THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY NOW HAS a real-time speech processing software that is inexpensive, does not require a stand-alone computer, but can be used with a single commercial PC. The cost is about 5% of existing systems, according to officials at the Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y. Speech Manipulation and Analysis in Real Time (Smart) software was developed cooperatively by the Rome facility and SpeakEZ of Newark, N.J., a subsidiary of T-Netix, of Englewood, Colo.
Boeing's Phantom Works expects an award soon of a USAF contract for a flywheel-based Integrated Power and Attitude Control System (IPACS) for spacecraft. The $3-million pact covers development and ground demonstration of control laws allowing the simultaneous use of flywheels for attitude control and energy storage in space, according to John R. Barton. He's program manager for the joint NASA/Industry Attitude Control and Energy Storage Experiment, which is developing flight hardware for preliminary flywheel tests on the International Space Station.
Two more airlines, DHL Airways and Pan American Airways Corp., have selected DuganAir Technologies' Quiet Wing System to bring their Boeing 727s into compliance with upcoming Stage 3 noise rules. DHL plans to modify four of its 727-100 fleet with the QWS system; Pan Am has started upgrading seven 727-200s. The QWS noise modification lowers cruise fuel burn by as much as 6% and increases climb-limited takeoff weights by as much as 15,000 lb. DuganAir, based in Bellevue, Wash., said it has a $50-million order backlog.
With strong leadership backing, a bipartisan group of nearly 60 House members introduced a bill, HR 4, that would make it official U.S. policy to deploy a national missile defense (NMD). Capitalizing on the Administration's recent acknowledgment that the threat to American soil is increasing, Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and John Spratt (D-S.C.) cosponsored the bill, which has the endorsement of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
On test flight No. 16, Scaled Composites' Proteus reached 50,500 ft. and expanded the speed envelope to Mach 0.5 at 50,000 ft. A hyperspectral test payload called Artis was operated throughout the 4-hr. flight, acquiring visible and near-infrared photographic data. Scaled expects to display Proteus at the Paris air show in June.
Bernard Ziegler, retired senior vice president-engineering of Airbus Industrie, has received a Flight Safety Foundation citation for his role in developing the consortium's fly-by-wire flight controls.
Two industrial consortia have won U.K. Ministry of Defense project definition study contracts for a stealthy armored reconnaissance vehicle for U.S. and British Army units. Sika International (a British Aerospace/Lockheed Martin joint venture) and Lancer (an alliance of GEC Marconi Land and Naval Systems, Alvis Vehicles and Raytheon) have each been awarded a $146-million study contract. Both terms are drawing heavily on aerospace technologies and systems integration expertise for the collaborative U.K.-U.S. program.
A growing risk of surprise confronts U.S. efforts to stem the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, the CIA cautioned lawmakers last week. ``Particularly worrisome to the intelligence community is the security of Russian WMD materials, increased cooperation among rogue states and more effective efforts by proliferants to conceal illicit activities,'' CIA director George J. Tenet told a Senate panel. Although the Russians clamped down on technology transfer to Iran's missile effort in early 1998, it has picked up steadily since.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a proposed revision to the federal Data Encryption Standard to use the DES algorithm in three successive operations for higher security, known as Triple DES. The revised standard would be applied to sensitive unclassified information and would require federal agencies to buy products that use Triple DES. Triple DES is intended to bridge the gap between DES and the future Advanced Encryption Standard. Public comments are being sought on the proposal.
United Airlines has installed two CAE Inc. Level D simulators at its UAL Services Flight Center in Denver for the Boeing 747-400, bringing to five the number of simulators devoted to the -400 series. The new devices provide training on airplanes powered by Pratt&Whitney, GE or Rolls-Royce engines. More than 200 customer airlines are registered with the Flight Center.
NASA officials sought last week to downplay yet another delay to the launch of the Russian service module, the critical third piece of the International Space Station. Last year, launch of the module was delayed by 3 months, to July 1999 (AW&ST Sept. 21, 1998, p. 26). But NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin confirmed last week that the module won't be launched until September at the earliest, and new documents released by NASA cited a fourth-quarter launch.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics will lay off up to several hundred employees and restructure its organization in response to growing competitive pressures. Unless new orders materialize, the Athena booster line could become a casualty of the cost-cutting moves.
The Pentagon's new budget request reflects how the U.S. expects to fight future wars--with advanced sensors, next-generation electronics and precision weapons. But the Fiscal 2000 spending plan also shows signs that the military can't keep up the rapid technological pace that spawned these systems.
Hewlett-Packard and ClickNet Software have joined to provide the ``RAD2K'' program to detect and fix Year 2000 problems on networked desktop computers company-wide. ClickNet's VeriDate and Y2K applications find problems in hardware, software and databases, while HP's OpenView Desktop Administrator is used to find solutions.
The F-1 truss section for the International Space Station is being checked at Boeing facilities in Huntington Beach, Calif., after it was involved in a handling mishap Jan. 25. Program officials analyzing the structure anticipated clearing the 11,000-lb. truss for shipment to Huntsville, Ala., this week. The incident occurred when excessive loads were applied to ground handling fixtures in which the 15 X 43-ft. structure was supported during preparations for shipment.
Problems with both Lockheed Martin Atlas and Khrunichev Proton launch vehicles have delayed the start of a busy year of commercial operations by International Launch Services. During 1999, ILS hopes to launch 11 Atlas-Centaurs here and 11 Protons at Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome.
John C. Kornegay has been named president of the Kamatics Corp., Bloomfield, Conn. He succeeds Alan A. Whitfield, who will retire in March. Kornegay has been senior vice president.
Raytheon has proposed an upgraded Amraam AIM-120B to Eurofighter nations and Sweden as an interim step for arming their aircraft until a new beyond-visual-range missile (BVRAAM) is available.
William F. Ballhaus, Jr., vice president-science and engineering of the Lockheed Martin Corp., was elected chairman of the AIA Technical Operations Council. He succeeds R.E. Wulf, vice president-engineering and technology of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Elected vice chairman was M.J. Benzakein, general manager of advanced engineering programs at the General Electric Co.
U.S. Air Force Predator unmanned aircraft have been deployed to the Middle East for reconnaissance over Iraq, according to Gen. Richard Hawley (USAF), who heads Air Combat Command. The synthetic aperture radar-equipped system will be able to track mobile air defenses at night and in bad weather.
Juan de Uriarte (see photos) has been appointed vice president-sales and Javier Galiana director of industrial cooperation of Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. (CASA). De Uriarte was senior vice president-sales and marketing of Airbus Industrie Asia, and Galiana was director of Future Large Aircraft industrialization for the Airbus Military Co.
The U.S. Air Force has canceled contracts with TRW and Boeing to build and orbit test satellites for the missile-tracking Space-based Infrared System-Low (SBIRS-Low).
