April 6, 1998

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HEADLINE NEWS

EA-6Bs To Receive Real-Time Precision Targeting Capability

WASHINGTON Northrop Grumman plans to upgrade the electronic warfare suite on the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps EA-6B Prowlers to allow them to more effectively counter enemy radars well into the next century. The EA-6B’s Improved Capability Program (ICAP-3) is designed to improve the support aircraft’s nonlethal suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) performance and its ability to assist in the destruction of radar systems.

By ROBERT WALI

HEADLINE NEWS

Navy Selects F/A-18E/F ‘Wing Drop’ Fix

WASHINGTON After several months of wind tunnel and flight testing, the Navy and Boeing have settled on a “variable porous wing fairing” as the solution to eliminate the F/A-18E/F strike fighter’s “wing drop” problem. The Navy was looking at a variety of solutions that included an 18-in. inboard extension of the leading-edge wing snag, the addition of stall strips, and the use of a porous fairing. But that combination had too many performance drawbacks.

By ROBERT WALL

HEADLINE NEWS

Northrop Grumman Positioneel To Pursue Independent Course

NEW YORK Northrop Grumman, far from having lost any momentum since agreeing to Lockheed Martin’s buyout offer, appears to be well-positioned to compete as an independent electronics and systems integration company if the proposed merger falls through.

By ANTHONY L. VELOCCI

HEADLINE NEWS

Station Program Awaits News From Moscow

WASHINGTON The first element of the International Space Station is slated for launch this summer, but whether assembly will actually begin then or face yet another delay is a question that now lies largely beyond NASA’s control. The key is whether the Russian government, recently shaken up by President Boris Yeltsin, can come up with the money needed to complete the service module, a critical piece of station hardware needed early in the assembly process to provide long-term attitude control and initial life support for crews.

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO

HEADLINE NEWS

Japan Looks At Smallsats

Tokyo Thinking small—50 kg. (110 lb.) or less—is a strategy for a new class of satellites called Hypersat from Japan’s National Space Development Agency. The agency sees these 110-lb.-class spacecraft as useful for both Earth and deep space missions, whether working alone or in groups.

HEADLINE NEWS

NASA's Trace Observatory Completes Solar Threesome

SAN FRANCISCO NASA has launched a 465-lb. mini-satellite from its low-cost, quick-launch inventory that should fill an important niche in ongoing solar studies while bringing real-time science to the Internet. Trace, the Transitional Regional and Coronal Explorer, was launched Apr. 1 by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL dropped from an L-1011 flying at Mach 0.8.

By MICHAEL MECHAM

HEADLINE NEWS

CNES Pushes Joint Mars Missions With NASA

PARIS Interplanetary missions, cooperative military programs, expanded collaboration with foreign space agencies and partnerships with industry in the area of telecommunications will highlight CNES’ strategy for 1998 and beyond.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA

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April 6, 1998

April 6, 1998

Army Eyes Solutions For Huey Grounding

By STANLEY W. KANDEBO

U.S. Training Flights Become Political Issue in Japan