Korea Aerospace Industries has added Tecnomatix Technologies Inc.'s eM-Power suite to the software tools it is using to manage production of the T-50 supersonic trainer project (AW&ST Dec. 3, 2001, p. 58). The trainer/light attack fighter is expected to have its first flight in June with production to begin in 2003.
Wall Street's defense industry analysts expect all prime military contractors to benefit if Congress approves the Bush Administration's $379.3-billion Defense Dept. budget request for Fiscal 2003. ``This will be a rising tide that will lift all boats,'' predicted Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Pierre Chao, who favors companies specializing in defense electronics and information systems.
Canada will spend US$150 million for its 10-year participation in the Joint Strike Fighter system design and development phase. Canadian officials believe the project could spark around US$6 billion in revenue in Canada through JSF's life. The Canadian military would replace its CF-18s with JSFs, but that wouldn't happen until after 2017, says Alan S. Williams, Canada's assistant deputy defense minister for materiel.
Stephen Zujkowski, formerly president of Qiva, has become senior vice president of business development/strategic accounts for Savi Technology. Melvin Poi, former Asian general manager for Ariba, has become vice president-sales and marketing for most of Southeast Asia.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has accelerated the phaseout of its A340-300 fleet from March next year to February. The original target date wasOctober 2003, but that goal was shifted last December. SIA now operates nine A340s from a high of 17 that it had early last year.
Officials at regional carriers American Eagle and American Connection are preparing to slash available seat miles to help parent company American Airlines honor its contract with the Allied Pilots Assn.
Emboldened by the performance of unmanned aircraft in the Afghan war, the Bush Administration is keeping alive last year's commitment to fund them and advance efforts to arm a variety of these systems. The Fiscal 2003 budget request would accelerate by two years the fielding of an Air Force unmanned combat aircraft. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-led development of a Boeing design would result in the first operational UCAV squadron (totaling 14-24 aircraft) in 2008.
Hugh McElroy (see photo), vice president/general manager of Dallas Airmotive-Millville, has been elected chairman of the Trenton-based New Jersey Aviation Assn. Other new officers are: vice chairman, Matthew Boyle, senior vice president/general counsel of Dassault Falcon Jet; treasurer, James Holmes, senior vice president of Executive Jet; and secretary, Steve Barlage, regional sales director of Boeing Business Jets.
REALLY QUIET LLC HAS RECEIVED FAA CERTIFICATION for its hushkit designed to bring Gulfstream II-, IIB- and III-series business jets into compliance with Stage 3 noise rules. Plans call for creating a national network of existing service facilities to install the hushkits. The first customer installation is scheduled to begin in April. The design features a translating ejector shroud that reduces exhaust velocity from the two Rolls-Royce Spey 511-8 engines during takeoff. The company claims the hushkits reduce noise 6-7 dB. below Stage 3 levels.
Teledesic LLC, which once planned to gird the Earth with a constellation of 840 broadband satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to deliver ``Internet In The Sky'' service worldwide, has scaled back its ambitions to a 30-satellite medium-Earth orbit (MEO) arrangement initially targeted at the most promising market regions.
When budget season descends on Washington (see p. 24), Congress always complains that the allies are not spending enough on the common defense, even in peacetime. With the U.S. national security budget approaching $400 billion and the war on terrorism in full swing, those complaints will mushroom. The biggest target is NATO's transatlantic spending chasm. The U.K.'s entire defense budget in 2001 came to $34 billion--$14 billion below the simple annual increase of $48 billion President Bush is seeking for Fiscal 2003.
Letters to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative late last year from General Electric and Pratt&Whitney's parent, United Technologies Corp., have again raised the issue of whether the U.S. should classify as unfair the U.K.'s launch aid practices.
Rolls-Royce is offering the Trent 500 for the C-X tactical transport being developed by the Technical Research and Development Institute of Japan's Defense Agency (JDA). Kawasaki is working on the C-X in a common airframe project along with the MPX marine patrol aircraft for the Japanese air force. The C-X is to be a two-engine transport, so it will require higher thrust per engine than the four-engine MPX (also called the P-X). The MPX is to replace Japan's Lockheed/Kawasaki P-3C Orions, while the C-X is to supersede the Kawasaki C-1s. U.S.
It's not clear whether the white, male 40-ish passenger whose loafers set off a security alert at San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 3 on Jan. 30--that rippled across the U.S.--was even aware he was wanted for further examination. He disappeared into the crowd, and it is also not clear where he headed, toward United Airlines gates or back into the terminal.
Japan's transport ministry plans to expand the nation's airport capacity to meet demand during the 2002 World Cup soccer competition May 31-June 30. The ministry will add 10 arrivals and departures for charter flights during the day at Haneda Airport near Tokyo, while weekly international flights from Narita Airport to Seoul, South Korea, will grow to 135 from 84 beginning Apr. 18. Travel between Japan and South Korea, which are cohosting the games, is expected to double from 4,000 passengers to 7,000 each week during the event.
South Korea is heading into a third round on price negotiations with competitors for the F-X fighter. Due to currency fluctuations, Seoul no longer has the budget to pay for the $4-billion program. Industry officials believe the project might be shelved after the talks.
Aviation Week&Space Technology presents its 45th annual Aerospace Laurels selections, honoring individuals and teams who made significant contributions to the global field of aerospace during 2001. Honorees were nominated by the magazine's editors in the categories of Commercial Air Transport, Aeronautics/Propulsion, Government/Military, Electronics, Space, Operations and Lifetime Achievement.
British Army Lt. Gen. Cedric Delves has taken the U.K. seat at the Tampa, Fla.-based U.S. Central Command for the war in Afghanistan. He succeeds Air Marshal Jock Stirrup. Delves was deputy commander-in-chief of U.K. Land Forces.
Space Imaging has upped the ante in high-resolution satellite photos by offering 1-meter stereo imagery to commercial customers. Previously, only government customers were offered the images. The 3D products are created by shooting the same location from two different perspectives during the same orbital pass to ensure tonal consistency. One of the images is taken at a high elevation angle (greater than 72 deg.), which is useful in assuring accuracy in an orthorectified image. 3D images are useful for extracting information about buildings, roads and elevated contours.
US Airways intends to resume flights between its Pittsburgh hub and Paris on Mar. 16 using 203-seat Boeing 767s. The airline ceased service on that route when demand collapsed after Sept. 11. Beginning Apr. 1, American Airlines plans to resume daily service to Gatwick from Raleigh-Durham using Boeing 777s instead of Boeing 767-300s, and next month will add 41 flights from its Dallas/Fort Worth hub to 37 destinations to meet increasing travel demand.
Eugene Hinman, former assistant director for laboratory programs at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), has won the U.S. Navy's Medal for Distinguished Public Service. He was recognized for his role in developing Navy air defense and strike warfighting capabilities. APL was honored for contributions to development and proof-of-concept demonstration of the Area Air Defense Commander, a capability used to help joint forces commanders plan and coordinate air defense operations against enemy air attacks theater-wide.
As part of an ongoing debt restructuring plan, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is expected to spin off its domestic operations into a subsidiary company to make its public stock more attractive for investors who want to concentrate on its strengths in international passenger and cargo operations.
Christopher Bidwell has been appointed director of passenger and cargo security for the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. He was manager of corporate security for American Airlines.
The future of U.S. bilateral open skies deals with European states was cast under a cloud on Jan. 31, with the European Commission winning a crucial decision that such agreements ran counter to European Union Law. Following four years of deliberations, the European Court's advocate general, Antonio Tizzano, found in favor of the EC, arguing bilateral open skies agreements were ``contrary to community law.'' Though nonbinding, the advocate general's findings more often than not are endorsed by the court.
