June 28, 1999

June 28, 1999

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HEADLINE NEWS

Lawmakers Clobber Satellite Exports

By PAUL MANN6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Kosovo’s Lessons Called Ambiguous

By PAUL MANN6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

A340 Trade-In A Coup for Boeing in Singapore

By GEOFFREY THOMAS6 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Lawmakers Clobber Satellite Exports

WASHINGTON The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly cracked down on satellite and supercomputer exports to China, incorporating a host of legal curbs in a $289-billion defense authorization bill for next year. Approving multiyear procurement of the Navy’s F/A-18E/F fighter and the Army’s AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, along with $300 million for new Tomahawk cruise missiles, the House also put implementation language for 26 of the Cox Committee’s 38 recommendations into the Fiscal 2000 defense budget bill (AW&ST May 31, p. 26).

By PAUL MANN6 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Kosovo’s Lessons Called Ambiguous

WASHINGTON Technologically, NATO’s air war against Yugoslavia emphasized the immediate need for an EA-6B Prowler replacement, and heralds a future of ever-increasing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles and precision ordnance like the satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, military experts say.

By PAUL MANN6 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

A340 Trade-In A Coup for Boeing in Singapore

PERTH, AUSTRALIA Singapore Airlines has dealt Airbus Industrie a marketing blow by swapping its A340 fleet—one of Asia’s largest— for Boeing 777s. Stung, Airbus is claiming that Boeing has started a price war. The airline is exercising 10 options valued at $1.9 billion from the 1995 order that introduced the 777 to its fleet.

By GEOFFREY THOMAS6 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Delta/Air France Alliance Alters Industry Landscape

With the battle lines now drawn, families of major carriers will soon begin competing for a global brand

By ANTHONY L. VELOCCI,PIERRE SPARACO5 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Arianespace Eyes Ariane 4 Phaseout

PARIS Arianespace is planning to abandon the idea of prolonging the life of the medium-lift Ariane 4 booster, and to focus all of its resources on the new Ariane 5 heavy lifter launch system. The European launch consortium had previously left open the option of buying an additional batch of Ariane 4 boosters to enable the rocket to remain in service beyond 2002-03, when the 30 remaining launchers are due to run out. Engineers

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA3 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

GD Displaces GTE in Defense Electronics

NEW YORK General Dynamics Corp. plans to bolster its growing defense electronics business with the purchase of most of GTE Corp.’s Government Systems organization. GD has agreed to pay $1.05 billion in cash for the Communications Systems Division in Taunton, Mass.

By ANTHONY L. VELOCCI3 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Rotary Cuts Staff, Changes Engine

LOS ANGELES Rotary Rocket Co. has decided to switch to a different main engine for its Roton launcher, using technology from NASA’s Fastrac program and shelving the company’s own unusual spinning engine design. Dwindling funds and the engine switch, which would move internal work to outside contractors, resulted in the layoff of about one-third of the employees on June 25, reducing approximate head count to 40 from 60, said Geoffrey V. Hughes, Rotary’s director of business development.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM3 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Wind Corrected Dispenser Overcomes Flutter Problem, Passes Key Test

Washington The U.S. Air Force appears to have overcome development problems with its Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser and achieved, for the first time, a successful weapons release at supersonic speeds. The WCMD program had been slowed for more than a year after a fin-flutter problem was detected in a supersonic test in November 1997. Since then, prime contractor Lockheed Martin has been working on a fin lock mechanism that will keep the fins in place until several moments after the weapon is released from the aircraft.

By Robert Wall2 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Lantirn Pod Upgrade Aimed at Boosting Post-strike Intel

Washington The U.S. Air Force plans to improve its Lantirn targeting pods by adding a bomb damage assessment capability and digital recording of the forward-looking infrared sensor image. Lockheed Martin, which developed and builds the Lantirn targeting system, last year flew a prototype during a Pentagon-funded technology demonstration to show the system’s ability to provide post-strike intelligence.

By Robert Wall2 min

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HEADLINE NEWS

Creditors Extend Aeroperu as Continental Withdraws

Creditors of AeroPeru have allowed the bankrupt carrier until July 12 to develop a new restructuring plan after Continental Airlines on June 17 withdrew its bid to invest in the Peruvian carrier. Two offers from Peruvian sources came shordy after the creditors, at a meeting on June 19, extended the grace period for AeroPeru to July 12.
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