October 17, 1982

AFTER more than a decade of debate about how to revamp the military's fleet of cargo planes, both Congress and the Pentagon seem determined to purchase the C-5B - a cargo carrier that is just about identical to an older, troubled and highly criticized plane made by the Lockheed Corporation. Which only goes to show, as a former Pentagon official recently wrote, that in Washington's wars of military procurement, it is better to be on Lockheed's side than against it. Lockheed is, indeed, a tough opponent. And after one of the hardest-fought lobbying efforts in some time, the aerospace company is just days away from signing a contract for 50 of these carriers - a $9 billion deal that would be the single largest military order in its history. When the ink is dry, Lockheed will have outflanked McDonnell Douglas and Boeing, its two biggest competitors, outsmarted some of the Capitol's leading Congressmen and demonstrated its ability to influence a government - one on the verge of its biggest military buildup ever. That ability to sway Washington's civilian leaders - even in the face of opposition from the military - may now be more crucial than ever for Lockheed. After a $466 million write-off for its now-defunct L-1011 Tristar passenger plane late last year and its virtual withdrawl from the commercial airline market, the company is counting on military orders for just about all of its business.

The National Football League labor negotiations remained snagged today, the 26th day of the players' strike, on two of the few remaining noneconomic issues. Through sessions early tonight, representatives of the Players Association and the league's Management Council, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, still had not agreed on the issues of the clubs' and the commissioner's rights with regard to player discipline and whether a new collective-bargaining agreement should include a clause on the right not to sue. The discipline issues, for establishing criteria for actions a club or the commissioner's office could take against a player judged to have impugned the integrity of the league, were introduced into the negotiations Friday. Sam Kagel, the 73-year-old mediator, asked the union to submit its proposal by 10 o'clock that night. He was finally given the proposal at 2 P.M. today, and 90 minutes later management responded to it. When the talks adjourned for a brief dinner break this evening, the issue had still not been resolved.

In just 10 months, Van Gordon Sauter has done more to change the face of CBS News than his three predecessors as president did in 15 years. Mr. Sauter replaced the executive producer of the evening news and overhauled its appearance; scuttled virtually everything on the morning news but Diane Sawyer, and introduced an entirely new broadcast; replaced bureau chiefs in a half-dozen cities; deemphasized news from Washington, D.C., and reshuffled major assignments in that bureau; and inaugurated five more hours of news programming weeknights between 2 and 7 A.M. The changes themselves are less notable than the spirit that motivated many of them. With a reputation as a fix-it man, the 48-year-old Mr. Sauter was hired last fall specifically to improve the news division's sagging ratings. To a division that had long prided itself on its no-frills approach to the news, Mr. Sauter introduced many of the cosmetic techniques he'd honed as a local news executive and as president of CBS Sports.

In the wake of the Long Island Lighting Company's announcement that the estimated cost of the Shoreham nuclear power station had risen beyond the $3 billion mark, financial analysts said last week that the utility's future financial health still depended on getting the plant into operation. There were signs that it may take longer to put Shoreham into operation than Lilco would like. These signs included the following: *New safety questions raised by the Suffolk County Executive, Peter F. Cohalan. Mr. Cohalan asserted that a serious "design error" involving certain backup pumps made a core melt more likely than Lilco had predicted. Mr. Cohalan said the problem was another example of the need for an independent on-site inspection at Shoreham. He and Lilco have been trading barbs for more than four months over who should be involved in such an inspection. "All Lilco has given us is sophomoric publicrelations propaganda," Mr. Cohalan said.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS THE weekend traffic jams of summer are a thing of the past, and on the Boulevard - the main north-south thoroughfare here - there is an embarassment of riches in parking spaces. Amusement rides have been silent since Labor Day and most boardwalk concession stands are open only on weekends, if at all. By early fall, this town, like other resort communities along the Jersey Shore, becomes a quiet place where its year-round residents - there are 1,800 here - can unwind and neighbors and friends get reacquainted. ''We love the crowds in the summer,'' said Tom Kennedy, Treasurer of Seaside Heights. ''They are our lifeblood. But in the fall, when the tourists and vacationists are gone, we really do get to enjoy our town again.''