Israel Aerospace Industries is planning to launch another TechSAR satellite in 2012 capable of producing all-weather images like the one at right, part of a set from neutral undisclosed sites collected with the TechSAR launched in January 2008. This summer, Israel also plans to launch its next reconnaissance satellite—Ofeq 8—in an effort to boost its intelligence-gathering capabilities against Iran.
USN Capt. Randall M. Hendrickson, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), has been named deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency in Washington. He was head of theater missile defense in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
Martin McCarthy (see photo) has been named vice president-Europe, Middle East and Africa for Crane Aerospace & Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was vice president-strategy for Europe.
Joseph LaMarca, Jr., has been appointed vice president-communications for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin ’s aeronautics business. He held the same position at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Douglas Barrie (London)
Selection of a consortium offering S-92 helicopters for a 25-year, £6-billion ($9.4-billion) U.K. search-and-rescue program is a boost for Sikorsky’s bid to secure international and commercial business to balance its growing sales to the U.S. military.
Cash and clout are the fundamental building blocks needed to support the grand vision for the U.K.’s space sector, according to the initiative proposed by industry, academia and civil servants. Government ministers will make an initial response to the “U.K. Space Innovation and Growth Strategy” report within the coming month . However this will only begin to answer the key concern of increased funding to support the road map.
In May, a French court will decide whether two Continental Airlines maintenance technicians or a clutch of retired French civil aviation officials and Aerospatiale executives are to blame for the crash of an Air France Concorde, near Paris, on July 25, 2000. Aerospatiale, Sud-Aviation’s successor, has since been merged into EADS.
Quintin Cairncross has been named as operations director of ExecuJet Middle East . He was director of flight training for Grob Aerospace and deputy chief flying examiner for Emirates.
Washington is generating a lot of talk about partnerships with Europe since President Barack Obama took office last year, but there is not much focus on how Europe and its industrial base fits into the overall defense framework in theU.S., says Jeff Bialos, a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and a former deputy undersecretary of Defense for industrial affairs. “I believe that the Defense Dept. needs to engage much more deeply with the EU,” Bialos said during a Feb.
Malaysia Airlines and Pratt & Whitney have agreed to open a nacelle repair facility in Kuala Lumpur within the next two years. The 50-50 joint venture will be part of Pratt’s Global Services Partners maintenance network to support overhauls of CFM56 and V2500 engines, as well as Pratt’s own line .
Steve Squyres, who is the principal investigator for the two Mars Exploration Rovers—which have been on the red planet for six years—and the Mars Exploration Rover Team, have won The Planetary Society ’s Thomas O. Paine Award for the Advancement of Human Exploration of Mars. Paine was a society director for many years and NASA administrator at the time of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The award recognizes achievement in advancing human exploration of Mars.
Prof. (Emeritus) Eugene E. Covert Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Concord, Mass. )
Regarding Mark E.J. Fay’s letter , debating Pierre Sparaco’s comment—“although the ideal zero-accident objective has proven to be unrealistic, including in the U.S. . . .”—(AW&ST Jan. 4, p. 10; Nov. 30, 2009, p. 51), I believe the goal of zero accidents is unrealistic. Accidents will always happen.
:With four crash-test dummies as passengers, an MD 500 airframe is readied for a drop test at the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, to evaluate a deployable energy attenuator as an alternative to external airbags and to improve crashworthiness. The Kevlar honeycomb is designed to be packaged flat against the underfuselage and deployed just before impact to absorb the crash energy by crushing. The MD 500 survived a drop test in November intact.
Vietnam Airlines has extended its APU maintenance contract with Honeywell, adding three years to an agreement for work covering two Fokker 70s, 10 Airbus A320s, five A330s and 10 Boeing 777s .
France saw a 123% jump in equipment orders last year over 2008 levels, with total bookings at €19.3 billion ($26.4 billion), says Laurent Collet-Billon, head of the French armaments agency DGA. EADS was the largest beneficiary, with shipyard DCNS next, followed by Thales. R esearch spending saw a 27% boost. Defense exports also increased by 21% to €7.95 billion, although an export sale of Rafales remains elusive.
John A. Thain has been appointed chairman and CEO of small business lender CIT Group, which provides aircraft leasing and financing. Thain was chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch before its sale to Bank of America in late 2008.
The late William R. DeCota, who was aviation director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has been awarded the Aero Club of Washington ’s Donald D. Engen Trophy for Aviation Excellence. He was called “a national leader who was passionate about aviation and the national air trnsportation system.” His successor, Susan M. Baer, accepted the award, which is named for the late Donald D. Engen, a former director of the National Air and Space Museum, and commemorates the Wright brothers’ achievements.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is kicking off a two-month orbital checkout phase following its launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on Feb. 11. The two-stage Atlas V 401 rocket carrying SDO lifted off Space Launch Complex 41 at 10:23 a.m. EST, following two days of launch delays— due to the day-long slip in the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, and because of strong winds at the launch site. The United Launch Alliance rocket flew with a launch azimuth of 93.6 deg., slightly south of east, and SDO separated from the vehicle’s Centaur upper stage 1 hr.
The Pentagon’s authorization of full-rate production for Northrop Grumman’s large aircraft infrared countermeasure (Laircm) self-protection system means the Naval Air Systems Command can continue procurement of the system for its Sikorsky CH-53E heavy-lift helicopter fleet. The system includes the Viper laser and the latest-generation jam head and missile-warning sensor technology. Live test-firings took place at missile ranges in Tonopah, Nev., and White Sands, N.M.
Washington bureaucrats and program managers are engaged in a Washington tradition over the U.S. Air Force’s Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program: allowing it to die a slow death while trimming its multibillion-dollar carcass for technology jewels to bequeath to other projects. Before it was shelved last year, TSAT was to provide the fastest ever nuclear-hardened, low probability of intercept/low probability of detection, jam-proof satellite comms to commanders around the globe, using laser links in space and Internet Protocol routing.
Eric A. Mendelson and Victor H. Mendelson have been named co-presidents of the Miami-based Heico Corp. Their father, Laurans A. Mendelson, remains chairman/CEO. Eric Mendelson was president/CEO of the company’s Flight Support Group, while Victor Mendelson was president/CEO of the Electronic Technologies Group/corporate general counsel.
Vic Walczak (see photo) has been apponted chief operating officer for the federal sector of MEI Technologies Inc. of Houston. He was general manager of military programs in Huntsville, Ala.
Frank DiPiero has been named secretary of the Goodrich Corp. , Charlotte, N.C. He succeeds Sally Geib, who remains vice president/associate general counsel, overseeing acquisitions and divestitures. DiPiero remains vice president/segment counsel for Actuation and Landing Systems. Marc Duvall has been appointed president of the Aerostructures Div. He was its vice president/general manager and succeeds Greg Peters, who now heads Goodrich’s operational excellence efforts. Mike Gardiner has become president of the Actuation Systems unit.
Bettina H. Chavanne (Stratford, Conn., and NAS Patuxent River, Md.)
Riding high on domestic military business, the U.S. rotorcraft industry is looking at the strengthening commercial and international competition and wondering where the technology investment will come from to stay in the game. At the Heli-Expo 2010 show in Houston on Feb. 20-23, AgustaWestland will talk about its new AW149 tactical transport and planned AWXX9 light twin, while Eurocopter will discuss its new EC175 medium twin and planned Dauphin replacement, code-named X4.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Andy Nativi (Kennedy Space Center), Mark Carreau (Johnson Space Center)
The dramatic upheaval in U.S. space exploration plans is having a ripple effect among NASA’s international and commercial partners, offering possibilities that were not there when the administration of then-President George W. Bush insisted on keeping the “critical path” from the surface of the Earth to the surface of the Moon inside the U.S. government.
