NATO officials will spend the next several months devising the implementation strategy for the group’s expanded missile defense ambitions while also determining how to coordinate activities in this area with Russia. For proponents of a larger missile defense mandate, the Nov. 19-20 summit in Lisbon provided the anticipated split result: a commitment to moving to territorial defense from merely protecting deployed forces; however, no additional money was allocated to implement that vision.
Anticipating an upturn in demand for its business jets, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. says it will invest $500 million during the next seven years to further expand its home base in Savannah, Ga., and add 1,000 production specialists, engineers and support technicians to its current workforce there of 5,500.
John Brown (see photo) has been named U.S. director of sales for Coyne Airways . He was regional director of Heavyweight Air Express and has a 23-year career in the air cargo industry, including 17 years with Continental Airlines.
Northrop Grumman is studying a significant expansion of its facilities at the secretive U.S. Air Force Plant 42 here to accommodate a growing portfolio of unmanned air system (UAS) and classified program work. The growth plan is driven by “a number of what-if” scenarios, as well as the rising tempo of black world projects, says Andrew Reynolds, Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale deputy site manager and production operations director. “Some of our classified programs have requests for expansion,” he tells Aviation Week.
Australia and the U.S. have agreed to work together to enhance protection of the space environment and provide more accurate warning and tracking of potential collisions in space. The two countries will study the feasibility of establishing and operating sensors in Australia to support the U.S. SSA network, by contributing data on orbital objects passing over the Asia-Pacific region and helping track objects falling to Earth over the region.
Airbus plans to boost production of its A330/A340 widebodies to nine aircraft per month starting in the first quarter of 2012. The move matches a production rate increase already decided earlier for single-aisles, which should see rates increase to 40 units per month.
China is showing increased interest in fielding small, precision weapons to satisfy growing domestic and international demand for armed unmanned aircraft. A side benefit of this activity is to generate more options for bomb-bay carriage. Although China remains mum about its fighter development program beyond the J-10, industry officials here confirm the effort is moving ahead; aircraft designers are expected to aim for lower radar cross section with internal weapons carriage.
After more than four years of sweating out the details with American Airlines, Boeing, the Air Transport Association, Lynden Air Cargo and others, the FAA is issuing its final rule to address widespread aircraft fatigue damage concerns, via regular inspections. The final rule—tied up since April 2006 in defining terminology and other finer points—requires original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and certification applicants to set the number of flight cycles or hours after which an aircraft must have additional inspections for widespread fatigue damage.
Guy Cannady (see photo) has been promoted to chief operating officer of Dynamic Aviation . Over the past 20 years, he developed and operated several commercial aviation service organizations from the ground up, including International Cargo Xpress in Arkansas, Prescott Support Co. in South Carolina and Atlanta Air Services in Georgia.
Richard L. Haver has been appointed to the Passur Aerospace board. He will soon retire as vice presdent-intelligence programs of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Before joining Northrop Grumman, he was assistant U.S. secretary of defense for intelligence.
Norm Fujisaki, Metron Aviation’s vice president/chief strategy officer, has won the 2010 David J. Hurley Memorial Award for Aviation Traffic Management, given by the Air Traffic Control Association . The award is presented for achievement or contribution in collaborative decision-making, balancing air traffic demand and capacity, or maximizing airspace and airport use. c
With repairs to the fuel tank of the orbiter Discovery still underway, NASA shuttle program managers on Nov. 18 retargeted the earliest date for a second round of launch opportunities to Dec. 3 from Nov. 30. The delay will permit more time for agency managers to establish flight rationale using the repaired fuel tank. The upcoming launch period will close three days later to permit a Dec. 15 Soyuz launching with three U.S., Russian and European space station crewmembers.
Pratt & Whitney will complete the first ground-test phase of the production geared turbofan (GTF) by early December amid hopes that early results will encourage Airbus to formally commit to re-engining A320s with a higher-thrust derivative.
Michael Mecham (North Charleston, S.C., and Kinston, N.C. )
Boeing set off a frenzy among U.S. states with aerospace manufacturing ambitions when it issued a request for proposals in 2003 for a manufacturing site for the new twin-aisle jet it was planning.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Robin Rand has been appointed special assistant to the vice chief of staff at USAF Headquarters. He has been legislative liaison for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Rand has been succeeded by Brig. Gen. Lori J. Robinson, who has been selected for promotion to major general. She has been deputy director for force application and support for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Maj. Gen. Brooks L. Bash has been named vice commander of Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
The U.S. aviation industry will have to navigate a vastly altered political landscape in Congress next year. Not only are new leaders taking the reins in the House, Democrats are also losing a lawmaker who has been their dominant voice on aviation policy for more than two decades.
In a country where status is everything, for Japan Airlines (JAL) to concede it no longer necessarily wants to remain Japan’s Number One international carrier shows just how much life has changed for the once-proud operator. The airline is being forced to downsize its fleet, workforce, and, also, its ambitions. But this may be the only course of action open to management if JAL is to survive. In fact, JAL’s top management should be commended for being realistic about the carrier’s prospects and focusing on profitability rather than considerations of status.
Nick Jones (see photo) has rejoined Virgin Atlantic Cargo as vice president-Europe, Middle East and Africa after three years with Emirates. He succeeds Dominic Jones, who is now vice president-Asia-Pacific, and follows James Williams, who becomes vice president-Americas.
Europe’s launch sector is demanding changes in the Arianespace governance and shareholding structure in return for increased financial support. The European launch provider has asked for a capital injection from shareholders and a new public support mechanism to help it counter growing competition from lower-cost players and help defray the extra burden of operating two new launch vehicles—the Soyuz 2 medium lifter and Vega light booster—from its Kourou, French Guiana, spaceport (AW&ST Oct. 18, p. 31).
CFM International is poised to start endurance runs of its composite fan blade for the next-generation Leap-X engine as China’s Comac announces the first letters of intent for the turbofan’s launch application, the C919.
The U.S. Air Force has not released the name of an F-22 pilot whose plane crashed near Cantwell, Alaska, on Nov. 17, but his parents have identified him as Capt. Jeffrey A. Haney, 31, of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Early USAF reports said there was no body in the wreckage. Rescue personnel were still searching for Haney late last week.
U.S. defense spending is almost certain to be stretched further—and definitely not grow more than already planned—even as newly empowered Republicans in Congress look to battle the Obama administration over a swath of issues, including conventional weapons programs, strategic systems and war strategies.
The CALT Long March 7 medium-heavy space launcher will go into production in 2014, according to current plans, completing a new family of Chinese rockets with new fuels and engines. Sized between the Long March 5 and 6, the new rocket will offer up to 720 tons (1,590,000 lb.) of liftoff thrust from six engines fed by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first stage of the Long March 7 will have two YF100 engines, CALT Vice President Hao Zhaoping tells Aviation Week. The YF100 is already known to have a thrust of 120 tons.
Christopher Forshier has been tapped to be director of business development for global airline operations at Metron Aviation . He was manager-operations strategy and implementation for Continental Airlines.
