U 
P 
D 
A 
T 
E
Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles

UPDATE 
Week ending October 5, 1997
+++ Rühe will An-70 als neuen Luftwaffen-Transporter prüfen +++ Assembly schedule for the International Space Station finalized +++ New Luftwaffe Chief-of-Staff +++ General Schlieper: "Beware of fortress Europe" +++ Successful EVA completed +++ NASA's Lewis satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere +++ News in brief +++

Rühe will An-70 als neuen Luftwaffen-Transporter prüfen
Antonow An-70 für die Luftwaffe?

After talks with his Russian counterpart Sergejew on October 1, German defence minister Volker Rühe has stated that they have agreed to study the suitability of the Antonow An-70 for the Luftwaffes FTA (Future Transport Aircraft) requirement. Around 75 FTAs are needed from 2008 to replace the current Transall fleet which cannot adequatly cope with the expanded operational requirements (lack of range, cargo hold to small for major weapons systems). According to Rühe, the An-70 seems to fullfill the military requirements and will be cheaper than a new design.
French Defence Minister Alain Richard also expressed a wish that French, Russian and Ukrainian industries become partners in the construction of the "Airbus- Antonow" military and transport aircraft of the year 2000. According to Alain Richard, European states highly appraise long experience and achievements of the Antonov aircraft company in this field. European partners wish to study thoroughly all necessary technical characteristics of the An aircraft. For France it is desirable to implement this project by joint efforts of the Airbus and Antonow companies, the French defence minister noted.
These remarks will send shivers through the German and European aerospace industries, which for years are trying to interest the NATO nations in the FLA, to be built by Airbus Military Aircraft (due for official registration as a company in December). Just recently it seemed that progress had been made at last to start an eleven-month Pre-Launch-Activities phase, though financing was not yet in place.

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


Assembly schedule for the International Space Station finalized
Endgültiger Montageplan für die Internationale Raumstation verabschiedet

With the first launch nine months away, representatives of the 15 nations building the International Space Station gathered in Houston finalized the station's assembly sequence and confirmed that construction remains on target on September 30th.
"All of the partners reported they were on schedule with their contributions to the station," NASA's International Space Station Program Manager Randy Brinkley said. "The first elements, the Functional Cargo Block and the U.S. Node 1, remain on track for launches next year. In September, during a General Designer's Review for the third element, the Russian Service Module, we were reassured by the Russian Space Agency that they can meet the scheduled launch date of December 1998."
The latest assembly sequence approved by the board maintains a launch of the European Space Agency's Columbus Orbital Facility in October 2002 and establishes the launch of a third connecting module, called Node 3, to the station. The Revision C Assembly Sequence had been approved in preliminary form during a May board meeting. The last 15 flights of the 45-flight sequence remained under review following the May meeting, pending further evaluation of launch date options for the Columbus module.
The Service Module, the first fully Russian contribution to the station, completed a critical milestone Sept. 12 when the general designer's review was held in Moscow. Under construction at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow, the module has progressed rapidly this summer. It remains on target for the December 1998 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan.
Manufacturing of the module will be completed at Khrunichev in November and it will be moved to Rocket Space Corporation-Energia (RSC-Energia) facilities to begin final testing. Another general designer's review is scheduled for January 1998, and the module will be shipped to Baikonur to begin launch preparations in late May 1998.
The first station element, the U.S.-funded, Russian-built Functional Cargo Block, is on track for a launch in June 1998. Modifications to the module begun earlier this year have been completed that will allow it to be refueled and to accomodate Soyuz dockings. It completed manufacturing at Khrunichev Sept. 15 and was moved to the RSC-Energia facilities where it is undergoing final testing. In January 1998, it will be shipped to Baikonur.
The first U.S.-built station element, Node 1, was shipped from its Alabama factory to the Kennedy Space Center, FL, in June to begin preparations for launch on the first Space Shuttle assembly mission, STS-88, set for July 1998. The second of two conical-shaped pressurized mating adapters that will be attached to either end of the node was being shipped from its California factory to Kennedy last week.
During the next nine months leading to the start of the International Space Station's five-year, 45-flight orbital assembly sequence, the first truss structure, a third mating adapter and the first solar arrays, batteries and radiators for the station will be shipped from factories nationwide to Florida to be readied for launches in early 1999. Less than a year from now, in August 1998, the first station laboratory, the U.S. Laboratory Module, will be shipped from a Huntsville, AL, factory to Kennedy to begin final testing and launch preparations.

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


New Luftwaffe Chief-of-Staff
Generalleutnant Rolf Portz neuer Inspekteur der Luftwaffe

On September 30, Generalleutnant Bernhard Mende retired as Inspekteur der Luftwaffe (Chief-of-Staff of the Germen air force). He is succeeded by his deputy, Generalleutnant Rolf H. Portz. Portz (57) entered Luftwaffe service in 1960 and after his pilot training served with LeKG 41 at Husum. In his long and varied career, he was commanding JaboG 49 at Fürsenfeldbruck and held positions both in the German defence ministry and in NATO commands like SHAPE and BALTAP. Later he took up command of Luftwaffenkommando Nord and from October 1994 was deputy to Mende.
At the handover ceremony at Nörvenich air base, Generalleutnant Portz said that it will be essential to maintain the team spirit with which the Luftwaffe has mastered the challenges of recent years, like the integration of parts of the NVA and the first operations in NATO and United Nations peace missions. Also, a thorough and mission-oriented training will be emphasized.

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


General Schlieper: "Beware of fortress Europe"
Transatlantische Rüstungskooperation bleibt wichtig

The chairman of the WEAG National Armaments Directors, General A. Schlieper, has stated that efforts on European defence cooperation schould not be carried out in competition with the US, but with a view to long-term cooperation within NATO. "The issue cannot and must not be European or transatlantic armaments cooperation. The overall aim remains a European arms market within the framework of, and as a contribution towards, transatlantic cooperation in the Alliance", General Schlieper told a symposium on European cooperation on defence procurement organised by the WEU (Western European Union).
General Schlieper said taht today, as before, NATO is the foundation of our security policy, and that the WEU must be developed to be NATO's pillar in Europe and the European Unions defence component. "In this context our goal remains to strengthen the European pillar also in the armaments sector so it can be a buttress of transatalantic cooperation and thus a contributor towards a balanced two-way street in a spirit of partnership and equal rights. Buy American must only be met by buy European to the extent at which deficiencies persist on the way towards a balanced transatlantic two-way street".

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


Successful EVA completed
Erfolgreiches Außenbordmanöver bei Mir

Mission specialists Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazynski concluded their walk in space at 5:30 p.m. CDT on October 1st. They accomplished their prime task of retrieving four suit-case-sized experiments, the MEEPs, from the Mir's Docking Module, tested tools and techniques for use in assembling the new ISS, deployed the solar array cap on the docking module, which will be retrieved by Russian spacewalkers for use in trying to seal the breach in the hull of the Spektr Module, and tested the attitude control capabilities of the simplified aid for EVA rescue (SAFER) unit.
This was the third combined American-Russian spacewalk, but it was the first time a Russian cosmonaut had conducted an EVA from the space shuttle and the first time a Russian had worn the American EMU. The spacewalk lasted for five hours and one minute.
The installation of the new motion control system computer on board the Mir was also completed on October 1st and Mission Control in Korolev uplinked the navigation software to the new computer. The gyrodynes not restarted until October 2nd's passes over Russian ground stations.

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


NASA's Lewis satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere
NASA-Satellit Lewis beim Wiedereintritt verglüht?

The United States Space Command has tracked NASA's Lewis Satellite since its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, on August 22, 1997 until its re-entry into the atmosphere on September 28th at approximately 5:58 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (7:58 a.m. EDT/11:58 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time) over the Southern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Antarctica. Most probably the satellite did not survive re-entry and is expected to have burned up in the atmosphere.
The satellite's final orbit took it 98 miles above the Earth's surface at its highest point, and 91 miles at its lowest point. It was traveling at approximately 17,000 mph and orbited the earth in just over 87 minutes. The United States Space Command monitors all man-made Earth orbiting objects greater than about four inches in diameter, approximately 8,000 objects in all. Objects in orbit include expended rocket bodies, deactivated satellites, active satellites, and other debris. This is done partly to ensure their re-entry is not mistaken by the U.S. or other nations as the re-entry of a ballistic missile.

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

In its push to boost international sales from 13 to 20 per cent of turnover, Northrop Grumman is lobbying hard to get its E-8 JointSTARS surveillance system into NATO service. A sale of six aircraft would at least partly balance the proposed cuts in US procurement from 19 to just 13. The latest offer from the US government forsees the early delivery of two aircraft in 2000 and 2001 off the USAF production line. For later machines, Northrop Grumman proposes an upgraded version, developed in co-operation with European partners under the leadership of Dasa.
+++
From December 1997 to July 1999, Litef will deliver 111 navigation systems for the mobile Roland SAM systems of the Luftwaffe. The LLN-GYs consist of laser-gyros and modified map systems and will be fitted as part of a wider modification programme.
+++
Latest indications are pointing to a further major delay in the in-service date of the Royal Air Forces planned beyond visual range air-to-air missile, to 2007. This adds to the problems of the troubled programme, where two competing consortia (led by Hughes UK and Matra BAe Dynamics respectively) recently got two twelve-month project-definition and risk-reduction studies. These were deemed neccessary after first offers of FMRAMM and Meteor designs did not satisfy the military customers at all, as they failed to meet key performance requirements. The fate of the UK programme, which aims at a superior weapon for Eurofighter EF2000, has also direct repercussions on plans in Germany, Italy and Spain, which might have made do with the AMRAAM at first.
+++
General Electric will design and validate an F110 enigne ejector nozzle kit for USAF F-16c/D fighters. The retrofit of the kit will dramatically increase nozzle life and reliability while reduzing maintenance costs and flight-line repair time. These benefits will significantly reduce USAF life-cycle costs, says GE. Flight testing of the ejector nozzle on the F-16C/D is expected to be completed in 1999.
+++
From November 24, Deutsche BA will fly add the Munich to Frankfurt route, with eight Boeing 737 flights a day. This will amount to 35 per cent of the seats offered on the route, the company said. Prices will range from 198 to 540 DM return. Lufthansa was quick to respond, announcing tariffs 30 per cent lower than before between Frankfurt and Munich as well as Augsburg. With this move it matches or even undercuts Deutsche BA.
+++
This winter, Augsburg Airways will serve 20 routes for Lufthansa and four intra-German destinations under its own logo. New routes are Dresden and Leipzig to Brussels. Dortmund to Frankfurt will be flown four time a day now. The Sylt route from Munich will be maintianed in the winter.
+++
The major airframe inspection cycles for the ATR 72 structure have been increased from 24000 to 36000 cycles, whichleads to a significant decrease in the maintenance costs, Aero International (Regional) has announced on October 2. This brings the stretched turboprop in line with its ATR42 companion.
+++
US Airways and the company's pilot union has averted a possible strike just minutes before a midnight deadline on September 30. The agreement prevents a wave of layoffs and clears the way for the airline to purchase up to 400 Airbus jets worth 14 billion US-Dollars as part of a growth plan. The company also plans to bring back by mid-December all pilots furloughed this year. The breakthrough in negotiations came after both sides had been meeting around the clock since the weekend.
+++

Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite


Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:

PunktSeptember 28, 1997 PunktSeptember 21, 1997 PunktSeptember 14, 1997 PunktSeptember 7, 1997

PunktAugust 24, 1997 PunktAugust 10, 1997 PunktAugust 3, 1997

PunktJuly 27, 1997 PunktJuly 13, 1997 PunktJuly 6, 1997

PunktJanuary to June 1997 PunktSeptember to December 1996

Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles
Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved.
Last updated October 2, 1997
FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany