Lockheed Martin Sanders has completed production and delivery of the first of 11 electronic warfare suites being produced for the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor.
As airlines release their financials for the first quarter of 1999, observers may want to pay special attention to an item that some carriers are apt to downplay in favor of more positive news. That's ``one-time, non-recurring gains,'' which aren't exactly synonymous with quality earnings.
The U.S. Army has placed an initial $7.1-million order for 290 cockpit airbag systems for its fleet of UH-60A/L Black Hawk helicopters, including 15 spare shipsets. The Cockpit Airbag System (CABS), developed by Simula Inc. of Phoenix,is a supplemental restraint system that envelops pilots during crashes and cushions the head and upper torso from impact with protruding objects in the cockpit and from exterior intrusion. During the past nine years, more than 30 of its aviators have died in crashes the Army thought survivable and another 11 suffered serious injuries.
The European Commission in June expects to complete a preliminary plan for airline passenger-oriented initiatives, in response to travelers' demands for enhanced service. ``We plan to evaluate the performance of European airlines, including deteriorating flight punctuality, contractual arrangements governing code-share agreements, and overbooking and denied boarding compensation practices,'' Michel Ayral said. He heads the EC Transport Directorate's air transportation unit.
UTMC Microelectronic Systems has developed a radiation-hardened embedded controller card that will be flight-qualified for off-the-shelf use in satellites to control subsystems, acquire telemetry, and other jobs. The UT131ECC board withstands 50 kilorads total dose and is immune to single event latchup, the company says. It includes a 16-bit microcontroller, a 32-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converter, high- and low-speed serial links, and pulse width modulators.
The weapons NATO will use in its impending large-scale assault on the Yugoslavian army and paramilitary forces will include a wide spectrum of new U.S. weapons technology. The precision laser-guided GBU-10 500-lb. and GBU-10 2000-lb. bombs, along with the television-guided GBU-15 2000-lb. bomb and the AGM-65 series of Maverick missiles are expected to be heavily used to strike Serb military vehicles from altitudes outside the range of most antiaircraft weapons.
Lyons-Satolas airport is shaping up to be Air France's first regional hub. The French flag carrier this month inaugurated nonstop services between Lyons and European destinations, such as Cologne, Hamburg, Venice and Vienna. It also significantly increased flight frequency between Lyons and Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome and Stuttgart, as well as to domestic points. Satolas, which is located 280 mi. south of Paris, last year handled 5.2 million passengers.
Japan's air force is seeking funding for an electronic intelligence aircraft to replace its present Nihon YS-11 elint system. The fact that maintenance issues kept the YS-11s from flying last August when North Korea tested a ballistic missile over Japan emphasized how outdated the 28-year-old aircraft has become. Last month, North Korean spy vessels entered Japanese waters and, again, the YS-11s could not respond.
After more than a year of scrambling, the FAA appears on track to eradicate the ``millennium bug'' from its computer systems by June 30. The agency's biggest challenge, however, may come after that. ``The toughest part is finishing on time,'' said Ray Long, head of the FAA's Year 2000 program office. ``But the real problem begins on July 1.''
Just four days before Korean Air lost an MD-11 freighter in Shanghai last week, its business ally and safety partner, Delta Air Lines, was reporting that the South Korean carrier was making progress in reversing one of Asia's worst air safety images--despite rumors, a government rebuke and an Internet ``report'' to the contrary.
Gerard Blanc has become chairman/CEO of Aerospatiale Airbus. Jean-Michel Leonard has become chairman/CEO of Aerospatiale ATR, Philippe Couillard chairman/CEO of Aerospatiale Lanceurs Strategiques&Spatiaux and Pierre Dubois chairman/CEO of Aerospatiale Missiles.
Michael E. Hicks has been named senior vice president/chief financial officer and D. Michael Steuert to the board of directors of GenCorp, Fairlawn, Ohio. Hicks had been treasurer, Steuert is senior vice president/CFO of Litton Industries.
Defense agencies and private companies developing payloads for unmanned aerial vehicles can hire a UAV from the Naval Postgraduate School to test their systems and gather performance data. The stable of aircraft includes the Altus high-altitude UAV, two Predators, an optionally piloted Pelican aircraft and a Twin Otter, used as a chase aircraft.
Mesa Systems Guild is making simpler versions of its Mesa/Vista software to manage and distribute data over networks to project participants. The full version is Mesa/Vista Enterprise for large and complex projects, but the new Mesa/VistaPM is for teams of fewer than 25 people working on one project at a time using the Microsoft Project software format. Access to data is not controlled. It can be downloaded for free from http://www. mesasys.com.
Goldin defended NASA's plans to study the possibility of an all-woman shuttle crew, a move some see as a publicity stunt. Although he hasn't made a decision, he said an all-female mission would be ``inspirational.'' Noting that just 1.4% of commercial pilots and 15% of engineers and scientists in the U.S. are women, Goldin said more female role models are needed.
ADP Paris airports authority is exploring partnerships with neighboring airports in an attempt to boost business, contain growing runway congestion at Charles de Gaulle and conform with environmental laws. Courier operators' burgeoning traffic growth and the need for nighttime operations and intermodal transportation networks is also driving the search for solutions, ADP Chairman/CEO Jean Fleury said.
The U.S. Air Force investigation into the failure of a Titan IVB Boeing Inertial Upper Stage during launch of a $250-million Defense Support Program missile warning satellite on Apr. 9 will examine IUS second-stage control avionics and whether the second-stage IUS extendable nozzle deployed properly.
An expansion of flight opportunities under the U.S.-China air services bilateral will allow existing carriers to solidify their positions and permit an additional entrant from each country in two years.
Boeing is planning a marketing campaign this summer for the 717-200 twinjet with a visit to the Paris air show for static display and flying demonstrations followed by a marketing tour of European cities. The aircraft will be the second production 717 off the line, called P-2, one of the initial 717s scheduled to be delivered to AirTran Airways, launch customer for the 717 program.
NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin is optimistic the Russian Space Agency will launch the International Space Station's crucial--and long delayed--Service Module by the end of the year. Russian officials told their NASA counterparts in meetings last week that the module will be shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 12, but declined to set a launch date until they finalize plans to integrate ``a few missing pieces'' of hardware at the launch site. Goldin said recent delays in the module are due to hardware and software problems, not a lack of funding.
The European Space Agency has detailed spending proposals that will help shape Europe's future position in launchers, telecommunications, Earth observation and satellite navigation through 2006 and beyond.
NASA has developed a Low-Speed Anti-Torque system that uses strakes mounted on a helicopter's tailboom to improve directional stability in a hover and has licensed the technology to a commercial manufacturer. The strakes initially were developed by scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and U.S. Army engineers for installation on helicopters featuring a single main rotor. NASA has patented the technology and recently licensed Boundary Layer Research Inc., in Everett, Wash., to market the strakes to civil and military operators.
Starsem has successfully orbited four more Globalstar satellites, bringing to 20 the number of spacecraft in orbit for the mobile phone system. The Franco-Russian firm had orbited eight Globalstars, and plans to launch four more in mid-May.
Transport Canada has certificated the Russian-built Kamov Ka-32A-11BC twin-rotor helicopter and its Klimov engines. The twin-engine Ka-32A can typically lift up to 11,000 lb. of logs off a mountain, according Ken Norie, president of VIH Logging Ltd. of Sidney, British Columbia. Its dual rotors, mounted on a single shaft, also give good hot-and-high performance. VIH has been operating two Ka-32As under a temporary permit since May 1997, using mixed Russian/Canadian crews. The company also conducted a 90-day trial with a Ka-32 prototype in 1991.
