Douglas Barrie (London), Robert Wall (Bonn, Germany)
The four Eurofighter nations and industry partners are trying to hammer out a top-level 30-year map for future development and support of the aircraft.
Ronald Silverman (see photo) has been promoted to senior vice president from vice president-client services and Nancy Petersen (see photo) has become vice president-marketing at Cincinnati-based Executive Jet Management. Silverman succeeds Robert Garrymore, who is now sales vice president at parent company NetJets Inc. Petersen was director of marketing and sales support at the Five Seasons division of Corporex.
German aircraft piston engine supplier Thielert says it is beginning 2007 with a strong order backlog and bolstered by the start of series production last quarter of its Centurion 2.0 and 4.0 powerplants. The Centurion 2.0 will be used, for instance, on Cessna 172s and Diamond DA40s and DA42s. The company this year also expects to start supplying engines to General Atomics for its Sky Warrior. The U.S. Army wants to use a heavy-fuel engine for the unmanned aircraft, which Thielert is tapped to provide.
Air Force Aero Vodochody L-39C (1) Aero Vodochody L-39ZA (7) Antonov An-24 (1) Antonov An-26 (1) LET L-410UVP (6) LET L-410UVP-E (1) Mikoyan MiG-29 (10) Mikoyan MiG-29UB (2) Mil Mi-17 (14) Mil Mi-2 (6) Mil Mi-24 (18) Mil Mi-8 (1)
The Office, Crawley Business Quarter, Manor Royal Crawley, West Sussex RH10 2NU, UK Code: VS Employees: 7,393 www.virginatlantic.com Tel. (44) 1293-747-747 Fax (44) 538-337 Ownership: 49% Singapore Airlines; 51% private Executive Management Chairman Richard Branson CEO Steve Ridgway
Information technology has become the essential ingredient for keeping increasingly dispersed global aerospace supply chains connected and enabling new levels of efficiency in lean manufacturing. The biggest mistake that aerospace and defense suppliers can make is failing to recognize the crucial importance of IT to their future, according to Bill Lewandowski, vice president for supplier management of the Aerospace Industries Assn.
U.S. and European Union officials again will try to craft a much needed open skies agreement between the world's two largest aviation markets, but talks promise to be difficult and time is not on the negotiators' side. To a large extent, the U.S. and Europe are back to square one, after the Transportation Dept. ceased efforts to ease restrictions on foreign involvement in U.S. airlines. These efforts were among the main U.S. concessions the Europeans were looking for as part of a proposed open skies agreement presented in late 2005.
2700 Lone Oak Parkway, Eagan, MN 55121, USA Code: NW Employees: 28,500 www.nwa.com Tel. (612) 726-2111 Fax (612) 726-7123 Ownership: 100% publicly traded Executive Management Chairman Gary L. Wilson President, CEO & Director Douglas M. Steenland Executive VP & CFO Neal Cohen
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plans to acquire 100% of PZL Mielec from the Polish government. Sikorsky officials say PZL will form the foundation of the company's European operations, and plans call for a major upgrade of PZL's facilities in Mielec to support international production of Black Hawk helicopters. PZL is Poland's largest fixed-wing airframer.
Vic Verma has been named CEO of the Savi Group, Sunnyvale, Calif. He was chief executive officer of Savi Technology before it was acquired by the Lockheed Martin Corp. Ron Nakamoto has been appointed chief operating officer and Jerry Lindstrom vice president-business development. Nakamoto was vice president-intelligence systems and Lindstrom vice president-strategic development for Lockheed Martin's Integrated Systems Solutions.
Air Force Aero Vodochody L-39 (4) Mikoyan MiG-25 (1) Mil Mi-2 (9) Mil Mi-24K (2) Mil Mi-24P (8) Mil Mi-24R (2) Mil Mi-8 (11) Mil Mi-9 (2) Sukhoi Su-25 (5) Sukhoi Su-25K (9) Sukhoi Su-25UBK (1) Yakovlev Yak-52 (16)
With prices high, capacity tight and a new production/launch setup firmly in place, Arianespace is girding for faster growth, provided external factors do not conspire to perturb the market. The Paris-based launch service company landed contracts for 12 spacecraft in 2006, up from nine the year before. And with demand for communications satellites likely to remain healthy, Arianespace hopes to do as well again this year. Last week, the company announced the first order for 2007, from the U.S.-based broadcasting ProtoStar (see p. 422).
DEPARTMENTS Letters 398-399 Who's Where 400-401 Industry Outlook 403 Airline Outlook 404 In Orbit 405 News Breaks 406-409 Washington Outlook 411 A European Perspective 430 Contrails 437 Classified 439-440 Contact Us 442 Aerospace Calendar 443 MARKET FOCUS Unlike U.S. issues, European A&D stocks underperformed market in '06 402 NEWS BREAKS
Anyone doubting the importance of the tactical missile market on corporate bottom lines need only look at Forecast International's latest estimate of the market's production value over the next five years: $30 billion. Dominating this arena will be American and European companies caught up in a tight race for market share. Indeed, over the next five years these companies will account for 54% of the worldwide market, or a total value of $16.2 billion. Russian missile production will add another $2.95 billion.
