The Defense Department has given a qualified endorsement to two House-passed provisions aimed at giving DOD more flexibility in managing acquisition programs. Both proposals are in the House version of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill.
COAST GUARD WIN: General Dynamics Decision Systems won a $611 million U.S. Coast Guard contract to modernize the 30-year-old National Distress System, the company said Sept. 24. The Coast Guard wants to modernize its radio program to improve its ability to hear distress calls. The system is to be in place across the U.S. by Sept. 30, 2006.
Helicopters don't necessarily have higher Class A mishap rates than fixed-wing aircraft, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Class A mishaps are those in which property damage is at least $1 million, an aircraft is destroyed or an injury results in death or permanent total disability, according to the "Military Aviation Safety" report. While Air Force helicopters have higher accident rates than fixed-wing aircraft, Marine Corps helicopters have lower rates, the report said.
LONDON - Kuwait will install BAE Systems' helicopter integrated defensive aids system (HIDAS) on 16 new Boeing MDH AH-64D Longbow Apaches it ordered for its air force under a $2.1 billion foreign military sales purchase.
The Senate has approved the appointment of Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Keys as deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at Air Force headquarters. In other Senate action Sept. 18, Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Green received approval to become vice admiral and deputy chief of naval operations for plans, policy and operations. Air Force Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz was cleared to become director of operations for the Joint Staff.
The Boeing Co. has signed an agreement with FlightSafety International (FSI) to buy all of FSI's interest in FlightSafety Boeing Training International (FSTBI), the joint venture the two companies formed in 1997. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. FSBTI has 800 employees in 21 locations, 70 full-flight simulators, and "numerous" fixed-base and maintenance training simulators, Boeing said Sept. 23. Boeing will call the new company Boeing Training International, and its headquarters will remain in Seattle.
A shortage in the number of full-scale aerial targets will prompt weapon evaluators to maximize the use of each target, according to an Air Force Air Combat Command officer. Maj. Bert Dreher, program manager the Weapon System Evaluation Program (WSEP) at ACC, said only full-scale drones are capable of flying some of the profiles his command needs to collect data on weapon systems effectiveness.
AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORP. of Manassas, Va., had a successful high-altitude first flight of its MarsFlyer, a half-scale prototype of a NASA aircraft that could one day fly on Mars. Aurora is part of an industry, academia and national laboratories team working to prepare robotic aircraft technology for scientific use on Mars. In its flight along the Oregon coast, the MarsFlyer was boosted to an altitude of almost 19 miles by a balloon, then detached, deployed its folded wings and tail, and completed a 90-minute, preprogrammed flight path.
The Department of Defense faces "substantial planning and acquisition challenges" in its efforts to strengthen the management and organization of its space activities, including its space surveillance network, Global Positioning System satellites and space systems controls, the General Accounting Office said in a new report. DOD is developing a space control strategy to outline objectives, tasks and capabilities for the next two decades, the GAO said. That strategy could be completed next year, although GAO said it may not be finished until 2003.
The director of the Defense Department's office for Operational Test and Evaluation said the Navy is deploying combat systems that have not performed well in testing. In an Aug. 1 letter to Navy Secretary Gordon England, Thomas Christie said he is "concerned about an apparent trend by the Navy to deploy an increasing number of combat systems in harm's way that have not demonstrated acceptable performance during adequate operational test."
After a grounding earlier this summer, the X-31A thrust-vectoring aircraft program has resumed test flights at Patuxent River, Md., and now has certified the highly precise positioning system that eventually will allow the X-31A to perform extremely short takeoff and landing (ESTOL) maneuvers.
Aviation Week's Aerospace Expo Conference & Exposition will be held Oct. 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Calif., to bring together aerospace executives and exhibitors to discuss the future of the aerospace industry.
The Commerce Department is incorrectly approving some items for export without referring them to the State and Defense departments for review, according to a General Accounting Office report released last week. The report, which examined 12,457 commodity classification requests from companies during fiscal years 1998 through 2001, found that the Commerce Department referred only 40 cases to the State and Defense departments for review.
Rockwell Collins will develop advanced color flat-panel displays for Canadian Forces and Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18s, the company said Sept. 23. The work will be done under a $16 million contract from Northrop Grumman Canada. The company will modify 71 Australian and 80 Canadian F/A-18s, and offer the new displays to other F/A-18 users, Rockwell Collins said.
COWLINGS: CPI Aerostructures Inc. of Edgewood, N.Y., will provide the U.S. government with 14 engine nose cowling assemblies for E-3A airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft, the company said Sept. 23. The work is being done under a $2 million contract.
With union labor back to work at Boeing's suburban Philadelphia rotorcraft plant, the military programs at the site should suffer no lasting delays, according to the company. The United Aerospace Workers (UAW) Local 1069 walked out of the plant Sept. 14 as a result of an unresolved dispute over health benefits and job classification and seniority rules, marking the beginning of the first strike at the site in 28 years. The strike was resolved after a five-hour negotiation Sept. 21, and UAW workers re-entered the plant the next day.
NEW DELHI - The prototype of Pakistan's indigenous light aircraft, the Super-7, will begin trial operations in June 2003, a senior diplomat with the Pakistan High Commission here told The DAILY. The prototypes will be flown in China by Pakistani pilots, the diplomat said. He said half of the aircraft's parts will be built in Pakistan.
Credit analysts with Standard & Poor's lowered the local and foreign currency corporate credit ratings for Mexican satellite operator Satelites Mexicanos S.A. (Satmex) on Sept. 23, citing concerns about the company's high debt levels and declining revenue. Analysts lowered the company's corporate credit rating from "B" to "CCC+." The rating outlook is negative.
MOSCOW - The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Eurockot Launch Service's Rockot vehicle to orbit its CryoSat research satellite. The launch is slated to occur from Plesetsk in June 2004, said the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia, one of Eurockot's parent companies. CryoSat is designed to monitor ice sheets and climate variability over the Earth's polar regions. The 70 million euro ($69 million) satellite will be the first launch in ESA's Living Planet program, established in 1998.
The Defense Department is warning that a Senate-passed $100 million cut in the Air Force budget request for the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) would delay the program by up to 18 months and increase the chances of a gap in the nation's missile launch warning capability.
