Robert Wall (London), Andy Nativi (Genoa), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
There is a growing recognition among European navies that they will need to augment their fleets with unmanned aircraft. But there remains a distinct lack of coherence of views on what the ideal system may be.
The Pentagon must make a major decision in December 2011 on whether to proceed with fielding the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) missile defense architecture based in Europe.
MASkargo is considering converting Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft from parent Malaysia Airlines into freighters and is also in negotiations to firm up options for two more Airbus A330 freighters. The dedicated cargo carrier—which has primarily been relying on 747-200 freighters on wet-lease from U.S. carrier Southern Air—says it needs newer aircraft. Malaysia Airlines plans to replace some of its 747-400s with the six Airbus A380s it has on order, with first deliveries set for April 2012. MASkargo is considering ordering new Boeing 777 freighters.
Amy Butler (NAS Patuxent River, Md., and Washington)
First flight of the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is slipping by roughly six months— to December, but Navy and Northrop Grumman officials say they still expect to meet the goal set by the chief of naval operations for UCAS to operate from an aircraft carrier in Fiscal 2013.
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Andy Carlisle has been named managing officer for the London office of SH&E and Kata Cserep a principal. Carlisle was vice president-airport services. The company has formed an advisory board for the commercial aviation industry, headed by Chief Operating Officer Deborah Meehan.
Israel is pressing ahead with its purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, after securing U.S. approval to install Israeli munitions on the aircraft and a pledge to adjust the electronic warfare suite to emerging Middle East threats.
The unmanned aviation market is seemingly exploding with large contractors and innovative, smaller companies experimenting with designs for various missions. And the U.S. military services are taking note, signing billions of dollars worth of contracts to develop and procure systems and intelligence-collecting services from companies operating their own fleets.
Just eight months after the National Mediation Board heard from Delta Air Lines flight attendants alleging the carrier hired consultants specializing in voter suppression who taught cabin crew how to “intimidate” their fellow workers not to vote for a union, the NMB finds the airline has tainted a different election process. The board has called for a new election for simulator technicians.
Mark Chapin has become director of the Draper Laboratory ’s Washington office. He was head of business development for the Sarnoff Corp., Arlington, Va.
The intense battle over powering the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could be heading to new levels following test results that show the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine has more than 15% thrust margin against specification, significantly exceeding the power of the baseline Pratt & Whitney F135.
Thuraya is launching an aeronautical service to serve aircraft in its coverage area, which includes Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia. The UAE-based mobile satellite service operator says more than 200 business jets and helicopters are already equipped with the service, known as AviationComs and based on hardware supplied by France’s Satsys. AviationComs will initially be limited to speeds up to 60 kbps., but a broadband offering that can work at 444 kbps.—comparable to Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network—is to be introduced in the fourth quarter.
A major sticking point on the sale by the U.S. of 84 new F-15S strike-fighters to Saudi Arabia is the degree of sophistication of the long-range aircraft’s radars.
The crash of a de Havilland DHC-3 Otter ferrying aerospace and defense (A&D) power figures over Alaska last week killed a longtime pillar of A&D appropriations and aviation legislation, while shaking the C-suite of a burgeoning U.S.-European provider. Former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) died Aug. 9 as the result of the crash, which claimed four other victims near Dillingham, Alaska, including the highly respected pilot. EADS North America CEO Sean O’Keefe was on board and survived with injuries.
Aerospace and defense companies are looking for a few good men—and women—in spite of a very difficult 2009, which included freezes on salaries and merit pay, furloughs and layoffs. For the first time in seven years, the level of aerospace employment declined, according to 2009 year-end data from the Aerospace Industries Association.
Russia is scrambling to expand and modernize its aerial fire-fighting capabilities now that the inability to curtail the havoc brought by widespread forest fires has revealed shortcomings of the current inventory.
Inmarsat will create a Ka-band broadband system to complement its existing L-band system, allowing it to go one-up on mobile satellite service (MSS) competitors.
Northrop Grumman and Alliant Techsystems (ATK), two of the main structural suppliers for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, are accelerating sub-assembly production as Lockheed Martin prepares to ramp up production. Full-rate production is expected to start around 2015, assuming current funding remains on track, with one aircraft rolling off Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth assembly line every day by 2016. Northrop Grumman’s delivery of a center fuselage for AF-14 marks the transition to a single unit every 10 days.
The U.S. Air Force launch team at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., says corrective action on “certain connectors used on flight avionics components” aboard an Orbital Sciences Minotaur IV launch vehicle means launch of the Space Based Space Surveillance satellite will take place no earlier than late September. The launch was set for July 8, but a software glitch prompted the delay.
The Indian government may have to reassess its strategy to field a fleet of unmanned combat aircraft after initial outreach to potential industrial partners elicited little response. Most companies that received the request for information (RFI) in June, when India launched its surprise effort to procure a fleet of stealthy unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV), have shunned the approach, saying they were unable to respond. Company officials note they were unable to offer any meaningful response to the Indian air force’s stated requirement.
Europe’s aerospace and defense industry continues to grapple with a shortage of engineers in specific fields, but companies are still finding work-arounds to ensure that projects advance.
The U.S. spends about $4 million each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs), according to a new National Academies report, but this is insufficient to detect the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humanity. The majority of this funding supports the operation of several observatories that scan the sky searching for NEOs. “Impacts on Earth by near-Earth objects are inevitable,” the report says.
In a spate of August lawmaking, Congress is rushing two more unmanned aircraft into the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) fleet. Under the roughly $600-million bill passed last week, Congress appropriates $32 million for UAVs through September 2012. The agency counts six General Atomics Predator Bs now, including one that was re-engineered specifically for maritime sensing in a joint program with the Coast Guard, which like CBP is part of the Homeland Security Department.
Lawrence Prior has been named executive vice president of BAE Systems Inc. ’s Service Sectors for BAE Systems, Arlington, Va. He was president/chief operating officer of the ManTech International Corp.
