Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) urged his Senate colleagues Dec. 7 to remove a provision in the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill that would allow the Air Force to lease 100 Boeing 767s to begin to replace its aging KC-135 tankers.
ON TARGET: The seventh Integrated Flight Test (IFT) of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment, formerly known as the National Missile Defense program, was even "more precise" than the previous test conducted in July, according to the Boeing Co.'s executive vice president and general manager for missile defense systems, James Evatt. Boeing is the prime systems integrator for the U.S. missile defense program. "All of the objectives were met on the test," says Evatt, who spoke at the same Space and Missile Defense Symposium. IFT 7, conducted Dec.
C-20 SET-ASIDE: The U.S. Air Force has agreed to pick a small company to handle a multi-million dollar maintenance and support contract for its C-20 airlift fleet, according to Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.), ranking Republican on the Senate Small Business Committee. The contract will have a one-year base period and annual options to renew for up to nine years. The exact dollar value of the contract will not be known until bids are received. Bond has been pushing for small businesses to get more defense contracts to shore up the nation's industrial base.
Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.) plans to offer an amendment to the fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill that could give ammunition to those who argue the Boeing Co. should get a share of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter work. Bond's proposal would fund a study of how national security will be affected if the U.S. is left with only one company that can make fighter aircraft, a spokesman for the senator told The DAILY Dec. 6.
Procurement of the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) will be the equivalent of the Army's post-Vietnam push to modernize its forces with the "The Big Five" procurement programs, according to Lt. Gen. Johnny M. Riggs, director of the Army's Objective Force Task Force and commander of the First U.S. Army.
Aerospace and defense analysts with Standard&Poor's assigned an "A" rating Dec. 5 to $1 billion of bond notes issued by a BAE Systems Holdings Inc., a North American holding company of BAE Systems. The notes, which are due in 2011, are guaranteed by BAE Systems. Analysts also affirmed the "A" corporate credit rating for BAE Systems and the "A-1" rating for short-term commercial paper in a Dec. 5 report. The company's ratings outlook remains negative.
Raytheon Co. will develop the laser radar (LADAR) technology base for the next generation of missile defense interceptors under a $38.6 million Army contract. Under the Army's Advanced Discriminating LADAR Technology program, the company is developing a Doppler imaging LADAR sensor to enhance the ability of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment's kill vehicle to find its target. Work on the program will be done by the company's Missile Systems unit in Tucson, Ariz.
A desperate shortage of Royal Navy Sea Harrier fast-jet pilots has prompted a new aircrew recruiting scheme announced December 6 by United Kingdom Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram. People between the ages of 16 and 23 can now apply through Armed Forces Careers Offices for a Special Flying Award, involving 12 hours free flying instruction in a two-week summer course at Plymouth City Airport, in Devonshire.
A space station that can support only a three-person crew is unacceptable, representatives of the major international partners in the International Space Station (ISS) said at a meeting at NASA headquarters in Washington Dec. 6. The ISS Management and Cost Evaluation (IMCE) task force report recommended staff cuts and fewer shuttle trips as a way to get the ISS to "U.S. core complete" by 2006 within the constraints of the Bush Administration's budget blueprint for NASA.
A key senator has endorsed a provision in the Senate's fiscal 2002 defense appropriations bill that would allow the Air Force to lease 100 Boeing 767-derivatives for 10 years to replace its aging KC-135E aerial refuelers. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told The DAILY late Dec. 4 that his concerns about the leasing plan's budget impact have been satisfied and that he is "very supportive" of the language in the bill. "I think we've removed every objection," Conrad said.
While military investment in aeronautical propulsion remains strong, if current trends continue the U.S. is likely to lose its edge in commercial aeronautical propulsion within a generation, according to Jimmy Reed, Pratt&Whitney's manager of advanced military engine programs. "In the next 25 years, we believe that, given no other outside influence, the U.S. will lose its commercial propulsion leadership to an emerging and very strong E.U. [European Union] initiative," Reed said, speaking at an aeronautics symposium in Washington, D.C. Dec. 5.
DUNLOP RATINGS: Aerospace and defense analysts with Standard&Poor's removed United Kingdom-based Dunlop Standard Aerospace Holdings from CreditWatch Dec. 5 and affirmed its "B+" corporate credit rating and "B-" subordinated debt rating. The ratings outlook for the company remains negative. Analysts said the ratings and negative outlook reflect the deterioration of intermediate-term business prospects in the commercial aerospace sector following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
SUPPORT WORK: ITT Industries Inc. will provide site operations, maintenance and other support functions to the U.S. Army Space Command's Defense Satellite Communications System under a five-year, $125 million contract. The company will provide support at locations in the U.S., Germany and Japan.
Terminals located on two European satellites accomplished the first transmission of an image by laser link from one satellite to another, the European Space Agency announced Dec. 6. The system, called SILEX, consists of a terminal on the Artemis satellite and one on the SPOT 4 satellite. The system was designed by ESA, the French space agency CNES and the manufacturer Astrium. 50 megabits per second
KATHIE L. OLSEN will be nominated to be associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House announced Dec. 5. Olsen has been chief scientist at NASA since May 1999, and acting associate administrator for the Office of Biological and Physical Research since July 2000. She worked at the National Science Foundation from 1984 to 1996 and then returned in 1997.
The Blue Team of Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. said Dec. 6 it fully supports the Navy's new requirements for DD(X) destroyer program, despite the technological challenges involved with designing a family of next-generations ships.
The Space Situational Awareness Integration Office (SSAIO), due to be established before March 1, faces some significant hurdles but "we need this and we're going to figure out how to do it," said the Air Force officer assigned to carry out the task, Lt. Col. Thomas Simpson.
Konstantin Lushakov, the executive director of Antonov Airlines, said NASA is considering using an An-225 Mria aircraft for launching spacecraft. Lushakov told the ITAR-TASS news agency that NASA is considering providing $200 million or more to complete the manufacture of a second An-225 aircraft, which can carry 250 tons. Construction of that aircraft has been halted since 1991.
The U.S. has agreed to resume supplying India with military hardware that was blocked after the country's 1998 atomic bomb tests, according to Indian government statements and news reports. The Bush Administration agreed to lift a number of key restrictions against India and Pakistan in September, a move considered a thank-you for their support of the U.S. after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (DAILY, Sept. 25).
Raytheon Aircraft's T-6A Texan II trainer has been approved for full-rate production by the Air Force for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS), the company announced Dec. 5. Darleen Druyun, the Air Force principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and management, signed an Acquisition Decision Memorandum for JPATS, which includes simulators, training devices and computer management systems, on Dec. 3. The memorandum authorizes the service to buy additional T-6As beyond the 168 aircraft it has already ordered from Raytheon.
Industry can provide the products and services needed to revamp the nation's "primitive" homeland security technology, the U.S. Defense Department's interim point man on homeland security said in an interview Dec. 12 in his Pentagon office. "I think there's an enormous opportunity here for the infusion of technology, which will make us far more efficient and less labor-intensive in how we accomplish some of these things," said Thomas E. White, the Secretary of the Army. "Effective baggage scanners, for example.
By dipping dramatically into the atmospheres of Venus and Mars en route, a future mission to Pluto could reduce its nominal travel time of 12-15 years down to 5-7, according to Richard Powell of NASA Langley Research Center. During this maneuver, known as aero-gravity assist, a vehicle approaching a planet on a hyperbolic trajectory uses atmospheric drag and propulsion to obtain a greater turning angle, enhancing the "sling-shot effect" that propels the spacecraft on to its destination.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Claude M. Bolton Jr., nominated to be assistant secretary of the Army for acqusition, logistics and technology, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Bolton testified Dec. 4 [DAILY, Dec.
South African Internet tycoon Mark Shuttleworth has signed a contract with Russia for a seat aboard a Soyuz that will launch in April to the International Space Station - a flight that would make him the world's second tourist in space. Shuttleworth, 28, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, signed the agreement with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency Dec. 3 in order to secure a seat on the three-member crew, his agents said Dec. 5.
