NASA said that Joseph H. Rothenberg has been selected as the new deputy director of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Rothenberg was associate director of flight projects for the Hubble Space Telescope at Goddard from 1990 to 1994. He left Goddard in February 1994 to become executive vice president of Computer Technology Associates, Inc.'s Space Systems Div. in Lanham, Md. The appointment is effective April 24.
Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Wash.) tells a House National Security subcommittee hearing on the B-2 bomber that when he asked Boeing what a "B- 3" might look like, he got this response: It would have long range, like the B-2; enough munitions, like the B-2; and stealth, like the B-2. Boeing's advice, Dicks continued, was to stay with the B-2 and buy enough to allow a high sortie rate.
TWO ORBCOMM SATELLITES launched April 3 by Orbital Sciences Corp. are in good condition, but one has developed a problem with its uplink receiver that prevents it from receiving standard commands from ground controllers. Orbital is "optimistic" the problem can be resolved. The satellites are the first in the Orbcomm constellation, which will offer two-way message communications around the globe via hand-held receivers. Orbital plans to build and orbit another 24 Orbcomms by early 1997 to complete the constellation.
A request for proposals to replace the AH-64D Longbow Apache's monochrome displays with color displays is about to be released. The new displays will give the helicopter a digital map capability, enhance its radar picture of the battlefield, and provide a more detailed terrain profile.
Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee has only one hearing to go to wrap up its fiscal 1996 intelligence authorization bill. Chairman Larry Combest (R-Tex.) wants to finish up in time to begin public hearings around late May on his intelligence study, known as IC21 (DAILY, Feb. 24, page 290). Combest has reportedly already lined up five former directors of central intelligence to testify during his study, which is expected to be completed by March 1996.
GEN. DENNIS REIMER, commanding general of the Army's Forces Command, has been named to succeed Gen. Gordon Sullivan as the chief of staff of the Army, the Pentagon said Friday. Before becoming head of the Army's largest major command, Reimer served as vice chief of staff, deputy chief of staff for operations and plans, and commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized). Sullivan is expected to retire in June.
The U.S. Air Force has agreed to test a Rockwell-proposed precision weapon which would provide a capability for the B-1B bomber until the Joint Direct Attack Munition comes on line, according to Brig. Gen. James Richards III, acquisition director for training, airlift and long-range power projection.
The Joint Primary Aircraft Training System, or JPATS, contest is back on track with a trainer selection scheduled for June, says U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. James Richards III, acquisition director for training, airlift and long-range power projection. "The program is now moving along and we don't see any other speed bumps along the way, so we think we're back on track," Richards tells The DAILY. He won't commit to a contract award date, saying the Defense Acquisition Board will have to bless the chosen aircraft first.
The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing for Director of Central Intelligence nominee John Deutch on April 26, two days after it returns from the Easter recess. The FBI's background check of Deutch has apparently revealed no surprises that could hold up his confirmation. "I think this is going to be a pretty easy confirmation," says a Senate source.
By June, Lockheed probably will be done evaluating the effectiveness of the F-117 and what improvements could be gained through new technologies, the AF official says. The sweeping review includes a look at "all things possible," including a synthetic aperture radar and all-weather weapons like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW). So far, however, the AF isn't biting on Lockheed's offer to go all out and develop a B model.
The price NATO countries would pay for Joint STARS aircraft has yet to be determined, Northrop Grumman CEO Kent Kresa tells a McGraw-Hill Aviation Week finance conference in Arlington, Va. The price will vary depending on whether allies are willing to buy the plane off the U.S. production line or want to be involved in producing their own. "Clearly," says Kresa, "there will be many options."
NASA'S Lewis Research Center has successfully tested a complete solar dynamic power system that may one day have applications in space stations, communications, Earth-observing satellites and electric propulsion. The fully integrated solar dynamic power system produced the designated 2kWe of power during the test in Lewis' space simulation vacuum chamber in Cleveland.
Integration incompatibilities between Lockheed's Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile and launcher are the most recent reason the Army has delayed starting the weapon system's flight test, said Bill Evers, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's deputy director.
The mission capable rate of the F-117 stealth fighter should be at its 80% goal by next year, a U.S. Air Force official tells The DAILY. The aircraft's readiness rating fell from 84% during Desert Storm to as low as 51% in November 1993, partly because of a move from Tonopah, Nev., to Holloman AFB, N.M.. In the first five months of fiscal 1995, the F-117's mission capable rate was 73%.
SPACE IMAGING INC. has made it official: it's moving its headquarters from Sunnyvale, Calif. to suburban Denver. The Lockheed Martin-led remote sensing venture said it has already moved 10 employees to Thornton, Colo., and will begin moving the other 30 by the end of May. The company said it received economic incentives for the move. Space Imaging expects employment at the new headquarters will grow to 70 by the end of the year and several hundred over the next decade.
NASA has awarded a $14 million contract to EER Systems Corp. for a mission that will use components originally developed for the Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) project. Under the contract, NASA will fill about half the payload space on a single commercial mission that is scheduled for launch in July on EER's Conestoga rocket from Wallops Island, Va. EER has sold most of the other half to commercial customers, Jack Levine, director of the flight integration office at NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology, said in an interview Friday.
Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co. will decide by mid-fall whether to cut 400 pounds out of the F-22 next-generation strike fighter, an industry official told The DAILY. The decision will depend in part on how much it would cost to make the necessary modifications to the aircraft, the source said. Program officials maintain that the aircraft has no weight objective, only performance and operational effectiveness specifications that so far the plane is meeting 100%.
The Pentagon's top acquisition reform priority is reducing the number of bid protests, Colleen Preston, deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition reform, tells a Senate panel. Currently, protests are reviewed with "virtually no limits," she says, often creating costly delays. Reform legislation proposed by the Clinton Administration would authorize the General Accounting Office to recommend an award of costs to the government when a contractor files a frivolous protest (DAILY, March 2, page 323).
International sales of the Joint STARS are likely to exceed those of AWACS, Kresa says. The Northrop Grumman plane enjoys the same kind of support in Europe as Boeing's AWACS, and there's more backing for it there than there was for the Boeing product at a comparable point in its development.
A LOCKHEED LAUNCH VEHICLE-1 (LLV-1) has been selected to launch NASA's Clark remote sensing satellite in 1996 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Clark will be the second spacecraft built by CTA Inc., Rockville, Md., that is planned for launch on the LLV. The other is the GEMStar communications satellite, planned for LLV's debut launch, expected this summer.
WORLDSPACE CORP., the Washington-based global digital audio broadcasting consortium, has reached a consensus on the use of a new technical standard known as "Layer 3" for satellite-to-portable radio digital broadcasting. The new standard will allow a range of audio signals with up to CD-quality to be received via satellite by a new generation of WorldSpace portable radios called StarMan. WorldSpace has been licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate the world's first direct satellite-to-radio broadcasting system and plans to begin service in 1998.
The U.S. Air Force is "very hopeful" that it's on the verge of releasing the C-17 Globemaster III to Army testers to finish evaluating paratrooper drops from the airlifter, Richards says. "We think we are on track to a solution...and we're very hopeful it's not going to be a solution that requires any modifications to the airplane," he says. The likely fix will be to alter flap settings and deck angles, he explains.
Although Northrop Grumman has debt from the Grumman acquisition last year, it's not out of the acquisition game and will keep its eye out for possibilities as the industry consolidates, Kresa says. "I would not say we are aggressively out there looking for an acquisition," but the outstanding debt alone wouldn't inhibit a buy if the opportunity presented itself.
SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA has delivered Italy's first digital video compression system. It's being used by Fiat to send marketing and sales training information via satellite to its 1,200 Italian Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia dealers. The system compresses signals to allow several times more information to be sent than standard analog transmissions.
The Dutch cabinet on Friday selected McDonnell Douglas' AH-64D Longbow Apache as the Royal Netherlands Air Force's new attack helicopter following months of debate, clearing the way for a parliamentary vote on the choice in a few weeks. Parliament will take up the decision after the Easter recess, and diplomatic sources in Washington told The DAILY that the buy would probably be approved easily.
