ANALOG DEVICES CLAIMS TO HAVE THE SMALLEST industrial-grade floating-point digital signal processor (DSP)--the latest member of its Sharc family. The new 21065L DSP is in a package with a 15 X 15-mm. footprint, and has 196 contacts using a mini-ball grid array. Optimized for real-time processing, it performs 32-bit math operations at up to 198 million floating- and fixed-point operations per second, at 66 MHz., according to Analog. The company said the device will be available in June, priced at $12.50 in quantities.
FR Aviation of the U.K. has signed an agreement with Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Co. to support that United Arab Emirates firm's maintenance work on Royal Air Force Tristar tankers and transports.
A Canadian Forces salvage vessel has recovered wiring and other material from Swissair Flight 111's cockpit and skin from its wings. Canadian investigators are reconstructing the forward section of the aircraft in hopes of identifying the source of smoke that the flight crew reported in the cockpit before the Sept. 2, 1998, crash off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Chief investigator Vic Gerden said 81% of the aircraft, by body weight, has been recovered. He said the probe is far from complete.
The FAA has asked the Central Intelligence Agency to assess the civil jamming threats to GPS navigation signals. A January risk assessment by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory concluded that intentional interference poses the most significant risk to the ability of satellite navigation to meet aircraft performance needs (AW&ST Feb. 15, p. 59). But that study used a Defense Dept. threat assessment, which the FAA now thinks may not be appropriate for civil applications.
In terms of overall competitiveness, British Aerospace has been a company on the rise since the early 1990s. The first solid evidence was in 1998, when BAe ranked first in its peer group for most improved for the period 1993-97 and No. 3 for the year. So when BAe captured the No. 1 spot for 1999, it was a logical progression.
The French Defense Ministry plans an immediate review of lessons gained from its contribution to Operation Allied Force. The operational knowledge gathered in the last few weeks could provide firsthand input for the ministry's next multiyear plan, scheduled for the early 2000s. ``Although an in-depth operational assessment could not be completed before the war's end, we will seek to draw [Operation Allied Force's] preliminary conclusions within the next month,'' French Defense Minister Alain Richard said.
Tensions over the disputed province of Kashmir escalated last week when an Indian air force MiG-27 was shot down by a Pakistani surface-to-air missile. The aircraft was part of a search and rescue operation to recover the pilot of a MiG-21 that crashed while patrolling over Kashmir. Pakistan claimed credit for downing the MiG-21, which it said had intruded into its airspace. But Indian authorities said the pilot reported an engine malfunction before ejecting.
Dublin-based Ryanair Holdings plc is Europe's largest low-fare carrier. Through the fiscal year ended Mar. 31, the company carried almost 5 million scheduled passengers on its 27 routes between the U.K., Ireland and Continental Europe, a 25% increase from a year ago.
Another reason for the poor showing by Yugoslavia's air defenses is the effect of information war attacks on its computer system by the U.S. Air Force. Computers are key components for an integrated air defense system that would allow targeting to be done from a safe location while missiles are fired from a site close to the attacking aircraft. Senior officials say that Air Combat Command's IW unit has made an effective combat debut using computer hacking and deceptive messages. And the Serbs are reeling.
The European Commission has approved the proposed merger between United Technologies Corp. and Sundstrand Corp. The only approval now needed is that of Sundstrand shareholders, and they are scheduled to vote at a special meeting on June 10. Company officials expect to consummate the transaction by June 30.
Chances are that anyone well-acquainted with Smiths Industries won't be surprised at the London-based company's No. 1 Best Managed ranking for the second consecutive year. Improvements in productivity, asset utilization and key financial metrics in the last five years have been one of the most balanced of any company in the Index of Competitiveness.
The report of the U.S. House of Representatives' special committee that investigated the loss of sensitive technology to China is deeply disturbing. The 900-page declassified version of the Cox committee's report alleges that a vast array of extremely sensitive data on nuclear weapons is now in Beijing's hands (see p. 26). Moreover, the U.S. is portrayed as a nation asleep at the wheel. Worse, committee members say they assume high-tech losses will continue for some time. How can any American not be upset!
Many aerospace companies have dramatically altered their near-term priorities within the last 12 months in anticipation of a cyclical downturn in commercial aircraft production, according to Ladish Co.'s third annual survey of airframe and engine makers and major suppliers worldwide.
Unbridled change is continuing to sweep across the commercial air transport industry, as reflected in the results of the 1999 Index of Competitiveness. Two of this year's top-ranked airlines were runners-up in 1998. Another carrier vaulted from an obscure ranking last year to achieve the highest score within its peer group.
Following Comair's inaugural regional flight 22 years ago, modest growth was management's goal; overwhelming success, simply a dream. In the past 10 years, however, the airline has operated at double-digit annual growth rates and, along the way, achieved that dream.
Boeing last week delivered the first integrated avionics package for the Lockheed/Boeing F-22 fighter, days ahead of schedule. The Block 1.1 package will be installed on the fourth F-22 to fly. Along with a subsequent Block 1.2 update, this F-22 will be the first to fly with integrated avionics. The Block 1.1 package includes radar, mission system, inertial reference system and cockpit display software.
The Indian air force will receive its second delivery of Su-30MKI strike fighters by year-end, according to Air Chief Marshal Anil Tipnis. The 10 aircraft will join eight others already in India. The IAF expects to buy a total of 40 fighters. He also announced an unspecified delay in the MiG-21 upgrade program. Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov cleared the delivery just before his dismissal as part of a $300-million deal.
Carlton Kilmer, senior partner in the electronics and high-technology practice of Andersen Consulting, has been named a trustee of the Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute.
Operators of Boeing 727s with at least 50,000 hr. must remove and inspect wire bundles in fuel tanks, repair damaged wires and rewrap all bundles with Teflon by June 13, according to directives issued by the FAA last week. Aircraft with at least 30,000 hr. must be checked by June 23, and other 727s must be inspected before they reach 30,000 hr.
The Vaisala Inc. Columbus Operations' SA20 StrikeAlert this month became the first thunderstorm sensor to win FAA type approval. The SA20, for use on the Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS), allows users to detect thunderstorm activity--particularly in its early stages--within a 30-naut.-mi. radius of an airport, report it, as well as provide pilots with distance/direction information. The SA20 can be used alone or with other Vaisala weather platforms.
Asiana is bouncing back from its brush with bankruptcy last year as it focuses on high-yield routes to China and Japan and enjoys strong transpacific traffic following the suspension of U.S.-Korea service by Delta and American. Indeed, business is so good the Seoul-based airline is adding six new aircraft to its fleet this year, including a previously postponed Boeing 747-400 delivery, a 747-400F and a 767-300ER.
A team of astronomers has completed a large project to reduce the uncertainty in the Hubble constant, using the unmatched resolution and photometry of the Hubble Space Telescope for one of its intended goals. However, a separate team using other techniques with Hubble observations has come up with a different value for the astronomical constant. The two teams' values are closer than they have been but still don't quite overlap. The search is still on.
SAir Group has acquired the Dobbs group of Memphis, consolidating its position as the world's second largest caterer and further reducing exposure to airline business swings. The two firms posted combined sales of about $2 billion, behind only LSG Sky Chefs/Lufthansa ($2.7 billion). SAir Group also added Italy's Air Europe as the 11th member of the Qualifier Group, its European airline alliance.
B-2 stealth bomber No. 20, the penultimate production aircraft, was designated the ``Spirit of Indiana'' and last week joined the operational force after ceremonies at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind. The Air Force's B-2s are flying 30-hr. round-trip missions from Whiteman AFB, Mo., to strike critical targets in Yugoslavia with up to 16 precision-guided bombs from each aircraft. Usually, one aircraft will bomb while the other flies as a back-up in case the first is disabled.
