The New Zealand government injected NZ$885 million ($372 million) into ailing Air New Zealand (ANZ) in a two-phase loan. The action effectively returns the now privatized carrier, brought down by its disastrous investment in Ansett Australia, back to government control. The loan includes NZ$150 million to the Ansett Group to pay claims made against ANZ; the rest will go to the airline. ANZ has reached an agreement with the Voluntary Administrators of Ansett to release ANZ's directors from all claims relating to Ansett.
The Bush Administration is in the midst of a major review of how the intelligence community is structured, but don't expect much improvement--at least that's the opinion of insiders. Guided by historic example, the House Intelligence committee suspects ``no major substantive changes will occur after these reviews are complete.'' The committee added that changes are needed, and have been since at least 1996, when it presented a long-forgotten reform plan called IC21. The panel notes that the intel budget for 2002 actually cuts human intelligence.
Senior military officers who produced the Quadrennial Defense Review say it is devoid of analysis and has avoided answering any of the questions asked by Congress. Frustrated by delay and the unwillingness of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make key decisions, the authors finally adopted the Hippocratic admonition to at least avoid intentional wrongdoing. ``The report is pabulum at best,'' said one of those involved in preparing the QDR. ``The chairman's [Gen. Hugh Shelton] guidance was `just do no harm,' and we adopted that as our role.''
Embraer plans to reduce production of the regional jet product line and will cut jobs in the wake of terrorist attacks on the U.S. last month. The Brazilian manufacturer has revised its delivery schedule to 160 airplanes this year--down from 185 originally planned--while only 135 aircraft would be delivered next year instead of 205. As a result, about 1,800 workers will lose their jobs and the overall workforce will shrink to 10,900 people.
Russia's surface-to-air missile designers say they've improved their products with greater range, improved lethality and the ability to detect stealth aircraft and missiles. Russia's top surface-to-air missile (SAM) system builders, Antey Industrial Co. and Almaz Central Design Bureau, have developed, beginning in the 1950s, the air defense systems most battle-tested and feared by U.S. military planners. But fielding their newer, improved systems is being stymied by the collapse of Russian military spending and a lack of new foreign customers.
Up to 4,000 jobs will be eliminated throughout General Electric Co.'s large aircraft-engine operation (GEAC) during the next several months. The cuts, triggered by the dramatic downturn in the commercial aircraft sector, will be worldwide. This will be the company's largest layoff since 1993.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin have won contracts to develop concepts for the Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB)--the U.S. Air Force's program to field a 250-lb. weapon for its bombers and fighters. The two companies have been given a $12-million down payment to refine their designs over the next two years, before one concept is chosen for final development and production. Accuracy for the SDB, which is guided by GPS signals, is within 6-7 meters. The Air Force plans to buy at least 12,000 of the bombs.
Manufacturing companies worried about the risk of switching from their current computer-aided design or product development system to a new high-tech system can get help, albeit biased, from PTC, which has more than 250,000 users worldwide of its product development software. ``The product development process represents both the potential for huge competitive advantage and incredible disruption,'' said Paul Cunningham, PTC's executive vice president for sales in the Americas.
Political and space leaders in Europe believe that space policy there will be increasingly driven by security considerations, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
The oldest operational airport in the world is still operating--but barely. With general aviation aircraft grounded in a 50-naut.-mi.-wide loop around Washington, air traffic at the College Park Airport has been limited to a few police and emergency evacuation helicopters brought in when a tornado sliced through a nearby college campus.
U.S. carriers--operating half-full flights despite major cuts in capacity--are trying to lure travelers back with discount fares and attempting to shore up weaker markets with the introduction of regional aircraft. Industry data show there are signs of a slight improvement in the business climate, but it's more of a slowing of the downward movement of the market than a bottoming out or net gain.
Russian researchers hope to achieve a major breakthrough soon in the development of a long-range, ramjet-powered, air-to-air missile, but engineers at the renowned Vympel State Machine-building design bureau are still wrestling with design issues that are slowing progress.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics will draw on its experience with the highly successful Mars Global Surveyor to build NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, set for launch in 2005. NASA awarded the Denver-based unit of the company a $145-million contract Oct. 3 to develop the spacecraft, which will carry a camera with five times the resolution at the surface of anything that's gone to Mars before. The company also will provide operations support during the 5.5-year mission, when the spacecraft is expected to return some 27 terabits of data.
Test results from Boeing's X-32 demonstrators have been submitted as part of the Joint Strike Fighter competition with Lockheed Martin. A winning contractor is scheduled to be selected at the end of the month (AW&ST Sept. 24, p. 52). Boeing addressed questions raised about the fidelity of the X-32 tests--the configuration of the delta wing demonstrators that differs from the separate-tail layout in the company's bid, and the removal of the inlet cowl for most short takeoff/vertical landing (Stovl) tests.
The 14 X 22-ft.-subsonic wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., is undergoing upgrades that include the installation of a new electric motor to turn the facility's nine-blade fans, which span 40 ft. The 80-ton motor, built specifically for the tunnel by ALSTOM in France, is rated at 6,600 volts and produces up to 12,000 hp., according to NASA. To install the motor requires removing the top of the tunnel and using a 300-ton mobile crane to lower the unit into place. The facility is tentatively scheduled to resume operations in December.
Despite a pronounced U.S. lead in active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar development, a key element of the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter programs, Russia's renowned Phazotron-NIIR radar house is pursuing its own version of the technology. Phazotron is looking to European manufacturers for a more affordable way to build such systems. Nonetheless, company officials displayed their prototype, a multi-function Sokol radar with AESA-like, Phased Array Antenna (PHAA) technology, for the first time at the Moscow Air Show.
The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a $343.5-billion defense authorization bill for Fiscal 2002, and House and Senate conferees will have to square differences in their respective versions on ballistic missile defense (BMD) and a new round of base closures in 2003.
In an unusual move, the White House intends to appoint Maj. Gen. Claude M. Bolton, Jr., to become the Army's acquisition chief. What's so odd about a senior officer with years of acquisition experience getting the job? Bolton wears Air Force blue and until recently oversaw acquisition of the service's fighter and bomber programs. Bolton has terrific credentials, including a strong hand in reorganizing the F-22 test program to make it more credible.
A FedEx 727-200 aircraft recently made the first civil precision-instrument approach using a GPS-landing system developed for the military. The aircraft made 16 successful Category 1 instrument approaches, followed by six full-auto landings at Holloman AFB, N.M., using Raytheon's Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS). The aircraft was guided by differential GPS with corrections, integrity monitoring, and precision approach-path transmitted by a JPALS ground station. Accuracies were sufficient to meet the requirements for Cat. 2 and 3, according to Raytheon.
The FAA should move to establish occupational health standards for flight attendants or risk losing the authority to do so, according to the Transportation Dept. Inspector General. In 1970, when Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it allowed federal agencies to retain authority in their areas of responsibility, and the FAA did so in 1975. Since that time, the agency has focused on design and operational factors affecting safety and has limited health measures to non-mandatory advisory circulars.
The European Space Agency is proposing a major overhaul of its launcher strategy, involving cooperation with Russia and the U.S., to meet the evolving market and make up for a lag in future reusable launch system development. The existing strategy, or at least the way it is being implemented, is no longer adapted to present-day conditions, acknowledged ESA's new launcher director, Jean-Jacques Dordain.
The FBI is trying to learn more about the hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington including their true identities and activities on and before Sept. 11. Mug shots of all 19, including those suspected of being the pilots, are posted on the FBI Web site: http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/092701hjpic.htm.
A Siberia Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M transport exploded in cruise over the Black Sea on Oct. 4, with fragments raining into the water. Conflicting reports suggested terrorism or an errant Ukrainian missile as possible causes. Flight 1812 was en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, Russia, when it disappeared from radar screens without emergency signals at about 1:45 p.m. Moscow time. Approximately 76 passengers and crewmembers were on board. The crash site is at about 42-43 deg. N. Lat. and 37-38 deg. E. Long.
To bring a more computer-like experience to airline passengers, Rockwell Collins is adding Windows operating systems to the hardware of its TES cabin entertainment system, resulting in the eTES system, scheduled for first delivery in mid-2002. The idea is that Windows provides a stable architecture that can accept new features, with a wide range of developer tools. Features can be introduced at the airline's pace, including e-mail, Internet access and audio and video on demand. The eTES server will run Windows NT, and passenger units will run Windows CE.
