March 31, 1997

March 31, 1997

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HEADLINE NEWS

Station Problems Test U.S.-Russian Resolve

By CRAIG COVAULT

HEADLINE NEWS

Hypersonic Scramjet Flight Tests Readied

By CRAIG COVAULT

HEADLINE NEWS

ESA Names New Managers

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2021
HEADLINE NEWS

Station Problems Test U.S.-Russian Resolve

Critical resupply mission set for launch to Mir as international station managers fight Russian bureaucracy

By CRAIG COVAULT

2223
HEADLINE NEWS

Hypersonic Scramjet Flight Tests Readied

CAPE CANAVERAL NASA plans to initiate air-breathing, hypersonic scramjet-powered flight tests in early 1999 with its new Hyper-X winged research vehicle to be launched on a Pegasus booster dropped from NASA’s B-52 carrier aircraft.

By CRAIG COVAULT

2223
HEADLINE NEWS

ESA Names New Managers

Paris The European Space Agency is being reshuffled in a farreaching effort to implement a revised strategic plan and boost efficiency. Alenia Spazio Chief Executive Officer Antonio Rodota is to become ESA’s managing director. He will succeed JeanMarie Luton, who is not seeking a third term.
2425
HEADLINE NEWS

Helsinki Summit Spurs Strategic Partnership

But a new series of defense initiatives is hostage to political opposition in both Washington and Moscow

By PAUL MANN

2627
HEADLINE NEWS

Yeltsin Acquiesces To NATO Charter

HELSINKI and WASHINGTON Virtually every member of Russia’s parliament and political elite opposes NATO’s expansion, but President Boris N. Yeltsin has agreed to an official partnership with the alliance nonetheless. At the conclusion of the Helsinki summit, Yeltsin restated his belief that NATO’s eastward expansion “is a mistake and a serious one at that.”

By PAUL MANN

3031
HEADLINE NEWS

U.S. Navy Reconnaissance Crucial in Albania, Bosnia

Venerable P-3s and EP-3s use video and radio intercepts to keep the peace and chart the path of chaos

By DAVID A. FULGHUM

3031
HEADLINE NEWS

Airborne Video Stars As Intelligence Tool

NAS SIGONELLA, ITALY A pair of unique, long-range video cameras, one on each of two P-3Cs operated by Patrol Sqdn. 8 have become key instruments in providing realtime intelligence to senior U.S. and NATO leaders. With the current crisis in Albania and a long-term commitment to monitoring the peace in Bosnia, the squadron’s aircraft have been flying three missions a day— two over Albania and one over Bosnia.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM

3233
HEADLINE NEWS

Upgrades for P-3s To Begin in 1998

NAS Sigonella, Italy Navy officials are grappling with an aging fleet of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orions that were designed exclusively for antisubmarine warfare, but are now increasingly saddled with a range of new operation tasks. With the end of the Cold War, the crucial, intensely specialized job of hunting Soviet submarines has largely become a training exercise.
3435
AIR TRANSPORT

Airbus Prepares to Launch Boeing 747's Rival

Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are proposing derivative engines to power the 382-seat A340-600

By PIERRE SPARACO

3839
AIR TRANSPORT

NTSB Cites String of Flaws In JT8D Hub Failure

ATLANTA Pratt & Whitney, Volvo and Delta Air Lines failed for years to detect flaws in a JT8D-200 engine’s titanium alloy fan hub before those flaws caused the hub to shatter and kill two passengers on a Delta MD-88 last July, NTSB investigators have found.

By JAMES T. McKENNA

March 241997 April 71997