Lasering is now a criminal offense in the U.K. A new law, introduced by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, prohibits directing or shining any light at any aircraft in flight “so as to dazzle or distract the pilot.” The resulting distraction to air crews is a serious safety risk, especially during takeoffs and landings. (A laser beam for example, could temporarily blind a crew.) The CAA introduced the law after the number of reported incidents in which laser devices were beamed at aircraft increased 25 times in two years.
Fifteen years after the U.S. combined its military and civil polar-orbiting weather satellite programs, the Obama administration is considering splitting up the $13.9-billion effort because the two camps are so poorly coordinated.
The U.S. Air Force has dedicated a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to capture electro-optical and infrared images of Haiti after a devastating earthquake struck its capital, Port-au-Prince, on Jan. 12. The aircraft can operate for more than 24 hr. on station, collecting images that are relayed to analysts in California.
Advanced, Russian-made, man-portable anti-aircraft missiles keep finding their way into the hands of stateless insurgents and terrorists. Such infrared weapons are a major U.S. concern (see p. 38). In the latest incident, Peruvian police arrested members of the army and air force who sold arms to a suspected logistics specialist with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Critical configuration choices loom in the U.K. for its new-build Boeing Chinooks if the Defense Ministry is to meet its contract target date of no later than the end of 2010. London plans to eventually field 70 Chinooks to form the heart of the nation’s heavy-lift rotorcraft fleet, under a yet-again revamped helicopter acquisition strategy that includes the purchase of an additional 22 of the type.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is his “usual, candid” self in a meeting with 14 aerospace CEOs who serve on the executive committee of the Aerospace Industries Assn. (AIA), says his press secretary, Geoff Morrell. Industry officials found the outreach to be a potential warming in a relationship with the Pentagon that has, for too long, been dormant.
The price the European Union will pay for five Soyuz launches to orbit the first 10 Galileo Full Operating Capability (FOC) satellites—€397 million ($572 million)—has raised some eyebrows in an industry accustomed to cheap Soyuz launches (AW&ST Jan. 11, p. 30).
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita (Kan.) State University is partnering with Vistagy, a supplier of industry-specific engineering software, to conduct research into the potential of composite materials in the aerospace sector. Plans call for NIAR researchers and technicians at the institute’s composite lab to perform layup and bonding operations as well as other applications in an effort to evaluate the effects of heat, moisture, contamination and repairs on advanced materials.
At the very instant a winner-take-all bid is awarded for a long-term project, the buyer places himself in a hostage situation as to delivery and price. In the tanker competition, not only the U.S. Air Force and government, but also the security of the American people, will be held hostage to the interests and management ability of the contractor.
European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says the agency will move aggressively this year to kick off development of the European Data Relay System, a network of relay satellites that ESA aims to deploy in partnership with a private operator. In February, a final request for proposals for EDRS is to be issued to the three contractors bidding for the project. The winner is to be named in May and a contract signed in November, Dordain says.
Hispamar, a Brazilian satellite operator owned by Spain’s Hispasat and Brazilian telecom operator Telemar, has teamed with NewCom International to deploy its Amazonas 2 satellite in the Latin American market. Amazonas 2, launched last year, features an onboard processor, known as Amerhis, that can process and regenerate signals without the need for a central ground hub.
Chris Foster (see photo) has been appointed business development executive for Raytheon Information Security Solutions , Linthicum, Md. He was head of business development and strategic partnerships for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Government Systems Div.
Though some signs of financial recovery are evident, European airlines remain concerned about weak economic activity in key markets, prompting another round of network adjustments.
Record deliveries in 2009 are not enough to paper over the significant challenges EADS confronts as the strong euro, A400M military transport and A380 continue to weigh on the aerospace giant’s outlook. If anything, the headwind is stronger even than it was last year. EADS has been using currency hedges to dampen the effect of the falling dollar. But the average exchange rate it has been able to secure for 2010 is 10 cents below 2009’s level. That automatically spells a €1-billion ($1.4-billion) shortfall in revenue.
Even as recession-battered companies in many industries are starting to feel some lift, the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector is being buffeted by new challenges that threaten to stall their growth. Congress and the Pentagon are eliminating major programs of record, cutting budget forecasts, and postponing or drawing out new and existing programs.
The Czech Republic air force has received its first of four EADS CASA C-295Ms to start replacing its nearly 30-year-old Antonov An-26s. The An-26s are to be phased out in 2012
Japan Airlines expects to emerge from bankruptcy with one-third fewer employees, 30% lower pension costs and a restored balance sheet, but intensive state control of its restructuring suggests it may remain a tool of the government, rather than a genuinely competitive company.
Starting this week, NASA will use its Mars Odyssey orbiter to listen for signals from the Phoenix lander, which probably froze during the Martian winter after studying a site in Mars’s arctic latitudes for signs of water. Phoenix touched down on May 25, 2008, and its last transmission was received in early November of that year. It is considered highly unlikely that the solar-powered lander survived winter.
In the latest chapter of the on-again, off-again U.S. Air Force program to upgrade avionics on the C-130 airlifter fleet, service officials say the once-dead project is now funded and will move forward.
Europe’s second Automated Transfer Vehicle, designed to supply and reboost the International Space Station, has begun post-integration functional and flight readiness tests at Astrium’s Bremen, Germany, plant. The vehicle, christened Johannes Kepler, will be shipped to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, in the second half of the year, following final tests, in preparation for a November launch to the ISS.
France has ordered a fourth Harfang medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle from EADS. The €33.7-million ($49-million) purchase, which includes a third control system, was made under a procedure put in place to accelerate critical weapons procurement. The Harfang—known as the Interim MALE UAV—is based on the Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Heron. The new vehicle will be delivered this summer to the Adour squadron in southwestern France for training and national air defense duty.
Erich Staake (see photo) has become chairman of the supervisory board of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG , Leipzig, Germany. Others appointed to the board are Prof. Georg Frank and Saxon State Minister Sven Morlok. Staake also is chairman of the board at Duisburger Hafen AG. He succeeds Willi Hermsen, who has resigned.
Lockheed Martin is bracing for a cut in numbers of F-35s to be produced from Fiscal 2011-15 as the Pentagon moves Joint Strike Fighter funds from procurement to development in a bid to get the delayed program back on track. But the company is hoping the Defense Dept. will push for a “buy to budget” approach so that, if the program meets its flight-test productivity and production cost-reduction targets, the services will be able to add back some of the aircraft deferred to later years.
One of the two Soyuz lifeboats in the International Space Station will be moved to the newest module on the Russian end of the orbiting laboratory, following a spacewalk Jan. 14 to prepare the combination research module/docking port to receive it.
