June 7, 1999

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HEADLINE NEWS

Discovery Visits Space Station; Russia to Pull Crews Off Mir

WASHINGTON Space shuttle Discovery concluded the first supply mission to the International Space Station last week as the Russian Space Agency (RSA) raised eyebrows with a new plan to keep the aging Mir in orbit for months without a crew.

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Brazil Shelters Strategic Amazon

BRAZIL Buoyed by a stabilizing Brazilian economy, Embraer has rolled out new versions of a commercial passenger jet and a military trainer aircraft that will be deployed jointly to protect the strategic Amazon basin, a mineral-rich and environmentally vulnerable colossus that is 20% larger than all of Western Europe.

By PAUL MANN5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Small Stealth Designs Within China's Grasp

WASHINGTON Congressional investigators and industry specialists offer mixed assessments of how much value China has been able to garner from espionage and international business dealings concerning how to build and detect stealth aircraft and missiles.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Microwave Weapons Await a Future War

WASHINGTON U.S. experts say that the Pentagon has at least one new, nonlethal weapon waiting in the wings, but experts say its not likely to be used against the relatively unsophisticated technical infrastructure of Yugoslavia. The weapon, delivered by a glide bomb or cruise missile, can be flown within yards of a target and exploded to produce a pulse of high-power microwaves that can disable electronic circuitry in computers and communications equipment and perhaps erase software and computer memories.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Glide Bombs Modified to Hit Through Clouds

WASHINGTON To increase the inventory of weapons available to bomb Yugoslavia even through heavy layers of clouds, the U.S. Air Force will modify a highly accurate glide bomb already in the Pentagon’s inventory. The GBU-15, with infrared and television guidance, was a standard weapon for hitting windowand airshaft-size targets during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Alenia Offers Inducements to Malaysia to Choose C-27J

Kuala Lumpur The signing of a memorandum of understanding with a government-backed Malaysian company signals a major push by Italy’s Alenia Aerospazio to expand its presence in aircraft activities for Asian markets, especially for its C-27J Spartan light tactical transport.

By Geoffrey Thomas3 min

PRATT & WHITNEY PW6000

Pw6000 Engine Design Targets Costs, Reliability

EAST HARTFORD, CONN. Pratt & Whitney’s PW6000 relies on proven materials, simplified mechanical systems and advanced aerodynamics to meet the company’s plan of developing a low-cost, highly reliable turbofan to satisfy the demanding propulsion requirements of the 100-seat-transport market.

By STANLEY W. KANDEBO7 min

AIR TRANSPORT

Cargo Express Services Gain Airline Favor

PARIS and FRANKFURT Major airlines in Europe, North America and Asia have announced plans to introduce airport-to-airport time-definite freight services, reflecting growing interest among the airlines in the air express business.

By MICHAEL A. TAVEANA6 min

May 311999

June 141999

June 7, 1999

June 7, 1999

Bombardier CRJ-700 Makes First Flight

By BRUCE A. SMITH6 min