Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley rebuts reports that he was unhappy with his service's choice last year of a Boeing Chinook-based design for the future Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter (CSAR-X) (AW&ST Feb. 5, p. 21). At the end of a press conference at the annual Air Force Assn. meeting in Orlando, Fla., this month, he tried to set the record straight. "That's a big helicopter," he remarked about Boeing's design. The winner wasn't his top choice, but "we'll make this work."
The U.S. has formally told Australia that current policy rules out selling them the Lockheed Martin F-22, helping the government there to fend off an increasingly noisy push to buy the Raptor instead of the same company's F-35 Lightning II to replace F/A-18A/Bs and F-111s. Rejecting the F-22, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson says it is primarily an air-to-air machine with inadequate strike capability unless it carries external weapons that greatly raise its radar reflections.
Progress on the British government's Defense Industrial Strategy is generally good, according to a report by the Parliament's Defense Committee. But there are significant problem areas. A lack of headway on consolidating the maritime manufacturing sector threatens to delay the next-generation aircraft carrier. A lack of clarity on the nature of technology access assurances over participation in the Joint Strike Fighter also concerns the committee.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Five years after their spectacular implosion, low-Earth-orbit satellite-communications constellations are on the mend. The so-called big and little LEOs have emerged from a round of bankruptcies and takeovers triggered by the telecom collapse, terrestrial competition and overly-optimistic business plans into what one executive calls "a high-end niche market" that needs continuous voice and data connectivity.
The North American Trisonic Wind Tunnel, which North American Aviation opened in 1956 in the aerospace industrial sector of El Segundo south of Los Angeles International Airport, is nearing the end of its run. North American's successor, Rockwell, donated the tunnel and the 3.5 acres it sits on to the University of California at Los Angeles in 1998, which has been renting it out ever since. The current lease, to Triumph Aerospace Systems, expires in September. UCLA will sell the acreage.
The U.S. Defense Dept. says a Feb. 7 Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crash in Iraq resulted from enemy action in Al Anbar province. Five Marines and two sailors were killed. Seven U.S. helicopters have been shot down in Iraq since Jan. 2.
Megan Rosia has been named assistant FAA administrator for government and industry affairs, Melanie Alvord assistant administrator for communications and D. Kirk Shaffer associate administrator for airports. Rosia was managing director for government affairs/associate general counsel for Northwest Airlines. Alvord was assistant staff director for communications and administration for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Shaffer was general counsel to the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.
The French defense ministry is starting to explore exoatmospheric missile defense options. The military is planning to award a small-scale architecture study to examine the needs for an independent intercept capability that could destroy missiles with a 3,000-km. range. The goal is to identify medium- and long-term needs, potential costs and possible fielding time lines.
A second accident, this time involving an F-16 at Luke AFB, Ariz., on Oct. 26 was attributed to mechanical failure. The accident board determined that a third-stage fan disk malfunction created a fracture in the airframe and penetrated the fuel tank, starting a fire that caused the engine to explode.
Telecom satellite operator Eutelsat posted solid growth once again in the first half of the 2006-07 fiscal year, driven by unflagging demand in satellite video demand.
The British government, Airbus and parent EADS are attempting to patch up their strategic relationship, whose starting point will be the outcome of the Airbus Power8 review. Airbus CEO Louis Gallois was due to meet with British Trade Minister Alistair Darling and Defense Procurement Minister Paul Drayson in London on Feb. 15.
Management at Comair, the wholly owned Delta Connection carrier, is grappling with myriad problems as its pilots' group in coming weeks mulls over a proposed letter of agreement. First, it needs a contract with the Air Line Pilots Assn., the last major piece of financial restructuring, to allow Comair to emerge from bankruptcy with Delta in the second quarter as is scheduled. If it doesn't get one by Mar. 4, Comair plans to impose terms of a bankruptcy court-approved contract.
The U.S. Navy has awarded a $186.5-million foreign military sales deal for upgrades and sustainment of seven P-3C patrol aircraft that will be operated by the Pakistani navy.
Although the agreement is still fresh, the planned merger between Telesat Canada and Loral Skynet is likely to lead to more business for satellite makers and launch providers, not less.
Israeli officials won't discuss the parameters of its Arrow ballistic missile defense weapon test last week other than to say the missile and target launch sites were farther from each other than in previous tests, it took place at night and the altitude of the interception was higher and at greater speed than before.
David Hughes (Maastricht, Netherlands; Brussels, and London)
The main issues facing Eurocontrol and the FAA in air traffic modernization are diverging, as European officials cope with an immediate need to cut the carbon footprint of aviation while the U.S. struggles with uncertainty on ATC leadership.
USMC is returning its MV-22s to service after a grounding earlier this month. The Pentagon grounded all USAF and USMC MV/CV-22s after discovering a fault caused by a chip in the flight control computer. They are being returned to service after inspection and replacement of problematic chips. Deployment of the first MV-22s to Iraq still is expected later this year.
NASA's Fiscal 2007 continuing resolution shifts $460 million in space shuttle and earmark funding over to exploration--"the best we could do," according to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that funds the space agency. The continuing resolution, which keyed off Fiscal 2006 spending levels, allocates $3.4 billion to the exploration systems mission directorate.
Skybus Airlines management is focused on pending FAA certification and startup of Airbus A319 service this spring from its Columbus, Ohio, base. The airline on Feb. 13 selected CFM56-5B engines for the 65 A319s that were ordered last fall. The CFM56-5Bs are new configurations called Tech Insertion engines that are expected to deliver lower maintenance costs, nitrous oxide emissions and fuel burn.
Douglas Walker has become senior vice president-aviation capital of RBS Greenwich (Conn.) Capital. He was managing director/senior counsel-finance and corporate affairs at United Airlines.
You can now register ONLINE for AVIATION WEEK Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Apr. 17-18--MRO Military, Atlanta. Apr. 18-19--MRO Conference, Atlanta. Oct. 17-18--MRO Asia, Shanghai. PARTNERSHIPS Mar. 21-- Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Space Age, Unesco, Paris. Apr. 9-12--National Space Symposium, Colorado Springs. Apr. 30-May 2--RFID Journal Live, Orlando, Fla.
Regarding your article about the impending aerospace brain drain, the problem is not so much a shortage of skilled workers as it is the lack of incentives to work in the aerospace and defense industry.
Thierry Pfeiffer has become vice president-sales and marketing for Flightscape Inc. of Ottawa. He was manager of the Sagem AGS product line. Paul Rider has been appointed a product development executive. He was manager of the Teledyne Vision/ReVision product line. Eric Smith and Colin Tate have been assigned to the Asian office to provide technical sales and application support.
Thai Airways International confirms it will buy eight A330s, each with a special discount of $10 million as part compensation for delayed A380 deliveries. The airline says it will also deduct $28 million from payments for the A330s as further compensation. The decision confirms that Thai will be taking its six A380s, but the airline made no mention of buying more.
Canada's Ciel Satellite Group has hired International Launch Services for a mission to orbit its Ciel 2 satellite on a Proton/Breeze M vehicle late in 2008. Built on an Alcatel Alenia Spacebus 4000 C4 spacecraft bus, Ciel 2 will deliver high-power K u-band services in North America from an orbital slot at 129 deg. W. Long.
