A potential 100-aircraft order is driving previous rivals into the same camp in a team some view as a “dream ticket,” even though there are doubts that the program will ever happen.
Prices for launching commercial satellites to geostationary orbit have dropped in the past decade and show signs of continuing the trend, a study backed by Arianespace with participation by International Launch Services (ILS) finds. Measured by kilograms-to-orbit, and adjusted for inflation, analysis by The Tauri Group finds a 34% drop in launch costs from 1999 to 2008. Measured in 2008 dollars, the price for launching a kilogram of payload to GEO fell to $21,000 in 2007-08 from an average of $32,000 in 1999-2000.
There are mounting concerns that aviation authorities in Europe will blunder in reforming their accident investigation process and end up broadening opportunities for prosecutors to interfere in safety investigations. Although the balance between judicial and safety proceedings is the primary source of conflict in rewriting European regulations that date back to 1994, it is not the only concern. Anxiety is also driven by differences in approach between the main European Union stakeholders—the European Commission (EC), Parliament and Council.
Regarding the article “Economic Exercise” (AW&ST April 12, p. 41), naturally one can achieve operational cost savings in a virtual laboratory environment such as the one described, and many carriers have implemented such procedures for decades, when practical.
Clayton Mowry, president of Arianespace Inc., has been elected chairman of the New York-based Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) . President for the next year is Keith Buckley, president/CEO of the ASC Signal Corp. Mark Quinn, who is senior vice president of Willis Inspace, has been named SSPI’s vice president-corporate sponsorship. Chris Stott, who is managing director of Mansat, will be vice president-education.
Accident investigators have identified “spatial disorientation” as the most likely cause of the May 4, 2007, crash of a Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 that killed all 114 people on board. Flight KQA507 originated at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on its way to Nairobi, Kenya, with a stop at Douala, Cameroon. After takeoff from Douala, the aircraft, while at about 1,000 ft., entered into a slow right roll that increased continuously and ended up in a spiral dive, investigators say.
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Joint Forces Command will continue to work together at least through 2012 on improving how military forces conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The collaboration began in April 2007 and has included numerous experimentation spirals and participated in the Empire Challenge demonstrations in 2007-09. Under the extension, the team will participate in Empire Challenge 2010, scheduled for July 26-Aug. 13. Lessons learned are quickly translated to International Security Assistance Forces operations in theater.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez remains unchallenged as president, say U.S. analysts. That stokes fears that his intended purchase of the latest Russian-made Igla-S (SA-24) anti-aircraft missiles and advanced AK-103 assault rifles will open a door to their proliferation to Colombian and Peruvian revolutionaries and smugglers of illicit goods. Meanwhile, Hezbollah and Qods Force, the external arm of Iran’s revolutionary army, are raising funds and preaching extremism in the region. Nonetheless, says Air Force Gen. Douglas M.
Greg Gallopoulos has been named senior vice president/general counsel/corporate secretary of the General Dynamics Corp. , Falls Church, Va. He succeeds David A. Savner, who is retiring. Gallopoulos was vice president/deputy general counsel. Robert W. Helm has become senior vice president-planning and development. He succeeds Phebe N. Novakovic, who has been appointed executive vice president of the company’s Marine Systems. Helm was Washington-based corporate vice president-government relations for the Northrop Grumman Corp.
In your editorial “How the Little Guys Lose Out,” you were right in saying “small companies are the backbone of the aerospace and defense supply chain, yet they are treated largely as a fungible resource,” and in urging that the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act (S.2989) be passed (AW&ST April 12, p. 58).
As Aeroflot integrates six smaller airlines—GTK Rossiya, Kavminvodyavia, Orenburg Airlines, Saratov Airlines, Sakhalin Airways and Vladivostok Airlines—under a consolidation plan drawn up by the Russian government, it may use one of the entities to venture into the low-fare airline business, says CEO Vitaly Saveliev. While he shrugs off competition from low-fare startups such as SkyExpress and Avianova as niche businesses, he acknowledges that consolidation provides the opportunity to convert one of the airlines to the low-cost model.
France’s military became the second to take delivery of an NFH90 maritime helicopter, on April 23, following the Netherlands. The French government will conduct operational testing, before it declares the system ready for use, probably in late 2011. French armaments agency DGA has ordered 27 of the helicopters, 13 for support tasks and 14 for combat.
General Electric and Rolls-Royce are pinning hopes of saving the F136 from cancellation on an extended offer of fixed prices on early production engines. The proposal bids to offset projected costs to complete development used by the Pentagon to justify canceling the second engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Robert T. Hastings, Jr., has been appointed senior vice president-communications and Larry D. Roberts senior vice president-commercial business of Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth. Hastings was vice president-communications for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Information Systems Sector. Roberts was vice president-sales, marketing and customer support at American Eurocopter.
Laura Schreibeis has been named customer support director for business and general aviation for GE Aviation , Evendale, Ohio. She was customer support manager for European operators.
When the National Academies make their recommendations on what planetary science missions NASA should fund over the next decade, expect the search for life or evidence of past life in the Solar System to be an overarching theme.
Aviation training companies are looking for effective ways to meet increasing demand—including maintenance and helicopter instruction—in the business aviation sector as it continues to break free of the confines of North America and expands into a global market. Underscoring the international expansion of business aviation is the fact that in 2009, business jet deliveries in North America fell below 50% of the market for the first time—specifically, 49.4%—according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
L-3 Platform Integration is preparing to start ground and flight testing the U.S. Navy’s first Spiral 3-configured Lockheed Martin EP-3E aircraft, following installation of the upgraded intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission avionics suite at its Waco, Texas, facility. Spiral 3, which was added to the upgrade program in Fiscal 2006 following delays to the Aerial Common Sensor, is designed to extend the EP-3E mission system viability until a new platform can be fielded in the 2021-23 timeframe.
The French government has formally taken in-orbit delivery of the Helios IIB remote-sensing spacecraft. The Astrium-developed spacecraft was launched on Dec. 18, 2009, and has since undergone checkout in orbit. With the handover to French space agency CNES on behalf of French armaments agency DGA, Helios IIB is now formally in operational military service. The spacecraft adds capacity supplied by Helios IIA, launched in 2004, and Helios IA, orbited in 1995.
A special government bond issue planned by France as part of its economic stimulus package could influence how soon Dassault Aviation brings its planned new super-midsize aircraft to market, and what the aircraft will look like.
The Australian government on April 28 formally opened the competition for an unspecified number of new maritime helicopters; a decision is due by next year. In February 2009 it was announced that the bidding would be limited to the NH90 and MH-60R. Australian Aerospace will be the Eurocopter subsidiary lead for the NH90 bid in-country, and the U.S. Navy will head the foreign military sales offer of the Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60. The rotorcraft are to fill a gap caused by cancellation of the Kaman SH-2G Seasprite program, which was beset with development problems.
