As lawmakers consider how to shore up the nation's defenses while balancing the books, the nation's massive investments in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities may get a boost by their success. Like the use of Predators to help uncover explosive-making networks in Iraq, the raid on the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, notched another big win for ISR equipment, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates has championed.
Nigel Underwood has been named group chief information officer for International Airlines Group. His previous roles include global CIO at DHL Logistics, Exel and Hilton Group.
Victoria Moores has been appointed general manager of communications for the Brussels-based Association of European Airlines. She was features editor of Airline Business magazine.
Just as Washington exults over the bin Laden raid, a Congressional Research Service report pegs spending on the “war on terror” through fiscal 2011 at $1.283 trillion. The CRS report—dated March 29 but not widely seen until this month—estimates the costs of military operations, base security, foreign aid, reconstruction, embassy enhancements and health care for affected veterans. The CRS says $803 billion has been spent on Iraq and $444 billion on Afghanistan. U.S.
Russian military controllers are setting up the fourth Meridian communications satellite following its launch May 4 on a Soyuz 2 rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. A communications link was established following the launch, and an initial checkout turned up no anomalies, according to Russian press reports.
A high-powered team of physicists and engineers has concluded that NASA's $700 million Gravity Probe B (GP-B) experiment demonstrated two key aspects of Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, but not to the hoped-for degree of confidence.
Now that the dust has settled after the sudden resignation of FAA Chief Operating Officer Henry Krakowski, it is time to consider the long-term implications. It seems clear that the U.S. Transportation Department's main goal in forcing the issue was to send a signal that it is taking recent controller controversies seriously. But Krakowski's departure will have broader ramifications for the agency's operational arm.
For airport operators, getting in bed with one of Europe's most fractious airlines at a facility the government does not want to see expand may not seem like an attractive proposition, but the anticipated forced sale of Stansted Airport may yet defy skeptics.
After decades of enjoying a virtually uncontested lead in the medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial systems (UAS) market, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems may finally be facing some competition.
With the long-delayed first deliveries of its 787 and 747-8 development programs in sight, Boeing's drive to ramp up commercial airplane production is becoming sharply focused, pushing the company beyond its traditional comfort zone of retaining a large back-order list.
Bob Frisch has been promoted to vice president from managing director of flight operations at Air Wisconsin. He was a line pilot for Great Lakes Aviation.
Christa Fornarotto has been named associate FAA administrator for airports. She was deputy assistant Transportation secretary for aviation and international affairs and had been legislative director for Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.)
At jet engine maker GE Aviation's Hooksett factory near Manchester, N.H., thinking global means adapting someone else's idea to create a winning combination of reduced tooling and production costs for hard-to-machine superalloys.
Vladimir Popovkin, a former deputy Russian defense minister, will take over the Roscosmos federal space agency from Anatoly Perminov, who was forced out by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the wake of the Proton launch failure that sent three Glonass satnav spacecraft into the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 5, 2010. A retired general like Perminov, Popovkin commanded Russia's missile and space defense force in 2004-08 and was assigned to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a tour during his military career. Perminov, 65, who was appointed by Putin in 2004, led Roscosmos as the U.S.
After the surge of heightened security against an Al Qaeda revenge attack for the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, what then for his main target—aviation security? Protection of air travelers has evolved into a costly staple of commercial aviation, and it's unlikely to go away. Overlapping layers of security will remain in place; but in the future, noticeable changes in checkpoint processes can be expected, though they will come slowly, say security experts.
Commercial airports across the globe are evolving through a dynamic transition period under strong economic and social forces. Whether small, medium or large, they are diversifying to meet the manifold needs of an increasingly sophisticated marketplace. Airports are emerging in many forms, though all operate similarly and some show attributes of several categories. In Europe, more than 20% are privatized or operate under public-private partnerships. The larger airports tend to this trend, so that in 2008 they accounted for 48% of the passenger traffic.
The prospects for unraveling the cause of the crash of Air France Flight 447 have sharply increased now that accident investigators have recovered both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders for the lost Airbus A330-200.
The White House plans to deal with U.S.-China relations—and how it spends taxpayer funds dealing with them—on a “case-by-case basis” in the wake of a congressional ban on spending to advance space cooperation with China. Presidential Science Adviser John Holdren tells the House panel funding his office that it will abide by the ban, but to a degree “consistent with my responsibilities to execute the president's constitutional authority . . . to conduct negotiations.” Rep.
Washington is only just beginning to realize that the two highest-profile U.S. aerospace and defense contractors have been booted from the competition to provide India's next fighter jet, the biggest such deal since the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was decided in 2001 (see p. 36). But financial analysts and others are seeing the likelihood for quickened change in U.S. military export controls and efforts. The big lesson: Do not take foreign military competitions for granted.
May 17-19—Technology Training Corp.'s Conference on Armed Unmanned Aerial Systems. Rio Hotel, Las Vegas. Call +1 (310) 563-1210, fax +1 (310) 563-1220 or see www.ttcus.com May 17-19—11th Annual European Business Aircraft Convention Exposition. Palexpo, Geneva. Call +(32) 2766-0070, fax+(32) 2768-1325 or see www.ebace.aero May 17-20—Fatigue Concepts Short Course: “Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance of Modern and Aging Aircraft Structures.” Sheraton Mid West City, Okla. Call +1 (916) 933-5000 or see www.fatcon.com
Northrop Grumman plans to unveil its Firebird optionally piloted aircraft this month at the Pentagon's Empire Challenge exercise. Firebird is designed to carry up to four intelligence-collecting sensors and is aimed at the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and Hawker Beechcraft C-12 markets. In this configuration, Firebird is carrying the tactical common datalink (under the nose), an electro-optical and infrared sensor (below the cockpit), and a synthetic aperture radar (under the fuselage). Each wing also contains a single hard point suitable for weapons deployment.
Sierra Nevada says drop tests of the Dream Chaser spaceship will take place from the Scaled Composites-developed WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft in the second quarter of 2012. Sierra Nevada is one of the big winners in the second round of NASA's CCDev program, getting $80 million of the total $269.3 million payout aimed at maturing concepts for private spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station and other low-Earth-orbit destinations.
Pierre Sparaco (AW&ST April 11, p. 41) says aviation is responsible for a “minuscule 2.6%” of man-made CO2 (AW&ST April 11, p. 41). He omits to add that this is expected to jump to 5% in 2050 as aviation grows and other industries take action to reduce emissions. He also ignores NOx emissions and contrails as contributors to global warming.
Mike Long (see photo) has become customer support director for GE Aviation's Cincinnati-based Nexcelle. Long progressed through GE's customer support organization for aircraft engines, beginning as fleet program manager and later was a customer support manager in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Mexico and the U.S.
Lim Liang Song has been appointed chief executive officer of Changi Airports International (CAI) of Singapore, succeeding Wong Woon Liong, who will continue as a member of the Changi Airport Advisory Group. Lim joins CAI from venture capital firm Indigo Partners, where he was a principal.
