U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says his service may begin funding two new programs in the upcoming budget request, despite bleak projections that Pentagon spending will flatten in the coming years.
The U.K. government has decided to create an independent space agency. Space activities have been coordinated by the British National Space Center, with funding responsibility spread among a half-dozen departments and research councils. Lord Drayson, the U.K. minister in charge of space, had asserted that this setup placed the U.K. at a disadvantage in its dealings with the European Space Agency.
Rick Walsh has been named senior staff engineer for technical business development for the Trak Microwave Corp. , Tampa, Fla. He was vice president-engineering for Tampa Microwave.
John Kim (see photo) has been appointed vice president-planning and production control of the Sabreliner Corp. of St. Louis. He was a vice president of former subsidiary Midcoast Aviation.
France has contracted with Thales Communications and Thales Alenia Space to accelerate delivery of new medium- and very-high-rate protected ground stations for its Syracuse III secure military communications satellite system, and to modernize an overseas communications facility for the system. The contracts, worth €42.2 million ($62.9 million)—more than half through a €2.4-billion economic stimulus fund for defense hardware established last year—will ensure in-theater requirements are met through 2020.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has run its first test on the new Castor 30 solid-fuel rocket motor it is developing for a variety of applications, including the upper stage of the Taurus II medium-lift launch vehicle Orbital Sciences Corp. is building to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
The U.S. has been flying a classified, stealthy, remotely piloted aircraft in Afghanistan. That single fact reveals the continued development of low-observable UAVs, hidden aspects of the surveillance buildup in Afghanistan, the footprint of an active “black aircraft world” that stretches to Southwest Asia, and links into the Pentagon’s next-generation recce bomber.
Robert J. Butler has been appointed deputy assistant Defense secretary for cyber and space policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy . He was an executive of the Computer Sciences Corp. in San Antonio.
The next episode in a long-running European piece-de-theatre will be aired in the next few days, when a French oversight agency determines whether EADS and Airbus executives, past and present, are guilty of insider trading.
Efforts between Russia and India to set up a joint venture to co-develop a multirole transport aircraft (MTA) took an important step forward during a Dec. 7 meeting in Moscow. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding that makes both Russia’s state arms export agency Rosoboronexport and the transport division of United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) the Russian partners with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL).
Mark Taylor has been named general manager of BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul’s Component Repair and Accessories, Portsmouth, England.He was head of component repair for H+S Aviation, also in Portsmouth.
Virgin Galactic says its newly unveiled SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital vehicle will give the company a virtually unassailable lead in the growing space tourism and science payload business, despite delays to the ambitious program.
American Eurocopter is now certified to perform all tailboom repairs for the EC145 at its Grand Prairie, Tex., facility now that it has received D-Level certification from Eurocopter. It is already certified to work several other models.
The French defense ministry has placed an order for two Eurocopter EC225s as a gapfiller to bridge delays in the NH90 delivery schedule. The two rotorcraft, to be used for maritime security, are set to arrive next March and June as replacements for Aerospatiale SA 321 Super Frelons. The EC225s are to be based at the Lanveoc naval air station; the NH90s are now slated to take over the role in late 2011. The EC225 is the civil variant of the EC725, which the French military (both air force and navy) has already deployed to Afghanistan.
Four employees of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. were honored at the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference or their technical achievements and leadership. Rosa Sandoval and Ana-Luisa Ramirez both received the Luminary Award, Teresa Segura the Most Promising Award and Emilio Sovero the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.
General Electric and NASA are close to finishing initial tests of a one-fifth-scale open rotor that indicates acoustic performance at low speeds (see p. 54). The tests simulate approach and takeoff conditions during which the rotor will be heard by people on the ground, and are considered a potential “show-stopper” for the engine concept. The rig, at the NASA Glenn Research Center, was last used 20 years ago when GE developed the GE36 unducted fan engine, and has been extensively modified for the new tests.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he would like to push for ratification of treaties with the U.K. and Australia to loosen export controls, but he needs the Obama administration to wrap up some lingering questions on the ground-breaking deals first. “This has really kind of dragged on and is something we need to resolve, one way or another,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) tells State and Justice department officials in a hearing on the treaties, which were signed in 2007.
Bombardier has received U.S. certification for an optional enhanced vision system (EVS) on its Challenger 605 business jet. Images from a CMC Electronics CMA-2600i infrared sensor are presented on the pilot’s head-up display (HUD) and copilot’s multi-function display. Rockwell Collins integrated the EVS and supplies the HGS-6605 digital HUD with a liquid-crystal display.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Patrick Halloran (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Regarding the Republic XF-103 program (AW&ST Nov. 9, p. 10; Oct. 26/Nov. 2, p. 8). As a lieutenant, I was one of several pilots from the 506th Fighter Wing at Dow AFB, Maine, who would pick up new F-84Fs at the Republic factory and deliver them. Our unit was the first to receive the F model.
Faced with potential range and payload shortfalls on the 787 due to weight growth, Boeing has quietly begun making significant configuration changes to the 787-9 while upping the maximum takeoff weight of all the family variants to compensate. The company confirms that it has reversed an earlier decision to configure the stretched 787-9 variant with a longer wing, and will instead fit a common wing to both the 787-8 and -9.
Gulfstream Aerospace reports its flagship G650 “has successfully completed its first series of flight tests” and is on schedule for certification in 2011. The 7,000-nm.-range business jet’s first flight, on Nov. 25, was cut short when a landing gear door caused excessive vibration. The manufacturer remedied that problem with a temporary fix to permit the flight testing to continue Dec. 4. On the latter, 105-min. flight, the crew evaluated the aircraft’s hydraulic, power-generation, environmental and other systems and controls.
The Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned aircraft achieved its first flight last month, a 2-hr. jaunt from manufacturer Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., facility to Edwards AFB, Calif., where testing will take place. The Block 40 will carry the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program sensor designed to identify and track moving targets. It also will be the host for NATO’s ground surveillance system. Meanwhile, testing of the Block 20/30 Global Hawk continues at Edwards.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineers plan to continue diagnosis of what appears to be a seized wheel on the already stranded Mars rover Spirit. The new problems with the right rear wheel emerged during operations to try to free Spirit from soft soil where it has been trapped since late April. NASA is still unsure whether Spirit remains trapped because it is wedged on an obstacle or because the right rear wheel has stopped working.
James Ream has been named senior vice president of maintenance and engineering of American Airlines . He has been president/CEO of ExpressJet was president/chief operating officer Continental Express Airlines. Ream succeeds Carmine Romano, who is retiring. Following Ream at ExpressJet will be T. Patrick Kelly, who is a member of the board of directors and will be interim CEO.
