Pratt&Whitney Engine Services will support Brazil-based TAM Airlines' fleet of Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft under a 10-year work order valued at more than $125 million.
Data links and flight control systems developed for U.S. Air Force Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could be used to prevent aircraft hijacking, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of San Diego told Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. Under the proposal, each pilot would have a hijack switch in the cockpit. If either pilot activated the switch, control of the aircraft would be irrevocably passed to a controller on the ground or a pilot in an ATC center.
Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are preparing the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter for its arrival at the Red Planet later this month. The spacecraft telecommunications subsystem has been checked out for Mars orbit insertion, and the probe has been reoriented to reduce the demand on its small thrusters to de-spin its reaction wheels.
NASA believes it has whittled its $4.8-billion shortfall on the International Space Station to about $500 million, but that only buys a three-member crew--barely enough to keep the station operating and woefully inadequate for ``world-class science.'' Estimates of how much more it would take to build a station capable of supporting a crew of six or seven are starting to push into the $8-billion range, or about what the Reagan Administration originally estimated the total project would cost.
Small and medium-sized companies in Europe and Canada that want to enter the small-satellite marketplace may get a boost from the European Space Agency. ESA's Telecommunications Dept. has launched a program to help companies with money, expertise and access to Europe's existing satellite industry. The program is targeted at existing and startup companies in participating nations that have promising satellite-based concepts in information technology and telecommunications.
Modern Technologies Corp. has won a contract valued at $25 million to support the NASA Jet Propulsion Labora- tory Deep Space Network. The contract is for three years with two one-year options.
The U.S. Navy is testing the next generation of antiradiation missiles, designed specifically to hit enemy air defense sites that transmit intermittently to thwart current missiles that home on those emissions.
The Aerospace Industries Assn. lauds a preliminary European ruling against the continent's ban on older aircraft engines that have been hushkitted to comply with internationally approved Stage 3 noise curbs. A final decision by the European Court of Justice is expected by the end of the year, the lobbying group AIA says, and it usually accepts the recommendation of the court's advocate general, which found in favor of a challenge brought by AIA member Omega Air, a retrofitter of Boeing 707s. Although AIA supremo John W.
General aviation advocates and lawmakers last week came to an understanding--neither knows why the National Security Council continues to put the squeeze on GA. Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn., told the House aviation subcommittee that 41,000 aircraft are ``trapped'' in no-fly or restricted zones at 282 public-use airports, put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A flip of a switch (and $1.4 billion) launched S-band commercial radio service in the U.S. last week, ushering in what promoters hope will be an entertainment revolution comparable to the rise of cable television.
Airbus is teaming up with Tenzing Communications, Astrium and Arinc to develop a broadband onboard communications system to compete with Connexion by Boeing.
Parliamentary leaders from seven countries have urged European political and space leaders to reinforce cooperation in space following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. The countries called for closer links between civil and military space programs and quickly launching key dual-use projects like the Galileo satellite navigation system and the Global Monitoring, Environment and Security (GMES) network.
Dassault Aviation has delivered the company's 1,500th Falcon-series business jet. The Falcon 2000 was accepted by an official of Executive Jet Inc. for use in the company's Netjets fractional-ownership program. NetJets has more than 100 Falcons on order. According to Dassault, the worldwide Falcon fleet has flown more than 9 million hr. since 1963 when the first Falcon 20 entered service. The company delivered 70 new business jets last year.
Congress and the President moved so quickly in coming to the financial rescue of U.S. airlines, they left behind some of the people most directly affected--the workers already laid off following the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington with hijacked airliners. Labor groups were hammering home that message last week as carriers continued to cut their workforces. At least 100,000 employees across the U.S. airline industry had been laid off by week's end.
Textron Systems has signed a $20 million contract with Australia's Defense Material Organization to deliver seven terrain commander unattended ground sensor systems. Australian forces will use the systems for night combat and ground-based surveillance.
RECENT ACQUISITIONS HAVE CONVERTED FORMER partners into competitors. In the early 1990s, Litton Industries Advanced Technology Div. (San Jose, Calif.) teamed with Raytheon Electromagnetic Systems (Goleta, Calif.) and Tracor (Austin, Tex.) to offer an advanced self-protection integrated suite (Aspis), which was selected by the Greek air force for its F-16C/Ds (Block 30 and Block 50/52) aircraft. Litton supplied the radar warning receiver, Raytheon provided the (internally-mounted) radar jammer and Tracor supplied the IR-flare dispenser.
As the U.S. prepares to strike at trans-national terrorists based in Afghanistan, it first has to assess and judge a long list of people and organizations that may be involved. The international fight against drugs, religious persecution and terrorism, plus a long-running civil war, has drawn all of Afghanistan's neighbors into supporting one side or the other with money, supplies and occasionally with direct military action.
India's shift toward closer ties with Israel is expected to accelerate in the wake of the attacks on the U.S. The two nations are building extensive military cooperation involving weapons sales, equipment upgrades, technology transfer and joint weapons development programs. In the wake of terrorist attacks in the U.S., Indian defense officials fear the country is vulnerable to cross-border terrorism in the Jammu and Kashmir provinces, where about 10,000 people have been killed since 1989.
Don't expect massive bombing attacks on Afghanistan, say U.S. officials. Much of the movement to the region is a show of force. The current plan is for a few air strikes by small packages of aircraft, given the low state of Afghan air defenses. Targets are expected to be the poppy fields that have helped fund Taliban operations. ``The number of militarily significant targets you can count on your fingers and toes,'' a senior Air Force official said. U.S.
A pair of Sino-Russian aviation accords could renew exports of CIS civil aircraft to China, providing a vital lifeline to Russia's beleaguered aerospace industry and further cementing strategic ties between the two countries. Under a broad-ranging cooperation pact signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji on Sept. 6, China will acquire a fleet of medium-range transports from Russian manufacturers--its first purchase of new airliners from its giant northern neighbor in more than a decade.
The Russian government is close to completing formation of a vertically integrated holding company that would bring together all major enterprises dealing with development and production of Sukhoi military aircraft, including the Sukhoi design bureau and production facilities at Komsomolsk-on-Amur (KnAAPO), Novosibirsk (NAPO) and Irkutsk (IAPO). According to sources, a plan to transform Sukhoi, KnAAPO and NAPO into joint stock is already on President Vladimir Putin's desk.
European nations have taken a major step forward in their effort to tie a growing web of national optical and radar satellite systems into a coherent Europe-wide reconnaissance network. Last month, the French and German military commands approved a set of common operational requirements for a system of observation satellites to be used for security and defense purposes. Italy and Spain are expected to do the same. The document is later to be submitted to other European Union members under an ongoing plan to establish a joint defense capability.
