Laurence B. Winn, President, SpaceFarers Corp. (Tucson, Ariz.)
There is no shortage of skilled engineering labor in today’s market, nor will there be for the foreseeable future. Instead, the perception of a shortage is the product of poor judgment, as demonstrated so vividly and recently in the banking and automotive industries. In the past, individual engineering skill sets were uniformly applicable, differing among engineers only in degree of skill. Industry itself has created barriers to entry that did not exist 15 years ago and would not exist except for pure foolishness and bad behavior.
Air Force Aerospatiale SA365C (2) Antonov An-12 (1) British Aerospace Strikemaster Mk 89 (1) Cessna 421 (1) Fokker 100 (1) Gulfstream III (1) Gulfstream IV (1) IAR SA330G (2) Mil Mi-24 (1)
Engineers were in short supply once before during the post-World War II years. Many of us, now long retired, were pressed into “uncertificated” service as engineers during the 1950s because there was no other choice. Many aerospace programs were completed without a full complement of college graduates. In most cases, it was the military services that supplied the technical education.
General Dynamics has won an $18.5-million USAF Materiel Command contract to find environmentally significant materials, process and technology advances within the propulsion industrial base that will lead to the “ultimate green engine” for the Air Force. The service wants an engine that is designed and built with parts that do not corrode while in use and that does not employ or release hazardous materials during manufacturing or maintenance. Moreover, the engine’s operation is to have minimal environment impact on air emissions and noise.
Dassault Aviation says all major systems on the Neuron unmanned combat vehicle project have completed design reviews and interface design is coming to an end, paving the way for detailed systems and airframe work to begin. Ruag completed a pair of wind tunnel tests for ground effect and leading edge bird strike last year, allowing the final shape of the vehicle to be frozen. In October, Dassault’s Ave-C UAV, whose general design is similar to Neuron, demonstrated thrust vectoring yaw control, after earlier testing automatic takeoff and landing capability.
A Gripen NG has completed the aircraft’s first supersonic flight without the use of afterburner. The milestone last week was achieved while flying over the Baltic Sea at 28,000 ft. The Gripen reached Mach 1.2.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
One of the major changes between the 2006 Lebanon and 2009 Gaza military campaigns is that the Israeli defense ministry has been much more successful in manipulating the information war, say U.S. intelligence officials who are comparing analyses of both conflicts.
6815 Château de Betzdorf Luxembourg Tel. (352) 710-7251; Fax (352) 710-7252-27 www.ses-global.com SES Global comprises SES Americom, SES Astra, SES New Skies Satellites, Ciel, QuetzSat, Star One, SES Sirius AB, AsiaSat, Netsystem, Satlynx, Accelon and ND Satcom. Their combined fleet is as follows: AMC-1 Broadcasting, business services, cable programming, mobile communications. Orbital location is 103° W. Carries 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders. 2011 EOL.
The U.S. Navy has tested Raytheon’s new Standard Missile-2 target detecting device. The missile was a Block IIIB variant, and the detector registered its lowest altitude intercept. The shot was from a guided missile destroyer during combat system ship qualification trials. Block III, IIIA and IIIB missiles engaged multiple targets. The anti-air warfare system has a range of 90 naut. mi.
Air Force Gulfstream IV (4) Lockheed C-130H (8) Saab JAS 39A (70) Saab JAS 39B (14) Saab JAS 39C (45) Saab JAS 39D (13) Saab SF.340B (9) Saab SH 37 (2) Saab SK 60A (45) Saab SK 60B (17) Saab SK 60C (19) Coast Guard CASA C-212-200 (2) De Havilland Canada DHC-8-300Q (1) Military Helicopter Wing Agusta A109LUH (8) CASA C-212 (1) Eurocopter AS332M (10)
Air Force Aermacchi MB.339 (6) Aero Vodochody L-39 (21) AgustaWestland AW139 (1) Boeing 737-700BBJ (1) Cessna Citation II (1) Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alphajet E (14) Dornier Air Beetle (40) Dornier Do 128-6 (8) Dornier Do 228-201 (2) Dornier Do 228-212 (3) Eurocopter AS332 (4) Gulfstream V (1) Lockheed C-130H (5) Lockheed C-130H-30 (2) Mil Mi-171Sh (4) Mil Mi-34 (8) Mil Mi-35 (5)
Air Force Beech E90 (1) Bell Helicopter Textron UH-1H (8) Boeing 707-321B (1) British Aerospace HS. 125-400 (1) CASA C-212-200 (4) CASA C-212-400 (1) Cessna 185 (1) Cessna 210 (1) Cessna 402B (2) Cessna 402C (1) Cessna U206C (3) De Havilland Canada DHC-6-200 (1) Embraer EMB-312 (3) Enaer T-35 (5) Helicopteros do Brasil SA HB 350B (3) Neiva T-25 (6) North American AT-6G (2)
