Investigators Once Again Zero In On Boeing Ethics Phil Condit may be gone, but he didn't take the storm clouds of controversy with him when he left Boeing. Less than a month after Congress gave the Pentagon the money to complete a deal for 100 aircraft, the Pentagon put the project on hold, so an internal auditor can look it over. In a letter to Sen. John Warner (R-VA), Wolfowitz said, "Given the controversy surrounding the tanker program, "I believe it is prudent to reassess this matter before proceeding," Wolfowitz said. "The department remains committed to the recapitalization of our aerial tanker fleet."

The V-22 recently surpassed 1,000-flight hours flown since the Osprey's return to flight in May '02. Osprey No. 24 got the program past the mark during an icing test flight over Nova Scotia, where a V-22 Integrated Test Team detachment is currently based for the first half of the icing portion of the test plan. "It's fitting that this milestone was reached by Osprey No. 24 on our crucial icing detachment in Canada," said Col. Craig Olson, USAF, V-22 Joint Program Manager. "We've accomplished what we'd intended at this point since the return to flight, and that is truly a reflection of the teamwork between the program office and integrated test team."

The Department of Defense has announced that the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. for the development and testing of a concept for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program designed to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile in its boost/early ascent phase, which is the period of flight lasting from three to five minutes after a ballistic missile is launched. The contract awarded today is approximately $4.5 billion over the next eight years. This is the MDA's first capability-based development and test contract, and it features a design that is no longer constrained by the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, from which the United States formally withdrew in June 2002.

A “Starr” in the east will help guide North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Santa-tracking tradition Dec. 24. The Starr is none other than former Beatle, Ringo Starr, who will be NORAD’S honorary Santa tracker for Christmas 2003. “Santa and I are personal friends,” Starr said from his home in England. “He’s asked me to do this special job with this incredible new SantaCam, and I’ll be tracking him as he comes over Great Britain.” NORAD technicians upgraded the omnidirectional high-speed digital SantaCam stationed in Great Britain and have moved it from Stonehenge to a top-secret hideaway near Starr’s home.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that the Federal Aviation Administration: Require that all Boeing 747-400 operators incorporate the procedures detailed in Boeing Operations Manual Bulletin #SIA-186 into a non-normal checklist procedure for inclusion in the quick-reference handbook until a terminating action is developed. (A-03-55) Advise the Safety Board when a terminating action that addresses the blanking of integrated display systems on Boeing 747-400s is developed and implemented. (A-03-56)