The British Labor government last week narrowly survived a House of Commons vote following a debate on the plan to build a third runway at London Heathrow Airport. The motion—tabled by the Conservative Party, which opposes the development—was defeated 297 to 278. The debate underscores the strength of feeling with regard to the development of Heathrow and the broader issues of commercial aviation and the environment.
Mar. 3—Aviation Week Laureate Awards Dinner. Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Washington. Mar. 11-12—Defense Technology & Requirements. Washington. Apr. 21-23—Aviation Week MRO and MRO Military Conferences. Dallas. Oct. 1—Green Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. Feb. 24-25—Lean Six Sigma for Military. Washington/San Diego. Mar. 17-18—Aircraft Data. San Diego/Phoenix.
E-mails obtained by Aviation Week’s Aerospace Daily and Defense Report show the Defense Dept. pushed for sole-source buys of a mixed fleet for the Air Force combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter replacement program as late as fall 2005 and well into 2006. Pentagon leadership at the time wanted the Air Force to forgo an open competition for its $15-billion CSAR-X program and instead buy Bell-Boeing CV-22s, Boeing MH-47s, Sikorsky MH-60s, or a mixed fleet of these types.
When Aviation Week & Space Technology kicked off a series of open letters by industry thought leaders to incoming President Barack Obama on Dec. 1, our goal was to focus the administration’s attention on the fact that defense modernization, education, federal aeronautics research and air traffic management—among certain other areas—are vital not just to the future of aviation, aerospace and defense, but to the nation overall.
Feb. 11-15Indian Ministry of Defense and Confederation of Indian Industry’s Aero India 2009. Yelahanka AB, Bangalore. See www.aeroindia.in Feb. 19-20Aerial Firefighting Conference & Exhibition 2009 Incorporating Fixed & Rotary Wing Aircraft and Unmanned Air Vehicles. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Anaheim, Calif. See www.tangentlink.com/event.php?ekey=AFF%20California
Virgin Blue Airlines Group’s long-haul international airline, V Australia, took delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER at Everett, Wash., on Jan. 29, and has flown it to Victorville, Calif., for interior completion. The airline hopes to start transpacific services from Sydney to Los Angeles on Feb. 27, four days later than expected under the revised schedule agreed with Boeing after the settlement of last year’s machinists strike. The airline’s original launch date of Dec. 15, 2008, was delayed because the strike slowed delivery of V Australia’s three launch aircraft.
NASA is likely to use economic stimulus package funds to accelerate the Orion/Ares I shuttle follow-on vehicles and Earth-observation missions already in the pipeline. But beyond that, the agency will probably have to wait for top-line Fiscal 2010 budget figures from the Obama White House late this month for clues on how to proceed. This week, the Senate is set to take up its version of the stimulus package that passed the House Jan. 28 with a little more than $600 million for NASA.
The two months that Boeing machinists spent on the picket lines late last year helped push 2008 revenues and earnings well below those of the previous year and exacerbated the company’s struggles with organizational sluggishness and a critical shortage of engineers.
Haifa-based Elbit Systems has supplied more information regarding the Israeli defense ministry contract it received last December for additional Skylark l LE mini-UAVs. The $40-million award is to include training and logistics support, and units, destined for ground forces, are to be delivered across several years. Skylarks were a part of the recent volatile initiative to block mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip. The UAVs gathered intelligence that was disseminated among operating forces within the Israel Defense Forces.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) in Minnesota on Jan. 26 voted in favor of an agreement with Delta Air Lines under which the airline promises to maintain at least 400 daily departures from its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub through 2020 and keep at least 10,000 jobs in the area through August 2016. That compares with about 450 daily departures and 11,500 jobs now. The new accord is part of renegotiated repayment terms for approximately $245 million still outstanding on $280 million in bonds that the MAC issued for Northwest in 1992.
Joseph C. Anselmo makes a good business case for both Baja California and Eaton Aerospace in his article “Moving Out” for Eaton to move manufacturing out of the U.S. (AW&ST Jan. 19, p. 52). And if Eaton does not do so, it may be underbid and lose contracts. Then you have a microcosm of this situation happening en masse in America.
Raytheon has received a $154-million foreign military sales contract to upgrade Taiwan’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems. The contract, which includes upgrade kits for radar and command-and-control components, radar refurbishment and related engineering and tech services, was issued by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. This follows on the heels of last month’s potential $3.3-billion order to provide the Patriot system to the United Arab Emirates; that order includes whole life support and training.
The application of the Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missile was misidentified in the article entitled “Maritime Advance” (AW&ST Jan. 12, p. 28). The Harpoon is an anti-surface ship missile.
Currency volatility, sharp declines in passenger and cargo volumes, and bad fuel-hedging bets are combining to depress the upcoming earnings season for European airlines. The adverse economic conditions have already driven Air France-KLM and British Airways to warn of operating losses. “I cannot see the bottom of this crisis yet,” says British Airways CEO Willie Walsh. “There is some distance to go, and I would expect this very difficult environment to last for at least another 24 months.”
Europe’s blended wing/body work is largely concentrated in the New Aircraft Concepts Research (Nacre) project, which has examined several configurations. German aerospace research agency DLR says BWBs promise a 20% higher lift-to-drag ratio, 15% lower weight, and 10 dB. less noise. But cabin pressurization, stability and control, and airport compatibility are among the challenges to commercial acceptance, says a DLR researcher.
Bolstering the Eurofighter Typhoon’s multirole capability is now a priority as the four partner nations begin to close on a Tranche 3 deal, and as the Tranche 2 standard enters service.
Two-plus weeks after the Hudson River splashdown of US Airways Flight 1549, Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger remains the man of the hour. It’s human nature to engage in hero worship; it’s Washington nature to hop on a celebrity bandwagon for a little publicity of one’s own. Last week, Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) said the House aviation subcommittee will hold a hearing on Feb. 24 to examine “the circumstances of Flight 1549 . . .
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany-based H3 Aerospace, through Fortius Mittelstandskapital, is buying Grob Aerospace’s training aircraft and support businesses. Around 100 employees are expected to resume work at Grob’s Tussenhausen-Mattsies facility this month. The new company, called Grob Aircraft, will be based there. The company is already in advanced talks with a commercial customer to sell trainer aircraft, says H-3 Aerospace Chief Executive Johann Heitzmann.
And during another recent test at White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin proved the interoperablity of the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) with the U.K.’s upgraded Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). The trials, which the company says went off without a hitch, provided the U.K. Defense Equipment & Support delegation a close look at Atacms—a step they requested as they determine future artillery system requirements. The MLRS designated M270B1 has been used by British forces since the 1990s and handles all MLRS rocket munitions except Atacms.
Budgetary pressures may stymie ambitions to convert all Nimrod MRA4 test aircraft to the production standard, potentially leaving the Royal Air Force with only nine of the type. The Defense Ministry and Nimrod manufacturer BAE Systems have been trying to strike a deal on bringing the three development aircraft in the much-delayed program to the final production version. The talks are taking place within the broader context of BAE and the government trying to conclude a partnering agreement designed to sustain the U.K.’s defense industrial capability.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates continues to be full of surprises. In his first appearance before Congress as a member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet, he says mutual missile defense projects with Moscow are not as far-fetched as recent events would suggest. Officially, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitri Medvedev oppose U.S. plans to place 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar warning system in the Czech Republic. But Gates says some Russian civilian and military leaders are more interested in discussing forms of cooperation.
The NTSB is examining the flight recorders from the Empire Airlines/FedEx ATR 42-320 that crashed 300 ft. short of Runway 17 at Lubbock (Tex.) Preston Smith International Airport on Jan. 27. The two crewmembers survived. The aircraft, which was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW121s, was destroyed.
NASA believes the unconventional hybrid wing/body aircraft holds the most promise for meeting aggressive environmental goals set for 2020 and beyond, and is providing funds to Boeing to test a low-noise cargo configuration in a wind tunnel (see p. 50). Locating the engines above the fuselage and between the fins helps block fan and jet noise from reaching the ground, enabling quieter airport operations. Concept artwork provided by NASA.
Boeing has received $234 million to begin production of the sixth Wideband Global Satcom satellite from the U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The order was placed in November 2007 by the Australian government as part of an agreement granting the Australian Defense Force access to the worldwide WGS constellation of communications satellites. At that time, the WGS network was limited to five spacecraft.
