Maritime authorities are hoping that a Norwegian experimental nanosatellite-based automatic identification system (AIS) will demonstrate the suitability of spacecraft in low Earth orbit to provide comprehensive and inexpensive maritime situational awareness. The 20-cm. (8-in.) wide, 6-kg. (13-lb.) AISSat-1 was among the payloads orbited July 12 together with India’s Cartosat-2B remote-sensing spacecraft (AW&ST July 19, p. 32).
Mark T. Esper (see photo) has been appointed Washington-based vice president-government relations for the Raytheon Co. He was executive vice president of the Global Intellectual Property Center and vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Sid Ashworth (see photo) has been appointed corporate vice president-government relations for the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. , effective Aug. 16. She has been vice president-Washington Operations for GE Aviation.
Irkut has announced the launch customer for its MS-21 narrowbody airliner, which is due to enter service in 2016. Crecom Burj Resources, a Malaysian leasing startup, agreed to acquire 50 MS-21s, firming up a letter of intent signed in early June. The $3-billion deal—Russia’s largest commercial aircraft sale ever—comprises 25 MS-21-200s, which will seat 150 passengers in two-class configuration; and 25 180-passenger MS-21-300s.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Susan L. Pamerleau and Brig. Gen. (ret.) Sanford Schlitt have been named to the Civil Air Patrol board of governors. Pamerleau is a director of the Government Personnel Mutual Life Insurance Co. in San Antonio. Schlitt is vice chairman for aerospace education of the Air Force Association. Paul L. Graziani, CEO of Analytical Graphics Inc., has been reappointed to a second three-year term.
The U.S. and Italian militaries are developing plans to bolster their C-27J tactical transport capabilities, driven in part by the involvement of combattroops in Afghanistan. The Italian air force is developing a special-mission configuration for the C-27J that would allow the aircraft to carry a high-power jammer to disrupt wireless detonation of improved explosive devices. The payload is under development by Restoge (Reparto Supporto Operativo di Guerra Elettronica) the EW operational support unit.
USAF Maj. Gen. David W. Eidsaune has been named director of strategic plans, programs and analyses/director of Develop and Sustain Warfighting Systems in the Air Force Process Office at Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He was AFMC director of Air, Space and Information Operations. He has been succeeded by Col. William J. Thornton, who has been selected for promotion to brigadier general and has been commander of AFMC’s 412th Test Wing, Edwards AFB, Calif. Brig. Gen. David S. Fadok has been appointed commander of the Curtis E.
Pockets of the U.S. government are beginning to mobilize to protect unique skill sets in the aerospace industry that support a fragile—and threatened—launch industry.
Boeing plans to start fabrication of the first Indian P-8I maritime patrol aircraft in the fourth quarter after completing the final design review. The Indian navy has ordered eight P-8Is.
Adrian Osborn (see photo) has been appointed vice president-programs for Greenpoint Technologies Inc. , Kirkland, Wash. He was vice president-original equipment manufacturer programs for Heath Tecna Inc.
Officials at Alenia Aeronautica are proceeding with plans to build a final assembly and checkout facility (FACO) for the F-35, following the closure of a long-awaited agreement with the Italian government and Lockheed Martin. Cost of the facility was not disclosed. Officials hope to deliver the first Italian-assembled aircraft in 2014. The line is expected to provide aircraft for Italy and possibly Dutch customers. Alenia officials had hoped to conclude negotiations at the beginning of the year, but differences over the funding prompted delays.
Resurgent demand for single-aisle aircraft may allow Airbus and Boeing to hold on to their narrowbody duopoly just a bit longer than expected. Both aircraft makers are considering increasing production for their narrowbodies, fearful that a lack of available aircraft may drive airlines toward emergent rivals such as Bombardier’s CSeries. However, the Canadian endeavor could struggle to match the price and profitability of the mature and well-leaned Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 production lines.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. is morphing its T-6B Texan II military trainer into the AT-6B, a welterweight contender in the U.S. Air Force’s upcoming Light-Attack and Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) competition. The attack variant utilizes a beefed-up T-6 airframe, capable of carrying 3,350 lb. of external stores on six wing hardpoints. For Mil-Spec-1760 “smart weapons” delivery, AT-6 is being fitted with the A-10C’s Central Interface Control Unit (CICU) mission computer, providing net-centric secure data-link communications capability.
Boeing plans to use the commercial crew capsule it is developing under an agreement with NASA to provide transportation to the private space station Bigelow Aerospace intends to have in service by 2015, the two companies announced.
This year’s biennial Farnborough air show featured several aircraft making their debuts. For the Boeing 787-8 (foreground), it was the first appearance at an international air show. On the military front, Airbus Military’s A400M had its Farnborough coming-out party, although it made its show debut in Berlin last month. Keith Gaskell photo.
“Devil in the Details” (AW&ST July 12, pp. 26-27) should be titled “More Gold-Plated Hammers to Smash Mosquitoes.” The U.S. Air Force continues using operational-level (King Air 90s, Predators) and theater-level (U-2s, Global Hawks, E-8Cs) aircraft to try to perform tactical-level roles and missions. This is not only financially unsupportable over the long duration of irregular wars, it is also only marginally effective tactically. And irregular warfare is fought almost exclusively at a very basic tactical level.
Specialty suppliers—shops that make gears, fan cases, ducting, switches and the like—are often so busy putting out today’s job and looking for tomorrow’s that they have little time to tackle such issues as workforce training or process improvement. Who can afford to set up classes in shop math or blueprint reading for a handful of workers? And how many suppliers with 75 employees have their own kaizen specialist?
An order for four more Global Express XRS ultra-long-range business jets and another two Challenger 605 large cabin bizjets will allow Swiss-based VistaJet to further expand its branded charter business. The company’s all-Bombardier fleet already includes 25 aircraft, with another five to be added this year and 18 more by 2014.
Safran business development manager Jean-Pierre Cojan insists the French government has had no role in Safran’s effort to combine its activities with those of cabin, safety equipment and electrical system specialist Zodiac, despite some analysts’ views to the contrary. “Unlike our earlier talks with Thales, there has been no government meddling in Zodiac,” Cojan says. “It’s a purely business matter. The aeronautics industry is restructuring, working with fewer Tier One suppliers and giving them a bigger scope. Anyone who doesn’t grow will end up Tier Two.”
I must take issue with your recent editorial “China Is Coming. Will It Play Fair?” (AW&ST July 12, p. 62). When it comes to bargaining, China has proven its superiority many times. The slow playful Panda image is a front for a highly experienced and calculating negotiator. In the game of brinkmanship, the Chinese recently won by holding out to the last days before saying they would float the yuan, thus averting being labeled a “currency manipulator” by the Obama administration.
Amid mounting speculation that one of the top two commercial airframers may forgo reengining its narrowbody family altogether, Airbus and Boeing will announce whether or not to upgrade the respective A320 and 737 engines this fall.
Washington Post editors need not look for confirmation from James Clapper on their blockbuster “Top Secret America” series. He’s not buying the newspaper’s three-part account of an intelligence community that has grown bloated to the point of unmanageability since the 2001 terrorist attacks, with spooks and analysts falling over each other in a hyper-redundant scramble for information.
David Warren, the Australian government scientist who invented the flight data and cockpit voice recorder, died on July 19. He was 85. Warren was born in 1925 on an island off the north coast of Australia. His father died in an aircraft crash nine years later.
John R. Watret has been named executive vice president/chief academic officer of the Worldwide Campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University . He was associate vice president/chief academic officer and succeeds Martin Smith, who is retiring.
