The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces is set to become the first operator of the new unarmed General Atomics Predator XP UAS. The $196 million deal was announced at the IDEX defense show in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 18. An unspecifed number of aircraft will be purchased through the International Golden Group, a UAE-based defense equipment holding company which has close connections to the armed forces. First deliveries are expected in 2014.
Pentagon investments in UAVs have been on the rise, ranking 46th among all non-construction-related U.S. Defense Department expenses in 2011—the first time in recent years such expenses have cracked the top 50, according to an Aviation Week Intelligence Network analysis. The Pentagon cost category “drones” reached $1.5 billion in contracts and contract modifications, according to an analysis of contracting data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
Anu Chekuri, an engineer with Aerospace Technologies Group, has been appointed company-designated engineering representative for flammability by the FAA.
After months and months, the military-industrial complex is finally getting some company in fighting nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts set to begin March 1 and last for a decade. That includes air travel, an impact that could hit home for lawmakers who routinely shuttle from Washington back to their home districts. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano lays it out plainly for the Senate Appropriations Committee: “At the major international airports, average wait-times to clear customs will increase by 50%.” Wait times at the busiest U.S.
When we need brake pads or a fuel pump for our automobile, we assume the garage will have one in stock or know where to get it. But at the dawn of the automobile age, when this Daimler car was new, it wasn't that simple. Every automobile was essentially a one-off, custom-built as a worldwide cadre of tinkerers and engineers struggled to invent an industry. A few years later, the same held true as the aviation industry was born.
Steve Hogan (see photos) has been named sector VP and general manager for Herndon, Va.-based Northrop Grumman's Integrated Logistics and Modernization division within the Technical Services sector. He was VP and integrated product team leader for the F/A-18 and information operations and electronic attack program. Mary Petryszyn has become VP-international in the Aerospace Systems sector. She was director of engineering at Raytheon Co. Strategic Systems.
India is developing the sixth in its series of Agni ballistic missiles, this time with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) capability.
Roscoe C. Armstrong has been named chief operating officer of StarPort, a Cambata Aviation International company based at Orlando-Sanford (Fla.) International Airport. He has held key management positions in federal and commercial aviation sectors, including the FAA and L-3 Communications.
Sukhoi has started flight-testing the long-range version of its Superjet 100. But if the SSJ program is to become a success, the company needs to tackle technical flaws affecting the baseline version. The first prototype of the SSJ 100LR version made its maiden flight on Feb. 12. Because of several different technical issues, four of Aeroflot's 10 SSJs are grounded.
Initial components of Russia's new MS-21 narrowbody airliner are starting to be assembled. Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP, a United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) subsidiary, completed the first rear-fuselage section of the MS-21. This section will be used for fatigue testing in Riga, Latvia, according to Irkut Corp., which is developing the aircraft.
Richard Glass (see photo) has joined Kansas City, Mo.-based PAS Technologies as senior VP-aerospace. He was VP-sales and marketing at VAS Aero Services Eurasia.
You mention in “Safety First” (AW&ST Feb. 4, p. 24) that Elon Musk, SpaceX chief and founder of the Tesla electric car, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries, offered to help Boeing with the 787 battery situation. The FAA should require the aircraft manufacturer to accept it. Musk suggests that using many smaller batteries would render a better ratio of volume to surface area resulting in improved cooling.
When Ed Winter decided to accept an offer to become CEO of Fastjet, a new highly ambitious low-cost carrier (LCC) for Africa, the challenges seemed clear: infrastructure constraints, taxation and other regulatory issues, low Internet penetration. It was not exactly going to be easy.
Australian defense procurement is in a strongly aviation-centered phase. In the next few years, the government is due to approve acquisitions of around 60 combat aircraft, a fleet of maritime surveillance drones and complementary force of manned patrol aircraft.
David J. Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways, has received the Transatlantic “Leading Edge” Award presented by the Washington branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society. The award recognizes leadership and achievements that contributed to the advancement of aerospace technology and safety between North America and Europe.
Hope is fading in Washington that Republicans and Democrats will put aside their differences and find a way to head off $490 billion in automatic cuts to U.S. defense spending due to take effect on March 1. But a top official at Ohio-based Eaton Corp., which derives 35% of its aerospace sales from military programs such as the F-35, remains optimistic about a last-minute deal. “We're not banking on across-the-board cuts in military spending that aren't more thoughtful,” says Craig Arnold, the chief operating officer for Eaton's industrial businesses.
Scientists, land-use planners and others who track changes in the Earth's surface could get another decade of data from the newest in a series of Landsat spacecraft, launched Feb. 11 on an Atlas V 401 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Built by Orbital Sciences Corp., the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) separated as planned and deployed its solar arrays 86 min. after launch. That set the stage for a two-month trek to its operational 705-km (483-mi.) Sun-synchronous polar orbit that will include a comparison of data from its two sensors with data from Landsat 7.
It's no secret that business aviation has been enduring hard times for too long. The gloom took hold in 2008, and since then thousands of workers have lost their jobs, companies have gone bankrupt, and flight activity has slowed. Almost no one is happy. Then there's Kenn Ricci, business aviation's not-so-minor mogul with a knack for making business happen.
I was surprised when I first discovered that Boeing used lithium-ion batteries. I am retired from the aeropsace industry and now convert my interest in the field into radio-controlled electrically powered models. My model supply shop has insurance which excludes its stock of lithium-ion batteries from coverage. You can buy the batteries directly from China, but delivery is six weeks by sea. On more than one occasion I have burned my fingers.
Rattled by cold California high-desert winds, and little changed since its days as a Second World War motor pool for the U.S. Marine Corps, the old hangar that Masten Space Systems calls home seems an incongruous incubator for low-cost flights to sub-orbit.
A new, lower noise limit for aircraft and certification procedures supporting the first CO2 standard for aircraft have been recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Committee for Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). The new level, to be called Chapter 14 by ICAO, is a cumulative 7 EPNdB below current Chapter/Stage 4 limits. After looking at noise cuts of 3-11 dB, analysis ahead of the CAEP/9 meeting in Montreal had indicated a 5-dB reduction taking effect in 2020 was most cost-effective.
