Russia has set another record in foreign arms trade. According to President Vladimir Putin, the value of Russian weapons delivered to foreign customers in 2012 exceeded $14 billion—6% more than in 2011 ($13.2 billion) and more than twice the $6.5 billion reached in 2006. Although no regional breakdown of the defense exports has been officially revealed, India is likely to remain the largest importer of Russian weapons.
Keith Glatz has joined Washington-based Airlines For America as VP-international affairs. He was senior negotiator for the Office of International Aviation and Affairs for the U.S. Transportation Department.
Australia and Canada, two partners in the F-35 development program, are once again signaling hesitation over their plans to buy the single-engine, stealthy fighter from Lockheed Martin.
Engine upgrades are welcomed by aircraft manufacturers and operators alike, but few appear to have as much potential to bring a much-needed boost to an aircraft's orderbook so relatively early in its life cycle as the improved GEnx-2B on Boeing's 747-8.
Ashmita Sethi has been appointed Boeing's communications director for India. She was VP-communications and public affairs for the India region at Rolls-Royce.
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Allen S. Novick, a former Rolls-Royce/ Allison executive who helped transform the fortunes of the Indianapolis-based aeroengine maker with a revolutionary development concept, died on Dec. 9. He was 70. Novick led Allison's efforts to design, develop and produce the world's first family of turboshaft, turboprop and turbofan engines for military and civil use based on a single common core.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. The far-left cover features a Pratt & Whitney photo by Randy Smith of the PW1100G, the first of the new-generation, geared-turbofan engines being offered for the Airbus A320NEO, at Pratt's West Palm Beach, Fla., facility (see page 46). The cover of our MRO Edition shows a Brian Losito photo of an Air Canada Boeing 777. The airline is converting the maintenance data for its aircraft to ATA Spec 2000 format so it can gain efficiencies throughout its supply chain by using standardized data.
The relationship between government contractors and their customers is badly strained. This may not be surprising, given the tension between the need for security and the growing scarcity of economic resources. In working toward increased [weapons systems] affordability, government must challenge a legacy of myriad regulations, acquisition processes and increased oversight that have had unintended consequences. They hinder innovation and affordability.
Industry has long recognized the value of collaborating with government on applied research projects, especially in the pursuit of breakthrough technologies. Access to specialized skills and state-of-the-art facilities, not to mention risk sharing, are just a few of the direct benefits. Such cooperation has been instrumental in helping companies validate and commercialize advanced capabilities sooner than if they had been working alone.
With 1,579 firm orders since its launch, the Airbus A320NEO (new engine option) family has clearly scored well with both airlines and lessors. And with the aircraft designed for minimum change beyond the new engines, managing the transition may well be the biggest challenge.
Margriet Bredewold (see photo) has been appointed European representative for Hilton Head, S.C.-based Baldwin Aviation Safety and Compliance. She was a development coordinator and trainer for Jet Aviation AG.
Chris Chadwick President, Boeing Military Aircraft Age: 52 Education: B.S. in electrical engineering, Iowa State University; M.B.A., Maryville University. Career: Chadwick served as vice president of the F/A-18 program and program manager of the MV-22 before being promoted to his current job.
The U.S. Navy has underscored its growing interest in developing greater cyberwarfare capabilities with the approval and release of key strategy documents meant to guide the service's efforts in the field. The trio of documents are the “Navy Strategy for Achieving Information Dominance 2013-2017,” “Navy Cyber Power 2020” and the “Navy Information Dominance Corps Human Capital Strategy 2012-2017.”
Hideo Egawa has become CEO/chairman of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Aircraft, succeeding Nobuo Toda, who has retired. Egawa was president and chief operating officer and will be succeeded by Teruaki Kawai, executive VP.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), incoming chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, is looking for programs that inspire the public. During a hearing on the future of NASA last week, a key space-policy adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney may have provided clues to the new chairman's priorities when the 113th Congress convenes next month. “People have an interest in life,” says Scott Pace, the head of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. “They have an interest in people.
As House and Senate negotiations on the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill near an end, the war over retiring aircraft has kicked into high gear. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made a final appeal to the leaders of the armed services committees to make changes to a long list of issues, aircraft retirements among them, or else he would recommend that the president veto the bill. Panetta estimates terminating acquisition of the C-27J medium airlifter and Global Hawk surveillance UAV, as well as retiring the C-5A Globemaster would save up to $8.3 billion through 2018.
The tie-up of Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic is very much about better access to the London Heathrow Airport market, connections and serving business travelers well. Delta's decision is only the latest factor that is likely to spur change and rearrangement at Europe's most important airport for long-haul services.
John Croft's cover feature “Simulators: Breaking with Tradition” was excellent (AW&ST Dec. 3, pp. 46-51). As a customer of full-motion simulator training, I have long been disappointed by providers who cannot say with certainty at what point the simulation fidelity diverges from real aircraft behavior. As professional aircraft operators, we should be thoroughly familiar with our aircraft behavior near and at stall. What better way to accomplish this objective than in a full-motion simulator? Given present simulator programming, this may or may not possible.
Israel's new advanced missile defense systems—such as Iron Dome and David's Sling—are so sophisticated that they may mark the end of an era as the last large, kinetic interceptors to be developed to block threats lobbed from neighboring countries, according to Israeli designers.
Senior NASA managers and their White House overseers are pondering whether it might be politically possible to mount a near-term mission to capture a small asteroid and reposition it in orbit around the Moon, where it could serve as a proving ground for hardware and crews en route to larger objects deeper into space.
John Provenzano of Delta Air Lines has been elected president of the Greater Washington Aviation Open, succeeding Paul Bollinger of Boeing Energy, who will remain on the board. Darby Becker of GE Aviation is VP; Mary Miller of Signature Flight Support is treasurer; and Dick TeiTos of MWAC is secretary.
Russia has begun delivering upgraded MiG-29 fighters to the Indian air force (IAF), with the first three traveling aboard an Antonov An-124 transport aircraft. The IAF has awarded MiG a $900 million contract to upgrade all of its 69 operational MiG-29s. The first six aircraft are being upgraded in Russia, while the remaining 63 will be refitted at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. in India.
