Three companies will receive $500,000 data-delivery orders from NASA for work on a commercial risk-reduction initiative for the development of robotic lander technologies suitable for missions to the Moon, near-Earth objects and other Solar System destinations. Astrobotic Technology Inc. of Pittsburgh; Dynetics Inc. of Huntsville, Ala.; and Moon Express Inc.
French air force officials expect the first squadron of new Rafale F3 multirole fighters to be ready for reconnaissance missions by spring, allowing pilots to take advantage of the aircraft’s advanced Reco NG reconnaissance pod.
BAE Systems has agreed to pay 1.2 billion Danish kronor ($216 million) to acquire ETI, a Danish cyber and intelligence company. It is the latest in a series of deals by BAE to bolster its security services activities. BAE expects the deal to close before April.
The plant building the CALT Long March 5 has proved its technology for precise assembly of large-diameter sections with friction-stir welding, a key achievement as the program moves toward a 2014 first flight. The 211th Factory at the Tianjin industrial base used that and other advanced manufacturing technologies in building an engineering sample of a short section of the Long March 5’s second stage, a liquid-hydrogen tank, says national space contractor CASC.
Andrew Jazwick has been named senior vice president-aviation security for Science Applications International Corp.’s (SAIC) Security and Transportation Technology Business unit. Since joining SAIC in 1999, he been liaison to the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government.
Former astronaut Michael J. Bloomfield (see photo) has joined Oceaneering International as vice president/general manager of Oceaneering Space Systems. While at NASA, he was chief of safety and chief instructor of astronauts, as well as director of shuttle operations and chief of the Shuttle Branch. He also served as deputy director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate before leaving NASA in 2007 to join ATK as vice president-Houston operations.
Although two years behind its original development and delivery schedule, HondaJet certification testing is underway and the manufacturer hopes to begin deliveries of the light jet—Honda’s first commercial aircraft—in late 2012. “We’ll try to keep this momentum to keep to the schedule,” says Michimasa Fujino, president/CEO of Honda Aircraft Co.
USAF Brig. Gen. Otis G. Mannon has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is special assistant to the commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla. Honors and Elections
AirAsia is Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost carrier, but it will face new competition from Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) Firefly, which will begin operating Boeing 737-800s this month. MAS mainline had been vying against AirAsia by discounting excess seat inventory through “everyday low fares” promotions. “But by doing that, you run the risk of diluting your brand value,” says MAS Managing Director and CEO Azmil Zahruddin. “We see that Qantas and Jetstar have been quite successful,” he says, referring to that group’s dual-brand strategy.
Boeing will provide a satellite system to the Mexican government that will serve secure military and civil communications needs throughout the country and its surrounding waters under a new prime contract worth $1.03 billion. The Mexsat system will comprise three satellites, two ground stations and other equipment. Boeing will build the Mexsat-1 and 2 mobilesat services spacecraft based on the company’s 702HP bus. Each will supply 14 kw. of payload power and carry a 22-meter L-band reflector, complemented by a 2-meter Ku-band antenna.
A wave of production efficiency changes developed on commercial engines is rolling through General Electric’s military products as GE prepares to transfer F110 assembly to its production center at Lynn, Mass., from Texas.
Christine Manka Williams (see photo) has been promoted to senior operations manager-refurbishment at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. She was assistant program manager for the company’s Military and Special Missions unit, where she led a team that designed and outfitted the interior of a Gulfstream G550 atmospheric research aircraft for the German Aerospace Center.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York has reportedly approved sending a reorganization plan for TerreStar Networks to creditors for approval, and set a March 4 hearing to confirm the plan. The Reston, Va.-based operatorwants to start a terrestrial/satellite phone and data service using an existing spacecraft. TerreStar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.
Australian analysts are starting to examine how combat between the U.S. and China over the Taiwan Strait might play out and what’s needed to produce a win for small, high-tech forces.
Airbus Military missed its target of handing the first A330-derivative KC-30A tanker to its launch customer, the Royal Australian Air Force, in 2010. The aircraft maker did not provide a new delivery target date, saying only that “final handover will take place once the lengthy review of all related documentation and activities is complete.” The U.K. and Saudi Arabia also should receive their first tankers this year, with the United Arab Emirates to follow in 2012.
As manufacturers struggle to keep sophisticated new airliner developments on track, is it possible to still learn from epic success stories as old as the Douglas DC-3?
One unexpected beneficiary of last month’s Senate ratification of the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty was missile defense programs, with Republicans squeezing an explicit commitment out of President Barack Obama himself while sowing new seeds of doubt over his sincerity. New Start opponents, including Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and George W. Bush administration U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, openly doubt Obama’s commitment to developing U.S. missile defenses.
China’s first known stealth aircraft just emerged from a secret development program and was undergoing high-speed taxi tests late last week at Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute’s airfield. Said to be designated J-20, it is larger than most observers expected—pointing to long range and heavy weapon loads.
As the New Year begins, I offer an apology of sorts to former President George W. Bush. During his tenure, Bush was criticized in this column for the “fiscal recklessness” of putting the Afghanistan and Iraq wars on a credit card. Considering that it took nearly nine years for the cumulative costs of those two conflicts to reach $1 trillion, it is breathtaking how quickly President Barack Obama and Republican leaders in Congress struck a “compromise” that will add another trillion dollars to the national debt. Tax cuts? Extend them for all and throw in some new ones.
I was saddened by the predictable decision by the French court that Continental Airlines was the sole criminal cause of the Concorde crash in July 2000. The court decided that a metal strip that fell from a Continental DC-10 and became foreign object debris (FOD) started the whole chain that led to the accident. The court further decided that no French person or organization contributed in any way to a criminally negligent act.
European Union emissions allowance (EUA) prices drifted further in December to end the year on a weak note as buy-side support dried up. EUAs for delivery in December 2011 took up the front-year position on the forward price curve after December 2010 over-the-counter contracts went to expiry on Dec. 1.
The photo of a Mojave Desert scene, on the lower half of page 52 of the Dec. 20/27, 2010, issue, should have been credited to Dr. Charles Dusenbury of Monterey, Calif.
In “Designs for Success” (AW&ST Nov. 1/8, 2010, p. 72) former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says that system engineering should “minimize unintended consequences. We rarely ask ‘What is this going to do that I don’t want it to do?’” He believes the community’s ability to predict how well the design will meet the objective is “poor and, at best, pathetic.” While I agree with most of his suggestions, it surprised me that he says that nobody has posed these kinds of questions before.
India has proved once again that it cannot move too fast in acquiring a major weapon system. Even as the evaluation of its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender comes closer to its final stages, evidence is mounting that downselect winners will not learn of their acceptance until the fourth quarter instead of the first.
