Manned and unmanned aircraft will play key roles in protecting U.S. maritime interests, says the head of the new joint Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) office. “No threat comes through a single domain, so air, land, sea all have to be linked, otherwise we create another set of stovepipes,” says Navy Rear Adm. Lee Metcalf, the first director of the Joint Inter-Agency National Office of Global Maritime Situational Awareness.
BMI has committed to a massive expansion of its network from London Heathrow Airport, as the carrier tries to find profitable routes that could replace some of its loss-making inter-European operations. Along with 17 new medium- and long-haul destinations, the carrier is boosting its premium offerings.
Jan Roskam, consultant with the DARcorp., Lawrence, Kan., has been named to receive the Aircraft Design Award from the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is being recognized for career-long achievement in airplane design, airplane design education, configuration design and flight dynamics education. Lowell Keel, acting site manager for the ATK-Micro Craft Operation in Tullahoma, Tenn., is to receive the Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Program Management.
That cloud of dust you see on the political horizon comes from preparations by all sides for what was once expected to be a climactic moment: this week’s assessment of the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq and the potential for security and stability there. When it reaches us, the storm threatens not only to blur the Iraq issues. It also may obscure the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the need for renewed resolve—and resources—in protecting the U.S. from the threat of terrorism.
The C-27J tactical transport has been gradually building its customer base, but in the prevailing competitive market, manufacturers are always looking for new ideas to help build their order books. Alenia Aeronautica has been doing its part for the C-27J (see p. 60) by devising concepts for derivative models to perform a host of new missions—from special operations troop insertion, to a gunship role, to airborne early warning and even signals intelligence.
Boeing’s Alteon Training subsidiary will operate a 787 full-flight simulator in Shanghai that will be located at Shanghai Airlines’ Pudong Airport training facility, which is scheduled to become operational at year-end. Training for the 787, however, will not start until the first half of 2008. Chinese carriers, including Shanghai Airlines, are buying 60 787s with initial deliveries scheduled in time to enter service before the Olympic Games begin at Beijing in August.
Indian ground controllers are raising the orbit of the Insat-4CR replacement communications satellite, after its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F04) placed it in a transfer orbit Sept. 2. The launch marked the first flight of a GSLV since a pressure drop in one of four liquid-fuel strap-on boosters forced range safety officers to destroy the previous GSLV as it lifted off over the Bay of Bengal on July 10, 2006.
The French air force will redeploy fighters from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to Kandahar, Afghanistan, to improve their ability to support NATO and U.S. forces there. The move will affect three Mirage 2000Ds that have been used in air-to-ground strikes and three Mirage F1CR tactical reconnaissance aircraft. Two C-160 Transall transports will remain in Dushanbe, while France’s two C‑135 refueling aircraft supporting Afghanistan operations will remain at their base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan.
Quiet efforts by competitors Boeing and Northrop Grumman are already underway to lay the groundwork—including public relations plans—for a protest of a $40-billion contract to build U.S. Air Force refueling tankers that hasn’t even been awarded. This aggressive approach by the two contractors could be an indicator that the age of the bid protest—once rare when disputes were handled quietly—has arrived. And, it isn’t going away.
Europe’s emissions trading scheme is potentially a practical tool for shaping commercial aviation policy, but its application needs to be far more aggressive.
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the adjoining Canaveral National Seashore are using space-related hardware to protect the thousands of Loggerhead sea turtles that nest and hatch on a 43-mi. stretch of pristine beach near the massive—and brightly lit—space shuttle launch pads. The KSC shoreline is one of the world’s most important sea turtle hatching areas. But it is also part of the world’s busiest launch site, with dozens of facilities that need to be lighted at night. Lights lure turtle hatchlings inland, where they die, instead of out to sea.
Era Corp. of Reston, Va., is adding multilateration and ADS-B capability to Siemens Ltd.’s Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The installation will include vehicle-tracking units and is considered essential to monitoring aircraft at the airport as traffic increases. The project is part of improvements aimed at preparing the airport for the 2010 World Cup competition in Johannesburg.
USAF Brig. Gen. (select) Wendy M. Masiello has become program executive officer for combat and mission support programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. She was associate deputy assistant secretary for contracting.
Flughafen Munchen, the Munich Airport operating company, has applied to start planning approval proceedings for the construction of a third runway. The runway would have a target capacity of 120 takeoffs and landings per hour, sufficient for traffic growth expected through 2020.
George Odden has been appointed a director of the Aerospace-Defense-Government Group, based in Los Angeles, of Houlihan Lokey . He was vice president-mergers and acquisitions for Honeywell Aerospace.
When Airbus’s development problems with the A380 jumbo transport first came to light last year, investors dumped shares of its parent company, EADS, in droves, causing the stock to lose more than half its value at one point. So it was interesting to see Wall Street greet Boeing Co.’s news of a three-month delay in the 787’s first flight (see p. 24) with little more than a shrug on Sept. 5. Boeing shares actually finished the day with a slight gain of 64 cents. Not one analyst downgraded the stock.
British defense technology company Qinetiq is to build a further version of its Zehpyr long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), following its latest flight tests—which included exceeding the official UAV duration record. The Zephyr program, which is funded by Qinetiq and the British Defense Ministry, is exploring the practicality of a solar-powered, high-altitude platform for persistent surveillance and communications relay missions.
Matthew Bresler, Myles Goeller and Craig Segor have been promoted to senior vice president from vice president of the Seabury Group of New York. Geoffrey Weston has become a senior vice president. He was vice president-cargo and vice president-network management and alliances at Royal Jordanian Airlines. Sarah Henry has become vice president-human resources.
The British Royal Air Force has lost another C-130K Hercules special-forces aircraft as a result of operations in Afghanistan. The aircraft was taken out of service by British forces late last month following damage during an operational mission—reportedly the result of a heavy landing. There were no serious casualties. Three of the RAF’s C-130Ks have been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Proton failure and a fresh delay in starting up Sea Launch’s Zenit-based Land Launch derivative are likely to keep global launcher capacity tight and prices high, just as the return to service of Sea Launch and India’s GSLV were expected to provide some relief.
The U.S. and Australia have signed an agreement to ease export rules for defense equipment. The arrangement gives Australia the same preferred status so far only granted the U.K. It eliminates the need for certain export licenses and should foster industrial cooperation. Moreover, Australia will more easily gain access to U.S. technical information.
The Israeli military has unveiled a defense spending plan that should take effect in January. The plan, called “Tefen,” emphasizes improving ground forces, which is a priority in the wake of perceived shortcomings during last year’s war in Lebanon. For the air force, the modernization plan calls for acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as well as further unmanned aircraft. Early-warning and anti-rocket and missile defenses also are priorities, as are better intelligence gathering and information processes.
Sept. 17-19—SpeedNews Eighth Annual Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Toulouse, Hotel Palladia, France. Call +1 (310) 203-9603, fax +1 (310) 203-9352 or see www.speednews.com/Conference/euroconference.html Sept. 17-20—SAE’s 2007 AeroTech Congress & Exhibition. Los Angeles Convention Center. Call +1 (724) 776-4841, fax +1 (724) 776-0790 or see www.sae.org Sept. 17-23—Aeromart Beijing. China World Trade Center. See www.aeromart.tm.fr/Beijing
