Sean O'Keefe will take over as the 10th NASA administrator next month, pending his likely confirmation by the U.S. Senate, but any honeymoon with Capitol Hill is likely to be short-lived as he unveils details of his financial cleanup strategy in the Fiscal 2003 budget request. In sometimes-contentious give-and-take with senators who represent states that are home to NASA field centers, O'Keefe made clear at his Dec. 7 confirmation hearing that he will take an accountant's sharp pencil to agency spending without much regard for congressional sensibilities.
Boeing has initiated flight testing its contender to replace the EA-6B jammer and is developing a roadmap to boost the electronic warfare prowess of its F/A-18F derivative to defeat increasingly sophisticated air defenses.
Donald Lopez, deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, has been inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame. He was cited for his more than 25 years' service to the museum, which includes participating in the planning for the current building, which opened in 1976, and developing its exhibits.
Gen. (ret.) Robert Aubiniere, the first director general of the CNES French space agency, which was created in the early 1960s, died in Paris on Dec. 7. He was 89. During World War II, he was an influential member of France's Free Forces. Later, his air force assignments included management of a missile test range installed in northern Africa. Aubiniere headed CNES from 1962-71, and from 1968-70 chaired the European Launcher Development Organization, a predecessor of the European Space Agency.
As part of an ongoing effort to broaden the acceptance of CIS civil aircraft, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and Antonov Airlines plan to seek certification of their An-124-100 to European JAA standards and to further modernize the huge freighter.
Art LaFlamme has become Ottawa-based air safety and legislative coordinator for Canadian operations for the Air Line Pilots Assn. He was director general of civil aviation for Transport Canada.
James M. Sinnett, retired vice president-strategic development, and Alan R. Wiechman, director of signature design and applications, both for the Boeing Phantom Works, have received National Defense Industrial Assn. awards. Sinnett won the Combat Survivability Award for Leadership. He was cited for his early grasp of the significance of the nascent low observables (LO) technology and benefits that could be attained from its incorporation into aircraft. Wiechman received the Combat Survivability Award for Technical Achievement.
The ``new'' Crossair expects to break even in 2003 and post healthy profits in 2004, says Chief Executive Andre Dose. Next year, however, Crossair could lose up to 1.1 billion Swiss francs ($671million).
U.S. and French government officials are urging progress on export reform to foster industrial cooperation. But despite talk of an overarching agreement between the governments, there has been little concrete progress on breaking down defense trade barriers.
Once the conflict in Afghanistan is over don't expect the Pentagon to tell how the fight was won. Another victim of the conflict will be the traditional, publicly available ``lessons learned'' document, a senior official says. The services' new mission-needs statements also will be closely held as part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's larger initiative to keep hidden the details of operational and technical innovations.
Pilot hiring in November continued at a slow pace, with only 250 new positions available at 70 of the 212 airlines/companies reporting to Air Inc. The Atlanta-based airline hiring consultancy says fractional-ownership companies were the most active segment, hiring 93 pilots, followed by jet operators with 63. Nonjet operators and national airlines each hired 43 new pilots. No pilots were hired by the majors in November, but two of 15 on the Air Inc. list are expected to take on new pilots in the next few months. Air Inc.
The overriding theme at the National Business Aviation Assn.'s 54th annual convention held here last week was ``getting back to business'' as operators sought solutions to airport/airspace access and flocked to seminars on security, while manufacturers unveiled a bevy of new products.
The U.S. and Russian crews on board the International Space Station unloaded tons of supplies from Endeavour last week while STS-108 shuttle astronauts performed important maintenance on ISS solar array drive motors.
Four Lockheed Martin/U.S. Navy Trident I C4 submarine-launched ballistic missiles were ripple-fired down the Eastern Range on Dec. 9, from the USS Ohio submerged off Cape Canaveral. The battle exercise was the second such ripple-fire test from the Cape in the last six months. During the earlier exercise in June, three advanced Trident II D5s were fired downrange from the USS Louisiana.
On Dec. 10, Brazil's Aerospace Technical Center awarded Embraer a type certificate for the company's Legacy business jet. Approval by the FAA and the European Joint Aviation Authorities is scheduled for early next year, according to Embraer. To date, the Brazilian company has received orders for 48 aircraft with options for another 44, split between executive and shuttle versions. Launch customer Phoenix-based Swift Aviation has placed orders for 25 airplanes and holds options for another 25.
Paul David Miller, who is chairman/ CEO of Alliant Techsystems, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Donaldson Co., which is also in Minneapolis.
Robert L. Horowitz has been named chief operating officer of Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. He was vice president-operations and quality for Raytheon's Electronic Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
A transponder landing system (TLS) that FedEx Express has been testing in the Philippines is on the verge of FAA certification, leading to an early installation at 10 regional airports around the U.S.
Wall Street analysts and other industry observers are applauding Lockheed Martin Corp.'s recent decision to exit the telecommunications service market, confident the back-to-basics move will improve the company's ability to grow profitably by focusing only on core businesses.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government should lead major initiatives at home and abroad to reduce the threat of nuclear theft and sabotage, particularly the security risks to Russian stockpiles, U.S. authorities and academic experts agree. A new congressional review of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation programs says they still lack a coherent strategy, need better coordination and require greater access to secret Russian facilities. High-level leadership, perhaps in the White House, is considered necessary.
Despite a renewed Navy commitment to unmanned aircraft, Northrop Grumman's helicopter-like Firescout VTUAV is apparently not what the service wants for its future unmanned force. Despite its meeting the service's requirements, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark says planners want longer-range, larger-payload and stealthier unmanned aircraft. Northrop Grumman officials had said rumors of the UAV's fall from Navy favor were simply an internal misunderstanding, and production funding would reappear. That hope appears to be dashed.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS that the FAA has approved all 330 of the company's maintenance technician training courses for renewal of an Inspection Authorization (IA). In addition, the approval is accepted at agency offices worldwide for purposes of renewing an IA.
In lockstep with the White House, legislators have matched the $343.3-billion defense authorization budget President Bush sought for Fiscal 2002, heeding his national security priorities on military transformation, counter-terrorism, homeland security and missile defense.
