The WMATA hopes to inaugurate limited service this year in a downtown Washington section of the 158-km-long total system, between Union Station and Farragut North (see IEEE Spectrum, pp. 50-54, Nov. 1972).

And in New York, a 12-year-long construction proj­ect finds the largest city in the U.S. pouring $4 billion into a very large hole—for the construction of its long-delayed Second Avenue subway line. Eventually, the new system will add 52 route kilometers (32 miles), for a 15-percent increase in the size of the city's overall subway grid. Included in the project are • A "split-level" tube beneath the East River that will greatly increase the number of commuter and subway trains to midtown Manhattan from Queens and Long Island. • A terminal on Manhattan's east side for increased and more efficient commuter flow during peak hours. • High-speed air-conditioned subway and commuter vehicles (whose cost, alone, may be close to $1 bil­lion).

Computers and electronics The largest digital-computer-controlled rail-traffic

system in the U.S. may be placed in service this year

by the Penn Central Transportation Co. in the Pitts- Cybernetic burgh area. The control system is designed to provide system automatic, safe train movement, over a broad in- for Penn dustrialized area of western Pennsylvania, and to re- Central duce operating expenses significantly. It will be part of the "Pittsburgh Consolidation" in which 32 inter-lockings from Johnstown, Pa., to Pittsburgh will be controlled from one point.

This section of the Penn Central is one of the na­tion's busiest traffic arteries: daily, there are 65 freight trains, four passenger, and four mail trains. They carry an average of more than 100 million tonnes of freight annually. 2nd Avenue

All control will be centered at Pittsburgh's Penn subway Central station, where a number of local control sta­tions, along 240 km (150 mi) of rights-of-way that ap­proach Pittsburgh from the northeast and southeast, will be consolidated. The heart of the project is the $1 million control and communications system built by WABCO's Union Switch & Signal Division. This equipment, specified as WABCO System 600—a pro­grammable system for centralized traffic control (CTC)—consists of a control console, display board, digital computer, CRT display, and field equipment racks.

Military and aerospace Space Shuttle holds top priority at NASA; inflation-crippled military seeks $-efficient defense

Despite a record-breaking $82.7 billion Congressional appropriation for defense in fiscal year (FY) 1975, U.S. Department of Defense officials are so squeezed by inflation and fixed obligations that they are look­ing forward to a lean year. On the other hand, re­search and development areas seemed to face a some­what brighter budget future, but it is feared that here too inflation will erase some of the apparent gains.

In the teeth of procrustean budget limitations, however, key areas of U.S. military /aerospace tech­nology have seen significant recent progress. The space program has continued to register new achieve­ments in exploring the planets, enhancing worldwide communications, and paving the way for future space-shuttle programs.

Work has also continued on basic and strategic de­fense weapons, including that B-l bomber, the Min-uteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Trident submarine—commonly known as the Triad. Two low-cost Mach-2 lightweight fighter prototypes—

Marce Eleccion Associate Editor

the YF-16 and YF-17—promise to revolutionize future-generation supersonic flying (see Box, page 88). On DOD Spending the sea, the Navy's multimillion dollar versatile av­ionics test system—VAST—finally went operational. And in man's second oldest profession, the Army Elec­tronics Command reported such developments as a laser minirangefinder, a millimeter-wave integrated Military R&D circuit (IC) receiver, a flying electronic warfare lab, and a traveling-wave tube priced at less than $100 (see Box, page 89).

Belt-tightening for DOD and NASA For Government agencies, the runaway inflationary

spiral in 1974 was compounded by the need to work with fewer dollars than had been hoped. Late in the Budget year, President Gerald R. Ford requested $4.6 billion cutbacks in budget cutbacks as part of a program to curtail deficit spending. The effects of these cutbacks con­tinue to reverberate in 1975 budgets. One result has been an additional $72 million deferred from the newly approved NASA budget; at DOD, Secretary James R. Schlesinger has authorized 111 military base realignments and closings, hoping to reduce support

I E E E spectrum J A N U A R Y 1975 83

I. 1974 NASA mission launches

D a t e N a m e * V e h i c l e T e s t R a n g e f M i s s i o n / R e m a r k s

J a n . 18

F e b . 11

F e b . 1 8

M a r . 8

Apr . 13

M a y 17

M a y 30

J u n e 5

Ju ly 16

A u g . 30

Oct . 10

Oct . 15

Nov . 15

N o v . 21

Nov . 22

Dec . 8

Dec . 17

S k y ne t 11-A

C e n t a u r proof f l ight

S a n M a r c o 4

U K X - 4

W e s t a r I

S M S - 1

ATS-6

H a w k e y e ( I n j u n - F )

A E R O S - 2

A N S - 1

W e s t a r II

U K - 5

NOAA-4 ( I T O S - G ) , w i t h I N T A S A T a n d a n d Oscar-7 piggy­b a c k miss ions

I n t e l s a t IV

S k y n e t I l -B

Hel ios-A

S y m p h o n i e - A

* Suffix letters indicate prelaunch nomenclature, becoming numera f ETR = Eastern Test Range (Kennedy Space Center, Fia.); SM (Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif .) .

De l ta 100 E T R U n i t e d K i n g d o m c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i t e ( u n s u c c e s s f u l ; second l -s tage f a i l u r e )

T i t a n I l l - E / E T R T e s t f l igh t o f V i k i n g M a r s m i s s i o n b o o s t e r C e n t a u r r o c k e t ( u n s u c c e s s f u l )

S c o u t S M U . S . / l t a l y c o o p e r a t i v e m i s s i o n t o c o n d u c t air-d e n s i t y e x p e r i m e n t s

S c o u t W T R U n i t e d K i n g d o m sc ient i f ic sa te l l i te

De l ta 101 E T R First d o m e s t i c ( W e s t e r n U n i o n ) c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i te

De l ta 102 ETR First o p e r a t i o n a l g e o s t a t i o n a r y m e t e o r o l o g i c a l sa te l l i t e ( low orb i t b e c a u s e of De l ta m a l f u n c t i o n )

T i t a n l l l - C ETR P u b l i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i te ( to b e m o v e d in 1975 to re lay A p o l l o / S o y u z T e s t P ro jec t c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d T V )

S c o u t W T R U n i v e r s i t y of I o w a g e o m a g n e t i c / s o l a r - w i n d sc ient i f ic e x p e r i m e n t

S c o u t W T R O r b i t i n g , s p i n - s t a b i l i z e d sa te l l i te for u p p e r -a t m o s p h e r i c m e a s u r e m e n t s ( W . G e r m a n y )

S c o u t W T R T o s t u d y ce les t ia l X - ray a n d U V s o u r c e s

( N e t h e r l a n d s )

De l ta E T R W e s t e r n U n i o n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i te

S c o u t S M T o i n v e s t i g a t e ga lac t ic a n d e x t r a g a l a c t i c X - ray s o u r c e s ( U . K . )

De l ta W T R P o l a r - o r b i t i n g m e t e o r o l o g i c a l sa te l l i t e ( N O A A ) , w i t h t w o p i g g y - b a c k p a y l o a d s — I N T A S A T ( S p a i n ) for i o n o s p h e r i c d a t a , a n d A M S A T -Oscar -7 for p u b l i c - s e r v i c e / e d u c a t i o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s

A t l a s / C e n t a u r E T R S ix th in a ser ies of i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i ­

c a t i o n s sa te l l i t es ( C O M S A T ) w i t h a n a v e r a g e

c a p a c i t y of 6000-voice /12-color -TV c h a n n e l s ;

p l a c e d over t h e Pac i f ic

De l ta E T R U . K . c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i te

T i t a n l l l - E / J o i n t U . S . / W e s t G e r m a n t e n - e x p e r i m e n t solar

C e n t a u r D-1T p r o b e t o a p p r o a c h w i t h i n 45 mi l l ion

k i l o m e t e r s of t h e s u n

O e l t a ETR E d u c a t i o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n s sa te l l i te ( F r a n c e ,

W e s t G e r m a n y ) in s y n c h r o n o u s o r b i t

Is after launching. San Marco ( Ind ian Ocean) platform; WTR = Western Test Range

costs by over $3.3 billion within a decade. Department of Defense officials insist that inflation

Electronics and fixed obligations such as military pensions will spending eat up most of the apparent FY 1975 increases, re­

sulting in what DOD claims is actually one of the smallest military budgets of the last decade. For space exploration, the handwriting is even clearer— NASA's $3.2-billion budget (FY 1975) is the second lowest since the 1965 all-time high of $5.25 billion.

According to U.S. Representative Bob Wilson (R-Calif.), third ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, $4 billion of defense buying power were lost to inflation last year. As a result of the greatly diminished power of the dollar, those in charge of defense spending are now, more than ever, looking to save money through the purchase of more reliable systems with minimal support costs. For the first time, DOD has even begun to examine the feasi­bility of imposing system warranty guidelines as a

means of encouraging contractors to produce systems with lower support costs.

In an analysis of the cost distribution of the FY 1974 electronics budget (see Fig. 1)—estimated at $15.5 billion—Robert E. O'Donohue, Assistant Direc­tor (Planning), Defense Research and Engineering, revealed the startling fact that rising acquisition costs, along with poor field reliability and fixed spending, are resulting in shrinking quantities of weapons systems. Of the total electronics budget, over one third ($5.6 billion) is used to support present systems—almost as much as the cost of the systems themselves; according to a recent ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) report, the present "in-use" electronics inventory is $31 billion.

In a keynote address at the 1974 IEEE Automatic Support Systems Conference on October 30, Jack L. Bowers, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Logistics), noted that not only is the cost of new-

84 I E E E spectrum J A N U A R Y 1975

M a k i n g its debut on Oc tober 2 6 , 1 9 7 4 , at P a l m d a l e , Calif . , R o c k ­wel l In ternat iona l 's B-1 b o m b e r took its m a i d e n flight dur ing C h r i s t m a s w e e k . S c h e d u l e d to begin rep lac ing the Air F o r c e ' s aging B-52 b o m b e r f leet in 1 9 8 0 , the v a r i a b l e - s w e e p - w i n g B-1 is 2 / 3 the size of the B - 5 2 , but will car ry a lmost t w i c e the pay-load and c a n at ta in g rea te r than M a c h - 2 s p e e d s . *

Contractor Contractor

Government Government Government Government direct indirect direct indirect 12% 17% 3% 9%

Research and Procurement Operations and development $5.8 billion maintenance $4.1 billion $5.6 billion

[1 ] Tota l distr ibution of the 1 9 7 4 military e lec t ron ics expend i tu re .

generation weapon-systems electronics rising at rates between 15 and 20 percent a year, but "it appears that the ratio of support expenditures to procurement expenditures continues to increase."

At the beginning of 1974, R&D advocates could scarcely contain their joy at the announcement of a $1.7 billion increase in R&D spending for FY 1975— the largest in ten years. By the end of the year, how­ever, economic inflation had forced President Ford to cut the total $19.6 billion R&D budget (including the increase) by $300 million, all of which was to come out of the almost $10 billion apportioned for civilian R&D.

Even for those areas that got the lion's share of the R&D budget—the military ($9.6 billion), NASA ($3.2 billion), and energy ($1.8 billion)—it was feared that inflation would eat up any new gains.

In the existing budget, historic patterns of spending were not to be denied and continued their steady trends from previous years—with the possible exception of astronautics, where support dropped pre­cipitously from its 1974 level (see Fig. 2). R&D alloca­tion for missiles now comprises almost 25 percent of the total military R&D budget, with aircraft and se­lect equipment running a close second and third. It is interesting to note that 1974 marked the first time civilian atomic power R&D surpassed the weapons-related military atomic R&D budget—a direct result

of the nation's changing energy priorities. If immediate prospects were clouded by inflation Atomic

and tighter budgets, the long-term outlook may be a energy R&D happier one for the industry. In an end-of-the-year forecast of Government markets to 1980, the Elec­tronic Industries Association (EIA) recently predicted a somewhat bright future for communications and electronics in general; in EIA's estimation: "With Market fewer weapons being procured and greater emphasis forecasts on qualitative improvements, the use of electronics systems and devices both in ground and airborne sys­tems will increase. High priority on command, con­trol, and communication support systems also dictate greater use of the electronic technology."

Space exploration In 1974, as sensational results were received from Space Shuttle

the Mariner and Pioneer unmanned space probes, the many Space Shuttle contractors (see Box, page 86) raced to complete their schedules in the face of stif­fening opposition by space scientists defending their own fiscal needs and growing arguments that space traffic in the 1980s would fall short of justifying the Shuttle's high cost. Meanwhile, of the 19 missions launched by NASA in 1974 (see Table I), ten were NASA launches scientific in nature and eight were communications satellites—including the Westar II on the cover.

Elecc ion—Mil i tary and aerospace 85

Manned space flight—earthbound but still go! Desp i te N A S A ' s intention to focus the next d e c a d e of d e e p - s p a c e missions on u n m a n n e d p robes , m a n will cont inue to play an act ive role in s p a c e miss ions a s the m u c h - h e r a l d e d S p a c e Shutt le p r o g r a m nears c o m p l e t i o n . Slated to spend a lmost a third of N A S A ' s budget in F Y 1 9 7 5 (see b e l o w ) , the S p a c e Shutt le not only a c c o u n t s for the ma jo r port ion of s p a c e -supported jobs (es t imated at 1 1 0 0 0 0 , in cont ras t to 4 0 0 0 0 0 jobs during the p e a k of the Apol lo p r o g r a m ) , but has m u c h support in Congress , w h i c h o v e r r o d e a n a t t e m p t two y e a r s a g o to kill the p r o g r a m .

S c h e d u l e d to b e c o m e operat iona l in 1 9 8 0 , the S p a c e Shutt le will be the product of s o m e 5 5 m a j o r cont rac tors , and will provide a relat ively i n e x p e n ­sive m e a n s of p lac ing, repai r ing, and retr ieving pay -loads in s p a c e . Accord ing to the latest ana lys is , the distribution of s p a c e activity in the 1 9 8 0 s will be : • Appl icat ions (earth resources , c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , navigat ion, mater ia ls process ing , e t c . ) 3 5 % • S c i e n c e (ast ronomy, physics, life s c i e n c e s , lunar, and p lanetary ) 3 4 % • Mil i tary ( D e p a r t m e n t of D e f e n s e ) 3 1 % N A S A e s t i m a t e s that 6 0 - 7 0 shuttle miss ions per year will be requi red to handle the v o l u m e of s p a c e p a y -loads in the c o m i n g d e c a d e .

As ide f rom the A p o l l o / S o y u z Test Pro jec t ( s c h e d ­uled for iaunch on July 15, 1 9 7 5 ) — a joint U . S . -U . S . S . R . mission to conduct s p a c e e x p e r i m e n t s a n d test dock ing system c o m p a t a b i l i t y — a l l o ther m a n n e d

s p a c e fl ight act ivi ty over the next d e c a d e involves t h e Shutt le p r o g r a m (see F ig . 3 ) . T h e S p a c e l a b (to be d e v e l o p e d by nine E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s ) , is a s p a c e laboratory (car r ied in the Shutt le pay load b a y ) that will a l low nonastronaut scient ists and e n g i n e e r s the c h a n c e to conduc t e x p e r i m e n t s in s p a c e for the first t i m e .

Other p ro jec ts include the S p a c e T u g , a reusab le s tage with its o w n pay load and the capabi l i ty of being l a u n c h e d f r o m the Shutt le to e v e n higher orbits ( the Shutt le c a n t ransport 2 9 . 5 kg or 65 0 0 0 lb to a n 8 0 0 - k m orb i t ) , and the Air Force 's reusab le U p p e r Shutt le Orb i t - to -Orb i t S tage for e x t e n d e d o p e r a t i o n , wh ich should be opera t iona l by 1 9 8 0 .

Space Shuttle program appropriations

Fiscal Y e a r R & D Faci l i t ies T o t a l

1970 $ 1 2 . 5 M — $ 1 2 . 5 M 1971 7 8 . 5 M $ 1 . 5 M 8 0 . 8 M 1972 100. OM 1 8 . 5 M 1 1 8 . 5 M 1973 198 .6M 2 7 . 9 M 2 2 6 . 5 M 1974 475. OM 5 6 . 3 M 5 3 1 . 3 M 1975 800. OM 77.OM 8 7 7 . 0 M

$1664 .6M $181 .2M $1845 .8M

4000 h

100

Ί I Π I Γ

Military R&D

Missiles

*This includes AWACS, tf» atâmmi $à®M tm-

warfare sureelance system Mi§*ace M&m> naissance ^^miu,àiàé^^$^^%Sê^prs^h,

J _ JL_

4000 h

1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

Fiscal year

100

Space R&D

^spaceflights

J L _L 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

Fiscal year

[2] This funct ion b r e a k d o w n of mil i tary and s p a c e R & D costs ( g l e a n e d f r o m N S F and other s o u r c e s ) s h o w s g o v e r n m e n t pr i ­or i t ies in t e r m s of ac tua l pro­g r a m spend ing . As a c o m p a r i ­son, civi l ian a t o m i c e n e r g y R & D has b e e n a d d e d in color .

The unrivaled success of the Mariner and Pioneer missions, along with debilitating budget inflation,

Unmanned may have been a prime factor in deciding the future probes fate of space exploration. In the opinion of NASA Di­

rector James C. Fletcher, the major thrust of the U.S. space program during the coming decade will consist of unmanned exploration of the solar system, with earth-orbiting manned space shuttles providing new impetus to such space science applications as materi­als processing.

Of important significance was Dr. Fletcher's revela­tion late in the year that NASA would not play a vital role in energy resource development, ground transportation, or any other nonspace technology.

NASA's involvement with manned space flight ac­tivity for the next decade is charted in Fig. 3. In the period from 1973 to 1980, only 1974 and 1976 are inac­tive manned flight years, although land-based R&D on the Space Shuttle, which was started in 1971, will continue through these years, with plans already started

86 I E E E spectrum J A N U A R Y 1975

Manned space flight programs

Skylab Workshop

Manned

Apollo/Soy uz Test Project

Space Shuttle Approach and landing test flights

First manned orbital flight

Operational

Spacelab (European Space Agency)

Space Tug

Orbit-to-Orbit Stage (U.S. Air Force)

1976 1977 [3 ] A look at the m a n n e d s p a c e flight activity s c h e d u l e for the c o m i n g d e c a d e ind ica tes the d r a m a t i c d e p a r t u r e f r o m the ex ­t ra ter rest r ia l lunar visits of the Apol lo e r a ; note that all m a n n e d p r o g r a m s will be conf ined to e a r t h orbit , most ly b a s e d upon S p a c e Shutt le d e v e l o p m e n t .

Safeguard—systems experiment or politician's delight? A s part of a ballistic missi le d e f e n s e p r o g r a m wor th c lose to $6 .b i l l ion , the S a f e g u a r d A B M s y s t e m , c o m p l e t e d in O c ­tober 1 9 7 4 at N e k o m a , N . D a k . , has the dist inct ion of being both the grea tes t sys tems effort to p r e o c c u p y the na ­t ion s ince Apol lo a n d the fu lc rum of p e r h a p s the most i m ­portant b i la tera l a g r e e m e n t of the nuclear a g e — t h e U . S . ­Soviet s t ra tegic a r m s l imitat ion ta lks ( S A L T ) . O n e of the nat ion 's most controvers ia l mil i tary p r o g r a m s , S a f e g u a r d h a s b e e n heavi ly funded over the y e a r s and has e n g a g e d a p le thora of eng ineer ing ta lent in s o m e of the most sophist i ­c a t e d t e c h n o l o g i e s ever d e v e l o p e d . T h e system's t rue i m ­p o r t a n c e , h o w e v e r , m a y lie in its barter ing va lue during the S A L T negot ia t ions , wh ich have l imited the mutua l dep loy ­m e n t of both of fensive and defensive missi les.

D e s i g n e d to protect the M i n u t e m a n I C B M f ie lds at G r a n d Forks , N . D a k . , S a f e g u a r d — a n ant isept ic label ing that or ig i ­nated in the N i k e - Z e u s project of two d e c a d e s a g o a n d evo lved th rough the N i k e - X and Sent inel p r o g r a m s — i s m a d e up of f ive m a j o r components : 3 0 long- range Spartan in terceptor missi les ( M c D o n n e l l D o u g l a s ) , 7 0 h igh -speed Sprint m iss i les ( M a r t i n M a r i e t t a ) , a 1 2 0 - d e g r e e 1 8 0 0 - m i l e -r a n g e p h a s e d - a r r a y per imeter acquis i t ion radar ( G e n e r a l E lec t r ic ) h o u s e d in a nuc lear -hardened c o n c r e t e s t ructure , an omnid i rec t iona l 3 0 0 - m i l e - r a n g e p h a s e d - a r r a y missi le site radar ( R a y t h e o n ) conta ined in a n underground bui ld ­ing, and a cen t ra l logic and control c o m p u t e r (Bel l L a b o r a ­tor ies , I B M ) to e v a l u a t e da ta a c c u m u l a t e d by both r a d a r s .

U n d e r t h e g u i d a n c e of Bell Laborator ies , p r i m e c o n t r a c ­tor for the ent i re sys tem, Safeguard h a s incorpora ted a n u m b e r of un ique fea tu res . Both radars h a v e the ability to t r a c k m a n y t a r g e t s with their thousands of sol id-state e l e ­m e n t s ( imposs ib le with convent ional e l o w - r e s p o n s e dish r a d a r s ) , wi th the system still operab le e v e n af ter h u n d r e d s

of e l e m e n t s a r e d e s t r o y e d . W h i l e d e v e l o p m e n t a l test ing of t h e S p a r t a n a n d Sprint

miss i les h a s b e e n c o m p l e t e d , sys tem tests using the m i s ­sile site radar w e r e c o n d u c t e d at K w a j a l e i n Atoll in t h e P a ­cif ic dur ing 1 9 7 4 . By the beginning of August , 4 7 of the test resul ts p roved success fu l , t w o w e r e part ial ly successfu l , a n d f ive f a i l ed .

T h e S a f e g u a r d p r o g r a m in Nor th D a k o t a (and eventua l ly the M i n u t e m a n f ie lds at M a l m s t r o m , M o n t . ) is but the first step in a site d e f e n s e d e v e l o p m e n t p r o g r a m that cost $ 1 1 0 . 1 m i l l i o n . i n 1 9 7 4 ; further funding would i n c r e a s e to $ 1 6 0 mi l l ion in 1 9 7 5 , not including $ 6 0 . 8 mi l l ion for R D T & E to c o m p l e t e S a f e g u a r d r e s e a r c h and d e v e l o p m e n t .

S a f e g u a r d ' s l o n g - r a n g e p e r i m e t e r acquis i t ion radar .

on the European Spacelab, the Department of De­fense's Upper Shuttle Orbit-to-Orbit Stage, and NASA's Space Tug (see Box, page 86).

The pattern in manned space flight has been ob­vious: in 1969, when Space Shuttle activity was non­

existent, the Apollo program consumed over half of the entire NASA budget; by 1973, the last Apollo year, Skylab was accounting for almost 20 percent of Skylab 4 the budget; with the splashdown of Skylab 4 on Feb. 8, 1974, the emphasis shifted to the Space Shuttle,

Elecc ion—Mil i tary and aerospace 87

F-15, F-16, F-17 . . . tomorrow's fighter today Almost as soon a s the Air Force 's n e w F - 1 5 a i r -super ior i ty f ighter w a s del ivered on N o v e m b e r 14, 1 9 7 4 , it s e e m e d that the year - long test eva luat ion of the prototype Y F - 1 6 and Y F - 1 7 l ightweight f ighters at E d w a r d s Air F o r c e B a s e , Cali f . , w a s about to init iate a new e r a of low-cos t air c o m ­bat p l a n e s a s "a l te rnat ives to h igh-cost tac t ica l a i rc ra f t , " in the w o r d s of D e f e n s e Secre ta ry Schles inger .

D e s i g n e d to r e p l a c e the F -104 Starf ighter , F-4 P h a n t o m , M i r a g e F - 1 , and F-5 a i rcraf t present ly in serv ice throughout the wor ld , one of these two a i r - c o m b a t f ighter ( A C F ) p l a n e s will be se lec ted this month by the Air F o r c e a s the n e w - b r e e d f ighter of the f u t u r e — s m a l l , l ight, ag i le , a n d , most important , m o r e e c o n o m i c a l to o w n a n d o p e r a t e than any f ighter now flying (see T a b l e ) . T h e winner of this c o m ­peti t ion stands to ga in up to $ 2 0 bill ion in both or iginal a n d fo l low-up o rders . Representa t ives of four N A T O count r ies h a v e a l ready appra ised the two prototypes in a s e a r c h for a f ighter of the 1 9 8 0 s . The F-15 's g rea te r sophist icat ion and f i repower still m a k e it the p lane to beat , h o w e v e r .

T h e most radica l innovat ion of the Y F - 1 6 a n d Y F - 1 7 is their use of a f ly -by-wi re flight control sys tem that r e p l a c e s all m e c h a n i c a l l inkages f r o m cockpi t to c o n t r o l - s u r f a c e a c ­tuators via redundant e lect ronic c h a n n e l s . Consequent ly , o n e of the most promising new design t e c h n o l o g i e s — C C V or control conf igured v e h i c l e s — i s now a real i ty .

Comparison of new Air Force Mach-2 fighter planes

Test f l ights of the Y F - 1 6 Y F - 1 7 .

F-15 Eagle YF-16 YF-17 C o b r a

P r i m e cont rac tor :

T y p e :

First t e s t f l ight:

S p e e d :

R a n g e :

W e i g h t :

E n g i n e :

W e a p o n s :

D i m e n s i o n s :

F e a t u r e s :

C o m m e n t s :

Cost :

M c D o n n e l l D o u g l a s

S i n g l e / d o u b l e - s e a t

a i r -super ior i ty f igh te r

Ju ly 27 ,1972 (3300 f l ights to d a t e )

M a c h 2.5

Over 3000 m i l e s fer ry r a n g e

40 000-lb c o m b a t - r e a d y

T w o Pra t t & W h i t n e y F100-PW-100 t u r b o f a n s (25 000-lb t h r u s t e a c h )

2 0 - m m M-61 c a n n o n 4 A I M - 9 S i d e w i n d e r s 4 A I M - 7 S p a r r o w s

64 f t long; 43-ft w i n g s p a n

• V isua l h e a d - u p d isp lay • A u t o m a t i c bui l t - in t e s t • C e n t r a l d ig i ta l c o m p u t e r • O p e r a t i o n a l r e d u n d a n c y • 3 0 % t i t a n i u m

• S a m e s ize , b u t 6000 lb l ighter t h a n F-4E P h a n t o m ; 4 0 % less m a i n t e n a n c e ; 3 t i m e s m o r e re l iab le

$7.5 mi l l ion

G e n e r a l D y n a m i c s

S i n g l e - s e a t a i r - c o m b a t

f i g h t e r

F e b . 2, 1974

(253 f l igh ts to 1 0 / 9 / 7 4 )

M a c h 2

5 0 0 + m i l e s c o m b a t r a n g e ;

2 0 0 0 + m i l e s fe r ry r a n g e

17 500 lb c o m b a t ;

27 000 lb m a x i m u m

O n e P r a t t & W h i t n e y

F100-PW-100 t u r b o f a n

(25 000-lb t h r u s t )

2 0 - m m M-61 c a n n o n

2 A I M - 9 S i d e w i n d e r s

47 f t long; 30-ft w i n g s p a n

• V i s u a l h e a d - u p d i s p l a y • F ly -by-wire cont ro ls • A u t o m a t i c l e a d i n g - e d g e f l a p s • L o o k - u p / l o o k - d o w n r a d a r • B l e n d e d - w i n g b o d y

• T h r u s t - t o - w e i g h t ra t io 1:1.3 • C o m b a t r a d i u s 3 t i m e s t h e F-4,

w i t h t w i c e t h e a c c e l e r a t i o n ra te

$3.5 mi l l ion

N o r t h r o p

S i n g l e - s e a t a i r - c o m b a t f i g h t e r

J u n e 9, 1974 (200 f l ights t o 11 /15 /74 )

M a c h 2

5 0 0 + m i l e s c o m b a t r a n g e ;

2 6 0 0 + m i l e s fe r ry r a n g e

23 000-lb t a k e o f f w e i g h t

T w o G e n e r a l Electr ic YJ101 t u r b o j e t s (15 000-lb t h r u s t e a c h )

2 0 - m m M-61 c a n n o n

2 A I M - 9 S i d e w i n d e r s

56 f t long; 35-ft w i n g s p a n

• V i s u a l h e a d - u p d i s p l a y • F ly -by-wire cont ro ls • L e a d i n g a n d t ra i l ing e d g e f l a p s • T w i n - c a n t e d ver t ica l

s tab i l i ze rs

$4.5 mi l l ion

v. which represented almost one fifth of NASA's appro­priation, and is now not quite a third.

NASA's most dramatic results during 1974 were in the area of space science—a category that includes the deep-space unmanned satellite probes. After passing Venus on February 5, Mariner 10 then used the "slingshot" effect produced by that planet to pro­pel its way toward Mercury, passing that planet on

March 29, the first such visit by any spacecraft. After several Earth-controlled adjustments, Mariner 10 then reencountered Mercury on September 21. A third en­counter is planned for March 16, 1975, but no additional pictures will be taken.

On the heels of 1973's Pioneer 10 flyby of Jupiter, Pioneer 11 encountered that planet on December 5, 1974, speeding up to a sizzling 169 000 km/h (106 000

88 I E E E spectrum J A N U A R Y 1975

ECOM—in the forefront of military R&D O n e of the m a j o r c o m m o d i t y a g e n c i e s of the A r m y M a t é r i e l C o m m a n d , t he A r m y Electronics C o m m a n d ( E C O M ) h a s b e e n f a m e d for its mil i tary e l e c t r o n i c s s y s t e m s for over half a century . In appra is ing the " m o s t noteworthy techn ica l a c h i e v e m e n t s " of 1 9 7 4 , D i rec tor Robert S. W i s e m a n se lec ted the fo l lowing:

In comple t ing the des ign of a laser m i n i r a n g e f i n -der , E C O M h a s establ ished a new fami ly of such a i m i n g d e v i c e s for d i rect ing the f i repower of smal l w e a p o n s . C a p a b l e of giving a c c u r a t e range i n f o r m a ­t ion of up to 1 k m , this dev ice will not only be m i n i ­a tu r i zed , but will con ta in a t h r o w a w a y low-cost Q -swi tched laser car t r idge .

N o w under e x p e r i m e n t a l use for secure c o m m u n i ­ca t ions sys tems, a n a l l -sol id-state c o m p a c t 6 0 - G H z I C rece ive r represents the cu lminat ion of prior e f ­for ts to deve lop a fami ly of m i l l i m e t e r - w a v e si l icon d e v i c e s . T h e new rece iver e l im ina tes the need for

very cost ly m e t a l w a v e g u i d e s now u s e d . A laser c rosswind sys tem ( L C S ) c a n now m e a s u r e

w i n d s that a r e t r a n s v e r s e to the path of interest . I n ­tensi ty f luc tua t ions in the light a r e a n a l y z e d a s they a r e c a r r i e d past t h e d e t e c t o r by the w i n d .

T h e "B ig C r o w " a i rborne e lec t ron ic w a r f a r e ( E W ) lab, a f ly ing e lec t ron ic laboratory , successfu l ly c o m ­p le ted fl ight test ing in 1 9 7 4 a n d will provide the A r m y wi th the capabi l i ty of c rea t ing e lec t ron ic w a r ­f a r e e n v i r o n m e n t s for the suscept ib i l i ty /vu lnerabi l i ty ana lys is of missi le a n d support s y s t e m s .

A n o r m a l t r a v e l i n g - w a v e t u b e ( T W T ) des ign using pr inted m i c r o w a v e c i rcu i ts wi th in the t u b e e n v e l o p e w a s d e v e l o p e d for S - b a n d o p e r a t i o n . T h e new 2 - k W t u b e f e a t u r e s a s imple e l e c t r o n - g u n des ign , depos i t ­e d c i rcui t ry , a n d m i n i m a l par ts . Product ion cost is e x p e c t e d to be less t h a n $ 1 0 0 , in cont ras t with the $ 1 0 0 0 for convent iona l T W T s in w i d e use today .

mi/h) as it passed. Whereas Pioneer 10 is the first man-made object to head completely out of the solar system to cruise interstellar space (crossing the orbit of Pluto in 1987), Pioneer 11 will be the first spacecraft to use one outer planet to "kick" itself to another; in September 1979—after traveling over 2 billion miles—the satellite will begin sending back to Earth the first closeups of Saturn and its rings.

Earth—the communications platform As seen in Table I, all NASA launches during 1974

carried earth-orbiting payloads. With almost half of these shots communications-oriented, man drew clos­er to the day of a completely worldwide automatic communications network.

We star I, the first successful communications launch of the year, also happens to be the first U.S. domestic communications satellite. Made up of 12 separate transponders, each able to relay data at 50 Mb/s (8 million words/s), one color television channel with audio, or 1200 one-way voice channels, Westar I was joined by a second Hughes-built satellite—Wes­tar II—six months later. When completed, the West­ern Union system will operate three satellites and five associated Earth stations via a microwave link that covers all 50 states and Puerto Rico. With Westar-1 becoming operational July 16, 1974, it was estimated that the new system would cut current terrestrial com­munications costs by as much as 50 percent.

On May 30, NASA launched the most versatile and powerful communications satellite ever built—the 1402-kg (3084-lb) ATS-6. Designed to transmit health and educational TV programs to small low-cost ground receivers located in isolated communities throughout the world, the geosynchronous $180 mil­lion satellite (developed by Fairchild Industries) con­tains more than 20 experiments that will be deployed over the next few years, including instructional pro­gramming to such areas as Appalachia (U.S.) and India. ATS-6 will also be used for tracking and re­laying data from the Apollo/Soyuz mission later this year.

The sixth in a series of commercial communica­

tions satellites launched by NASA for the Communi­cations Satellite Corp. (COMSAT), Intelsat IV is the second to be placed over the Pacific to facilitate tele­phone, TV, and data transmission traffic over that area. Capable of 6000 voice or 12 color-TV channels per satellite, the system serves over 100 countries through 120 antennas at 80 stations in 58 nations.

Economizing air flight As the oil crisis loomed, the aerospace industry

looked for better ways to conserve this precious com- VVeStar I modity. At NASA, two new developments in wing de­sign promised to revolutionize future air flight.

An advanced swing-wing design—which provided solutions to a number of transport aircraft problems —takes the form of a wing-fuselage combination con­figured much like the two halves of a pair of scissors (with the fuselage one blade and the full-wing length the other). The straight wing is mounted above the body and is turned to the oblique angle that gives best performance at a specific flight speed. At slow flight, the wing is fixed at right angles to the fuselage, A T S - 6

allowing landings and takeoffs with a minimum of power and noise. A needle-nosed version of the swing-wing design would be able to operate at speeds from 800 to 1400 km/h (500 to 900 mi/h). Because of such operating efficiency, shorter flight times could be ob­tained with less fuel consumption. Although under investigation for several years by Boeing, the concept was converted into an integrated design for jet air­craft for the first time in 1974.

And presently under test at Langley Research Cen­ter, a new airfoil for light aircraft called the G AW-1, a derivative of the supercritical airfoil, has demon- Intelsat IV strated a potential for up to a 30-percent increase in lift over present general-aviation wings. Flight-tested on a Piper Seneca aircraft, the new wing design has a 25-percent reduction in area, and an increase in lift-to-drag ratio of 50 percent.

I n fo rmat ion for this ar t ic le c a m e f r o m m a n y s o u r c e s . M a j o r contr ibutors w e r e : D o n a l d L. Zy lst ra at N A S A H e a d q u a r t e r s a n d S a j j a d Dur ran i of G o d d a r d S p a c e Flight c e n t e r , as wel l as s o u r c e s in the P e n t a g o n .

Elecc ion—Mil i tary and aerospace 89