Aviation Week & Space Technology

Despite nascent signs of order recovery in the turboprop market, ATR expects another year of treading water before deliveries and revenue experience a step change in 2012. Revenue is expected to jump to $1.8 billion from the current level of approximately $1.35 billion, in part based on the strength of $2.4 billion in new orders (80 firm, 33 options) booked by the turboprop maker in 2010, says CEO Filippo Bagnato.

With the promise of cutting operating costs, simplifying maintenance and eliminating emissions, Bye Energy is collaborating with Cessna on an electric-powered 172 Skyhawk, with the proof-of-concept aircraft expected to fly this spring. Battery power will provide a 2-hr.

Telespazio has acquired Vega Space—a U.K.-based company with facilities in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain specializing in space mission design, development and operational support—and the space unit of Genoa-based Elsag Datamat. The acquisitions will reinforce Telespazio’s service technology portfolio and expand its institutional market footprint.

An ad hoc committee of the National Academies will meet Jan. 28 to update the 2002 report on technical issues related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Their conclusions could be a launching point for the Obama administration’s goal to secure Senate ratification of the 1996 treaty.

For a concept focused on speed of reaction, operationally responsive space (ORS) has taken time to gain momentum. But there will be launches this year of the ORS-1 reconnaissance satellite and second X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV-2). Goodrich Corp.

Thai Airways International’s outspoken president, Piyasvasti Amranand, has set the goal of transforming Thai into one of the world’s top five airlines. This will be tough to achieve, but not impossible. The national carrier’s board this month approved an investment plan for 2011-17 in which 37 aircraft will be acquired to replace older types and aid expansion.

Size, speed and staying power appear to be obsessions in business aviation, and while market demand has yet to recover, manufacturers are already developing larger, faster and longer-range aircraft in anticipation. When Gulfstream announced in 2008 that it planned to build the biggest, fastest, longest-range purpose-designed business jet, the G650, it was only a matter of time before Bombardier responded to the challenge to its Global Express.

ViaSat has rescheduled the launch of its high-throughput Ka-band broadband satellite, ViaSat-1, to the summer, instead of in the first quarter of this year, as previously planned. The delay was attributed to the need for additional tests and repairs after the spacecraft was damaged during trials. ViaSat says full costs for the postponement will be assumed by the manufacturer, Space Systems/Loral. According to SS/L, the problem was minor and has been corrected.

Meggitt’s $685-million purchase of Pacific Scientific Aerospace continues an acquisition spree for European aerospace and defense suppliers as they look to meet Airbus¹s and Boeing’s desire for stronger, more diverse partners.

General Electric is counting on a joint venture with Avic in Shanghai to propel the company into the front ranks of avionics suppliers, just as its 50-50 partnership with France’s Snecma turned CFM International into a powerhouse engine maker.

Anyone asking “Where’s my flying car?” in 2011, can look to Woburn, Mass., and start-up company Terrafugia, which plans to fly, certify and begin deliveries of its Transition roadable aircraft by year-end.

Virgin America will soon begin talks with Pratt & Whitney and CFM International to determine the powerplant for its Airbus A320 New Engine Option (NEO) narrowbodies.

Airbus’s launch of the A320 New Engine Option (NEO) poses the question: When will the next all-new generation of single-aisle airliners emerge? Will Boeing follow its rival and re-engine the 737, pushing any new design beyond 2020, or will it gather up technology becoming available and make an early move to an all-new product? With the latest generation of engines already in development, the issue is the timing and impact of other fuel-saving and emissions-minimizing technologies such as drag-reducing laminar flow and new weight-saving materials.

Can the continued strength of the commercial aircraft market offset the growing pressure on defense procurement? How the industry will fare in 2011 and beyond—from aircraft, rotorcraft and spacecraft to avionics, engines and weapons, and from airline operations to cybersecurity—is the theme of Aerospace 2011, an integrated print and online product that can also be found at AviationWeek.com/Aerospace 2011. Cover design by AW&ST Art Department.

Despite some hopeful signs, the business aviation market is still mired in a pronounced downturn. A rapid collapse of demand in late 2008 and early 2009 brought a booming business aircraft market to a halt. Orders dried up, customers began deferring deliveries, and cancellations started to eat away backlogs.

COMBAT AIRCRAFT: Further delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and additional orders for legacy combat aircraft will keep the international fighter market competitive through this decade. See pp. 50, 54, 56 and 155. MILITARY TRANSPORTS: Europe’s A400M and Brazil’s KC-390 are set to challenge U.S. dominance of the airlift market, unless a follow-on to the successful C-130J emerges later in the decade. See p. 60.

Boeing’s latest schedule slip on 787 deliveries is having little impact on commercial aviation’s $42-billion annual aftermarket, but it is forcing customers to support older aircraft longer than they planned while stretching out Boeing’s own timeline for finding customers for its Goldcare maintenance program.

Production of piston-powered general aviation (GA) aircraft had reached a plateau and begun to fall even before the credit crisis hit the world economy in the autumn of 2008. Deliveries plummeted in 2009 to a level not seen since the 1990s, and little improvement was seen in 2010.

In the hunt for roadside bombers, full-motion video has proved to be a powerful tool, but the single unmanned aircraft carrying a single sensor with a narrow field of view has its limitations. Multi-camera surveillance sensors able to watch a wide area and track multiple targets are being fielded in growing numbers.

The new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says his panel will maintain a “war footing,” staying nimble to investigate event-driven issues “to ensure current operations remain the top priority of the committee.” Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) promises the focus will fall “heavily” on the fiscal health of the Defense Department and military services.

Entering 2011, the aerospace and defense industry is waiting for not one, but two shoes to drop. One is the U.S. Defense Department’s Fiscal 2012 budget request, the other is Boeing’s response to the launch of Airbus’s reengined A320. Several other smaller impacts are expected to be felt through the year, including the long-delayed delivery of Boeing’s 787, decisions on the U.S. Air Force’s 179-aircraft tanker contest and—potentially—India’s 126-aircraft fighter competition.

Although Embraer is starting to see a rebound in the size of its order backlog, the Brazilian aircraft maker still ended the year with airliner deliveries and its total backlog down substantially from a year ago. Total aircraft deliveries were up slightly to 246 units from 244, for both regional jets and business aircraft.

Wartime experience in the demanding hot-and-high environments of Iraq and Afghanistan has led commanders to question the capabilities of their heavily used helicopter fleets, mostly consisting of aircraft originally designed in the 1970s.

The Republican who defeated then-House transportation leader James Oberstar has been named to the No. 2 position on the aviation subcommittee. Chip Cravaack (Minn.), a former Northwest Airlines pilot and Air Line Pilots Association official, unseated Oberstar in one of the biggest surprises of the November elections. On the aviation subcommittee, 10 of the 17 Republican members are also freshmen. On the Democrats’ side, Nick Rahall (W.Va.) will be the ranking member on the full committee.

The boards of Chile’s LAN Airlines and Brazilian operator TAM have backed a binding agreement that would create one of the world’s largest carriers within 6-9 months. LAN will assume a controlling role within the new entity, as well as the new holding company’s name Latam Airlines, while TAM eventually will be folded into the new corporate structure. The LAN and TAM brands will continue to operate separately.