October 9, 2012 Amsterdam,The Netherlands Repair in New Generation Aircraft: Challenges and OpportunitiesLightweight composites will soon rival metals as the primary material for airframes. Are you prepared? This event will highlight the latest developments, challenges and best practices in aircraft composite repair and maintenance technology. It will allow all of the key industry players to discuss best practices and share experiences. Register now! www.aviationweek.com/events/composites
FRANKFURT — Airbus Military is delaying the entry into service of the first and second A400M in response to a temporary suspension of function and reliability (F&R) testing.
NEW DELHI — India’s parliament has approved a bill to amend the Chemical Weapons Convention Act to forbid the transfer of specified toxins to and from any country not party to the convention. “The Chemical Weapons Convention (Amendment) Bill, 2012, part of India’s international obligation, seeks to amend the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000, which was enacted to . . . help prohibit the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction,” says a senior government official.
An Aug. 31 story on the JDAM-ER mischaracterized the status of the agreement between Times Aerospace Korea and Boeing. The two companies ended their agreement to co-develop a wing kit for 2,000-lb. JDAM bombs, but Boeing intends to complete the work with other partners.
BERLIN – German researchers are pleased so far with the results of their summer launch of a rocket-boosted hypersonic demonstrator, which reached 11 times the speed of sound, even though it is now clear they will not be able to recover the vehicle payload from its resting place at the bottom of the Greenland Sea.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) sept. 4 - 7 — Netherlands Association of Aeronautical Engineers' 38th Annual European Rotorcraft Forum, Amsterdam Marriott, The Netherlands. For more information go to http:erf2012.nlr.nl sept. 10 - 13 — 2012 MOAA/NDIA Warior-Family Symposium, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/2120/Pages/default.aspx
September 20-21, 2012 Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami Fla. AIRLINES ATTEND FOR FREE! PLUS: Sign up for your FREE showcase pass and fnd the right IT system to ft your existing procedures, systems, and equipment! Transforming the Enterprise with Cutting-Edge IT The only event solely focused on MRO IT and the disparity between maintenance operations and existing technologies.
ST. LOUIS — Boeing continues to refine the design of upgrades to increase the performance of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and says recently completed wind-tunnel evaluations have cleared the way for flight test of the enhancements if there is sufficient customer interest. The conformal fuel tanks (CFT), internal infrared search and track (ISRT) sensor and stealthy weapons pods, combined with more-powerful versions of the E/F’s General Electric F414 engines, are designed to increase range and acceleration and reduce radar signature.
HOUSTON — NASA’s twin Radiation Belt Storm Probe mission spacecraft thundered into Earth orbit atop an Atlas 5/Centaur upper stage combination early Aug. 30, initiating a $686 million, two-year mission for studies of high-energy particle fluctuations within the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, including their response to solar activity and influences on space weather. The United Launch Alliance rocket carrying the two 1,400-lb. probes lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 4:05 a.m. EDT.
SOFIA FLIES: NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) is to begin its 2012-2013 mission series in November from Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. Called Cycle 1, the science series will include 46 flights grouped in four multi-week observing campaigns. Sofia is a 747SP modified to carry a 100-in.-dia. infrared telescope.
U.S. arms transfer agreements more than tripled to $56.3 billion in 2011 compared to the previous year, and U.S. market shared jumped to 79%, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Total arms transfer agreements with developing nations reached $71.5 billion in 2011, more than double the previous year, CRS says in its annual report, which covers 2004-2011. Actual deliveries in 2011 were $28 billion, a small increase over the previous year, and the highest since 2004.
The overall vehicle strategy for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps is starting to crystallize. While both services appear to be more grounded in their approach to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the Army is tracking progress on its Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) and upgrading its Bradley Fighting Vehicle fleet, The Marine Corps, meanwhile, is ramping up development of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle — the stand-in successor to the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and replacement for the decades-old amphibious landing vehicles Marines now use.
CANBERRA – Boeing aims to begin deliveries of kits to create gliding JDAM guided bombs starting in 2015, offering a cheap stand-off weapon that probably will be able to hit targets about 110 km (60 nm) away using a wing developed in Australia.
SAN ANTONIO – Boeing is getting ready to begin a full-scale fatigue test on the B-1B to validate that the U.S. Air Force bomber has enough airframe life to remain in service for another 40-50 years. The wing test rig in Seattle passed its readiness review last week, and will begin cycling shortly, says Rick Greenwell, Boeing’s B-1 program director. The fuselage is to be delivered in September. The test-rig critical design review is scheduled for October and testing is to begin in November of next year, he says.
The U.S. State Department has launched a competition in which U.S. citizens could win up to $10,000 by devising a system that potentially uses smart phones, cameras and GPS to find out when foreign governments fail to live up to their arms control agreements. The proposals should lay out how to motivate “productive citizen detectors,” the department says. The deadline is Oct. 26, and teams are already signing up.
The Republicans’ 2012 platform, approved during the party’s presidential nominating convention in Tampa, Fla., this week, lashes out at President Obama on many fronts, including the U.S. Air Force’s aircraft reductions.
