Runaway entitlement spending has propelled America toward the moral abyss of forfeiting our children’s future prosperity. However, the road to solvency will not just be forged through essential budget cuts. It will also be created through the prudent investment in initiatives designed to create a new intellectual renaissance—an awakening where our children will again be inspired to learn the intricacies of math, engineering, medicine and physics.
After a string of delays stretching back to 2008, Italy’s reusable launch vehicle research program is finally back on track. The Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV) program, part of a wider European effort to prepare future launch vehicle technologies, is intended to investigate hypersonic reentry and transatmospheric flight. The latest test vehicle in the program, Pollux, underwent a successful balloon-drop and test flight off the Sardinian coast last week.
A raft of regulatory and legislative initiatives pending in Brussels is raising anxiety among airlines that their ability to effectively compete will suffer long-term damage. The airline industry’s relationship with European Union representatives has often been tense, but there is growing concern that as a new European Parliament and Commission look to make their mark in the coming months, airlines may be a target, or at least a victim, of the process.
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam will forbid the country’s airlines from using foreign brands, a policy that undercuts the franchising strategy of two outside carriers with local affiliates, Jetstar and AirAsia. The deputy head of the administration, Lai Xuan Thanh, stresses that foreigners cannot directly control business plans, revenues or profits of Vietnamese airlines.
The European Space Agency is preparing to order two additional cargo carriers to support the International Space Station for five more years, provided the extension is confirmed.
USAF Brig. Gen. (ret.) Donald Lustig has become vice president and general manager of AAR Brown International , Wood Dale, Ill. He was inspector general at Air Mobility Command Headquarters, Scott AFB, Ill., and vice commander of the Tanker Airlift Control Center.
Further consolidation of the Russian aero-engine manufacturing sector is moving a step closer with a key management appointment. Yuri Eliseev, the CEO of Moscow-based Salut on April 14 became the deputy head of the United Engine Corp. (UEC). CEO Andrey Reus says the appointment will help clear the way for the merger of the two engine producers. UEC now controls all Russian aero-engine-making facilities, except Salut.
Macquarie Equities Research says its survey of 67 airlines and leasing companies worldwide, including 80% of Airbus and Boeing’s top narrowbody customers, shows that airplane manufacturers are justified in modest increases in 2011-12 production growth. Macquarie is only “cautiously optimistic” that carriers can absorb the number of widebodies being built, however. Results for narrowbodies could hinge on deliveries to top customers. The top 25 customers will account for 53% of narrowbodies for Airbus and 72% for Boeing over the next three years.
Robert Wall (London), Frances Fiorino (Washington DC)
The airline industry will be studying the impact that the April 14 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano had on already hard-hit revenues. Meanwhile, much of Europe’s airspace remained closed late last week as air traffic control providers waited for signs that the ash cloud that drifted over Europe would lift enough to allow limited operations.
Concerns are once again surfacing at U.S. Strategic Command about a potential gap in the critical mission area of space-based missile warning. Last December, U.S. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, Stratcom commander, issued an urgent-need request to the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office for alternatives to augment the mission, according to Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry, a Stratcom official.
Griffon Aerospace has rolled out the first production MQM-171A BroadSword UAV target for the U.S. Army. The Madison, Ala.-based company is producing an initial 20 BroadSwords, plus launchers and control stations. The 500-lb.-class aircraft will represent a generic tactical UAV for training and weapon-system testing and as a platform for sensor development.
BAE Systems was No. 1 in arms sales, ahead of Lockheed Martin and displacing Boeing, which dropped to third place in the latest rankings produced by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). The data reflect 2008 sales. It is the first time a non-U.S. company leads the pack. But BAE Systems’ time at the top may be short-lived. The company’s $32.4 billion in sales that year largely was driven by strong activity in the land and armaments business—in particular with mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles—owing to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
April 28-30—Phoenix Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium. May 10-13—Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference. Amman, Jordan May 19-21—NextGen Conference and Exhibition. Washington. June 8-13—ILA-Berlin Air Show. July 19-25—Farnborough 2010. Sept. 27-Oct. 1—International Astronautical Congress. Prague. Sept. 28-30—MRO Europe. London. Nov. 1-3—A&D Programs Conference. Phoenix. Nov. 2-3—A&D Supply Chain Conference. Phoenix.
Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to bring outside training and maintenance specialists into its MRJ program as part of an effort to assure prospective customers that it can fully support the regional jet in service. Adhering to the time line is the biggest challenge for the Japanese manufacturer, which says there is no particular aspect of the aircraft’s development and integration that it regards as unusually difficult, even though the MRJ is its first attempt at building a commercial jet.
Republic Airways has chosen Frontier Airlines to be the unified brand name for the Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines subsidiaries it acquired last year, but expects the work of integrating the carriers to continue for as long as 18 months. Republic said customer surveys show both brands retained hometown loyalty, but that customers prefer the Frontier brand and identify it more with lower fares. Republic already has been melding the carriers’ route systems and has implemented network-wide code sharing for Denver-based Frontier and Milwaukee-based Midwest.
China Eastern’s entry into the SkyTeam alliance will bring closer cooperation between two of the biggest airlines in China, lifting the chances of industry consolidation there while eliminating Oneworld’s hope of embracing a top-three mainland carrier.
The European Space Agency’s Cryo-Sat-2 ice-monitoring mission began delivering data last week, just days after an April 8 launch. The early orbit phase was completed on the morning of April 11 and the synthetic aperture interferometric radar altimeter, CryoSat-2’s principal instrument, was switched on later the same day. First data showing Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf was acquired by the European Space Agency’s Kiruna, Sweden, ground station on April 13. The spacecraft is expected to be commissioned in about three months.
Though wind farms are generally considered to be a green mine of energy conservation and renewable resources, military personnel are increasingly concerned about a dark side—the disruption or blocking of radar designed to detect threats. Both the FAA and U.S. military have sounded alarms, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command is organizing a radar obstruction evaluation team. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, the U.K., which has extensive offshore wind energy resources in place, also is aggressively working on solutions.
The long-awaited transformation of air-breathing hypersonic technology from research to practical operational use could become a reality under Riptide, a newly unveiled fast-reaction missile project being studied by the U.S. Air Force.
Engineers hope analysis of telemetry data from India’s first attempt to fly its own cryogenic upper stage will reveal whether the new engine ignited before the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) it was to power tumbled out of control and crashed into the Bay of Bengal.
April 25-27—Reed Exhibitions’ Middle East Airport Expo 2010. Dubai World Trade Center. Call +97 (12) 409-0403 or see www.theairportshow.com April 26-29—Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s UAV Summit “Achieving Maximum Unmanned Capabilities.” Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner Hotel. Vienna, Va. Call +1 (800) 882-8684, fax +1 (646) 378-6025 or see www.uavevent.com
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano provided another sign that the political sport of bashing private jets has run its course in Washington. “This is a tough job . . . but there are some things that come with it, and one of them is a plane,” Napolitano told a National Press Club audience last week.
Plans to begin technology development for a reusable booster system to replace its existing expendable launch vehicles beyond 2025 are being finalized by the U.S. Air Force.
International Lease Finance Corp., continuing its restructuring efforts, has agreed to dispose of 53 aircraft in its portfolio. Macquarie Bank is the buyer in the $2 billion deal, a discount to their $2.3-billion net book value. The result is that the average age of the ILFC fleet increases to 7.6 from 7.4 years.
President Barack Obama’s cancellation of Constellation will most likely speed up the return to the Moon. Constellation would have involved years of redevelopment of obsolete technology.
