June 12, 1995

June 12, 1995

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HEADLINE NEWS

Tier 3 Minus to Test Value of Stealth

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Damaged Tank Forces Swap of Shuttle Launches

By JAMES T. McKENNA4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Navy E-6 Tacamos to Assume 'Looking Glass' Mission

By WILLIAM B. SCOTT3 min

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4041
HEADLINE NEWS

Tier 3 Minus to Test Value of Stealth

PALMDALE, CALIF. The recently unveiled Tier 3 Minus drone opens a four-year experiment on the value of reasonably priced wide-area coverage and responsiveness in aerial reconnaissance, where military users are to be the judge of what best suits their needs.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM6 min

4445
HEADLINE NEWS

Damaged Tank Forces Swap of Shuttle Launches

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER NASA plans to launch three shuttle missions in little more than five weeks to prevent an industrious woodpecker from disrupting U.S. space operations for several years. Shuttle managers ordered the orbiter Discovery rolled back from Pad 39B here after deciding that workers could not repair 105 holes in the insulation of the vehicle's external tank in time to launch Mission 70 as planned on June 8.

By JAMES T. McKENNA4 min

4243
HEADLINE NEWS

Navy E-6 Tacamos to Assume 'Looking Glass' Mission

COLORADO SPRINGS Modified U.S. Navy E-6 TACAMO aircraft will start taking over the Looking Glass airborne command post mission in 1998, displacing Air Force EC-135s in a consolidation expected to save about $250 million in annual operating costs.

By WILLIAM B. SCOTT3 min

4647
HEADLINE NEWS

House Panel Approves Multiyear Station Funding

WASHINGTON A measure that could put the decade-old international space station project on a stable funding path in the U.S. until it is completed has cleared the first hurdle in Congress. The House space and aeronautics subcommittee overwhelmingly approved a bill to authorize $2.121 billion in annual expenditures for the station in Fiscal 1996-2002 on a voice vote last week.

By JAMES R. ASKER3 min

4243
HEADLINE NEWS

GEC/BELL UPS Bid for U.K. Helicopter

LONDON GEC-Marconi and Bell Helicopter Textron have added a new element to Britain's attack helicopter competition with an offer of an upgraded, four-blade version of the AH-1W Super-Cobra-based Venom entry. Company officials also held out the prospect of substantial new export business if the Venom is selected.
4647
HEADLINE NEWS

Hyflex Assembly Nearly Finished

4647
HEADLINE NEWS

Hughes DBS-3 to Provide Backup, Complete Constellation

6667
PARIS AIR SHOW '95

Rafale Tests Focus on Weapons, Exports

ISTRES FLIGHT TEST CENTER, FRANCE The flight test program for the French Dassault Aviation Rafale is entering its weapon systems validation phase, which will prepare the fighter for initial navy service in 1999 and air force operations by 2002.

By CRAIG COVAULT14 min

8081
PARIS AIR SHOW '95

New Jas 39 Software Clears Initial Tests

LINKOPING, SWEDEN The flight test program for Sweden's JAS 39 Gripen multirole combat aircraft program is reaching its final stages at Saab Military Aircraft as deliveries of production aircraft are being stepped up. At the same time, flight testing is beginning in earnest at the Flight Test Center of the Swedish contracting agency Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) outside Linkoping.

By CAROLE A. SHIFRIN12 min

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SPACE TECHNOLOGY

CIA Reveals Details of Early Spy Satellites

WASHINGTON Discoverer-14, the first successful U.S. photo-reconnaissance satellite launched on Aug. 18, 1960, provided more overhead imagery of the USSR than previously obtained by 24 over-flights of U-2 aircraft during a four-year period.

By PHILIP J. KLASS10 min

June 51995 JUNE 191995