FARNBOROUGH, England - Beriev's expertise with flying boats and amphibians is evident from the exhibits on its stand at the air show here, one of which is an artist's impression of the Russian company's latest project, the Be-310. Acknowledged only a couple of months ago, this is intended as a 72- to 102-seat airliner version of the Be-200 fire-fighting water bomber and search-and-rescue amphibian, with the crucial difference of two Rolls-Royce BR715 turbofans.
STEWART & STEVENSON SERVICES, Houston James M. Tidwell, the vice president of finance and chief financial officer for WEDGE Group Inc., has been elected to the board of directors. Max L. Lukens, president and CEO of Stewart & Stevenson, and Robert Sullivan were re-elected to the board.
MTC TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Dayton, Ohio Brig. Gen. Billy J. Bingham (USAF-Ret.) has been appointed senior vice president for its national security group. He replaces Hugh Bolton, who resigned for personal reasons.
A United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement would help aircraft manufacturers and other businesses thrive by abolishing tariffs on American-made goods, according to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
U.S. Air Force space leaders are bracing for expected deep budget cuts in the Space Based Radar (SBR) and Transformational Satellite (TSAT) programs, and are preparing to draw up new strategies for moving both efforts forward.
FARNBOROUGH, England - Long a mainstay of England's police forces, Eurocopter is promoting the virtues of its light twin-engined helicopter family while also touting a heavier helicopter to respond to terrorism, the company said July 19. Police aviation in the United Kingdom has been employing Eurocopters for 20 years, notably the AS 355 Ecureuil, BO 105, BK 117, and more recently the EC 135, 15 of which serve Great Britain's constabularies. Overall, 28 U.K. police forces rely on these aircraft.
Lockheed Martin has awarded the Curtiss-Wright Corp. a $6.3 million contract for procurement of radar warning receiver (RWR) systems used by U.S. Army helicopter programs, the Curtiss-Wright Corp. said July 20. The contract's total potential value is $17.6 million over the next two years.
The first of Northrop Grumman's upgraded RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicles made its first flight on July 1, the company said July 20. The newest Global Hawk, called AF-3, flew from Northrop's Palmdale, Calif., facility to Edwards Air Force Base. The four-hour flight was "flawless," the company said. Northrop Grumman expects to deliver the air vehicle to the U.S. Air Force later this month.
FARNBOROUGH, England - Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher has fired another salvo in the long wars over Boeing's allegations that Airbus - which in 2003 became the first company in history to deliver more jet transports than Boeing - benefits from European government subsidies. "This is not about U.S. dominance or European dominance," he told Show News. "It's about an aerospace industry where there ought to be a level playing field. Everybody thinks its unlevel and nobody's saying so."
The main factors that distinguish Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 5 radios from other JTRS cluster radios are size, weight, and power, said Chris Brady, director of assured communications systems for General Dynamics. General Dynamics was picked for the U.S. Army's Cluster 5 system development and demonstration (SDD) contract (DAILY, July 20), over competitor ITT Industries.
WATCHKEEPER: The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has selected Thales U.K. as the preferred bidder for the next phase of the acquisition cycle of the Watchkeeper reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle program, Thales team member Elbit Systems Ltd. said July 20. Northrop Grumman also competed for the program, which is scheduled to enter service in 2006.
FARNBOROUGH, England - A mini unmanned aerial vehicle with autonomous guidance, similar to one tested earlier this month by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), is on display here at Farnborough.
The House Appropriations Committee's VA-HUD-NASA subcommittee voted to trim the aerospace agency's fiscal 2005 budget request by $1.1 billion, saying the panel wants to restore the shuttle program to flight but can't afford President Bush's vision for space exploration. The panel approved $15.1 billion for NASA on July 20, $229 million below the FY '04 level and $1.1 billion below the request. NASA has asked for $16.2 billion. Of that, $374 million had been earmarked for safety improvements to the shuttle fleet.
FARNBOROUGH, England - The Swedish company Saab Aerospace, which produces unmanned combat aerial vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles, has five projects on its books. Here's the status of each program and an examination of what Saab hopes to do next:
FARNBOROUGH, England - Lockheed Martin is expanding its missile defense ties in Europe. The Maryland-based company announced July 20 at the Farnborough Air Show that it has signed an agreement with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) to explore opportunities for the two companies to partner on missile defense programs in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Lockheed Martin unveiled a similar memorandum of understanding that it negotiated with Italy's Finmeccanica.
FARNBOROUGH, England - Lockheed Martin Corp. is spending millions of dollars of its own money to develop two new air-to-surface, standoff cruise missiles for stealthy fighter aircraft. Randall Bigum, vice president for strike weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Orlando, said at the Farnborough Air Show July 20 that the company has begun pursuing such capabilities because it believes the Defense Department eventually will want them.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have completed an on-orbit checkout of the upgraded Global Positioning System satellite that was launched June 23, the company said July 20. The GPS IIR-12 spacecraft has been declared fully operational for military and civilian navigation users around the globe, the company said. GPS IIR-12, launched on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (DAILY, June 25), was built by Lockheed Martin in Valley Forge, Pa.
The U.S. Marine Corps' plan to buy a new derivative of its heavy-lift CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter would give the service double lift capability and range and cut operating costs in half, according to a helicopter industry expert.
The U.S. Air Force's RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system recently passed 2,000 combat flight hours, its producer, Northrop Grumman, said on July 19. The Global Hawk accomplished the feat while supporting the war on terrorism and now has accumulated more than 4,000 total flight hours since its first flight mission in February 1998, the company said. Global Hawk has been on three combat deployments and also has deployed to Florida, Australia and Germany.
FARNBOROUGH, England - The Airbus Military A400M airlifter now is a real program, with a signed contract (in March 2003), 180 firm orders at a fixed 88 million euro ($108 million) flyaway price, a fixed schedule and a growing list of subcontractors.
FARNBOROUGH, England - "We are currently the highest-volume producer of military aircraft in the world," says Sherry Grady, government business vice president at Raytheon Aircraft. And although Raytheon's military aircraft are rather small, being light trainers, the experience and technical backing made possible by producing 70 or so each year allows the firm to claim a strong advantage in what is otherwise an overcrowded sector.
