USAF Brig. Gen. Craig S. Olson has been apppointed program executive officer of Enterprise Electronic Systems in the Electronic Systems Center of Air Force Material Command, Maxwell-Gunter AFB, Ala. He was chief of the Office of Security Cooperation of Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq of U.S. Central Command. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Masiello has been named deputy assistant secretary for plans, programs and operations in the State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is developing design concepts and requirements for a multi-mission “Geoint radar satellite system,” according to a redacted version of the NRO’s Fiscal 2010 budget obtained by Steven Aftergood, who publishes Secrecy News, for the Project on Government Security at the Federation of American Scientists. The document also notes the NRO is expecting launch delays due to the pace of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) operations, which are managed by the United Launch Alliance. “In part due to affordability, the . . .
Lockheed Martin is prepared to ship the first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite to the U.S. Navy in the second quarter of 2011, says Mark Pasquale, a company vice president. Space Vehicle No. 1 will now enter acoustic testing followed by thermal vacuum trials. After challenges involving passive intermodulation (PIM) on the satellite, Pasquale says the company recently successfully completed PIM testing, addressing this “major risk item.” The diplexers on the satellite performed as needed, he said, clearing a major hurdle.
With demand for premium travel perking up as the global economy rebounds, aircraft seat manufacturers are deciding where to invest their time and effort. At the recent Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, manufacturers and airlines alike pointed to significant growth opportunities in the economy-, premium economy- and business-class markets. First-class demand is expected to decline in many city pairs.
Tig H. Krekel has been named a member of the board of directors of Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems . He is vice chairman/partner of J.F. Lehman & Co. of New York and was president/CEO of Hughes Space and Communications and president of Boeing Satellite Systems.
Klaus Goersch has become executive vice president-operations and customer service, Jack Smith senior vice president-customer service, Rocky Wiggins senior vice president-information service/chief information officer and Stephen Kolski executive vice president-corporate affairs, all for AirTran Airways .
USN Rear Adm. John W. Miller has been appointed commander of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, Fallon, Nev. He has been commander of San Diego-based Carrier Strike Group 11.
Vince Restivo (see photo) has been appointed vice president-aircraft completions and interior design for the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was director of completion sales for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga.
Unions Gain Ground In New Era Of Contract Negotiations It has been said since early 2009 that this would be the year for organized labor in the U.S. This has been true for many airlines, as unions have come to the end of a decade of givebacks, coupled with major Obama administration pro-labor initiatives that include a recent decision which will help union organizing efforts.
New Delhi and Moscow are trying to finalize workshare arrangements for a proposed hypersonic cruise missile program that would closely involve Russian industry, including cruise missile manufacturer NPO Mashinostroyenia.
Marc Sander has been named Zurich-based charter sales director for ExecuJet Europe . He was a sales and marketing manager at Excellent Air. Honors and Elections
John Dowdy, the director of McKinsey & Co.’s A&D consulting practice, recently asked an audience which nation the U.S. replaced in 1892 as having the world’s largest economy. Most wrongly guessed it was the U.K. The correct answer is China. Dowdy’s point: Chinese leaders view the last century as an aberration and are aiming to reclaim their country’s role as a leading economic power. And creating an aircraft industry is a big part of that ambition.
Airships are survivors—a genus of aircraft that has been around since the dawn of aviation and is now being offered another chance at lasting success. This time the mission is persistent surveillance, but can undisputed endurance carve out a role for unmanned airships that lasts beyond today’s war?
A series of Aster 30 firings from French, Italian and British vessels appears to have confirmed a fix MBDA had to make to the air defense and ballistic missile interceptor. The Royal Navy last year suffered two failures with the Sea Viper configuration, which forced MBDA to make design changes and also to delay delivery of further Aster 30s. The company now says that it completed a series of launches. MBDA had made a production change that introduced a problem affecting a strake that protects cables along the missile’s airframe.
After years of studying the feasibility of building a homegrown atmospheric reentry capability, Europe is preparing to demonstrate initial advanced concepts.
Jo Kremsreiter has become St. Louis-based Western U.S. sales director for the general aviation aeronautical communications systems and solutions of the International Communications Group , Newport News, Va. Robert D. Troyer (see photo) has been appointed manager of new business and customer development for the Ladish Co., Cudahy, Wis. He was vice president-business development for Grede Foundries Inc.
Unleaded avgas versus the clock Having essentially squandered decades, the general aviation industry is suddenly in a hurry-up mode in response to a federal government increasingly impatient with it to clean up its act. Beyond that, there’s a question as to how much longer an essential supplier will stay the course.
The letter from Eric Salo, “Power to Powered Wheels” (AW&ST June 7, p. 10), reminded me of a conversation with my father in the late 1960s at Chicago O’Hare International Airport when I was a budding young aviation enthusiast. Where the big jets touched down, clouds of rubber smoke would curl in the wing tip vortices to mark the location of their return to Earth. It seemed a waste so I asked my father why the wheels didn’t have a system of wind vanes, or something, to bring them up to speed before they touched.
Tom Haulik has been named carbon fiber sales manager for Hexcel Composites Ltd. , Duxford, England. He was sales manager for Sigmatex High Technology Fabrics.
In reference to David Bangley’s letter citing options to capsules as shown by the X-37B recent flight (AW&ST May 3, p. 10), he, like many others, doesn’t really understand the whole picture. NASA has a capsule now for several reasons that can be traced back many years. During the early 1990s, Crew Transfer Vehicle and Orbital Space Plane concepts were under development, both of which were winged bodies or other high-lift derivatives.
Thai Airways International will acquire seven new Airbus A330-300s through financial lease and eight Boeing 777-300ERs on operating lease, with deliveries to be completed by 2014. This is on top of a previous order of eight A330-300s and six A380s that are expected to join the fleet by 2013. The carrier is also retrofitting its 747-400s.
Patrick M. Antkowiak (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of the Advanced Concepts and Technologies Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Electronic Systems Sector, Linthicum, Md. He was vice president-strategy and capability for the Engineering, Manufacturing and Logistics Div.
Eurofighter partner nations could start development of an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the Typhoon as early as July 1. A full-scale development program would aim to have an AESA radar available in 2015.
