Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. delivered the first of nine UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters destined for Bahrain’s defense forces last week. This will be the first squadron of UH-60Ms to be operated by an international military organization. The Royal Bahrain Air Force is slated to use the aircraft for operations that include protection of borders and strategic facilities. Deliveries are scheduled to continue throughout 2010.
Amid the grim funding forecasts for future defense spending, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says there may be a couple of new programs started. Among those under consideration are the Next-Generation Bomber (also called Long-Range Strike) and a Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) follow-on constellation to collect intelligence about satellites.
Scott Evans, Bud Fidrych and Adam Spitler have been promoted within the Corporate Flight Operations Dept. at the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga. Evans is now chief pilot for demonstrations; he was chief pilot for advanced programs with mid-size cabin aircraft. Fidrych has become chief pilot for large cabin aircraft demonstrations; he was chief pilot for airborne product support and has been succeeded by Spitler. Fidrych follows Neil Vernon, who is now director of demonstration and corporate flight operations.
Northrop Grumman has formed a Cyber-security Research Consortium with three U.S. universities: Carnegie Mellon, Purdue and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Robert F. Brammer, Northrop Grumman Information Systems’ vice president for advanced technology, says the company will contribute “some number of millions of dollars a year” to the consortium, which will sponsor 10 initial projects in areas such as attribution in cyberspace, supply chain risk and securing critical infrastructure networks.
German aerospace center DLR has agreed to develop a new visible/infrared imager for Eumetsat’s post-EMS second generation polar orbiting weather satellite system, to be deployed starting in 2018. The existing Metop polar spacecraft carry AVHRR imagers supplied by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Pentagon and F-35 contractor Lockheed Martin are in negotiations over how to proceed with “cost sharing,” or jointly paying for the projected overrun for the Joint Strike Fighter development. But it will not be as easy as a charge or flat fee. Several options are on the table in paying for the overage in developing the single-engine stealthy aircraft, according to Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, the military deputy to the Air Force acquisition executive. They include restructuring the current development contract.
The Embraer Phenom 300 light jet received type and production certificates from Brazil’s ANAC National Civil Aviation Authority on Dec. 3. The aircraft manufacturer expects its FAA type certificate within weeks.
Weapons clearance tests of the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will accelerate this week with live firing of several Hellfire missiles from an aircraft destined for an Afghanistan-bound Quick Reaction Capability unit.
The government has approved a plan to restart production of the giant Antonov An-124-100 freighter with more economical engines, a glass cockpit and other enhancements. Outsize cargo specialist Volga-Dnepr says it’s ready to commit to 20 aircraft. But the government has yet to pledge funding for the project, including $500 million to acquire new tooling and rebuild the assembly line, and the air force has yet to define a purchase requirement.
Last year, as the automotive industry began to implode, Tony Pinho, president of a Detroit-area supplier of vehicle engine and seat components, looked skyward for an alternative. To help offset sagging orders from General Motors, Nissan and TRW, Pinho’s company, Duggan Manufacturing, began performing precision metal work for such aerospace companies as Goodrich, BAE Systems and General Electric. Today, aerospace sales at the privately held operation are growing “exponentially, every quarter,” Pinho says.
UPS Canada officially opened its expanded 463,024-sq.-ft. Toronto hub distribution center on Dec. 1. The $70-million expansion effort doubles UPS’s package processing capacity and facilitates international commerce between Canadian businesses and more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS Chairman/CEO Scott Davis says it might seem odd to invest millions “in the middle of the worst recession in recent history . . .
Strong but uncertain demand for satellites is driving test contractors in Europe to expand their capacity for space testing activities while diversifying into other fields. Unlike their U.S. rivals, which generally draw on their own test capabilities or the extensive engineering facilities at NASA and other government agencies, European satellite makers—with the exception of Thales Alenia Space—rely heavily on independent contractors for a big part of their testing needs.
Dan Komnenovich has been appointed chairman/president/CEO of Dallas-based Aviall Inc. He will succeed Paul Fulchino, who will be retiring in early 2010. Komnenovich has been executive vice president of Aviall Inc. and president/chief operating officer of Aviall Services. He will be succeeded as executive vice president/chief operating officer by Ed Dolanski, who has been senior vice president-operations.
NASA is gearing up to release $50 million in economic stimulus money to fund technology development for commercial crew transport to the International Space Station and any other low-Earth-orbit (LEO) destinations that may show up.
USAF Brig. Gen. Cary C. Chun and USN Rear Adm. (lower half) Sandy L. Daniels have become deputy commanders of the Joint Functional Component Command-Space of U.S. Strategic Command . Chun has been assigned to Chantilly, Va., and Daniels to Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Chun was commander of the 50th Space Wing of Air Force Space Command, Schriever AFB, Colo., while Daniels was director of warfare integration in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington.
Safety-of-flight issues are playing a large role in the argument over how NASA should get crews to the International Space Station after the shuttle fleet retires, and are sure to figure in President Barack Obama’s decision on what to do.
Very long endurance and the ability to hunt enemy air defenses are emerging areas of interest in EADS’s long-term unmanned air vehicle road map, although the company’s near-term focus remains on securing a future for the medium-altitude Talarion project.
Boeing increased the unidentified customers’ count for 737s on its 2009 net order list by two last week, raising it to 55 and the year’s total order count to 149 airplanes.
The decision by Northrop Grumman/EADS North America not to submit a bid for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-135 replacement competition is largely seen as continued posturing by the team, rather than an end to its ambitions to win back the $35-billion deal to rebuild aerial refuelers.
Passenger figures continue to sag for British Airways, but the airline is continuing to see signs of hope that its premium traffic is starting to recover. “Long-haul premium is showing signs of improvement with volumes above the levels of last year and yields improving,” the carrier says in reporting November traffic figures. Short-haul premium traffic was reported as stable. Business-class traffic was up 1.5% in November.
The first Geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite in the Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) that Lockheed Martin Space Systems is building for the U.S. Air Force has completed thermal vacuum testing, setting it up for its last major trials before shipment next December to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., for launch. While test data are analyzed, technicians will complete rework early next year on faulty spacecraft components identified prior to the beginning of thermal vac. Lockheed Martin says the components are not part of GEO-1’s early warning missile detection system.
The discussion in Washington Outlook (AW&ST Nov. 16, p. 24) concerning how thousands of fourth-generation Chinese fighters would wear down 187 F-22s, sounds rather like discussions in the 1930s concerning the outcome of a confrontation between the battleship fleets of the great powers. Both discussions were backward-looking.
France continues to reaffirm plans to modernize and expand its military space capability, despite budget constraints and the difficulty of enlisting other European nations in the effort, particularly for the next-generation Musis surveillance system.
Ecuadorian airline AeroGal this week plans to launch daily non-stop Boeing 767 service between New York JFK International Airport and Guayaquil Jose Joaquin de Olmedo Airport. The 767 will seat 210 passengers, 25 in business class and 185 in coach. It is the only Ecuadorian airline to operate to New York, according to President and CEO Gabriela Sommerfeld.
