Tensions between Georgia and Russia grew last week after a Russian Raduga Kh-58 (AS-11 Kilter) anti-radiation missile hit territory of the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Whether the Kh-58 was accidentally released, jettisoned under fire or represented a deliberate attempt to destroy Georgian air surveillance radar, has still to be determined. The missile was possibly carried by a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer. Radar data released by the Georgian government reportedly shows the tracks of two aircraft.
Germany’s second SARLupe radar reconnaissance satellite, shown during launch preparations, has entered service a month after it was orbited atop a Cosmos 3M rocket from Plesetsk, Russia. Together with the first spacecraft, launched in December 2006, the new submetric-resolution unit will permit the German armed forces to begin using the SARLupe system for routine operations, notably in Afghanistan.
Deployed by politicians like so much chaff and flare, the phrase “there’s no need to worry” inevitably sets off caution warnings. Boris Alyoshin, head of the Russian government’s industry agency, recently expressed such a sentiment concerning development of an engine for the Russian air force’s fifth-generation fighter requirement, known as PAK FA. “I’m confident all the timescales will be kept,” Alyoshin ventured.
Proxy Aviation says it completed the first demonstration of multiple UAVs performing autonomous cooperative flight. The demonstrations, which took place in July, used the SkyWatcher and SkyRaider systems with two simulated UAVs flying through a networked system. Nine missions over nine days included scenarios for target search, simulated weapons release and dynamic retasking as well as formation flying and collision avoidance. The tests were part of the UAV Battle Lab’s Cooperative Rules Based Reconnaissance Unmanned System program.
Eutelsat is preparing to order an all-Ka-band spacecraft intended to leapfrog over pioneering broadband and broadcasting initiatives by WildBlue and DirecTV/Spaceway in the U.S.
Analysis of radar soundings by Japan’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite “Daichi” before and after the July 16 earthquake 17 km. under the seafloor west of Niigita Prefecture shows that the 6.8-magnitude quake pushed the nearest dry land downward, while land more distant from the epicenter rose. Researchers plotted the diastrophism with a differential interferometric process comparing terrain elevations measured with the Palsar L-band phased array radar on Daichi Jan. 16 and July 19. The process revealed changes totaling some 30 cm. in elevation.
USAF Gen. Kevin P. Chilton has been named commander of U.S. Strategic Command , Offutt AFB, Neb. He has been commander of Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo. He will be succeeded by Lt. Gen. Claude R. Kehler, who has been deputy commander and has been nominated for promotion to general. Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula has been appointed deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at USAF Headquarters in Washington. He has been deputy chief of staff for intelligence.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency’s Air and Marine branch will begin flying two AgustaWestland AW139 medium-lift helicopters this month after operational evaluation is completed (see photo). The twin-engine rotorcraft will be deployed for border-security missions. The aircraft are equipped with electro-optical/infrared sensors, in combination with a laser designator. The AW139 can carry up to 12 passengers, fly more than 570 naut. mi. and has a maximum speed of about 160 kt.
Telesat Canada reported a 35% jump in second-quarter revenues to $161.4 million and a 54% jump in cash flow to $59.9 million, but net earnings dropped 3% to $41.6 million, due to higher taxes. Results will put the company in a good position to exploit five new spectrum licenses awarded by the Canadian Ministry of Industry on June 13. The company has been mulling new Ka-band and Ku-/C-band satellites as it maneuvers to counter a challenge from SES-affiliated startup Ciel. Ciel received seven of the 12 licenses up for grabs.
Program managers are always working to find an innovative way to measure the success of their efforts. Col. David Rice, the Army’s precision fire rockets and missiles program manager, raised the bar last week. He told reporters during a teleconference on his Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System that insurgents in Iraq are calling the precision rockets the “Hands of Allah.” The system is deployed there and defense officials say that they are comfortable enough with its accuracy to take the extraordinary step of launching them against targets in urban areas.
Continued expansion in satcom demand, plus strong interest from the Earth-observation community, is increasing the likelihood of a near-term go-ahead for Iridium’s next-generation mobile satellite system.
Thales says it expects to conclude by the end of the summer an agreement with a U.S. manufacturer to team for an unmanned aerial vehicle system foreign military sale, possibly for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Executives say Thales is in discussion with Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Honeywell for the system, which would draw on experience with the U.K. Watchkeeper tactical UAV and be equipped with a U.S. air vehicle and Thales and/or U.S. subsystems. It would be integrated by the French defense contractor, which is already helping the U.K.
More than 1,000 pilots applied for jobs at United Airlines in the first ten days after the carrier said it would hire 100 pilots by the end of the year. Vice President of Flight Operations Hank Krakowski said the airline is impressed with the caliber and diversity of candidates as well as the volume of applications.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans to test the feasibility of patrolling wide swaths of the Gulf Coast and Caribbean with land-based unmanned aircraft early next year. The Coast Guard, possibly the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other federal agencies are partners in the 3-4-week demonstration, according to Michael Kostelnik, head of CBP’s air and marine division.
I take issue with your editorial “Turning Up the Heat Isn’t Shedding Any Light” (AW&ST May 28, p. 78) in which you compare the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. (Natca) to the fabled “Boy Who Cried Wolf” for issuing press releases that expose FAA air traffic control facility staffing and safety issues. Natca’s often legitimate concerns are being downplayed by the FAA and dismissed by industry observers, the public and Congress, as rhetoric in light of the ongoing labor dispute.
Vitalyi Lopota has been named president of the Russian Energia Rocket and Space Corp. (Energia RSC). Since 1991, Lopota headed the St. Petersburg-based central research and development institute of robotics and technical cybernetics, and in June he was appointed first vice president and general designer of Energia. He succeeds Nicolai Sevastiyanov, who was dismissed by the board in June.
First flight of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries C-X will be delayed, after the big Japanese airlifter failed structural tests. The P-X maritime patroller, a parallel development by the same manufacturer, has also suffered structural problems. And delivery of the first Boeing KC-767 to Japan has been delayed for a third time—from the end of this month until March—because it has not passed U.S. safety requirements, says the defense ministry.
India’s Tata Airlines is the first to start operations from a helipad on its luxury hotel in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital. Currently, private operators use a public helipad when flying into downtown Mumbai, but the government is considering opening up rooftop operations, says Kanu Gohain, directorate general of civil aviation.
Regional airlines in the U.S., which feed the majors passengers, will soon be feeding them nearly all their pilots. The majors are projected to need more than 50,000 pilots during the next 12 years, more than twice the 20,000 they now employ.
Worldwide passenger traffic growth remains steady, up 5.1% in the first half of the year compared with same period last year, says Airports Council International (ACI). Traffic on international routes was up 6.7%; domestic up 4%. The African region leads in international and domestic markets, driven by activity at South Africa’s airports. At Johannesburg, passenger traffic rose 13%, its cargo traffic 16%; at Cape Town, passenger traffic increased 17%.
Sirius Satellite Radio has turned to Space Systems/Loral to build Sirius FM-6 based on a high-power 1300-series platform. A launch provider has not been selected. The satellite is to be completed in 2010. Sirius intends it for a highly inclined elliptical orbit. SS/L has previously built the Sirius fleet of three operating spacecraft and one ground spare.
With investors already having pushed its stock up 33% since the start of the year, Alliant Techsystems Inc. was under the gun to deliver strong quarterly earnings. It didn’t disappoint. On Aug. 2 the company, which sells advanced weapons, ammunition and space systems, reported a 35% increase in net income from a year earlier thanks to strong organic sales growth and fatter profit margins, beating Wall Street’s consensus earnings estimate by a solid 10%.
American Airlines plans to test high-speed broadband connectivity next year on Boeing 767-200s flying transcontinental routes under a memorandum of intent signed with AirCell LLC. The broadband product will be available on a fee-for-service basis to passengers in all classes of seats. Passengers using it will be able to use Internet links, VPN access and e-mail over Wi-Fi enabled laptops and PDA devices. AirCell will provide the ground-side links on cell phone towers around the U.S.
Two USAF F-16s directed by the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a Cessna 172 shortly after noon on Aug. 1 over Washington, after a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight entered the National Capital Region Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). After the intercept, the student pilot contacted air traffic controllers and flew to Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland where he was questioned by the Secret Service. The FAA plans to institute a new ADIZ with a simplified design—a circular one with a 30-naut-mi. radius around the Capitol—on Aug. 30.
