Following are excerpts from a speech by British Secretary of State for Defense Malcolm Rifkind on the need for a new Atlantic Community. He addressed the Royal Institute of International Relations in Brussels on Jan. 30.
BOEING WILL LAY OFF about 7,000 workers during 1995 due to slack demand for its 737 transport. Production will drop from the current 8.5/month to 7/month in November. Manufacturing rate of the 767 is temporarily being increased from 3/month to 4, but is scheduled to slip back to 3.5/ month in December.
Strong orderbooks, new helicopter versions and brisk international sales portend a vibrant world civil helicopter industry in 1995. Challenges include skyrocketing insurance rates and the near-term dumping on the market of up to 3,000 surplus helicopters and related spares by the U.S. military. A string of high-visibility accidents and environmental complaints threaten to curtail the rapidly growing helicopter tour business.
Hercules, Inc., Wilmington, Del., has promoted R. Keith Elliott executive vice president from senior vice president/chief financial officer. He succeeds Richard Schwartz, who has been named president/ chief executive officer of Alliant Techsystems. Vincent J. Corbo has been promoted to senior vice president-technology from group vice president/president of Hercules Materials Co. Robert J. A. Fraser, senior vice president-international and science and technology, has been appointed group vice president/president of Hercules Food and Functional Products Co.
INCOMING AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman wants greater emphasis put on modeling and simulation, saying the service is lagging behind industry and the other services. At an American Defense Preparedness Assn. gathering, he said the U.S. Air Force has always had an institutional bias against simulation, equating it with less flying time. He also believes there is still a requirement for ``one more generation'' of manned tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
DAVID A. FULGHUM, JOHN D. MORROCCOWILLIAM B. SCOTT
The U.S. military currently is pursuing twelve significant black aviation projects, according to high-ranking Pentagon officials. AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY has confirmed that these classified projects include two fixed-wing aircraft prototypes, two rotary wing projects and eight weapons programs. There are believed to be more, but some may not fall into traditional ``development'' categories, and several may be proof-of-concept vehicles or production prototypes.
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS has ordered 10 Airbus A321-100s valued at $645 million, but it has delayed delivery of five Airbus A340s until ``at least the year 2000.'' The A340 order is valued at $595 million. ANA's emphasis on fleet downsizing also has affected its Boeing orderbook. The airline reduced its orders of 747-400s from eight to four and increased its 767-300 orders from three to six.
SPINOFFS FROM NONFLAMMABLE, foam-in-place packaging material technology developed for the U.S. Navy may lead to safer aircraft cabin insulation and seat cushions. Four precursor polyimide materials have been selected for further evaluation, all with improved processability and lower environmental consequence than currently used polyurethane plastics. Project research was performed by Rice University, Houston, Tex., and sponsored by the Carderock Div. of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Bethesda, Md.
Honeywell Military Avionics of Minneapolis has appointed Julie Schlueter (see photo) director of contract management. She was manager of order fulfillment at Honeywell Air Transport Systems.
Julia Sattel will become director of markets for Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Amadeus Marketing on Mar. 1. She will succeed Peter Horder, who has become managing director of Amadeus U.K.
Frank A. Messina (see photo) has been named director/team leader of the Advanced Threat Radar Jammer program at ITT Avionics, Clifton, N.J. He was manager of the ITT/USAF AN/ALQ-172 electronic countermeasures program.
The former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded at least two secret rotorcraft programs during the 1980s, and at least one of them is still operating. They were low radar cross section technology demonstrators and did not have an operational mission.
David J. Whalen, a former communications satellite team leader with BDM International, has joined Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co., Ltd., in Hong Kong as general manager of engineering.
Lockheed Ft. Worth Co. has completed flight testing of an F-16C modified to represent an ``enhanced strategic'' configuration of the multi-role fighter. A total of 21 flight tests were conducted after a rapid-prototyping program to gather aerodynamic data on the external features of the so-called F-16ES. Seventeen flights were geared toward evaluating the aircraft's handling characteristics with two 24-ft. conformal fuel tanks.
Continental Airlines is encountering some rough going, largely because of the disappointing performance of its Continental Lite, or CALite, service, and investors along for the ride may be in for more jolts. Standard&Poor's has placed a $1-billion shelf registration, which was filed June 4, on CreditWatch for possible downgrade. Moody's Investors Service also is taking a hard look at Continental. ``There is a lot of downward pressure on the airline's credit rating,'' analyst Renee Shaker said.
AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md., has promoted Albert Barry (see photos) to vice president from director of Washington operations, and has named G. Russell Zink vice president-business acquisition and planning for defense systems. He was director of the turbine engine business center for Textron Lycoming, Stratford, Conn.
Reductions in the Airport Improvement Program and elimination of the Essential Air Service Program are key budget-cutting options being recommended by the Transportation Dept.'s inspector general.
The Zebulon Group of Minneapolis has named retired USAF Gen. Robert C. Mathis to head a consulting unit for defense companies with commercial initiatives. He was Air Force vice chief of staff.
AEROFLOT RUSSIAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES may lease 14 General Electric CFM56 engines to replace Russian NK-86 powerplants on its Ilyushin Il-86 transports. The CFM56s would help the aircraft meet noise and emissions limits in Europe and the U.S.--the aircraft was banned from the U.S. a year ago. The engine also would need fewer overhauls and have about 15% better SFC. A GE official expects an agreement to be signed this year.
A PLATELET LAMINATING technology adapted by Aerojet and NASA-Lewis Research Center could make it feasible to economically manufacture complex, high-temperature ceramic parts with intricate cooling or hydraulic passages for aerospace use. The process stamps platelets from high-purity ceramic tapes, then stacks and applies bonding agent and fires them. The resulting components are solid, lightweight, leak-free and chemical-resistant. They can feature internal passages for metering with diameters as small as 0.003 in., according to Jerrold E.
Edwin L. Hutchins, a professor in cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego, has developed an Integrated Mode Management Interface under a NASA Ames contract.
PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS EXTENDED THE MORATORIUM on nuclear testing, as the White House steps up efforts to gather international backing for a Comprehensive Test Ban (CTB) Treaty. Clinton ordered the moratorium when he arrived in office, reversing Reagan and Bush Administration policy. White House National Security Adviser Anthony Lake said the extension assumes a treaty will be signed before mid-1996. Clinton also ordered Administration negotiators in Geneva to drop a proposal for a special U.S. ``right to withdraw'' from a CTB treaty 10 years after it enters into force.
ANTICIPATE GROWTH OF THE FAA ``FREE FLIGHT'' CONCEPT, which was initiated last week. Under the latest expansion of the National Route Program, pilots will be free to select their own minimum time/cost route and altitude for flights in the U.S. at or above FL 370 (37,000 ft.). Air traffic control will provide flight following and separation of aircraft and resolve conflicts when necessary.
USAir Group, Inc., awash in red ink and plagued by stalled labor talks, posted a mammoth loss of $458.8 million for 1994 and is projected to be unprofitable in 1995.
NASA's Ames Research Center has long pioneered aviation human factors research, and the scientists who first addressed the man-machine interface in automated cockpits there in the early 1980s now hold key positions at major airlines and at aircraft manufacturers.
