The 1998 Joint Land, Aerospace and Sea Simulation (JLASS 98) wargame provided a rare look at a joint-service educational game sponsored by U.S. senior-level service schools. Although aimed at developing tomorrow's top military leaders, JLASS ``outcomes'' consistently mirror those of annual ``Title-10'' games, which explore complex policy and defense issues that may have to be faced in the future.
Troy Ethen has been appointed general manager of the Crossflow Membrane and Elements Global Business Unit (GBU) of Osmonics, Minnetonka, Minn. Other recent appointments were: Clifford Frith, general manager of the Normal Flow Membrane, Filters, Lab Products and Instruments GBU; Roger Miller, acting general manager of the Standard Equipment and Pumps GBU; John LaRocco, general manager of the Fluid Controls and Valves GBU; and Curt Weitnauer, general manager of the Custom Products, Systems and Services GBU.
Twenty-four representatives from Boeing and its main commercial transport production union recently conducted a 10-day joint tour of China. The goal of the trip was to help both the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and Boeing ``better understand the importance'' of the Chinese market to the company's future, according to the company. Work outsourced to Chinese factories was a major issue in the last IAM strike at Boeing.
Two preproduction EH-101 civil transport helicopters have begun operating from Aberdeen airport in Scotland. This second phase of an intensive flight operations program will include simulated commercial and military missions in the hostile North Sea environment. The two aircraft have already logged more than 155 hr. in the 18-month effort that began in mid-September to validate EH-101 reliability and maintainability. The aircraft are being flown by pilots contracted from Bristow Helicopters, which is also providing hangar space.
A batch of 20,000 suspect electrical connectors has caused Boeing to implement a major replacement effort on its 737 production line. The problem has caused no delivery delays to date. The terminal connector blocks, manufactured in the Dominican Republic by FCI Electronics-Americas, are used on all Boeing models as wiring interconnects, with each terminal block carrying two or four buses. This architecture allows maintenance personnel to quickly remove and replace sections of wiring when there is a short circuit, rather than grounding the airplane.
Arianespace and Starsem are studying the feasibility of developing a new medium-lift booster that would combine the first and second stage of the Russian Soyuz and the upper cryogenic stage of the Ariane 4. With a price tag of under $60 million and a geostationary-transfer-orbit launch capability of 3.9 tons, the new booster would be better adapted to the single-satellite launch market than the Ariane 4, whose $95-million price tag is geared primarily to twin launches. It could be launched from the Ariane site in Kourou, French Guiana.
Taiwanese Premier Vincent Siew has signaled that the Air China pilot who hijacked his own Boeing 737 aircraft last week will be dealt with severely under Taiwanese law. The Air China Flight CA905 left Beijing with 104 passengers and crew for Kunmin in southwest China on a connecting route to Yangon, Myanmar, when the pilot diverted it to Taiwan. The incident, which occurred as Taiwan is trying to improve its relations with China, is regarded as an embarrassment. As a result, prosecutors are expected to seek a harsh sentence for the pilot and his wife, who accompanied him.
Members of Congress are worried that NASA may be throwing good money after bad with its plan to fund Russian work on the International Space Station. The plan, first reported by Aviation Week&Space Technology, calls for $660 million in direct payments to Moscow over the next four years (AW&ST Sept. 21, p. 26). But that still assumes the Russian government will be able to fund 50% of its station commitments--a dicey proposition, given its near-bankrupt state and the looming cost of de-orbiting Mir next year.
Initial flight tests of a Boeing Apache Longbow attack helicopter modified with the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate cockpit are underway at Mesa, Ariz. The advanced cockpit management system, developed by Boeing's Phantom Works, includes a four-axis digital flight control system and three large color multipurpose screens displaying all flight and mission data. Many tasks can be accomplished through voice commands by the pilot.
The auctioning of frequency spectrum to commercial telecommunication providers is undermining the Pentagon's ability to counter low-observable (LO) cruise missiles to detect stealthy missiles and aircraft. ``We need more bandwidth, not less,'' said Arthur Money, the Pentagon's top official for command, control, communications and intelligence. Stealthy cruise missiles have been fielded and require bandwidth-intensive detection systems, he said.
Citing concerns about reduced competition and higher ticket prices, the U.S. Justice Dept. has filed an antitrust suit aimed at blocking Northwest Airlines' planned acquisition of an equity stake in rival Continental Airlines.
Meanwhile, RSC Energia is still pressing to keep Mir flying past its planned June 1999 de-orbiting. But Energia's Viktor Blagov, the deputy head of the Korolev control center, said a decision would have to be made this month or next. Keeping Mir going would require one more Progress cargo/fuel spacecraft than now planned for Mir. While the additional Progress would not have to be available until 2001, controllers would soon need to begin boosting Mir toward its maximum safe altitude of 420 km. to extend the station's life significantly, Blagov said.
Joel Stephen Burton has become counsel to the law firm of O'Melveny and Myers in its Washington office. He was a partner in Ginsburg, Feldman and Bress.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace has changed its name to DaimlerChrysler Aerospace but will retain the DASA acronym first used when then-Deutsche Aerospace was formed in the early 1990s. The new corporate identity is evidence of DaimlerChrysler's commitment to the aerospace business, according to company officials. Last week, Daimler-Benz AG's shareholders approved the purchase of Chrysler Corp. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace is the first aerospace and defense company to form part of a corporation with a genuinely global shareholder structure, the company said.
HONEYWELL DEFENSE AVIONICS AND TRW Avionics Systems have created a civil transponder for military aircraft that also functions as a TCAS and IFF for military use. The XS-950 Mode S/IFF transponder is the only military Level 4 transponder certified by the FAA, according to the companies, which means that it is capable of transmitting ADS-B. It is a modified version of a widely used commercial Level 4 transponder.
Japan is studying various hybrid satellite configurations that will give it a military reconnaissance or early warning satellite capability without appearing to be instigating an arms race in Northeast Asia.
Space shuttle Mission 95, which roared into orbit Oct. 29 with former astronaut Sen. John H. Glenn, Jr., on one of the most anticipated flights in the history of the U. S. space program, will reach the peak of its commercial and scientific research activities by midweek before reentry and landing planned for Nov. 7. ``To use a trite old statement, `zero-g and I feel fine,''' Glenn radioed about 3.5 hr. after launch on Discovery, the same famous comment he radioed from his Mercury capsule 36 years ago.
Officials from major international airlines, manufacturers and government regulators will meet in Long Beach, Calif., this week in an effort to increase participation in the Global Analysis and Information Network (GAIN)--an initiative aimed at promoting the exchange of safety data on a worldwide basis to reduce airline accidents.
The Brazilian air force has chosen Elbit Systems of Israel to upgrade its 46 F-5 fighters. A contract is expected to be finalized within the next two months.
TURKISH AIRLINES SELECTED Evans&Sutherland Computer Corp.'s visual system for its new Boeing 737-800 flight simulator, which CAE Electronics is manufacturing. It should be ready for operation at the airline's Istanbul flight training facility in December 1999.
Using the same theories that led them to postulate Jupiter's Europa moon has large subsurface oceans, the Galileo science team says that Callisto, another Jovian moon, may hide a salty ocean beneath its surface. Galileo's data indicated electrical currents flowing near Europa's surface caused changes in its magnetic field. That finding fit with other data suggesting Europa has a sub-surface ocean. The Europa findings prompted Galileo's magnetometer team, led by UCLA space physics professor Margaret Kivelson, to look for the same patterns on Callisto.
All Nippon Airways' joining the Star Alliance puts Japan Airlines (JAL) under pressure to act as well. JAL officials have traditionally shied away from alliances, fearing a dissolution of control. But analysts expect it to join the oneworld alliance led by British Airways and American Airlines. Oneworld includes Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways, which have recently signed bilateral code-sharing agreements with JAL. Still, JAL officials worry about whether they can be ``equal partners'' in a U.S./European mega-alliance.
Eugene Buckley has been named chairman/CEO and Dean C. Borgman president/chief operating officer of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn. Borg- man succeeds Buckley as president and was senior vice president of the Boeing helicopter unit in Mesa, Ariz.
