Fairchild Aerospace's Dornier Div. concluded contracts valued at about $54 million with the U.K. and Thailand to upgrade and maintain Alpha Jet advanced trainers for three years. Six aircraft will be used by the U.K.'s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and 20 will be delivered to the Thai air force. The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets had been operated by the German air force in attack configuration.
IDD Aerospace Corp. has concluded an agreement with Boeing Commercial Airplane Group to provide light plates and push-button displays. Valued at up to $15 million, the contract includes displays for the Boeing Business Jet.
Bernd Kessler has been appointed general manager of European aerospace services for AlliedSignal Aerospace. He will remain general manager of the company's facility in Raunheim, Germany.
Robert K. Henry (see photo) has been named president of the Harris Corp. Government Communications Systems Div., Melbourne, Fla. He was vice president/general manager for individual government communications systems.
THE FAA HAS CONDITIONALLY ACCEPTED the Early Display Configuration of Raytheon's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (Stars), which is undergoing operational test and evaluation at the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center near Atlantic City, N.J. That software includes all the changes that the controllers' and maintenance technicians' unions considered essential before the system could become operational. On completion of the tests, the Stars EDC software will be installed in Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities in El Paso, Tex., and Syracuse, N.Y.
Finnair will become a full-fledged member of the British Airways-led Oneworld coalition of international airlines next week. The Finnish carrier, which agreed to join the alliance last year, is expected to strengthen Oneworld's northern European market, while Spain's Iberia should bolster the group's presence in southern Europe. Recently, LanChile confirmed its plan to become a member in early 2000 (AW&ST Aug. 23, p. 63).
Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter team is focusing its Aircraft Affordability Demonstration program and lean manufacturing techniques on reducing JSF production costs and slashing build time per aircraft.
The U.S. Navy has kicked off development of a tactical reconnaissance system for the two-seat F/A-18F, but now it must rush to field the system for the aircraft's first deployment. Navy officials recently briefed industry on their plans to develop and acquire the Shared Reconnaissance Pod (Sharp) in time for the F/A-18F's 2003 deployment. Having Sharp ready by then is critical because the F/A-18Fs will replace F-14s that carry the Tarps reconnaissance system, which provides the only tactical reconnaissance capability from carriers.
U.S. carriers are lagging behind independent European maintenance facilities in implementing--and reaping the benefits of--state-of-the-art information technology systems in their maintenance and repair organizations.
The trajectory of a booster scheduled to be launched next month to test a West Coast early warning radar system will follow a flight path similar to those that would be used in missile attacks against the U.S. by potential Pacific Basin adversaries. The launch from Alaska is aimed at evaluating the performance of an existing radar system in support of potential low-cost, low-risk National Missile Defense architectures.
Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing have begun rebuilding and modifying two Marine Corps MV-22s used in the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development program into prototypes for 50 CV-22s for the U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Command (AFSOC).
The FAA has begun a 60-day examination of U.S. airports using CTX 5000 explosive-detection machines to determine why some of the equipment is underutilized.
A Tokyo court has ordered the government to pay nearly $150 million in compensation to 134 residents who live near the U.S. Navy's Atsugi air base because of aircraft noise.
The British Ministry of Defense is awaiting details from the Pentagon of a U.S. proposal to help develop the U.K.'s Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM). President Clinton made the offer in a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier this month. The U.S. Air Force has been eying follow-ons to Amraam, several derivatives of which Raytheon has offered to the U.K. to meet its BVRAAM requirement. The U.S. offer to cooperate raises the political stakes in the BVRAAM competition that pits Raytheon against a consortium of European missile makers offering the Meteor.
Sanjay Mehrotra has been named vice president-engineering, Jack Yuan senior vice president technology, Gene Rosenthal senior director of products and Heinz Schulte managing director of European sales of the SanDisk Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif.
Bradley C. Osborn has been named Eastern U.S. director of customer service for Mesaba Holdings Inc. of Minneapolis. He was general manager of the Mesaba Airlines hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
The Air France/Delta strategic alliance should not affect Swissair's business links with the U.S. carrier, according to Swiss officials. Swissair, Delta, Austrian Airlines and Sabena Belgian World Airlines plan to maintain the Atlantic Excellence group's multi-hub strategy. ``Developing one front while keeping the others going today is the way of the world in the alliance landscape,'' SAirGroup President and CEO Philippe Bruggisser observed. The SAirGroup is Swissair's parent company.
Ted Warren has been promoted to vice president-engineering from head of aircraft engineering and certification and Doug Wood to vice president-operations from head of vendor management for the Seattle-based Aviation Communications Div. of AT&T Wireless Services.
Continental Airlines plans to seek authorization to serve Argentina, following conclusion of a new bilateral agreement on Aug. 12 between Argentina and the U.S. Although an unrestricted open skies accord is not scheduled to become effective until 2003, the pact opens new routes to U.S. airlines in September 2000, June 2001 and June 2002. A Continental official said the carrier would inaugurate service between its Newark, N.J., hub and a major city in Argentina, then add flights from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport to other Argentine destinations.
Ladd Howell has become international sales manager, Rex Mann national sales manager, Wayne Ott customer service manager and Mike Wusterbarth engineering manager, all of Flow Technology Inc. of Phoenix.
When Albany, Ga.-based Ayres Corp. bought Czech aircraft manufacturer LET a year ago, it got 40 completed new LET 420s in stock. There also was enough inventory to build 100 more of the 19-seat, unpressurized twin turboprops, as well as 69 of its Walter engines, according to Fred Ayres, president. Ayres has made minor improvements to the 420, including a nose extension, for U.S. markets. However, it is focusing on selling the high-wing, 205-kt. short-haul commuter to developing nations and successfully placed about 10 during the past year.
