Craig Covault (Redondo Beach, Calif., and Cape Canaveral)
China is beginning an unprecedented surge in the flight test of new ballistic missiles at the same time that the U.S. is starting a lengthy transition of missile-warning satellite systems, critical for providing intelligence on this test activity. The current Defense Support Program (DSP) missile-warning spacecraft and new Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) spacecraft, just starting to be launched, have a primary job of attack warnings.
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Bradley Perrett has been listening too much to Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson. Perrett writes in "Super Stopgap" that the "big old F-111s are getting harder to maintain and increasingly dangerous to fly" (AW&ST Mar. 12, p. 29).
General Electric has become the second largest investor in Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holding in a shares swap with SES. GE now holds 34.1% of AsiaSat. China's Citic Group investment arm has the largest share, 34.8%.
About 20-30 protestors showed up last week for the final day of the annual Washington-based exhibition sponsored by the U.S. Navy League. They congregated with anti-war signs at a subway stop outside the conference hotel, and showgoers filed by them uneventfully as they came and went. At least two of the peaceful protestors sitting in the hotel's lobby were asked by security to leave. The small group handed out flyers that said the conference, named Sea Air Space, should be called "Sea Power to Secure Violence . . .
Finnair is looking at "a share issue or various forms of mezzanine financing" (a mix of debt and equity financing) to strengthen its balance sheet, says Chief Financial Officer Lasse Heinonen. "In this way, we will clearly remain on the better side of our own limits and those set by our financers." Finnair wants to offset its investment spending in the coming years, after having committed to a raft of purchases of Airbus and Embraer aircraft. The spending level in each of the next three years is pegged at €300 million ($399 million).
Alitalia has pushed reporting its 2006 results until May 23, although preliminary indications are that there will be a pre-tax loss of €405.2 million, on operating revenue of €4.72 billion. The loss is significantly worse than in 2005. The airline may yet reassess the book value of its fleet, which could double the loss to beyond €800 million. Alitalia management is holding off on reporting earnings until privatization steps are completed.
Volvo Aero is starting a three-year $18-million study on lightweight engine components, funded equally by the Swedish government and the company. Tagged as an environmental project, it is being performed under the "Aviation Technology and Demonstrator Program," or Flud, using the Swedish acronym.
Islas Airways is buying six new ATR 72-500s. The Canary Islands-based carrier currently operates older turboprops, one ATR 42-300 and four 72-300s. The -500s are to be delivered at a rate of two a year, starting this year.
Sea Launch continues to insist that its heavy-lift booster will return to flight before the end of the year, in parallel with the introduction of its two-stage Land Launch derivative, despite continued skepticism among operators.
The U.S. Commerce Dept. is touting a turnaround in international visitors to the U.S. based on record-breaking travel receipts, but the Discover American Partnership, a coalition of hotel and travel executives, takes exception. Visitors to the U.S. spent $107.4 billion in 2006, up 5% from a year earlier, the highest ever. International travelers increased 4% year-over-year to 51.1 million, nearly matching the peak in 2000. And the Commerce Dept. is now projecting a 21% increase in U.S.
Installation of sensor packages in Lockheed Martin's unique Cooperative Avionics Test Bed (CATBird) will begin this month and continue through 2008, transforming the airliner into a flying laboratory to scrutinize performance of F-35 mission systems.
Government and industry in the U.K. are struggling to align the bureaucratic process of funding civil aerospace research with the long-term needs of the sector.
Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group will use the Dassault Systemes' Catia composites design tool to develop its future aircraft. "Catia Composites Design has enabled us to shorten our manufacturing design cycle time by 50%," Youyi Wen, director of composites at Chengdu Aircraft says, according to Dassault.
Boeing has set a series of 787 program milestones as it continues to march toward delivery next May to launch customer All Nippon Airways. The company will celebrate the opening of its 787 final assembly line in Everett, Wash., on May 21. Rollout will occur on July 8--07/08/07, get it? First flight is expected in late August.
Top cadets at the four U.S. military service academies AW&ST annually gives special awards to Tomorrow's Leaders: top students at the U.S. military service academies who have shown exemplary leadership and academic skills and plan to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace. They received Breitling Aerospace watches, courtesy of Breitling USA and presented by its president, Marie Rodman.
The U.S. Navy is finally accepting proposals for stealthy unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS) vehicles that can demonstrate a capability to operate from carriers. The technology, if eventually embraced and purchased, could alter how carrier aviation is employed by extending the reach of U.S. surveillance and enabling strikes on remote locations without relying on nearby land bases.
Pierre Sparaco was right on target with his column "Environmental Threat" (AW&ST Mar. 12, p. 49) in writing that the public knows nothing about research and development efforts in the aerospace industry and academia to reduce specific fuel consumption, noise levels and emissions. The dire forecasts (in Europe, at least) about climate change resulting from a growing aviation industry are being made in ignorance of this research.
Northrop Grumman has completed radar flight-test certification for the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor active electronically scanned array radar. The Lot 5 APG-77(V)1 adds a number of search and targeting mission capabilities. Testing involved the launch of AIM-120 Amraam and AIM-9 air-to-air missiles as well as 1,000-lb. Joint Direct Attack Munitions. With the upgrade, the F-22 can start its Operational Utility Evalua- tion phase.
Douglas Stearns, manager of airport operations at New York LaGuardia Airport, has won the Armbrust Aviation Group's Award for Excellence in Airport Safety. It is presented annually to an airport manager who strives to provide the safest possible operating environment.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Toulouse), Michael A. Taverna (Milan)
Testing delays on Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle and continued uncertainty over the date of NASA's next space shuttle launch make it increasingly likely the Columbus laboratory module and perhaps even the ATV won't get to the International Space Station until next year.
Instead of arguing whether F-22s will be useful in Iraq, send some and find out. You can expend an infinite amount of hot air, but it usually becomes crystal clear when you finally use something in actual operations. Can we pass up the opportunity to expose the F-22 to this environment? Could we simulate it this well? And if there are problems, we can start fixing them.
Casey Madsen has been named Milwaukee-based regional director for SkyWest's Midwest Connect. He was SkyWest station manager in Burbank and Long Beach, Calif.
