Two Pratt & Whitney PW6124A engines completed their first flight on an Airbus A318 on Dec. 9, the company said. The crew, flying from an airfield at Airbus' Hamburg, Germany, plant, tested the aircraft through its full flight envelope and the engines performed as expected, P&W said.
DOD BUYING: The Defense Department has a new tool to help ensure weapon systems can talk to each other. DOD has developed a 39-page questionnaire to assess whether a product it is considering buying is compatible with DOD communication networks, acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne says. "If it isn't [compatible], we probably won't buy it unless it's an urgent need," Wynne says.
The Air Force Research Laboratory wants industry input on a nuclear-armed Enhanced Cruise Missile (ECM) that would meet requirements projected for beyond the year 2020. A new nuclear cruise missile apparently would allow conversion of some current nuclear types to the non-nuclear role. Responses to a request for information on ECM are due Jan. 7, 2005.
TURRET SYSTEMS: Curtiss-Wright Controls has been awarded a $16.1 million contract to provide Turret Drive Stabilization Systems (TDSS) for the Spanish army's Pizarro Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle (AIFV), the company said Dec. 9. The follow-on order was received from General Dynamics Santa Babara Sistemas of Madrid, Spain, a business unit of General Dynamics Combat Systems Group. The TDSS revolves the turret, raises and lowers the gun barrel, and stabilizes the gun to keep its sight steady on a target when the vehicle is crossing rough terrain.
NASA is holding a formal retirement ceremony Dec. 10 at Dryden Flight Research Center in California for its B-52B "mother ship," which is ending its nearly 45-year career at the agency following last month's successful X-43A flight. The retirement ceremony will include the formal transfer of the B-52B by Dryden Director Kevin Petersen to Brig. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center. Tentative plans call for placing the aircraft on permanent display at Edwards Air Force Base.
The U.S. Army Stryker program now has enough resources to fund a seventh brigade, Col. Peter Fuller, project manager, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, told The DAILY, and combat experiences in Iraq are helping improve the Stryker vehicles.
DELTA DELAYED: The first launch of Boeing's Delta IV Heavy rocket has been delayed to Dec. 11 due to a weather front that is expected to move into the Cape Canaveral area on Dec. 10. The flight is a demonstration mission for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.
General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems has been selected by the government of Portugal to enter negotiations to provide 260 Pandur II eight-wheeled, all-wheel-drive combat vehicles, parent company General Dynamics said Dec. 9. The contract will be worth about $457 million, and deliveries could begin in 2006 "subject to successful negotiations," the company said.
Patria will supply solar panel structures to Alcatel Space for use on France's Pleiades remote-sensing satellite, marking a "strategically important opening" in the commercial satellite market, the company said Dec. 8. Solar panel structures are expected to become an important part of its space product portfolio, the Finnish company said. It also provided structure components and power units for the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, which was launched in March.
Lockheed Martin has begun wind tunnel testing the Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM), a small, air-launched cruise missile designed to look for surface targets after being fired from outside enemy air defenses. Lockheed Martin expects to complete a 66-hour series of wind tunnel tests at an undisclosed location by the end of this week, according to a company spokeswoman. The firm hopes to know by next week whether the wind-tunnel effort has confirmed that the missile's design is aerodynamic. Flight-tests could follow in 2005.
Israel's upgraded A-4 Skyhawk has successfully completed its first flight, said RADA Electronic Industries Ltd., which provided modernized avionics for the air force trainer. Flight-testing of the upgraded aircraft is scheduled to be completed within three months, with serial production and installation of the upgraded systems continuing through the third quarter of 2005, RADA said.
Supplies of food are getting tight aboard the International Space Station (ISS), prompting program officials to begin thinking about a possible evacuation of the station in case the next resupply by a Russian Progress cargo vehicle doesn't take place on schedule. ISS managers try to retain 45 days of margin for each of the critical consumables onboard the station, including food, water, and air. Food supplies crossed this threshold on Nov. 14, and water is expected to drop below the margin Dec. 14.
The Senate passed "The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004" (H.R. 5382) by unanimous consent Dec. 8, clearing the way for President Bush to sign it into law. Passed by the House last month, H.R. 5382 establishes a regulatory framework for the emerging suborbital space tourism industry and allows the Federal Aviation Administration to more quickly grant experimental permits for new vehicles.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program, which had planned to conduct a flight-test Dec. 8, has delayed the event at least a day due to unfavorable weather conditions, according to an MDA spokesman. Heavy clouds at Kodiak Island, Alaska, the target missile's launch site, prevented Integrated Flight Test 13C (IFT-13C) from taking place as scheduled, the MDA spokesman told The DAILY Dec. 9. The clouds would have prevented safety officials from visually confirming that the target was on course after launch.
ITT Industries has been awarded a seven-year contract that could be worth up to $2.5 billion from the U.S. Army's Logistics Readiness Center for the production of the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), ITT said Dec. 9. Under the contract, the Army will order SINCGARS combat radio systems and spares over the next several years to support U.S. and allied forces worldwide. The contract also permits ITT to upgrade earlier model SINCGARS with current technology. The initial order is worth $49.5 million, the company said.
The House Science Committee plans to hold hearings next year on the future of the Hubble Space Telescope, according to Chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.). A National Academies panel concluded in a report released Dec. 8 that NASA should send the space shuttle to service Hubble as soon as possible, directly contradicting NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's decision to cancel future shuttle visits in favor of robotic servicing.
PURCHASE: Microwave technology provider Herley Industries Inc. of Lancaster, Pa., has agreed to buy Micro Systems Inc. of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for cash, Herley Industries said Dec. 9. The purchase price was not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in about 30 days. Micro Systems provides systems and services for unmanned aerial, sea and ground targets and missiles. Herley Industries makes microwave technology products for the defense, aerospace and medical industries.
BAE Systems of Rockville, Md., will provide system engineering and integration support for the U.S. Navy's Trident I (C4) and Trident II (D5) Fleet Ballistic Missile Strategic Weapon System programs under a $62 million contract, the company said Dec. 8. The Navy's Strategic Systems Programs in Washington awarded the contract.
TRANSPORT CENTER: Sikorsky Aircraft has opened a new Executive Transport Center where the Marine One presidential helicopter fleet will be built if Sikorsky wins the contract, the company said Dec. 8. The center is in Sikorsky's main facility in Stratford, Conn., but is secluded for security. Sikorsky has offered the VH-92 in its bid to win the VXX competition against Lockheed Martin-AgustaWestland's US101 helicopter. The Navy has delayed making a decision until the end of January 2005 (DAILY, Nov. 18).
