David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (London)
The biggest deterrence to computer network invasion—pinpointing the origin of a cyberattack or other foul play—may be waiting in the wings. A technology of interest—a forensic tool dubbed “cyberexhaust”—is described as the digital equivalent of a trail of bread crumbs through the forest.
Look for the House to begin debating a defense authorization bill for fiscal 2012 this week, including one measure to ensure that the GE-Rolls Royce engine for the Joint Strike Fighter receives no government funding. The companies have already agreed to pick up the tab for further development of their alternate to Pratt & Whitney's JSF engine, but Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) wants to make sure that, if the companies have access to government facilities, there is no back-door government spending toward the effort.
GE Aviation has completed a $3 million, seven-acre solar power field that is expected to produce 700 kw of power for its Durham, N.C., engine facility, which makes GE90s and GEnxs. Operations are to begin this month. The field includes more than 9,000 thin-film panels. GE Aviation Durham Plant Manager Mike Wagner says the panels will reduce the plant's electricity bill by 30% and cut its C02 emissions by more than 400 million tons a year.
Aviation Week's recent profile of the strategies used by top foreign aviation manufacturers in China (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 42) included a map of current and pending joint ventures that we knew might get us in trouble by being outdated or incomplete. China can be a tough market to research accurately.
New members of the board of directors of the International Air Cargo Association are: Oliver Evans, chief cargo officer of Swiss International Airlines; Neel Shah, senior vice president and chief cargo officer of Delta Air Lines; Vladimir Zubkov, vice president of Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies; and Jason Foote, vice president-international air and charter operations for UPS Airlines.
June 2—American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Executive Symposium: “Aerospace Today and Tomorrow.” Kingsmill Resort and Spa, Williamsburg, Va. And, June 27-30—41st Annual Fluid Dynamics/20th Annual Computational Fluid Dynamics/29th Annual Applied Aerodynamics/42nd Plasmadynamics and Lasers/42nd Annual Thermophysics/Sixth Annual Theoretical Fluid Mechanics Conferences. Sheraton Waikiki and the Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu. Call +1 (703) 264-7511, fax +1 (703) 264-7551 or see www.aiaa.org
The U.K. government has approved early design activity for the future submarine that will take over the role of the country's nuclear deterrent, replacing the Vanguard Class starting in 2028. The so-called initial gate approval was made last week, with formal program go ahead, or main gate, planned in 2016. The new submarine will carry fewer warheads and Trident II missiles. The government projects the program to cost around £11-14 billion.
Exports will hold the key to whether Europe's A400M military airlifter program will ever make money. But past missteps are causing prime contractor Airbus Military to tread carefully as it decides how to approach the global market.
Senators who pushed NASA's three-year reauthorization act last year want biweekly briefings on how the agency is doing in meeting its requirements to build a heavy-lift rocket and develop government and commercial cargo and crew capsules. They fear the agency is dragging its heels (see p. 36).
As Airbus Military looks to expand its product portfolio, it is preparing to flight test a C-295-based airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) following a self-funded technology assessment. Prototype testing is set to begin soon at Airbus Military's Seville, Spain, facility. Three months of flight trials are planned largely to validate the radar's aerodynamic effects on the aircraft, says Miguel-Angel Morrell Fuentes, head of engineering.
It was interesting to read “Tell-Tale Tail” and to note that you have decided to resume reporting on U.S. military black programs (AW&ST May 9, p. 22). However, I wish you had covered the missile launch off the coast of Los Angeles that occurred last November. Ironically, your total silence concerning that story speaks volumes.
Japanese researchers have conducted drop tests to validate techniques for use in designing a low-boom supersonic transport. The tests confirmed that careful design can reduce the sonic boom by half, says the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Two different dart-shaped models were dropped from a high-altitude balloon at the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. Their sonic booms were measured in the air and on the ground and then compared.
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) lost out on buying 439 aircraft between fiscal 2003 and 2010 due to ever-growing program costs crowding out procurement, the vice admiral in charge of the Navy and Marine Corps' aviation acquisition command told the Aviation Week Affordability Requirements Conference May 18. Vice Adm.
NASA might ease its “delicate position” by following the cost-cutting approaches used by Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) in developing the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, a key member of the panel that reviewed U.S. human spaceflight plans for President Barack Obama is telling Congress. Administrator Charles Bolden apparently agrees, saying that the SpaceX approach to management is “disruptive technology” that can bring “great gains” to the space program.
A week after returning its X-3 hybrid helicopter to flight, Eurocopter says it has topped the program speed target of 220 kt. by achieving 232 kt. in sustained forward flight at France's Istres flight test center. The prototype received a gearbox upgrade to achieve the performance target. Eurocopter argues its hybrid concept will yield a more cost-effective high-speed rotorcraft than, for instance, the Sikorsky X-2, which aims for higher speed.
General Electric hopes better-than-predicted test performance of the upgraded engine for the Boeing 787 on its flying testbed will result in meeting—or exceeding—initial fuel-burn goals when flights on the twinjet begin, possibly by early July.
Elias Habayeb (see photo) has been named chief financial officer of Los Angeles-based International Lease Finance Corp. He was senior vice president of investments and financial services for ILFC's parent company, AIG.
In 2007, when the Canadian dollar reached parity with the U.S. dollar after years of being worth less, Canadian aerospace and defense companies were broadsided. With the majority of their products sold in U.S. currency but their employees paid in Canadian dollars, the industry's competitiveness suddenly lagged.
A steady flow of jetliners destined for VIP service, plus a critical aging juncture for such aircraft now approaching their teen years, is attracting new entrants to the completions business. While that competitive development should please customers, it gives some veterans pause.
Mahmood Albalooshi (see photo) has been named chief operating officer of the Gulf Aviation Academy in Bahrain. He is the former manager of manpower development for Gulf Air.
For the past three years, Aviation Week has hosted an Executive Summit in which participants hear from senior engineering executives, Wall Street analysts and CEOs in an off-the-record roundtable atmosphere that encourages a sleeves-rolled-up discussion of concerns common throughout the aerospace and defense industrial sector.
Bridging gaps between commercially available defensive tools is a key driver in the growing market for cybersecurity solutions in the aerospace and defense industry. This search to provide traditional customers with better protection is intense and relentless. Gap-filling tools are being forged and tested in sophisticated security operations centers established by industry to monitor and protect their own networks, which are under daily cyberattack from the same advanced persistent threat as their customers.
Rob Tomenendal has joined King Aerospace Commercial Corp., Arlington, Texas, as vice president-sales and marketing. He was director of business development for Gore Design Completions in San Antonio.
Cynthia Schultz has been named vice president-airports ,with a focus on improving airport safety, by Bethesda, Md.-based JDA Aviation Technology Solutions. She was director of Great Falls (Mont.) International Airport.
