Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. plans advanced tests this summer of the Iridium commercial satellite system linked with a commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) processor to demonstrate the feasibility of close air support (CAS) strike missions in a beyond-line-of-sight communications environment. The tests are part of a research and development program at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. (LMAC) to investigate the feasibility of using COTS technologies to improve tactical missions.
After listening last week to 32 aerospace/defense CEOs describe the recent performance of their companies and the businesses' medium-term outlooks, it would be hard not to conclude that much of the industry is on an upward trajectory. The setting was Aviation Week's seventh annual finance conference in New York, produced in partnership with Credit Suisse First Boston. Some sectors--most notably commercial aviation and space--more than likely will remain in the doldrums for at least the next few years.
Asiana Airlines is turning to some familiar turf--South Korea's traditionally strong market with Japan--and renewed optimism about Korea's economy to put a dismal 2001 behind it. A challenger to Korean Air, South Korea's traditional flagship carrier, Asiana finished fiscal 2001 with a 272.5-billion-won ($209-million) loss. But its executives see a faster-than-expected recovery already building for 2002. Their optimism began last December when load factors jumped to 73.9% from the 61.2% level they held in October--an all-time low.
Cargolifter's financial situation has become even more serious after an issue of a convertible bond only marginally improved the cash status and financial outlook of the German airship manufacturer. It may have to file soon for Chapter 11-like protection from creditors. Late last week, company executives were seeking to determine a rescue plan with Brandenburg's Economics Minister Wolfgang Fuerniss.
A safety-critical flight system is generally run on a dedicated computer to prevent the flaws of other programs from affecting it. Smiths Aerospace is teaming with Wind River Systems and Ada Core Technologies to make a software development environment that can put several programs on a single computer, yet keep them partitioned at different levels of criticality, per the ARINC 653 standard for avionics application software. Placing several programs on the same real-time operating system is expected to save time and certification costs.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appears on the Hill to defend his assault on the Crusader artillery program. It's not about killing a bad system, he says, but balancing risks and transforming the military. Precision weapons specialists say he is right. The development of small, cheap guidance packages integrating GPS receivers and inertial measurement units that can withstand 40g of acceleration means industry can make a precision weapon even out of cheap Katyusha-type rocket systems.
A year after Inchon International Airport opened, the South Korean government has committed $3.62 billion to ensure its role as a primary hub for northeast Asia. ``Identifying and promoting Inchon's strengths and aggressively targeting potential new routes and airlines across the globe is the key to the airport's marketing strategy,'' said Tong Myung Lim, the airport's acting executive director for marketing. ``Inchon is strategically located at the heart of a market containing 43 cities of more than one billion people within 3.5 hr. of flying time.
Hewa Bora Airways is poised to rapidly acquire a significant market share of the lucrative Congo-Belgium route. In a highly competitive context, Hewa Bora and SN Brussels Airlines recently began a price war that could evolve into a legal battle. Congolese officials claim that the Belgian carrier seeks to retain a dominant position on the route. Last year, after the collapse of Sabena Belgian World Airlines, Air France inaugurated Paris-Kinshasa service and offered passengers originating in Belgium service on TGV trains between Brussels and Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Cathay Pacific Chairman James Hughes-Hallett said last week that he does not expect the recovery of Asian travel markets this year to be as strong as the bounce-back in 1999 after Asia's currency recession. Nonetheless, the Hong Kong airline has announced plans to buy six new aircraft--three each from Airbus and Boeing--worth $1.1 billion and to hire 1,300 additional staff over the next two years.
The satellite industry is bracing for a further surge in insurance costs as it continues to struggle with rock-bottom demand that's expected to persist for at least another year. According to figures released here last week at the annual Euroconsult space transportation conference by Assicurazioni Generali, the space insurance industry had to pay out claims of $830 million last year, against just $490 million in premiums. Moreover, several large losses remain to be settled.
China has opened its first export processing zone near Beijing Capital Airport, according to China Aero Information. Known as the Beijing Tianzhu Export Processing Zone, the facility is intended to attract high (and low) technology companies to China by offering express links for air cargo shipments. It is among 17 similar sites approved by the State Council to broaden the country's export capacity.
Under a $45-million contract, ITT Avionics Div. will provide an undisclosed number of its new ALQ-211 suite of integrated RF countermeasures (SIRFC) to the Army Special Operations Command for use on its aircraft. The ALQ-211 provides radar warning, accurate bearing from electronic support measures to threat radars, and jamming capabilities in a 100-lb. package (AW&ST Oct. 26, 1998, p. 62). The ALQ-211 also was recently selected by Norway for its new NH-90s.
Economists expect a 2.5% climb in world trade this year and a 9% jump in 2003, which would reinforce the U.S. defense upswing and augur well for airline balance sheets. The Bush Administration is seeking almost $400 billion for defense for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, up half a percentage point of gross domestic product (GDP). At about $38 billion, homeland security spending would go up 0.2% of GDP. Air transport should get a boost from a faster return of consumer confidence from Sept. 11 than was expected originally.
Dynamics Research Corp. has been awarded a four-year $4-million contract to provide modeling, simulation and supportability analysis services to the U.S. Defense Dept. Joint Strike Fighter Program Office.
The British Trade and Industry Dept. on May 16 launched an initiative aimed at bolstering the U.K.'s future in the aerospace sector. The ``Aerospace Innovation and Growth Team'' will be led by BAE Systems Chairman Sir Richard Evans.
John T. Montford, senior vice president-legislative and political affairs for SBC Communications Inc., has been appointed to the Southwest Airlines board of directors. Sam Barshop and Gene Bishop have retired from the board.
Saab Ericsson Space has become exclusive computer hardware supplier for two European Space Agency satellites, Herschel and Planck, in an order valued up to $14.5 million. Both spacecraft are scheduled to be launched on an Ariane 5 in February 2007.
Steve L. Stretchberry has been appointed director of aviation of the San Francisco Public Works group of Kennedy/Jenks Consultants. He was director of aviation for CH2M Hill. Celeste Low has become a senior associate engineer in the airport practice of the firm's Seattle office.
If you want to know what's wrong with the U.S. aerospace industry, ask Sandra Goins. In 1996, Goins, who lives in Seattle with her husband and two children, had been working in a document copying center at Boeing for eight years when she decided to apply for a technical apprenticeship in a program jointly run by the company and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
MiG Aircraft Corp. and Rolls-Royce will conduct a six-month assessment of the market for an BR715-powered variant of the Tu-334 100-seat transport, dubbed the Tu-334-120. Rolls engines already equip the larger Tu-204-120, which is completed and marketed by Sirocco. The basic Progress D436-T1-powered model has been repeatedly delayed and is now due to be certified early next year, according to MiG officials.
The British Defense Ministry will soon begin to evaluate whether its ambition to field quickly a key unmanned aerial vehicle system is achievable--and affordable. Bids were submitted on Mar. 14 for the 600-million-pound ($874-million) Watchkeeper program. It is intended to provide the army with a cornerstone of what the Defense Ministry calls its Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (Istar) capability.
DPI Labs has developed a briefcase-size diagnostic tool for troubleshooting its Smart-Link II or III cabin management systems, which are installed in corporate jets, Air Force One and VIP aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force and other government agencies. The Fly-Away Kit, used with a laptop computer, can check the health of the cabin system including telephone, all entertainment systems, programmable lighting, air gaspers and the galley, and identify any failures or wiring problems.
Michael K. Powers of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is among the recipients of the 2002 Arthur S. Flemming Awards, which honor federal employees for their contributions. He was cited for introducing a ``rigorous and systematic approach to a series of Air Force demonstrations'' whose results have affected NASA's Origins program and the national intelligence program for space reconnaissance. Another winner was Peter Mark Wegner of the Air Force's Technology Center of Excellence.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, backing its House counterpart, wants to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the President's Fiscal 2003 budget request for military aviation programs, and carry on with combat aircraft procurement that is increasingly threatened by the Pentagon's own budget axe. Senators departed sharply from the House position on missile defense, however, chopping a hefty $812 million from that account and shifting nearly $700 million of it into shipbuilding, including faster production of Virginia-class attack submarines.
EasyJet has signed a conditional agreement to acquire all of Go's outstanding shares for 374 million pounds ($535 million). EasyJet shareholders are expected to approve the acquisition during an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for June 17. ``Combining EasyJet and Go will provide additional critical mass and enable us to move forward faster as both airlines are built on common business models,'' EasyJet Chief Executive Ray Webster said.
