Electronic warfare specialists say they are deeply troubled about the shooting down of two U.S. aircraft and the damaging of a third because the incidents have some striking similarities. All involved apparent failures in the procedures designed to spot enemy threats and ensure allied pilots don't blunder unaware into the lethal engagement zones of Yugoslavia's air defense.
Messier-Bugatti carbon brakes are expected to be certificated for use on Boeing 767-200/-300 twinjets in July. The brakes will become available for retrofit with Messier-Bugatti as second-source supplier, during the third quarter.
Imagine OrthoBase is a digital photogrammetry product that runs in the Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and NT environments and allows users to work with virtually any type of photography or satellite imagery. Wizard-based tools and linear workflows cut production times and guide the user through photogrammetric workflows. The system works with hundreds of images simultaneously. Erdas, 2801 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, Ga. 30329.
Gerald Molina has been named vice president-strategic planning of the World Fuel Services Corp., Miami Springs, Fla. He was president of Commercial Finance of America Inc.
The Model 960 Mini Air Ionizer can be used in confined or small spaces. It generates a flow of ionized air particles that neutralize any stray electrostatic buildup on a surface. Charges are dissipated in seconds, and damaging electrostatic discharge is minimized. It features a steady-state DC ion emission and balanced shielded emitter points that require no adjustment. The blower size is 3 x 4 x 2 in. and includes the fan assembly, L-shaped mounting bracket and power cable. The ionizer uses 24V AC power that can be supplied by the 3M 960X wall transformer.
Lockheed Martin's short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) X-35B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator aircraft (CDA) has entered the final assembly stage following mating of the forward and mid-fuselage sections at the company's Skunk Works in Palmdale, Calif.
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has found that China gained knowledge from American satellite builders applicable to strategic missiles, because there was little or no oversight by U.S. government officials of detailed technical discussions, according to the Associated Press. The panel's report faults the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations for inadequate funding of monitors of interactions between U.S. satellite companies and the Chinese.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin scolded the U.S. launch industry last week for a lack of long-term vision and called for new design approaches to achieve revolutionary improvements in America's launch fleet.
BOEING IS DEVELOPING AN ELECTRIC GUN TURRET for the U.S. Army's AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, to replace the hydraulically driven one now used. The goal is a gun that will correctly point within 0.5 milliradians, compared with the 3-milliradian accuracy of today. The difference will change the gun from an ``area'' weapon to a ``point'' weapon, according to Boeing. A redesigned mechanical system, electrical drive and digital control should improve pointing while cutting turret weight by at least 10%. The new turret will use the same 30-mm.
Japan's National Space Development Agency has settled on a J-1 modification plan that includes a kerosene/ liquid oxygen first stage from Lockheed Martin Astronautics and an innovative second stage from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries and Nissan that uses liquefied natural gas as a fuel mixed with liquid oxygen.
Steve Chalmers has become vice president-Boeing programs, Drew Lippert vice president-Bombardier programs and Faiez Aboelezz vice president-technical, all of Coltec Industries' Menasco Aerospace Oakville (Ontario) Div. Chalmers was vice president-program management and Aboelezz director of manufacturing technology. Lippert was manager of business development for AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada.
The NAVplus VR-220C is a Pentium-based touch-screen navigation computer. The hand-held flight navigation system can be used as both an onboard flight planning device and a surface computer and travel tool. It provides a positional awareness platform, a flight planning device, and in-flight delivery of data. The NAVplus VR-220C is designed to accommodate any software for Windows 98, Windows 95 or NT, and serves as a laptop for logging reports, word processing and using flight training software. Northcoast Aerospace Inc., 1465 Exeter Road, Akron, Ohio 44306.
U.S. attacks from the USS Theodore Roosevelt against Yugoslav targets are being conducted at a moderate pace, but nonetheless are allowing the Navy to showcase some new operational techniques.
Philippines President Joseph Estrada has given long-time friend and political backer, Lucio Tan, until the end of the month to raise $200 million to save the carrier. The carrier owes $2.2 billion to 9,000 creditors. The ultimatum came as more creditors expressed disenchantment with Tan, who owns 70% of the airline. The U.S. Export-Import Bank withdrew its support for the most recent PAL rehabilitation plan when Tan resumed office as CEO last month.
The second mission failure in only two launches for the new Delta III heavy booster has rocked Boeing's commercial launch operations and hurt plans to use the vehicle's new upper stage to build confidence for transition into the Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The Delta III's Pratt&Whitney advanced RL10B-2 oxygen/hydrogen upper stage engine stopped abruptly during the May 4 flight, stranding the Loral Orion 3 spacecraft in a useless, 85 X 744-naut.-mi. orbit.
The orbital X-ray observatory Abrixas suffered a power failure after launch, threatening Germany's small scientific satellite program with a second consecutive mission failure--and again calling into question the validity of the ``faster, better, cheaper'' philosophy that increasingly holds sway in the world space science community. The agency's Equator-S solar observatory, launched in December 1997 to study the Earth's magnetosphere, ceased transmitting in May 1998 after five months of successful operation and is considered lost.
Bombardier Aerospace is preparing to roll out the first Canadair Regional Jet Series 700 later this month, a derivative of the successful CRJ Series 100/200 that pioneered 50-seat regional jet operations in the early 1990s. The larger CRJ-700 has been developed to meet growth requirements within the regional airline market, with a capability to carry 70 passengers up to about 2,000 naut. mi. when it becomes operational in early 2001.
Key U.S. lawmakers are looking for ways to refine tough new rules regulating the export of satellites that they mandated just last year in the wake of alleged improper technology transfers to China. Members of Congress are clearly growing concerned about the potential damage to the U.S. satellite industry and some are blaming overzealous government bureaucrats for the slowdown of export license decisions that began on Mar. 15 when authority was transferred to the State Dept. from the Commerce Dept.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is beginning an initiative to help lure additional commercial space business to Cape Canaveral. In late April, Bush said he will lead a trip to California in the near future to press contractors for the placement of VentureStar and other new reusable launch vehicle facilities at the Cape. He is also asking the Volpe National Transportation System Center to develop a new space strategy for Florida facilities, and doubling the budget for the state-supported Spaceport Florida organization that promotes space operations. He has also appointed Lt. Gov.
France is interested in participating with the U.K. in any possible beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile development program based on the Meteor design being proposed by a European consortium headed by Matra BAe Dynamics. British defense officials said they understood a letter from French Defense Minister Alain Richard to this effect was on its way to British Defense Minister George Robertson, although it had not arrived as of late last week. The U.K.
Mircea Bayer, Gordon Hall and Andrew Stevens have become senior product engineers for helmet-mounted and head-worn display systems for Microvision Inc. of Seattle. Bayer was section manager for military displays for Israel-based Elbit Systems. Hall was helmet-mounted display technical group leader for Kaiser Electronics and Aerospace, and Stevens was technical manager for display engineering for Pilkington Optronics.
The FAA bungled a major inspection of ValuJet in February 1998, the inspector general of the U.S. Transportation Dept. has found. The FAA review of the airline, which changed its name to AirTran following its May 1996 crash in the Everglades, ``did not result in accurate indicators of ValuJet's compliance with federal aviation regulations.'' The inspector general said a special FAA team both failed to substantiate its own findings and neglected to follow up on questions raised by the agency's regular inspectors of the airline.
Cargolux is standardizing its cargo fleet on the Boeing 747-400F and expects continued growth despite Asia's economic slump. The Luxembourg-based carrier in December added two more 747-400Fs to its orderbook in a deal valued at $335 million. By year-end, it will have 10 of its own -400Fs in service, according to President and CEO Heiner Wilkens. This latest order will bring the carrier's fleet to 12 by 2002.
Adrien MacGillivray has been appointed senior vice president-government relations and communications of the Electronic Industries Alliance, Arlington, Va. He was communications director of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee.
The Lift and Tilt Table is a table designed to automatically elevate and descend materials systematically while increasing productivity and efficiency. The table is equipped with an automatic height gauge that would ``see'' when a sheet of material slides onto the table and then lowers the table slightly to get ready for the next sheet. When the table is full, the process stops, and the table lowers flush to the ground. The unit is powered by a 5-hp., 3-phase, 480-volt motor.
