Worried that Al Qaeda might try to smuggle weapons or terrorists into the U.S. on an international general aviation flight, the Homeland Security Dept. is exploring ways to screen the contents of large GA aircraft. The department's Transportation Security Administration is considering new security rules for GA and the reliever airports it uses.
BAE Systems' Nashua, N.H., division received two U.S. Army contracts totaling $54 million to provide a multi-band laser technology upgrade for the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures/Common Missile Warning System program (see photo). The laser will replace an existing IR jam laser and flash lamp subsystem to protect helicopters by defeating IR-seeking missiles. Four multi-band lasers will support Atircm operational test and evaluation and 12 laser units will support testing and initial fielding of Atircm/CMWS.
The biennial gathering of aerospace professionals at Le Bourget last week may well have been a watershed event. Instead of the usual buzz surrounding aircraft orders and new airplane designs, most of the banter at hospitality chalets and press briefings focused on the challenge of how manufacturers can effectively address environmental challenges. As United Technologies President Louis Chenevert observed, "This air show [was] a catalyst" on the issue of the industry dealing with greening. His was not an isolated view.
Regarding the Boeing 787 assembly process (AW&ST May 28, p. 72), isn't it comforting to know that one day we will all get a chance to ride on an electrically transparent, plastic airplane that was assembled in three days?
AirAsia, always on the lookout for add-on revenues, will introduce OnAir's communications service through which passengers will be able to use mobile phones for voice calls, SMSs and e-mails. The system will be introduced on 150 AirAsia A320s and on the A330 long-haul services to be flown under the company's brand by affiliate Fly Asia Express.
The Thai government has directed Thai Airways International to lease, not buy, eight Airbus A330-300s the carrier had intended to order. The aircraft were to come at an attractive price that Airbus was offering as compensation for late A380 deliveries--compensation that will now have to take another form. President Apinan Sumanaseni says the matter went to the cabinet, which approved only an operating lease. "There will be no more negotiation," he adds, without identifying the lessor.
Efforts to further reduce aircraft accidents could fizzle unless safety information is shared more broadly, aviation safety experts warned at this month’s European Union-FAA safety conference here. But fears of litigation and other hurdles stand in the way.
The Embraer 170 will be able to operate at the high-yield market of London City Airport, now that the aircraft has received steep-approach certification from the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency and the European Aviation Safety Agency. The Embraer 190 is expected to receive steep-approach certification in December 2008, according to the manufacturer.
Jens Flottau's article "Keeping the Barrell Rolling" refers to Boeing as "burning" barrel sections in autoclaves (AW&ST June 4, p. 40). I have to wince. Heat and pressure are being applied to the fiber reinforcement phase and the resin phase of the composite to cure it. There is no burning or oxidation in the autoclave.
German aerospace center DLR has released initial images from TerraSAR-X, a new radar imaging spacecraft orbited on June 15 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on board a Dnepr rocket. The launch had been set for late last year, but was delayed by problems with tantalum capacitors on the onboard computer and a Dnepr failure in July 2006. The Dnepr returned to flight in April, with a multi-satellite payload including the EgyptSat-1 remote-sensing/scientific spacecraft.
Northrop Grumman will build and test a 40,000-lb.-thrust-class liquid hydrogen turbopump for rocket engines under a new contract for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Upper Stage Engine Technology program. The company has already received $19.9 million in AFRL contracts for the program for advanced engine-design software tools, and will apply those tools to building the turbopump assembly, integrating it on an AFRL test stand at Edwards AFB, Calif., and conducting validation tests by mid-2009.
Standard & Poor's removed British Airways' credit ratings from Credit Watch on June 20, raising long-term corporate ratings to investment grade status and upgrading ratings of unsecured debt by two notches. The improved ratings should provide fiscal relief as British Airways is reviewing orders for 34 replacement and growth aircraft. Credit analyst Leigh Bailey recognizes positive implications for the airline's capital structure and future cash flows.
MyAir, a nearly three-year-old Italian budget carrier, expects this summer will be a test of its business formula featuring two aircraft types. Headquartered near Vicenza's Tommaso dal Molin Airport, the airline carried 1 million passengers in its first year as the fleet grew to five Airbus A320s. MyAir was a launch customer for the Bombardier CRJ1000. It is also operating CRJ900s and has ordered a mix of 19 900s/1000s.
Unhappy with the vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) it was counting on to close a maritime air patrol gap, the Coast Guard hopes another Homeland Security Dept. unit will help out. "We're looking, right now, at partnering potentially with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and whether or not we can come up with a [departmental] solution," says Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant. CBP, which monitors the U.S.-Mexican border with MQ-9 Predator Bs, confirms that talks are underway.
The French navy has been conducting trials to allow Tiger attack and reconnaissance helicopters to operate from ships. Ship landings were performed during a trial period from May 21 to June 7, using the Guepratte frigate and Guepratte landing ship. Tigers are supposed to be able to operate from ships beginning late next year. The helicopter trials involved crosswinds of as much as 100 kph. and a deck listing at 12 deg.
Dassault Aviation flew its Falcon 2000DX for the first time last week. The DX replaces the basic Falcon 2000 and comes with the EASy cockpit. Additionally, Dassault posted four firm orders and 16 options for Falcon 2000LXs to National Air Services of Saudi Arabia. Deliveries are to start in the third quarter of 2008 and spread over six years. Meanwhile, NetJets has converted orders for Falcon 2000EXs to the LX version with winglets for extended range.
The U.S. Defense Dept. has a bevy of high-end nonlethal weapon technologies being developed, but whether it can better exploit the seemingly endless possibilities that nonlethal weapons promise, even by the next major war, is still uncertain.
The European Space Agency has contracted with the Russian Space Agency to acquire the first four Soyuz rockets for the launch pad being constructed at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch vehicles will be built by Samara and operated by Arianespace. ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says he hopes to have the vehicles and pad ready for an initial launch by early 2009. Two Soyuz rockets are earmarked for launch of the first four Galileo in-orbit validation satellites in 2009, and Dordain reaffirmed his intent to orbit them from Kourou.
The trend of blending sensors such as radars, lasers and infrared optics into a single system is accelerating. In fact, driven by increased processing power from ever-smaller packages, researchers plan to put these multispectral sensor systems into space. Moreover, they are examining a larger spectrum of mission for these fused systems.
Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 engine for the Boeing 787 made its long-awaited debut on June 19, on the U.K.-based engine maker's 747-200 flying testbed at Waco, Tex.
The European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization will boost overseas cooperation in the coming months, but concerns linger over the relationship between these, sometimes rival security establishments.
Amy Butler, Robert Wall, Michael A. Taverna and Andy Nativi (Le Bourget)
The global demand for unmanned aircraft is far from abating, with Singapore looking to overcome international opposition to buying Global Hawks and European industrial rivals lining up to meet long-standing demand for medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) surveillance systems.
NetJets has ordered 96 Cessna Citation business jets worth more than $1 billion. The order includes 50 Encore+, 37 XLS and nine Citation X aircraft. NetJets, which is Cessna Aircraft Co.'s largest Citation customer, operates 304 Citations in the U.S. and Europe.
Singapore Airlines Cargo is cutting back in response to the freight market slowdown, offering 10% less capacity between April and August compared with last year. The cargo business operated slightly below its calculated break-even load factor of 63.8% last year.
Robert Wall, Michael Mecham and Amy Butler (Le Bourget)
A wake-up call is shaking up the aerospace industry on environmental concerns as manufacturers scramble to devise ways to achieve a greener footprint. Europe is considering enticements to encourage fleet replacements and phase out old aircraft faster, says Guenther Verheugen, European commissioner for enterprise and industry. He's concerned that even as cleaner aircraft emerge, it could take decades to generate the full environmental effect as old aircraft are kept in service
