French military officials say a crash program to qualify the Rafale F2 to carry Paveway 2 smart bombs, necessary to allow the multirole fighter to be deployed to Afghanistan, will be completed by mid-March.
NetJets Aviation and NetJets Europe have signed a second order for an additional 48 Raytheon Aircraft Co. (RAC) Hawker 750 and Hawker 900XP business jets for U.S. and European operations. Combined with the first order in October 2006, the sale is worth more than $1 billion. Plans call for initial deliveries of the Hawker 900XP to begin this year and end in 2009, with follow-on deliveries from 2009-12. Hawker 750 deliveries will occur in 2008-09, with the additional airplanes to be shipped in 2010-11.
Boeing has delivered the 100th shipset of F-22 Raptor wings to partner Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga. According to Paul Bay, Boeing vice president and F-22 program manager, the company has reduced time to build a set of wings by more than 45,000 man-hours and cut cycle time by 70% since the first wings were shipped late in 1996. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin has delivered 82 F-22s to the U.S. Air Force and has orders for another 49 of the air superiority fighters.
Envelope expansion on the Alenia-Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainer is continuing with release of a new version of the flight control software. It has allowed the trainer to reach a speed of Mach 0.96, entering the full transonic regime and topping its previous high speed of Mach 0.85. Aermacchi is starting production of the first pre-production M-346, which is set to fly before year-end.
Japan Airlines will boost frequencies to the U.S., France, China and India in the schedule it will introduce Apr. 1. The company also will add 737-800s to its international routes, operating from Osaka to China and Vietnam. In another first, JAL will introduce first-class on domestic services by Boeing 777s.
RSC Energia reported a record 469-million-ruble ($17.7-million) net profit in 2006, with a 37% increase in revenues, and expects to maintain strong sales and earnings through the end of the decade, according to Chief Executive Nikolay Sevastiyanov. In 2007, Energia will deliver nine Block DM upper stages, used on the Sea Launch Zenit booster, along with two Yamal-300 telecommunications satellites. Over the next three years, the corporation also plans to manufacture four Soyuz manned space vehicles and up to seven Progress cargo vehicles.
Boeing has officially begun the worldwide assembly cycle for the 787 with the delivery of two composite fuselage sections made in Japan and air-freighted to Charleston, S.C. The assemblies include the 23-ft.-long Section 43 forward fuselage made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the 28-ft.-long Sections 11/45, the center wheel well and center wing tank, made by KHI and Fuji Heavy Industries, respectively, and joined by FHI.
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1 missile-firing Predator UAV crashed 5 mi. southeast of Baghdad International Airport just before midnight Jan. 17. Hostile ground fire does not appear to have been involved.
Although Airbus's cargo activities are moving into high gear with the formal launch of the commercial A330-200 freighter, it is the military side of the equation that will prove critical in determining whether the A400M transport will fly on time in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, the European manufacturer also has downscaled modernization plans for its cash-cow, the A320 family, lowering fuel-burn improvement targets that were set last year.
Kayser-Threde was instrumental in setting up RapidEye, a German company building a constellation of medium-resolution Earth observation satellites. However, RapidEye is now an independent company (AW&ST Nov. 20, 2006, p. 24).
Airbus faces at least another six months of turbulence as it deals with lingering issues on the A380 mega-transport, its A350XWB new twin-widebody and Power8 competitiveness plan, even though the company is trying to leave most of its bad news behind in 2006. One of the focal points in the coming weeks will be ongoing talks between the aircraft maker and its sole remaining A380 freighter customer, UPS, over whether that deal will stand. FedEx, Emirates and International Lease Finance Corp. have already withdrawn from the cargo version.
Yosef Fouks (see photos) has been named general manager of the Signal Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Communications Div. of Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta Systsms Ltd. He was director of naval systems. Yosef Oren has become general manager of the Imint and Radar Div. He was director of visual intelligence.
Virgin America is willing to make substantial changes to its investor agreements and board structure as part of a final plea to the U.S. Transportation Dept. to reverse a December tentative rejection of the carrier's start-up application. As part of the new structure, U.K.-based Virgin Group is dropping a board seat, leaving it with only two of eight voting seats. Virgin Group has agreed to put all of its voting shares in a trust with a department-approved U.S. trustee. The company's board is prepared to remove CEO Fred Reid "should the DOT find that necessary."
Katherine G. Ovalle and Elizabeth J. Wadsworth have joined the Washington law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott as associates focusing on aviation and aerospace law. Ovalle was associate counsel of the U.S. Transportation Dept. Office of Inspector General. Wadsworth was an associate for a Washington firm that specializes in aviation regulatory and commercial issues.
Alliot-Marie indicates she wants to make the former Giat arsenal, now known as Nexter, the center of the European munitions sector. This could involve merging the munitions activities of Thales affiliate TDA, MBDA and Eurenco.
A South Korean requirement for another 20 fighters looks certain to go to Boeing's F-15K, even though the government says it's looking for "next-generation" equipment and stresses that the deal is open to competition. Deliveries from 2010-12 are planned, following the 40 F-15Ks that South Korea ordered under a $4.2-billion contract in 2002.
Hong Kong's Dragonair carried 5.57 million passengers last year, 8.3% more than in 2005. The Cathay Pacific unit's cargo business rose 2.6% to 395,384 tons.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Bill Hodgkins has been appointed Colorado Springs-based senior executive/director of field marketing for Boeing's Colorado operations. He last served at North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command headquarters at Peterson AFB, Colo.
Meanwhile, Alitalia's board of directors is down to two members, after Air France-KLM Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta resigned from his position on the board. Spinetta took the decision because of the ongoing Italian government effort to find a buyer for the troubled carrier. Air France has a potential stake in those deliberations, so Spinetta could have faced a serious conflict of interest. For one, Air France had once been considered a potential buyer, but now Spinetta could also be faced with having to look at details of financial offers from rivals.
The Indian Institute of Science and National Aerospace Laboratories in Bengaluru and the Indian Institute of Technology-Mumbai will benefit from an award of up to £500,000 ($985,000) to BAE Systems' research partner, Leicester University, to help develop control technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles and for micro-satellites used in search-and-rescue missions. Also under study are control technologies for high-performance piloted aircraft to reduce pilot-induced oscillations.
A radar problem left over from the days of "faster-better-cheaper" at NASA will send the agency's Phoenix Mars lander over budget, at the expense of other missions to the red planet. Drop tests a year ago revealed that the commercial aircraft radar altimeter set for the mission would not perform adequately to guide Phoenix to a safe landing in the planet's northern latitudes. The off-the-shelf altimeter is a carry-over from the failed Mars Polar Lander mission launched in 1998.
Paul Bogosian, Army program executive officer for aviation, says the service plans to propose its first aviation science and technology funding plan since termination of the Comanche armed scout helicopter program. The only S&T effort since then, the Joint Heavy Lift effort with the Marine Corps, is not funded in the Fiscal 2008 budget proposal, due next month. But Bogosian says he's working to craft a near-, mid- and far-term plan for investment to support the Future Combat System with vertical lift.
The potential entry price for supplier participation in the next-generation of Airbus and Boeing aircraft is beginning to act as a catalyst for fundamental business decisions--in Smiths' case, to exit the aerospace sector.
Emirates this month will begin offering new inflight activities for children. The goodies include a plush stuffed animal and one of five creature costumes, each reflecting an animal indigenous to the airline's destination. New Delhi-bound passengers receive an elephant, those destined for Sydney, a koala bear. Children will also be given a classic Dr. Seuss tale in paperback and an activity magazine designed for two age groups--the five-and-under set and the 6-12 age group.
