Greece's decision to acquire Patriot PAC-3 air defense systems, T-6A trainers and upgrade its Hawk missile systems represents more than $1.4 billion in new business for Raytheon. Although terms of the final contracts have yet to be negotiated, the Patriot order alone could be worth more than $1.1 billion. Greece will acquire four of the air defense systems, with options for two more. Work will be conducted in Greece and at Raytheon's Andover, Mass., facility with the first battery to be delivered by 2001.
The U.S. Congress has renamed a major NASA facility in honor of Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), who is set to return to space next week on board the space shuttle Discovery. Tucked into a recently approved NASA funding bill is a provision changing the name of NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland to the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field. Center employees had referred to the facility as ``Lerc.'' ``We still haven't figured out what our new acronym is going to be,'' said one slightly confused employee.
Malpensa 2000, northern Italy's new international hub, will be inaugurated late this month following an agreement that ended a fierce dispute between the Italian government and the European Commission. In an initiative set to hasten the transfer of traffic from Linate airport, close to downtown Milan, to Malpensa and sustain Alitalia's growth strategy, the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi earlier voted to restrict operations at Linate to routes handling more that 2 million passengers per year.
Dassault Aviation is actively evaluating the potential market for its envisioned SuperSonic Business Jet in preparation for the program's business plan. Although no tentative schedule has been established yet, the 8-seat Mach 1.8 SSBJ trijet could be launched in 2000, an initiative that would set the stage for a 2005-07 service entry date. Development costs are expected to be finalized early next year.
Despite internal complaints that Pentagon-based military staffs haven't been adequately consulted in planning attacks on Yugoslavia, senior defense officials insist that there has been no outside, non-military interference. Service chiefs have been quizzed on the issue and say they have no problem with the current distribution of responsibility. Defense Dept. officials attribute the grumbling to the service staffs that have never fully accepted rules laid down in defense reform law which remove them from directly planning operations.
Jack Frohbieter has been appointed chairman/CEO of Sky Station International Inc. of Washington. He was president of JAF Associates and executive vice president/ general manager of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Space and Electronics Group. Stefan Lopatkiewicz has been promoted to vice president/general counsel from vice president/special counsel to the chairman.
Oslo's new Gardermoen airport, which cost $2.7 billion, began operating on Oct. 8 with only minor flight delays. Located 32 mi. north of the Norwegian capital, the airport can handle 17 million passengers annually--approximately 50% more than the maximum capacity of the 59-year-old Fornebu airport located 6 mi. from Oslo, which has been closed. About 500 trucks were employed in the overnight shift of operations to Gardermoen from Fornebu.
Peter Anstiss has been named chief executive of British Aerospace Australia Holdings. He has been director of sales and marketing support for British Aerospace Military Aircraft and Aerostructures.
Initial public statements and key cabinet appointments in German Chancellor-elect Gerhard Schroeder's new government point to a continuation of defense and foreign policy principles followed by outgoing Chancellor Helmut Kohl, but perhaps radical change on the finance/economic front.
Bob Brayton has been named vice president-flight operations of Virgin Express. Other recent appointments were: Tom Bradley, director of inflight services; Gus Carbonell, director of planning and marketing; Marcel Ceulemans, director of human resources; and Martin Hamrogue, director flight operations of Virgin Express (Ireland).
France's Intertechnique has been selected by Bell to supply the Bell Agusta Model 609 tiltrotor aircraft's brushless-type electric pumps and motor-operated shut-off valves.
The heated rocker cover gasket can be used to preheat virtually any cylinder head on virtually any horizontally opposed piston aircraft engine. The heated gasket has nichrome wire sandwiched inside silicone with an aluminum coating. It is made under an FAA Parts Manufacturers Approval and can be mixed with other Tanis cylinder-heating systems such as thermocouple well types. Tanis Aircraft Services Inc., P.O. Box 117, Glenwood, Minn. 56334.
All Nippon Airways has scheduled joint services with United Airlines on 20 international and domestic routes--the most in ANA's history--on the assumption that it will gain Ministry of Transport approval. The program includes separate services from Tokyo to Honolulu and Washington, and Osaka/Kobe and Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to the agreement, both carriers will operate feeder routes from their domestic networks to funnel passengers onto the international flights.
Three major U.S. aerospace companies are moving toward using unified loads and aerodynamics models that will be accessible to engineers in both the internal and external loads groups, as well as suppliers of major components and systems.
A flurry of orders in key export markets is putting the spotlight on a major reorganization intended to streamline the activities of Thomson-CSF and make it more competitive in foreign markets. The orders, worth over FF7 billion ($1.3 billion), are in the area of communications and air defense--two of eight strategic business areas that Thomson aims to focus on under a new company organization put in place on Oct. 1.
NASA and the FAA are pledging to coordinate their research and long-term planning to improve aviation safety, revolutionize air travel and ultimately usher in a new era of low-cost space transportation. Concurrently, NASA is pressing ahead with ambitious research that aims by 2007 to reduce the aircraft accident rate by a factor of five, triple aviation system throughput, and cut aircraft emissions by a factor of three.
CityJet of Ireland plans to become a franchisee of Air France. The two airlines already code-share on a route between Dublin and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, and are discussing joint flights between London City, Strasbourg, Paris (de Gaulle) and Florence. Air France already has franchise agreements with Brit Air and Proteus Airlines of France, and Jersey European and Gill Airways in the U.K.
Perry Bradley (see photo) has been appointed editor-in-chief of Business&Commercial Aviation, an Aviation Week magazine. He succeeds Richard N. Aarons, who is now editor-at-large. Bradley was executive editor.
Currency devaluations are more of a worry for world airlines than lack of capital, as Asia's financial turmoil spreads to the West. But the trump question for carriers is whether America and Europe will succumb to the recession touched off in Thailand 15 months ago by a financial upheaval that continues to ravage Asia and threatens Latin America. Recession worries also are surfacing in business aviation (see p. 58).
In a breakthrough for an Asian satellite manufacturer, Mitsubishi Electric Co. has won an Australian A$500-million ($320-million) contract to build a commercial satellite for the Cable&Wireless Optus network. Mitsubishi Electric (Melco) was selected from among three other European and U.S. competitors to be prime contractor on Optus C1, a hybrid spacecraft that will serve both the commercial needs of the Optus network and the military communication needs of the Australian Defense Dept.
In the first quarter of 1999, American Airlines plans to launch ``Nexos''--a quarterly, inflight magazine published in Spanish and Portuguese. According to American, the magazine will feature editorial copy provided by EFE, a Spanish language news agency with broad coverage of Latin American topics. An American official said the publication will be written in Spanish, not translated from English.
The new Eutelsat Hot Bird 5 spacecraft, the first satellite to operationally employ advanced new European on-board ``Skyplex'' switching capability, is undergoing checkout following launch on Oct. 9 on board an International Launch Services Atlas 2A booster. The total mission cost for the booster and spacecraft is about $220 million, said Eutelsat Director General Jean Grenier.
The Sharpe XR6 RPS is a relative position system that uses differential GPS technology. The system is designed to allow two moving objects, such as a helicopter and a ship, to locate each other. GPS information is exchanged between the two moving objects via a data link. The system offers 2-cm. accuracy with updates once per second and a 1-2 sec. latency. Applications include collision avoidance, buoy and acoustic sensor positioning and guiding helicopters to moving platforms. Navstar Systems Ltd., Mansard Close, Westgate, Northampton, NN5 5DL, England.
The TLPH 310E is an extended mobile-reach stair integrated on a self-propelled chassis. It can reach passenger door sills ranging in height from 77.5-170.5 in., allowing it to service aircraft ranging in size from Fokker 100s to Boeing 767s. The hydraulically operated extension mechanism has a manual emergency capability. The upper platform tilts up or down 3 deg. to allow for final adjustment. The 82-in.-wide chassis has five-point hydraulic stabilizers and an 18.75-ft. turning radius. Maximum speed is 25 mph. NMC-Wollard, 1125 Starr Ave., Eau Claire, Wis. 54703.
