Alongside the spending blueprint for fiscal 2015-19 coming out this week, the Obama administration is expected to publish its latest Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). It will lay out a painful course change for a nation accustomed to having a military sized to go anywhere and do anything, simultaneously in different places.
The U.S. Air Force plans to launch two new, secretly developed satellites this year to spy on activities in the densely populated geosynchronous orbit belt, according to Gen. William Shelton, who leads Air Force Space Command. The spacecraft, classified until Shelton revealed their existence Feb. 21, were developed by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences Corp. under the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), service officials say.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington)
The Pentagon is trying to balance demands for restoring readiness and pushing for next-generation technologies in its fiscal 2015 budget request, despite congressional spending limits imposing a $45 billion cut to its expected plan.
Jeffrey L. McRae has been appointed senior vice president/CFO of the Triumph Group Inc., Berwyn, Pa. He succeeds M. David Kornblatt, who is now director of corporate development. McRae was president of Triumph Aerostructures' Vought Aircraft Div.
Eight months after the end of the highly publicized grounding of its EC225 heavy helicopter, Airbus has renewed its faith in the Super Puma design. The company hopes that the EC225e—e for enhanced—due to fly in 2015 will finally put the type's troubles to bed after the nine-month-long grounding caused by the failure of the bevel gear vertical shaft on two North Sea-based aircraft during 2012.
Stephanie C. Hill (see photo), vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil business, has been named the 2014 Black Engineer of the Year for her leadership during a 27-year engineering career and commitment to promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Gene V. Flenke has been appointed vice president-quality and continuous improvement of PAS Technologies Inc., Middletown, Conn. Keith Bennett has rejoined PAS as Kansas City, Mo.-based director of business development. He was head of business development for the OEM Aviation and Energy Markets of Southwest United Industries.
Bell has secured its first orders for its Model 525 super-medium and its Model 505 JetRanger X light single-engine helicopters. The JetRanger X received 94 orders on the opening day of Heli-Expo 2014 in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 25. The company also announced the first orders for the 525, with 10 from Abu Dhabi Aviation.
By printing the recent Viewpoiont on SAMs, Aviation Week has reached a professional low: running an unpaid advertisement for a specific piece of equipment. Oxnard Calif.
Bill Sweetman asks in “Money for Nothing” (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 16), “Do long research and development programs make contractors rich?” Whenever an aircraft program has been approved, the original equipment manufacturer immediately has two governing rules affecting its income. The first is to develop the new product line and the second is to keep the existing programs pouring money into their coffers.
The price of carbon dioxide allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System rallied to a 14-month high in February as the European Commission's short-term market intervention proposal gained final agreement and became law.
National security space involves more than situational awareness and putting spacesuit boots on the ground first. Some House Republicans concerned about Chinese and Russian prospects in space received a lesson from a member of their own party with long executive branch experience on how civil space can enhance national security by giving potential adversaries something else to think about.
Thailand's Aerothai has launched initiatives that will mean major upgrades in all facets of its air traffic management (ATM) system—including the first steps toward a nationwide satellite-based navigation network.
“Define the Dragon” and “Many on Many” (AW&ST Feb. 3/10, pp. 64 and 66) together present a useful database of the “dogfight” situations in Asia and the world as a whole. But one may need to reach beyond and behind the real-time apparent behavior of those in power, displayed weapons systems and calculated, or often “good enough,” strategic moves of nations.
Aurelien Blanc has been appointed managing director of the Turbomeca Asia Pacific subsidiary of Safran. He had been commercial director for Southeast Asia for Airbus Helicopters.
Chris A. Hadfield, former Canadian Space Agency astronaut, author, and musician, has been named to receive the 2014 Space Communicator Award from the Houston-based Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. Hadfield is a veteran of two space shuttle missions, STS-74 and STS-100, and International Space Station (ISS) mission Soyuz TMA-07M. He was the first Canadian to operate the shuttle's Canadarm in space, the first Canadian to walk in space and the first Canadian commander of the ISS.
USAF Maj. Gen. John B. Cooper has been appointed director of logistics at Headquarters Air Combat Command (ACC), Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. He has been director of logistics/deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. Cooper has been succeeded by Brig. Gen. Kathryn J. Johnson, who has been director of system integration, at USAF Headquarters. Col. Brian T.
As composite structures become larger, more integrated and more critical, guaranteeing the integrity of a major repair when the aircraft returns to service is a growing imperative. Research into methods of checking repairs in situ could pave the way for wider structural health monitoring.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. A special report on air traffic management includes articles on Nav Canada's initiatives to improve the flow over the busiest oceanic routes (page 32). Nav Canada graphic. Elsewhere in both editions are reports on Rolls-Royce's plans (page 20), changes looming for helicopter operators (page 28), a new U.S. military satellite system (page 22) and repairing damage to composites (page 36). Our MRO Edition cover photo by SR Technics shows a mechanic working on a Rolls-Royce Trent 900.
Following several articles in the Feb. 17 issue devoted to electronic warfare (pages 42-50) and increasingly bloated defense budgets (pages 52-54) is a one-page Viewpoint (page 58) outlining how a few man-portable missiles could have a catastrophic impact on the world's economy by bringing down one or more commercial airliners.
Herman Wacker has been appointed vice president-legal for the Alaska Air Group. He was deputy general counsel/managing director of legal. Shannon Alberts has been named corporate secretary. She was managing director of corporate affairs and assistant corporate secretary, and has been succeeded by Kyle Levine.
Some aircraft are regarded as seminal, as having defined or shaped a market, as Boeing's 707 did for the jetliner and General Atomics' Predator has for unmanned aircraft. Such a status could be due the Lockheed Martin/Kaman K-Max helicopter as soon as unmanned cargo delivery becomes routine.
Bonnie J. Cook has been promoted to executive vice president-business operations for its Mission Solutions & Services Group from head of financial operations and the integration of acquisitions for the Mantech International Corp., Fairfax, Va. Ulrich Storchle (see photos) has been named managing director of MBDA Deutschland subsidiary TDW GmbH. He was managing director of Bayern-Chemie GmbH and succeeds Helmut Hederer, who has been appointed managing director of Taurus Systems GmbH.
