidth supplier or multiple suppliers later this year. PanAmSat, Intelsat and TDRSS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System) are possible C-band providers for the Challenge Athena III exercise slated to take place in the Indian and Pacific Oceans next spring, a Navy official told The DAILY.
The Boeing 777 transport is scheduled to receive joint U.S.-European certification in a ceremony Wednesday at Boeing Field in Seattle. The ceremony will take place in the B-52 hangar at 9 a.m. Boeing last week completed final certification tests on the No. 2 777, and said the aircraft was on track to attain joint certification from the FAA and Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities.
The U.S. Air Force intends to stick with its plan to keep 95 B-1B, 66 B-52H, and 20 B-2 bombers in the inventory through 2014-provided that a soon-to-be-released heavy bomber force study doesn't come up with something the service has overlooked, according to a top Air Force acquisition official.
Rockwell International said its net income for the fiscal 1995 second quarter increased to $191.4 million from $154.7 million for the same 1994 period. Earnings per share were up 26%, from 70 cents to 88 cents. Sales for the second quarter hit $3.4 billion, 21% higher than the $2.8 billion of 1994's second quarter. "The increase is about equally attributable to the inclusion of the recently acquired Reliance Electric and to growth in the company's other commercial businesses," Rockwell said.
