Thales, Finmeccanica and naval specialist DCNS have agreed to create three joint ventures intended to reinforce their cooperation in underwater programs. One venture would be owned 51% by Finmeccanica and 49% by DCNS (in which Thales is a major shareholder) and focus on designing, developing and marketing torpedo and anti-torpedo systems. The second would be owned 51% by DCNS and 49% by Finmeccanica, and would be devoted to torpedo manufacturing and support as well as design, construction and testing of the weapon’s energy module.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s Flight Delay Task Force identified nearly 100 initiatives to improve airport capacity and reduce delays. Officials called for implementation of a scheduling process that would redistribute airline flights that now concentrate on the hour and half-hour; opening of military airspace for commercial use; fast-tracking the FAA’s NextGen air traffic control technology, and encouraging airlines to operate large-capacity aircraft.
The German defense procurement agency has signed a contract with EADS for the risk-reduction phase of the trinational advanced unmanned aircraft project. Germany is leading the effort, with France and Spain as partners. EADS is joined by Thales and Dassault Aviation. The advanced UAV is intended to be of modular design, to allow operators to change configuration between long-endurance and high-speed roles.
Engineers from General Electric and Rolls-Royce, in cooperation with researchers at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee, are initiating tests to determine performance and operability of the F-136 engine/afterburner combination planned for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Although the F-35 will be powered by the Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine until 2011-12, the F-136 is projected to be an alternate powerplant for the U.K. and other U.S. allies buying the supersonic aircraft.
Chip White (see photos) has been appointed manager of the Columbus, Ohio, Learning Center of FlightSafety International . He was manager of the Long Beach (Calif.) Learning Center. White has been succeeded by Pete Nily, who has been promoted from assistant manager of the Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington (Del.) Center. Nily, in turn, has been followed by Matthew Cox, who was an instructor. Charlie Harvich has been promoted to manager of FSI’s Gulfstream Maintenance Center, Savannah, Ga., from assistant center manager for maintenance operations.
BOC Aviation, an aircraft leasing arm of Bank of China, has leased four Boeing 737-800s to Hainan Airlines and two to Shandong Airlines—both Chinese—and one to Japan’s Skymark Airlines.
Takemasa Moriya, a former vice minister in Japan’s Defense Ministry, and Motonobu Miyazaki, a former Japanese trading company executive, are being investigated concerning an inappropriate relationship that may have influenced the selection of General Electric’s CF6 engine for Japan’s CX military transport. GE officials say they are not the target of any Japanese investigation, no employee is accused of wrongdoing, and they are cooperating with Japanese investigators. Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce were the competitors.
Dassault Aviation in January plans to evaluate moving production out of the euro-zone because the strong currency is undermining its ability to compete against rivals with dollar-dominated costs. Final assembly will stay in France, but parts production might be shifted.
Eurofighter and BAE Systems have concluded a contract for the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoons to Saudi Arabia. BAE is the prime contractor for Project Salam, which is covered by an agreement between Britain and Saudi Arabia.
Jan. 7-10—46th American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA) Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. Grand Sierra Resort Hotel, Reno, Nev. Also, Jan. 23‑24—AIAA Strategic and Tactical Missile Systems Conference. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. And, Mar. 31-Apr. 3—Sixth U.S. Missile Defense Conference and Exhibit. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington. Call +1 (703) 264-7500, fax +1 (703) 264-7551 or see www.aiaa.org
Colleen Henry has become a program support specialist for peacekeeping and international relief services for SkyLink USA , Dulles, Va. She was a staff assistant for the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
The FAA Office of Runway Safety may have taken measures to improve runway and ramp safety—but a lack of leadership and data-collection, among other factors, is stalling their implementation, so concludes a Dec. 5 Government Accountability Office report. The GAO evaluated reasons behind an increase in the number and frequency of runway incursions, which peaked in Fiscal 2002 and remained constant until 2007 when the rate nearly duplicated the 2002 peak.
In an effort to open the door to unmanned aircraft operating in European civil airspace, Eurocontrol has devised guidelines to help states overcome one major hurdle—air traffic management. However, the big unknown remains how widely the recommendations will be embraced.
The British Defense Ministry will review safety documentation for several military aircraft types as a result of the report on a Nimrod aircraft crash in Afghanistan that killed 14 personnel.
European transport ministers have approved a proposed change in the bidding rules for the Galileo satellite navigation system that will clear the way for the program to move forward as a publicly funded project. The ministers agreed to the scheme at their quarterly council meeting on Nov. 29. The vote followed approval by the finance ministers on Nov. 23 for the European Commission to go ahead with a plan to earmark €2.4 billion ($3.5 billion) in EC money to fund the remainder of the system.
Long-awaited studies designed to refine the Pentagon’s force mix needs for intratheater aircraft—including the C-27J and C-130J—are finally expected to be complete early next year and could change the course of the Pentagon’s airlifter procurement plans.
Ruag Aerospace plans to enter the small regional turboprop market, after internal studies confirmed substantial demand for 15-19-seat utility aircraft. The Swiss aerospace company will launch an upgraded version of the Dornier Do 228, which has been out of production since 1998. Production is to be restarted by the end of 2009. Ruag hopes to secure launch customers by early 2008 and says it is in discussions with several operators.
Specialists working to combine components of two previous human launch vehicles into the next-generation Ares I rocket are using advanced computer models to analyze complex performance parameters earlier in the design cycle than was possible in the past.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley is turning to the French air force for advice on how to establish an Africa Command. A senior USAF official says the service likely will be a dominant player there because its large landmass and lack of infrastructure require airlifters, tankers and possibly fighters. Moseley invited a French general officer to brief a panel of USAF four-stars on the French military presence in Africa since colonial times.
Douglas Barrie (Fort Worth), Amy Butler (Washington)
Exchange rates are emerging as a financial issue for the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter. The weak dollar/strong pound discrepancy is posing a considerable challenge, compounded by a strong euro. The U.K. is the U.S.’s only Level One collaborative partner in the Lockheed Martin F-35 program. “Currency exchange is a huge problem for us,” says Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 program: “It’s one of the biggest risks we carry.”
Alessandro Franzoni, formerly chief technical officer of Alenia Aeronautica, has been appointed CEO of Venice, Italy-based Superjet International , the joint venture of Alenia and Sukhoi.
Rapidly developing Singaporean budget carrier Tiger Airways says it has been profitable for the past two quarters and has the second-lowest operating costs in the world, after larger Malaysian rival AirAsia (see p. 46).
France has made a commitment for its army to acquire 68 NH90TTH helicopters configured for tactical transport. The aircraft will be bought in three lots—the first 12 are being ordered immediately, followed by another 22 next year and 34 in 2011, when the NH90s are scheduled to begin replacing the Eurocopter Puma. The sale brings to 507 the number of orders for the NH90 series. The French military is also buying 27 of the maritime version.
Airline passengers may unknowingly be creating inflight fire hazards, and the NTSB plans to promote a public-awareness campaign about the risks of lithium batteries carried onto airliners. The program would be centered on informing passengers of the latest regulations as well as which apparently innocuous items—such as extra batteries for mobile phones crammed into carry-ons and check-in bags—are hazardous materials and how to handle them.
Saint-Gobain Flight Structures has won a long-term contract from Spirit AeroSystems to supply Norton radomes for the Boeing 787. Spirit is building the 787’s composite cockpit and forward fuselage at its facility in Wichita, Kan., and installs the radomes before the entire assembly is shipped to Boeing’s final assembly line in Everett, Wash. The Norton radome uses Saint-Gobain’s trademark Quartzel fibers and, with a diameter of 7 ft., is the largest quartz radome the company has designed and manufactured for commercial aviation.
