Mary M. Glackin (see photo), deputy assistant administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for satellite and information services, has received the 2001 Presidential Rank Award. She was cited for development and deployment of the system that provides National Weather Service forecasters with the capability of issuing improved severe weather warnings and forecasts with a reduced workforce.
A month before President George W. Bush is to visit President Jiang Zemin in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry is taking a see-no-evil/speak-no-evil approach to allegations that somebody in the U.S. bugged a Boeing 767-300ER outfitted last year as a presidential transport for Jiang. News of the apparent bugging, which was reported Jan. 18 on Aviation Week's AviationNow.com, entered the rumor mill in Beijing after routine tests of the aircraft revealed the devices last October, officials familiar with the situation said.
Boeing has secured a second international win for the 767 as a tanker/transport with Japan's order of four aircraft for $738 million. Delivery of the first aircraft is set for fiscal 2002. Airbus, as it did in the U.S., offered the A310 as an alternative, but the Japanese Defense Agency said the aircraft didn't fulfill its basic performance requirements.
Exostar has released the latest version 4.0 of its e-marketplace products. New features include guidance for novice companies through auction strategies, and help for those who don't have the experience or bandwidth to conduct complex auctions. A new ForumPass suite provides a real-time virtual workspace for collaboration within a company or between manufacturers and suppliers. For high-volume traffic between companies, improvement was made to MachineLink, which makes it simpler to directly connect their software systems.
The Irish Defense Dept. was bracing last week for a potential legal challenge in the wake of its decision to opt for the Sikorsky S-92 to meet its search and rescue helicopter requirement. The manufacturers of the two losing contenders, EH Industries and Eurocopter, were understood to be considering whether to formally contest the decision. The Sikorsky deal, if concluded, would make the first sale of the S-92. Up to five helicopters may be purchased for the SAR and utility roles.
The Pentagon is initiating a large-scale review of its mobility requirements in an effort to reflect the demands placed on the military's transportation system since Sept. 11. The review follows barely a year after the Defense Dept. completed its last top-to-bottom look at airlift and other transportation demands--a study some argued was flawed.
Southwest Airlines plans to take delivery of four Boeing 737-700s and expand its route system to include service between Chicago and the West Coast. Beginning on Mar. 10, the carrier is to start two daily nonstop services between Midway Airport and Seattle with a flight to be added to Phoenix, according to Southwest. Service between Midway and Oakland, Calif., is set to begin on Apr. 7 with three daily round-trips. Southwest is scheduled to receive nine new 737s this year, bringing the total fleet to 362 airplanes.
The British Labour government was forced onto the defensive over airport capacity in the British Parliament last week. Senior government officials attempted to dismiss as ``speculation'' widespread daily media reports that its Aviation White Paper covered the potential creation of three new runways, including one at Heathrow. The government's aviation paper will be concluded later in 2002. A more immediate move to help to alleviate capacity issues was due on Jan. 27, with the Swanwick London Area Control Center going live.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (ret.) Paul E. (Gene) Blackwell has been appointed vice president-Army C3 programs for Ray- theon Command, Control and Communications Systems, Marlborough, Mass. Blackwell's last Army position was deputy chief of staff for operations.
WHERENET CORP. AND THE IIT Research Institute (IITRI) are collaborating on a wireless tracking and identification system for increased airport security and have established a demonstration at IITRI's Lanham, Md., facility. Small active tags on objects or people radiate a 2.4-GHz. spread-spectrum signal that is detected by antennas and located from the time delay of arrival of the signal, or multilateration. The interval between tag transmissions can be set from fractions of a second to 5 min. At the latter rate, a tag battery lasts five years, according to the company.
France's civil defense authority has given a three-year contract extension to TAT Industries for maintenance of 28 aircraft, including Canadair CL-415 water bombers and Tracker firefighters.
Between the growing glut of parked aircraft, airlines' precarious finances and passenger traffic that remains extremely weak, it may take commercial aerospace up to five years to fully recover from the current U.S. recession and the punishing aftereffects of terrorist attacks last September. ``It's all a function of profits,'' said David Swierenga, chief economist of the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. ``If you're not earning money with the airplanes you've got, who wants more?''
Northrop Grumman is diving, technologically and financially, into the signals intelligence field with the idea of providing a new generation of collectors to capture radar signals and intercept communications from satellites and aircraft. The company is interested in unmanned, long-endurance UAVs such as Global Hawk. ``We're doing some advanced technology work, where we have some very attractive approaches to very wideband receivers,'' said Robert Iorizzo, president of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems Sector.
While Boeing held its own financially in 2001 with a 13% increase in annual revenues, earnings during the critical fourth-quarter period dropped nearly 80% due largely to one-time charges related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. As difficult as the fourth quarter was for Boeing, the worst may be yet to come for its commercial aircraft unit.
The Navy has developed yet another unmanned aircraft plan. Under the latest version, the Navy will spend R&D funds on Global Hawk through 2004 and use the two vehicles to be delivered in Fiscal 2004-05 for experiments and to develop operations concepts. To be bought for its Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance requirement, the Navy Global Hawk would enter production in 2007. The Navy also has decided to support the development of a UCAV, an unmanned combat air vehicle, but only slowly.
Larry Stephenson (see photo) has been named global military program manager for Bearing Inspection Inc., Los Alamitos, Calif. He was global aeroderivative/industrial program manager.
Small to midsize companies looking for turnkey access to Internet procurement are being targeted by Commerce One, which makes e-procurement software, and Compaq Computer. The companies have teamed to provide the Procurement Express system, which has Commerce One software and Compaq servers and support. The system can hook into some of Commerce One's e-marketplace partners (www.commerceone.com), such as the SESAMi network in Asia and Deutsche Telekom's T-mart.
The Transportation Security Administration is receiving mixed reviews on Capitol Hill for its handling of the Jan. 18 air security overhaul deadline to begin ``screening'' all checked bags for explosives, and for its longer range planning.
The extension of Runway 6/27 at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has been reduced to 1,000 from 2,000 ft. at the request of airlines, at least temporarily. The 2,000-ft. extension had been planned to enable operations of nonstop flights to Asia, a longtime goal. But ``the numbers don't add up for the airlines,'' according to an airport spokesman. The FAA recently approved the runway's extension as well as an all-new third north-south runway.
Initial U.S. airline financial reports on the fourth quarter of 2001 bring to mind an observation about last September's airline stabilization grant legislation by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). As the Senate was approving the $5-billion grant package little more than a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, McCain criticized it as a ``one-size-fits-all bailout'' (AW&ST Sept. 24, 2001, p. 26). He was concerned that the bill provided for allocation of grants among airlines according to size, not need.
The British Defense Ministry this week will take the first steps in a process leading to a radical revamp of its air-to-surface weapons, along with eventually reducing the numbers of types of weapons in inventory.
Delta Air Transport (DAT), formerly Sabena Belgian World Airlines' regional affiliate, is soon expected to adopt a new corporate identity, in an indication that it seeks to reject links with past failures. Air Holding, a grouping of Belgian investors, agreed to inject 180 million euros ($162 million) in the revamped company. According to a newly approved business plan, profitability will be achieved by the end of 2003.
One wrinkle Air Force planners need to iron out before signing off on a tanker avionics design is deciding what other elements will be in the constellation. High on the list is Spaced-Based Infrared System (both high and low) and Spaced-Based Radar. SBIRS low is being reviewed to determine whether to stick with the current design or switch to one of two alternatives suggested by the National Reconnaissance Office. An Apr. 26 defense acquisition board meeting will be immediately followed by certification of the design to Congress.
