Tejpreet Singh Chopra has been named president/CEO for General Electric in India, succeeding Scott R. Bayman. Chopra was president/CEO of GE Commercial Finance-India.
Stan Younger has been promoted to vice president-service facilities of the Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan., from director of Citation service facilities.
Ahmed M. Metwalli has become president/chief operating officer of Aerospace Products International Inc., Memphis, Tenn. He was vice president- business development and distribution for Kellstrom Industries.
L-3 Communications and Alenia North America face a tough schedule to integrate U.S.-unique equipment on the C-27J and handover the first aircraft within 12 months now that they've been awarded the U.S. Army and Air Force's combined Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) contract. The C-27J team, which includes Boeing, bested the Raytheon/EADS C-295 offering for the more-than-$12-billion program. The losing bidder is mulling whether to protest.
Raytheon has demonstrated the first power flight of its Miniature Air Launched Decoy. The MALD was launched from an F-16 operating in the Eglin AFB, Fla., test ranges. The aircraft is designed to simulate the flight and electronic signature of various other types of aircraft. One of its variants is also expected to conduct jamming and electronic attack of air defense emitters. The MALD used its onboard navigation and guidance system as well.
Runway overruns and flight fatigue are becoming growing threats to business aviation--and industry leaders are striving through enhanced training to reduce, if not wipe out, these safety risks. "More than half of all business aviation accidents and incidents that have occurred in recent years are related to runway overruns," notes National Business Aviation Assn. Senior Vice President of Operations Steven J. Brown.
The surge in service to China continues apace with a new batch of flights between the country and southeast Asia. Singapore Airlines says it will add three weekly flights to Shanghai this week and another four beginning July 1. That will give the Singaporean carrier five daily flights to China's biggest city. Also, Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia Bhd. and its Thai franchisee will link the wealthy southern Chinese city of Shenzhen with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok from July 15. AirAsia already serves Macau and Xiamen.
The waters around Florida are a potential hot spot for terrorists, smugglers and refugees. The U.S. Coast Guard has its hands full preparing to detect and interdict them. In doing so, the service should recall the surveillance of Florida waters by Navy blimps in World War II.
Harry Schmink has been named president of the Gears and Transmissions Div. of Chicago-based Northstar Aerospace Inc. He has been general manager of the Chicago manufacturing plant. Ian Taylor has been appointed vice president-programs. He was general manager of Northstar Aerospace (Canada) Inc. Tom Purvin has become vice president-sales and marketing for North America and David Fisher director of business development for North America.
C. David Cush, who is senior vice president-global sales for American Airlines, has been named to the board of directors of Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. of Dallas.
Midwest Airlines' efforts to fend off a hostile takeover were weakened after AirTran Airways was able to get its three nominees--John Albertine, Jeffery Erikson and Charles Kalmback--elected to Midwest's nine-member board of directors. Even before the results of the shareholder vote were tallied, Midwest's current board opted to finally let AirTran formally make its case to the group. No date has been set for AirTran to make its presentation.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics' new Digital Switch Matrix family provides switching for high data rate emitters coupled logic (ECL) signals up to 300 Mbps. or for the lower data rate of RS-422 signals. The matrices are configured to accommodate up to 144 inputs/144 outputs (which can be distributed among clock and data signals). They provide full fan-out operation, allowing each input to be routed to any or all outputs simultaneously, and are non-blocking, making them well suited for large data routing installations, according to the company.
When Israeli forces moved into Lebanon last year in an effort to quell attacks by Hezbollah paramilitary forces there, the radio traffic associated with the action was monitored by a Special Electronic Mission Aircraft (SEMA), a specially modified business jet, circuiting well overhead.
NASA's planned competition for the cryogenic upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle has spurred some risk-reduction spending among contenders for the $900-million production contract. Lockheed Martin is building a sample of the bulkhead dome separating fuel and oxidizer in the stage, using friction stir welding on thin aluminum plates and new inspection techniques, while teammate ATK is developing new vehicle-health monitoring systems and installing them in large composite test articles.
The U.S. Navy is planning to field its first organic airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) capability this fall with the introduction of the first of five of the MH-60S’s key mine-hunting components into the fleet by year-end. The AN/AQS-20 Mine Hunting Sonar system is nearing completion of its technical evaluation phase and will be dispatched to the fleet by the end of the year. The device, designed by Raytheon, will be towed behind the MH-60S and is used to detect mines in deep water.
Boeing has finally secured Aeroflot's 787 order, with the Russian carrier opting for 22 of the aircraft, the same number of Airbus A350s it plans to buy. To secure the deal, Boeing has agreed to establish a joint working group with Russia's United Aircraft Corp. to look at cooperative research, design, development and manufacturing of commercial aircraft.
Lockheed Martin has set up a new, larger customer support center in Shalimar, Fla., to assist its nearby Air Force Special Ops Command customer at Hurlburt Field. More than 20 company personnel may be assigned to the 5,000-sq.-ft. facility in the coming months.
Europe's aerospace and defense industry finds itself experiencing mixed blessings at this point in time--a strong business and a raft of headaches to accompany this state. On the one hand, civil order books are booming and companies are building record backlogs. On the other hand, structural hurdles abound, such as the dwindling value of the dollar and emerging rivals in Asia. Charles Edelstenne, in his capacity as chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation and as an advocate for the European industry at large, lives with these stresses daily.
Michael Rudolphi (see photo) has been named vice president-site operations and integration in Huntsville, Ala., for Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems. He was director of engineering at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
The only F-22 Raptor unit to be led by and primarily staffed with Air National Guardsmen will be based in Hawaii. The squadron, part of the 154th Wing, will start training its aircrews in 2010 and begin receiving its stealth fighters in 2011 as the seventh operational F-22 unit.
Michael A. Taverna (Les Mureaux, France, and Turin, Italy)
Although the protoype flight model has yet to fly, engineers are already designing derivative versions of the ATV that could meet ISS supply requirements after the shuttle is retired, as well as future space exploration endeavors.
Orbiting construction crewmates on the International Space Station are well on the way to achieving a station-design silhouette first set 20 years ago on the old Space Station Freedom program. Still, the ongoing station-assembly mission shows just how close-run a thing it will be to get the orbiting laboratory finished before the space shuttle fleet retires in 2010. Serious problems with critical computers on the Russian side of the station, and perhaps with the shuttle's fragile thermal protection system as well, could further slow assembly.
Alenia Aeronautica hopes its work on a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft demonstrator will spur interest in a future European collaborative program. The so-called Sky-Y has been underway in secret for several months, but this week the company is expected to lift the veil on the project. A Sky-Y model will be shown at the Paris air show, while the real version is undergoing trials at the Vidsel test range in Sweden.
At CIT Aerospace's Second Annual Aerospace & Defense Finance Forum in New York on June 6, more than 200 industry leaders explored the global issues facing aerospace and defense sector businesses. Among the speakers were U.S. Marine Corps Gen. (ret.) James L. Jones, president/CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, who expounded on the challenges that must be faced when operating in today's multi-polar world, and USMC Brig. Gen. David G. Reist, who offered a front-line perspective on Iraq.
