Herley Industries' Microwave Systems Div. has received a five-year, $16.7-million order from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command for wideband telemetry systems slated to be used in the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-air surface guided missile.
The European Union has opened talks with the U.S. on airline subsidies, reflecting concern that the U.S. government gave its carriers an unfair advantage with bailouts that allowed them to offer deep discounts on transatlantic routes. The move is part of a package proposed by European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, presented last week in Brussels, that is intended to lessen the economic effects of events of Sept. 11 on the European airline industry.
United Parcel Service has taken delivery of the first of 13 MD-11s to be converted to freighters by Boeing and Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd. (STA). According to UPS, another two aircraft are undergoing modifications and are scheduled for delivery at the end of this month. Boeing is responsible for acquiring the airplanes and STA performs the design, conversion and maintenance. The agreement between Boeing and UPS includes options for 22 additional MD-11s.
The contract for the program designed to greatly enhance the protection of Air Mobility Command transport aircraft against terrorist shoulder-fired infrared-guided missiles has been won by Northrop Grumman's Defensive Systems Div. of Rolling Meadows, Ill. Under the two-phase Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures program initiated before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, AMC aircraft such as C-5s and C-17s will be outfitted with existing missile warning and IRCM systems that can be updated with more advanced technology.
The Swedish civil aviation authority LFV forecasts a 10% reduction in airline traffic next year and zero growth this year in the wake of terrorist attacks in the U.S. A revised forecast, however, projects a rebound in 2003. The LFV plans to reduce its financial support of improvements at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport, although funding will be provided to complete one terminal and a third runway is scheduled to open late this year. In 2000, more than 30 million people used Sweden's airports.
Robert M. Sorbello has been named senior vice president-engineering and technology for AirTV, Bethesda, Md. He was vice president-network engineering and infrastructure at Loral Cyberstar and Loral Orion Inc.
James G. Maser has been appointed president/general manager of the Sea Launch Co., Long Beach, Calif. He was chief systems engineer and will be succeeded by Kirk Pysher, who is being promoted from deputy chief systems engineer. Maser succeeds Will Trafton, who has become president of Boeing Launch Services Inc. and vice president/deputy general manager for Boeing Expendable Launch Systems, Huntington Beach, Calif. Trafton will continue as chairman of Sea Launch.
The Miniconoscan 3000 is a noncontact measurement system designed to make 3D measurements of metal, plastic and rubber industrial molds, machined parts and tools. It employs a patented technique called ``conoscopic holography'' that the company says allows measurements up to 500 points per sec. dynamically, while the stages are in motion. The company adds that the product is the only noncontact 3D measuring system that is collinear. It can be used for reverse engineering of both parts and molds as well as quality, maintenance and repair of molds.
Security against potential terrorist attacks has been substantially strengthened around the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) at Patrick AFB, Fla. AFTAC is one of the nation's primary intelligence centers for monitoring nuclear, chemical and biological weapons activities around the world.
The U.S. government has created a list of ``Most Wanted Terrorists.'' Osama bin Laden and 21 other people, including his lieutenants, are wanted for crimes committed since 1985. The U.S. is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the apprehension or conviction of bin Laden, and the Air Line Pilots Assn. and the Air Transport Assn. are funding an additional $2 million. Mug shots can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm.
Frederic (Jake) Brace has been named chief financial officer of United Airlines parent UAL Corp. He succeeds Douglas A. Hacker, who is now president of United NewVentures. Brace was senior vice president-finance.
SNPE is hoping the arrival of a new chairman/CEO can get the French solid propulsion manufacturer back on track, following a catastrophic explosion last month in Toulouse, where three of its chemical plants are located. The new boss, Jacques Loppion, hails from tank-builder Giat Industries, where he has engineered a revamp of operations and structural alliances to turn around the perennial money loser. The municipal government has requested a shutdown of the facilities, which generate 40% of the company's chemical revenues.
USAF/Lockheed Martin Titan IVB lifts off on 3.4-million-lb. thrust from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Oct. 5 carrying a National Reconnaissance Office advanced KH-11 imaging spacecraft. At about $1.3 billion for the satellite and booster, KH-11 missions are among the most expensive of all military space operations. The spacecraft will help support antiterrorist operations in Afghanistan and monitor other countries such as China.
A secret National Reconnaissance Office/Boeing data relay satellite is undergoing checkout in space for use in routing critical U.S. intelligence data, following its launch on Oct. 10 from Cape Canaveral on board a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS booster. As preparations for the flight were underway, the U.S. Air Force queried both Lockheed Martin and Boeing on what levels of emergency launch surge capability they could maintain if it was necessary to launch larger numbers of military spacecraft to support the U.S. war on terrorism.
Release 4.0 of Zontec's Synergy 2000 statistical process control software contains more than 20 new features and program enhancements. The software is designed for mission-critical plant computing environments that want an enterprise-wide approach to quality management. The software includes facilities for real-time data collection, charting, monitoring, analysis, messaging and reporting across geographically distributed facilities.
Preston A. Henne has won the Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Program Management from the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, for his management of the Gulfstream V program.
The European Space Agency has decided to include Canada's Radarsat 2/3 mission in the first round of projects to be proposed for the agency's Earth Watch program, but will pare back its overall budget request for this and other Earth-observing initiatives.
To conserve cash in the airline crisis, British Airways will eliminate the Christmas bonus for 36,000 employees, saving 37 million pounds ($53.4 million), an airline spokesman said. The Christmas bonus used to be the equivalent of one week's pay. Eliminating the bonus comes on the heels of executive pay cuts of 10-15%. Unions will be asked to approve a 5% pay reduction for middle management employees. In another possible reduction, Irish carrier Aer Lingus said it may furlough 2,500 of its 6,300 employees if its recent promotions do not stimulate traffic.
Gill Hazel has become director of business development for Datalex, Manchester, England. He was a principal consultant for Strategy, Sydney, Australia.
Production is underway on a redesigned solar array for Boeing Satellite Systems' flagship 702 communications satellite after it was determined the spacecraft's in-orbit power-generating capabilities have been degrading faster than expected. The problem has been traced to solar radiation reflectors installed at an angle along the length of both solar-panel wings on 702 models, which form a shallow trough that concentrates more radiation on the surface of the solar cells for increased power output.
A-CARB, the U.S. subsidiary of France's Messier-Bugatti, has completed a $30-million, 30,000-sq.-ft. addition to its Walton, Ky., facility to support the production of carbon brake disks for the C-17 military transport.
NASA's partners on the International Space Station, caught in the turbulence left by the U.S. shortfall in ISS funding, are awaiting the outcome of budget deliberations in Washington before deciding how to proceed.
For more than three years, the air transport industry has warned that a projected shortage in aviation maintenance technicians could bring flights to a grinding halt. The reasoning includes an assertion that too many young people are being told they must go to college instead of adopting a technical trade.
