Merger and acquisition activity for 2006 was at its highest in the aerospace industry since 2000, with deals worth $33 billion, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released last week. It anticipates that this level of activity will be sustained during this year and 2008.
French ground spotters are helping guide allied show-of-force and training missions over Afghanistan while preparing to resume support for bombing runs if France decides to expand operations to combat areas.
The private takeover of Qantas now looks assured after the bidders, including Texas Pacific Group, dropped the condition that they receive 90% of the stock, cutting their requirement to 70%.
Boeing and Airbus have formally submitted proposals for the USAF Advanced Tanker competition. Boeing's is based on a new version of the 767-200 Long-Range Freighter. The Northrop Grumman/EADS competitor is based on the A330-200.
An International Launch Services Proton Breeze M rocket has orbited the Anik F3 spacecraft for Telesat Canada--its first launch of the year. The C-/K u-/K a-band satellite, leased to Echostar, was built by EADS Astrium and launched from ILS's pad at Baikonur, Kazakhstan. ILS plans to perform six launches this year, including the first mission with a higher-thrust Phase 2 Enhancement version of Proton in June.
Exploration, science and aeronautics managers at NASA will draw on years of studies to decide some basic questions this summer about how humans can travel to Mars. Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for exploration, says a broad architecture for Mars missions should be ready by August, addressing such issues as the optimum duration of a mission that will help planners set requirements for the hardware to carry it out.
Planning is underway for unprecedented observations at Venus using two different spacecraft simultaneously: ESA's Venus Express, now in elliptical polar orbit around the planet, and NASA's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (Messenger), which will train its instruments on Venus during a June 5 flyby en route to Mercury. The dual observations will focus on the effects of solar wind on Venus's ionosphere and plasma dynamics near the planet, but Messenger's instruments may also aid an ongoing Venus Express study of the planet's violent weather.
The Netherlands will pursue an acquisition program for active laser countermeasures to protect its Boeing AH-64D and CH-47F helicopters against man-portable air defense systems (Manpads). The Defense Staff here made the decision for the AH-64D in late March following successful flight tests conducted by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The Dutch move could spur interest among other Apache operators, including the U.S. Army, which is facing an increasing Manpads threat in Iraq.
EADS shareholders can't agree on key issues about the company's financial future, including how to raise money to support near-term development demands. With its annual general meeting scheduled for early next month, shareholders have already determined one issue--dividend payouts--will not be settled. French government officials want no dividend this year because of Airbus job losses looming under the Power8 restructuring plan, while German interests argue that denying dividend payouts could undermine the company's financial credibility.
Safran says first-quarter sales are up 3.3% as compared to 2006. Aerospace propulsion, fueled by CFM56 and other sales, continues to be the highest growth sector, with an 11.3% jump over a strong quarter last year. Aircraft equipment and defense security sales jumped 4.8% and 4.3%, respectively.
Christophe Dumas has been appointed vice president-strategy and marketing for the Land and Joint Systems Div. of Paris-based Thales. He has been head of strategy and business development for the division's communications equipment and optronics businesses.
IN A DIFFERENT ADVANCED NAVIGATION PROGRAM, Air New Zealand has won approval to fly its 737-700s using GPS guidance and custom-designed Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures to fly to the international airport at Queenstown, New Zealand, nearly surrounded by mountains. Naverus of Kent, Wash., developed the RNP procedures for the airline and was approved on Apr. 9 by the FAA to develop custom-designed RNP approaches for U.S. airlines as well. Qantas is also flying 737s into Queenstown with RNP procedures developed by Naverus.
Unions at Sogerma Services, the loss-making EADS maintenance, re- pair and overhaul facility taken over last year by TAT, have agreed to put in a 39-hr. week but be paid for just 35, as part of concessions granted in return for TAT's rescue of the facility.
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Bigelow Aerospace will charge "sovereign customers"--nations wanting to send their astronauts into space--$14.95 million to spend four weeks in one of the company's proposed inflatable orbiting modules.
Britain is to deploy the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System to support forces operating in Afghanistan before year-end. The GPS-guided rocket system has a range of 60 km.
An item in Washington Outlook on ITT Corp.'s guilty plea in U.S. District Court for transferring classified material to China failed to note that it was documents, not hardware, that was transferred, and not sold (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 27). The item also incorrectly stated that ITT is not a member of the Aerospace Industries Assn.
Brett Davis has become editor of Unmanned Systems magazine, which is published by the Arlington, Va.-based Assn. for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. He is a former editor of AVIATION WEEK'S AEROSPACE DAILY AND DEFENSE REPORT.
In a move expected to speed the adoption of Required Navigation Performance approaches and departures by U.S. airlines, the FAA has approved the first third-party provider to design these custom procedures.
Bush administration officials believe the danger of a terrorist attack on airlines has not receded since a plot to blow up a dozen airliners on the same day was thwarted in Britain eight months ago, according to the Associated Press.
As Lufthansa Technik sorts out the details of handling the Airbus A380, it's eyeing the next challenge--getting set for the Boeing 747-8 and GEnx engine. The German maintenance, repair and overhaul operation committed to the General Electric powerplant even before its sister airline group, Lufthansa, opted for the 747-8, which uses the turbofan. Spare engines have already been ordered to ensure that technicians are trained and supplies in hand once work begins.
The U.S. Air Force is considering whether its newest space-based ballistic missile warning sensor can be declared operational earlier than the planned mid-2008 milestone, according to Program Executive Officer for Space Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel.
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The European Commission is unhappy with the implementation of passenger rights rules in the European Union and threatening to take action if things don't improve in the next six months. The EC says passengers are still not being properly notified of their rights, and implementation of rules isn't consistent. The passenger rights legislation in Europe is about two years old. If airlines and member states don't improve their behavior in the next six months, the EC is threatening to pursue punitive action.
Scott Horowitz, NASA's exploration systems honcho, starts very preliminary talks with potential commercial and military users of the Ares launch vehicles the agency is developing under its Constellation Program. The human-rated Ares I and heavy-lift Ares V, both derived from space shuttle and other heritage hardware, are designed to get humans headed back to the Moon and on beyond into the Solar System (see p. 31). But Administrator Michael Griffin says the more users that can be found for the new vehicles once they start flying in the coming decade, the better.
