British lawmakers are urging greater government support for preserving the nation's defense industrial base and closer cooperation with other European nations as a means to that end. A joint Parliamentary report by the Defense and Trade and Industry committees criticized the government's short-term approach to defense procurement which emphasizes lowest cost. It called for the Ministry of Defense to adopt a long-term approach to procurement aimed at retaining key strategic capabilities within the U.K. and greater use of technology demonstrator programs.
A U. S. spacecraft sponsored in part by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) has been launched by a Russian booster that also carried an Earth resources satellite for India.
Saeaga Airlines is banking on eco-tourism to feed an unusual route network that crosses the island borders of eastern Malaysia, the southern Philippines and Indonesia to reach unspoiled and renowned destinations. Saeaga will begin charter operations in January and scheduled services this spring using two de Havilland Dash 8s and a Canadair Regional Jet flying from a home base in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to Davao and General Santos in the southern Philippines and Manado in north Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Croatian leaders are believed to be weighing their army's chances of recapturing eastern Slavonia--possibly between mid-January and mid-March--instead of waiting for up to two years for a Serb pullout envisioned in the current regional peace plans.
Airline industry officials are urging Congress to be cautious about legislation regarding accessibility of pilot employment records because of serious privacy and legal issues. During testimony before the House aviation subcommittee in December, a number of senior airline and air taxi industry representatives told lawmakers they generally favor at least limited access to a pilot's personnel records as part of a pre-employment program.
James Whaylen has been promoted to director of business aviation maintenance services from manager of business aviation service sales for AAR Oklahoma. He has been succeeded by David Chapman.
CONTRACTORS FOR THE CANCELED A-12 Navy strike aircraft--McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics--are due back in Federal Claims Court this week to make their pitches for just how much the Navy owes them. Predictions of the award for each range from $350 million-1 billion (see p. 11). The two companies filed a lawsuit four years ago, seeking to change the terms of the A-12 cancellation from ``terminated for default,'' which means no reimbursement for some expenses.
Matra Marconi Space will build three new communications satellites for the space segment of the $600-million WorldSpace/Alcatel digital radio broadcast system to serve Africa, South America and Asia. The WorldSpace/ Alcatel system could revolutionize the way radio broadcasting is conducted around the world. The WorldSpace system is specifically geared to bring digital radio services, including programs by international broadcasters such as the Voice of America, to 3.5 billion people living in developing nations.
HOUSE-SENATE INTELLIGENCE CONFEREES have agreed to temporarily set aside the contentious issue of whether to begin procurement of a new generation of smaller reconnaissance satellites (AW&ST Nov. 13, 1995, p. 24). Their compromise calls for the appointment of a panel of experts. By May 1, the panel is to determine whether ``smallsats'' can be procured immediately, as proponents in the House contend, or whether several more years of technology development is needed, as the Senate and National Reconnaissance Office maintain.
Lionel Leveille has been named president of Raytheon Canada Ltd., Waterloo, Ontario. He succeeds Richard P. Gaffney. Leveille was vice president/general manager of Heroux Inc.
EVANS&SUTHERLAND WILL SUPPLY VISUAL SYSTEMS to Reflectone U.K. for two full mission simulators for the Royal Air Force's new C-130J aircraft. The simulators are part of a total training system that Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems will supply as part of its contract with the RAF for 25 of the C-130Js. The simulators, which are intended to train pilots to operate the glass cockpits and improved engines on the J, are to be installed at the RAF's Lyneham Air Field.
The Russian Mikoyan design bureau, now being merged into the MAPO-MiG industrial group, opens 1996 preparing for the first flights of both its advanced fighter and MiG-AT trainer. The imminent flights will mark the first completely new aircraft to be tested by the famed Mikoyan organization since the MiG-29 first flew 15 years ago. Mikoyan officials are planning the AT's scheduled first takeoff by Jan. 20 and the new fighter's initial flight also early this year.
Frederick Reid has been appointed executive vice president-passenger division and Friedel Roedig managing director for alliances and cooperative agreements for Lufthansa German Airlines. Reid was senior vice president-Americas.
REP. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR. (R.-Wis.) may have some tough choices to make. He is the odds-on favorite to succeed the House Science Committee chairman, Robert Walker (R.-Pa.), next year following Walker's stunning announcement last month that he will not seek reelection. But another member's planned retirement also could put Sensenbrenner in line to chair a House Judiciary subcommittee--a prospect the lawyer-turned-lawmaker has eyed with relish in the past.
Peter R. Smith (see photo), president/ chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries Assn. of Canada, has been named chairman of Airshow Canada. He succeeds Victor Bennett.
U.S. Transportation Dept. cargo tracking specialists are helping the U.S. Army create a system for tagging nearly all military cargo headed for Bosnia so it can be tracked electronically and monitored via satellite.
U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin engineers suspect a computer software error caused the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) missile to stray off course initially and miss a Storm target during an attempted intercept on Dec. 13.
The best way for the U.S. to secure the strongest possible international aviation agreements is for our negotiators to make decisions based on economic analysis with the goal of maximizing benefits for the U.S. economy. International aviation decisions should turn on what is best for our country, not which carriers can generate the most political support. In 1995, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena did an excellent job in this regard. U.S.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS has signed a contract with Motorola's Satellite Communications Div. for the launch of 15 additional satellites for the global Iridium telecommunications network. The satellites will be placed in orbit during five launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., from April, 1998, to July, 2000, with 7420 models of the Delta 2 launch vehicle. The company already is set to launch 40 Iridium satellites, which constitute initial deployment of the system.
THE FIRST PRODUCTION McDonnell Douglas MD 600N helicopter has made its initial flight, leading the way to the start of a flight test program expected to result in FAA certification this year. The production aircraft flew Dec. 15 at a speed of up to 100 kt. and above 1,000 ft. altitude.
NASA has rejected Russian Space Agency proposals to build the international space station around Russia's orbiting Mir station, but has countered with a proposal it believes would significantly reduce Moscow's up-front commitment.
UNMANNED RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT WILL RESUME operations over Bosnia and Croatia in mid-March, instead of Jan. 1 as some senior officials wanted. That gives program officials extra time to train with and devise tactics for the new Synthetic Aperture Radar, which allows the Predator UAV to observe the troubled region even through thick winter cloud cover. Three Predators likely will operate from a base near Sarmellek, Hungary, about 130 mi. northwest of the main U.S. base in Tuzla, Bosnia.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE PLANS TO EQUIP its RC-135 Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) at Edwards AFB with a satellite communication link. The service has contracted to equip five aircraft with the Honeywell/Racal multichannel MCS-6000 satcom system under a $3.5-million contract. Honeywell sees the system, developed for commercial air transport and business jets, as a foot in the door for military applications.
China's aviation establishment has asked the International Air Transport Assn. to conduct a major aviation English language skills course as part of the country's drive to meet world air safety standards. Training would be given to some 2,000 pilots and as yet an undetermined number of air traffic controllers. It would be modeled after a similar program that IATA set up three years ago in Prague for Eastern European airlines. Training will be in language skills only; IATA is not teaching piloting or ATC skills.
