Israel Aircraft Industries' Heron unmanned aerial vehicle reached a system best altitude of 32,000 feet during a Feb. 20 test flight. IAI said the flight took place at an undisclosed site in northern- central Israel that it shares with the Israeli Defense Forces. Heron will eventually operate above 35,000 feet and fly for 35-45 hours, IAI said. It also said the UAV's weight was 2,400 pounds and that it could carry a payload of 1,100 pounds.
Michael Blair was appointed vice president, sales and marketing. Previously, Blair was vice president of sales and business development for Comstream Corp.
A draft NASA reorganization plan prepared by a small "red team" of senior agency managers sees Kennedy Space Center as a government-owned, contractor-operated facility in sole charge of the Space Shuttle program, with the private sector taking over the operation of large chunks of other agency assets around the country as well.
W. Glenn Yarborough was elected corporate vice president of Allied Research. Previously, Yarborough was director of marketing of Grumman's Electronic Systems Division.
Pratt&Whitney has started making parts for the first two production- standard versions of the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter's F119 turbofan, and should have parts ready for assembly in about a year, P&W reported yesterday. P&W's manufacturing facility in East Hartford, Conn., cut the first chips on F119 parts on Jan. 31, but parts are also being made at Pratt plants in Florida, Georgia and Maine, as well as at supplier facilities scattered over 33 states.
Here are the roles and missions suggested for NASA field centers in a senior-level white paper on agency restructuring: -- Ames Research Center: High productivity aerodynamic testing, simulation, computation simulation, information systems technology, rotorcraft, aviation human factors. Shut down space programs, Crow's Landing; transfer centrifuge to Johnson Space Center, all aircraft to Dryden, Moffett Field operations elsewhere.
C.L. (Neil) Hensel, formerly vice president and general manager, Perkin Elmer Corp., Danbury, Conn. operations, has been appointed senior vice president of the corporation and president and general manager of the Titan Systems (East) group.
Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Group chief Ken Cannestra, poised to become President of the Aeronautics Sector created by the planned Lockheed- Martin Marietta merger, will instead step down when the deal closes next month, Lockheed reported yesterday.
BELL-BOEING Joint Program Office yesterday was awarded an additional $375 million for continued engineering and manufacturing development of the V-22 aircraft. The contract was awarded by U.S. Naval Air Systems Command.
Kennedy Space Center managers have decided to take an engineering support contract for the center's Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance Directorate in-house to save money, KSC Director Jay Honeycutt announced Friday. More than 60 workers at Hernandez Engineering Inc. and Analex Space Systems Inc. will be affected by the decision, according to a KSC spokesman, who said the hazard-analysis and other safety work involved will be done by NASA engineers.
Congress should add fiscal 1996 funds for electronic warfare to the defense budget request, said Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), contending that the Air Force and the Navy are "quietly scrapping" electronic warfare tactical aviation squadrons that played a decisive role in achieving air superiority in the Persian Gulf War.
B-2 BOMBERS of the 509th Bomb Wing flew eight sorties in the Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev., dropping inert and live MK-84 munitions in an effort Air Force officials terms "extremely successful." Meanwhile, the Whiteman AFB, Mo.-based B-2 wing took delivery of its sixth operational bomber, with two more to be delivered this year.
Plans that were firm in September to form a military division of Airbus to build Europe's Future Large Airlifter are now, five months later, vague and ill-formed, Airbus chief Jean Pierson told reporters in Paris this week. "The situation is not clear at all," Pierson said. "We don't have a consensus." The Airbus partners-British Aerospace, Aerospatiale, CASA of Spain, and Germany's Daimler-and Italy's Alenia can't agree among themselves on what role Airbus should play in running the program, he said, in remarks later confirmed by The DAILY.
A statement of intent for the joint development and production of the international, multi-billion dollar Medium Extended Air-Defense System (MEADS) was signed Monday in Bonn, Germany, by John Deutch, deputy secretary of defense. The agreement calls for the U.S. to be responsible for 50% of program cost and work share. The European participants-France, Germany and Italy- will be responsible for the other half. France has 20%, Germany 20%, and Italy 10%.
Clinton Administration moves to formalize its defense export policy-in the works for more than a year but nonetheless hastily publicized late Friday-brought applause from aerospace industry executives yesterday, pleased with the first-ever strong official backing for export sales. "It's the most positive statement on defense trade that has been enunciated by any administration," said Joel Johnson, VP in charge of international issues at the Aerospace Industries Association. "It leans forward more in the saddle than anything under Reagan/Bush."
Air New Zealand grounded most of its hushkitted Boeing 737-200s because of repeated failures of overhauled Pratt&Whitney JT8D turbine blades, and the planes won't fly again until new blades arrive for the engine fleet, an ANZ spokesman confirmed Friday.
The U.S. Air Force is reviewing its mix of active, National Guard and reserve forces and probably will have to "rebalance" some of its missions to be better prepared for the post-Cold War environment, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman.
February 13, 1995 Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed Fort Worth Company, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,929,421 (Estimated) face value increase to a firm-fixed- price contract for 17 Microwave Measurement Units applicable to the F-16 aircraft. Contract is expected to be completed July 1996. Contract funds of $6,929,421 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42600-89-C-0832, PM0376).
