There’s more we can discern about the “Project Monty” F-15 from the static model (AW&ST Mar. 23, p. 29). Twin-seat indicates an attack role, not air-to-air. Improved downward-canted intakes reduce radar reflection from the engine face. Canted vertical stabilizers are noted. The overall fuselage has been treated and smoothed with minimal edges, especially at the wing root and intake surfaces. Is there possibly a bandwidth pass-through radar dome, a special canopy coating?
The Royal Air Force intends to withdraw the last of its C-130Ks from service in December 2012, irrespective of delays to the Airbus A400M airlifter, with the Lockheed Martin C-130J taking over the special forces support role. The RAF operates 17 C-130Ks, and a dozen will continue in service into 2012. All of these aircraft will have the most capable equipment fits in terms of avionics and defensive aids. The remaining eight C-130Ks will be withdrawn during the intervening period.
Pranalytica is to demonstrate combining the output from quantum cascade laser arrays to produce a high-power, high-quality beam for directional infrared countermeasures (Dircm), laser radars and stand-off chemical sensors. Under Phase 1 of a U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program, the California-based company will produce a 200-milliwatt average-power thermoelectrically cooled semiconductor laser that can be combined into a 1-watt module. Phase 2, if funded, would push the module average power to beyond 5 watts, with the goal of exceeding 10.
In case anyone on Capitol Hill thought Defense Secretary Robert Gates was softening his position against splitting the Air Force KC-X tanker buy between two contractors, he made himself clear last week. “I am laying my body down across the tracks” to avoid it, he told an audience at the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Ala. Some industry watchers suggest Gates was maintaining his stance against dual-sourcing between Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS as a bargaining chip for keeping some of the cuts he proposes in his Fiscal 2010 budget.
The U.K. is to withdraw the bulk of its remaining Tornado F3 air defense aircraft in September as a savings measure, retaining the ability to field 12 aircraft for the air defense role until the type is withdrawn from service at the end of March 2011. A total of 35 aircraft are presently available at RAF Leuchars, Scotland, to fulfill the quick-reaction-alert (north) task. In October 2010, the first Eurofighter Typhoon squadron to be based at Leuchars is due to become operational, with two further squadrons to follow in 2011 and 2012.
The aircraft leasing market is showing early signs of strength, giving hope of some recovery in 2010, despite airline bankruptcies, widespread capacity reductions and the likelihood of several more difficult months.
Air France is moving ahead with plans to reduce headcount after management indicated in recent months such action could be necessary because of deteriorating business conditions. The airline says it expects to eliminate 2,500-3,000 positions in the coming two financial years, adding to the 1,000 posts it has already eliminated. At this point, Air France is eschewing layoffs, instead focusing on offering buyouts. It also is encouraging workers to consider taking leaves of absence or opting for early retirement plans.
Plans to take a U.S.-run satellite data exchange program to the fully up-and-running stage are moving ahead. However, there are concerns that funding may be insufficient to provide the data commercial operators need to protect their orbital assets.
Qatar Airways is one of the first airlines to participate in the International Air Transport Assn.’s global carbon offset trading system initiative. IATA’s program, which will be in development over the next four months, is an attempt to offer carriers a standardized version of trading systems that have been initiated by individual airlines. Upon booking tickets, passengers will be asked if they wish to pay extra to offset the carbon footprint for the flight sector. In addition, they will be able to choose which global environmental programs they would like to support.
Italian state commissar Agusto Fantozzi, who runs what remains of Alitalia, hopes to receive significant expressions of interest on Apr. 30 for the proposed sale of three more key assets that remain under his control in the aftermath of the airline’s break-up. Up for sale are a 60% stake in Alitalia Maintenance Systems. The minority shareholder, Lufthansa Technik, however, has a special right to buy. Offers also are requested for Atitech, which is involved in heavy maintenance and upgrades to medium- and long-range aircraft.
Col. David Swanson, Chief Engineer USAF Space and Missile Systems Center (Los Angeles AFB, Calif.)
Regarding your article “It’s a Small World” (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 51), your readers would be wise to question your assertion that “TacSat-2 proved that not all parts have to be space-qualified to be dependable enough to accomplish the mission.” TacSat-2 failed less than a year from launch for unknown reasons, and before the U.S. Air Force could accomplish end-of-life safing and disposal. The spacecraft is now in a slowly decaying orbit that will end in an uncontrolled reentry.
Japan’s carriers wasted no time responding to additional slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, a government move to respond to a softened travel market. All Nippon Airways added a daily service from Haneda to Okinawa from May 8-June 30. Japan Airlines (JAL) juggled its new slot, increasing weekly offerings to Hiroshima to eight from seven flights from May 8-31, and then switching to its Haneda-Fukuoka services, which will rise from 19 to 20 daily flights in June. Other changes are expected as carriers consider strategy for the July-October travel period.
Andrew Farrant (see photo) has been appointed vice president-marketing and corporate communications for the New York-based Sequa Corp. He was head of marketing and communications for StandardAero.
A flight training device (FTD) with virtual air traffic control commands has been designed for general aviation pilot training. Safte (Synthetic Automated Flight Training Environment) with Virtual Air Traffic (VAT) was demonstrated at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus last month. Safte/VAT incorporates simulated flight plans with voice recognition technology for a real-world flight experience, allowing students to “fly” in particular situations and receive specific commands from the virtual ATC.
Your article on the F-35 heat problem did not say the use of electrohydrostatic actuators (EHA) is a contributor (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 54). EHA generate significant heat when operating at high speed with moderate loads, and especially when holding against steady loads. This wasted energy is dumped into the fuel. If conventional, hydraulically powered servoactuators were used, the heat problem would be much less.
Qantas’s budget carrier, Jetstar Airways, will play an increasingly important role as the group pushes ahead with low-cost expansion while repeatedly cutting mainline operations.
A new management setup introduced at the U.S. State Dept.’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) appears to be having a modest positive impact on International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), long blamed for hobbling space-industry trade. John Ordway, a partner in the law firm Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe and an ITAR expert, says the new setup—backed by a presidential directive providing DDTC with more financial and intelligence support—is leading to faster processing of requests.
NASA may not issue a conceptual design contract for its planned Altair lunar lander until June—a delay of as much as two months—but agency engineers here already are using plywood and flexible foam core panels to get a realistic idea of just how compact they can make the landers, rovers and habitats that will one day be Earth’s infrastructure on the Moon, trading off crew comfort for the expense of getting hardware to the lunar surface.
Trey Hollstein (see photo) has been appointed vice president-business development for the North American Public Sector Defense Div. of the Computer Sciences Corp. , Falls Church, Va. She was director of business development for CSC’s Navy-Marine Corps account.
Arianespace has been selected to orbit a spacecraft for New Dawn, a joint venture of Intelsat and a South African investment group led by Convergence Partners. Launch of the 3-metric-ton C-/Ku-band spacecraft, under construction at Orbital Sciences Corp., is planned for the end of 2010 on board either an Ariane 5 or Soyuz booster. It was the sixth launch order of the year for Arianespace, which separately reported net earnings of €2.5 million ($3.3 million) on sales of €955.7 million for 2008.
Michael Braasch, director of the Avionics Engineering Center at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University and a professor of electrical engineering there, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Navigation . He was cited for contributions to the understanding and limiting of multipath error in GPS. Braasch was a pioneer in the area of software-defined radio and helped develop some of the first multipath-limiting antennas.
Lebanon is to receive 12 AeroVironment Raven small unmanned air vehicles under a U.S. military assistance program that includes a single armed Cessna Caravan to provide air support. The UAVs are expected to support efforts to deter rocket launches from southern Lebanon into Israel.
The transitional aircraft storage business is thriving, but Southern California Aviation recognizes that its peak in business portends valleys for industry at large. John White, vice president of sales and marketing, says he expects most of the 155 or so aircraft parked on the company’s concrete lot today to return to service, and he hopes that happens soon.
The aviation world is, indeed, on a “Collision Course” (AW&ST Apr. 6, p. 23) over greenhouse gas emissions. The math is straightforward: The reductions that environmentalists and regulators seek cannot be met by efficiency improvements alone if we are to have a healthy, growing, global industry.
