Two small, hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicles have been delivered to French special operations forces as a result of a quick-turn procurement effort, says the French defense armaments agency, DGA. The Elbit Systems Skylark 1s were ordered in October, and augment the fleet already in service with the French military since 2008. The AeroVironment Wasp contract was signed in November. The system is first to be used for operational trials to validate micro-UAVs, DGA says. USAF special operations troops already use the system.
Canceling the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle makes no sense if the government is serious about a flexible path approach for lunar fly-bys and visits to asteroids and Mars. If Americans venture beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), a vehicle just like Orion will be needed to return them to Earth, using an Apollo-type reentry at speeds close to Earth’s escape velocity for lunar missions and exceeding Earth’s escape velocity for asteroid or Mars missions.
Lufthansa Airlines was initially slow to react to the trend of consolidation in the European air transport sector. In 2004, Air France and KLM merged to become the biggest airline group on the Continent, putting the German carrier under pressure to respond. And it did. Under CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber’s leadership, Lufthansa began acquiring smaller airlines. First was Swiss, followed by Austrian Airlines, BMI and Brussels Airlines last year. It also took control of low-fare Germanwings in response to growing competition from budget airlines.
Construction on the fuselage factory for Bombardier’s CSeries 100-149-seat jet has begun in Shenyang, China. The 226,000-sq.-ft. facility will be operated by Shenyang Aircraft, an Avic subsidiary. Shenyang represents the third factory under construction for the aircraft, which is to enter service in 2013. Building of Bombardier’s integrated systems test area in Mirabel, Quebec, began last September, and construction on the wing assembly factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland, started last November.
Numerous rounds remain to be fought in the U.S.-European dispute over alleged commercial aircraft subsidies, with few prospects seen for meaningful negotiations this year to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Lufthansa Technik and Wizz Air, the growing low-fare carrier operating in Central and Eastern Europe, have signed a five-year contract for 150 C-Checks on more than 80 Airbus A320s in the airline’s fleet. Beginning in March, Lufthansa Technik will perform the maintenance work at its Budapest facility which specializes in line and base maintenance of narrow-body aircraft. Up to four narrowbodies can simultaneously undergo C-checks in two bays of the facility’s hangar at Ferihegy International Airport.
Nancy Lematta (see photo) has become chairman of Columbia Helicopters , Portland, Ore., succeeding her late husband Wes Lamatta, who was the company founder.
Virgin Galactic’s plan to introduce the world’s first space tourism service has moved into a new phase with the March 22 start of captive-carry test flights of the Scaled Composites-built SpaceShipTwo (SS2) from Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The six-passenger vehicle, named VSS Enterprise, was carried beneath the 140-ft.-span wing of the four-engine WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft for a 2-hr., 54-min. test flight that reached a maximum altitude of 45,000 ft.
The British treasury has been called complicit in the Defense Ministry’s failure to control the costs of its future equipment plan. “Treasury did not act sufficiently quickly to challenge the growing unaffordability of the defense budget,” asserts the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee in its review of the 2009 Major Projects Report, published last week. There is a substantial—and only loosely quantified—shortfall in funding between the Defense Ministry’s intended equipment purchases in the longer term and the likely available funding.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank says it is working on new telecom satellite projects for possible export credit financing. Late last year, the Ex-Im Bank agreed to fund an initial project, Avanti Communications’ Avanti-2, to be built by Orbital Sciences Corp (AW&ST Jan. 4, p. 36). France’s Coface has led the trend toward export credit financing, and is now finalizing a deal with Russia’s Gazprom. International Lease Financing Corp. says it expects by year-end to begin using a plan being put in place by Russia.
Eumetsat was set late last week to approve the start of Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather satellite system, amid strong doubts that Germany would sign on for the €3.3-billion ($4.4-billion) space portion of the undertaking. On March 19, the European Space Agency selected Thales Alenia Space and Germany’s OHB System to negotiate a contract to supply the space segment of MTG, with Thales Alenia as prime contractor.
Bruno Rambaud has been named Toulouse-based vice president and managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Rockwell Collins , Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was executive vice president-Europe for Thales.
Aegean Airlines suffered a 22% decline in net profit in 2009 yet managed to remain in the black. The €23-million ($31-million) profit is based on a 2% increase in revenue but a 45% decline in operating income. The revenue growth came on the heels of “significant international network expansion, despite difficult economic conditions,” according to airline management.
April 12-15—National Space Symposium. Colorado Springs. April 20-22—MRO Americas/MRO Military Conference & Exhibition. Phoenix. 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 & 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.
Cold-soak trials that are part of the certification process for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet have been completed at Yakutsk, Russia. The flight-test aircraft (SN 95004) last month arrived at the test facility where Russia historically conducts the extreme weather assessment, and now has returned to the Zhukovsky flight-test center near Moscow to continue inflight trials. During the cold weather test, the regional jet was exposed to temperatures down to -41C for around 17 hr. before the systems were initiated to start up the aircraft.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will not be cowed by a groundswell of political support for buying more Boeing C-17 airlifters and funding an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter—the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136. “Let me be very clear: I will strongly recommend that the president veto any legislation that sustains the unnecessary continuation of these two programs,” he told Congress last week.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week admitted to Parliament that his recent assertion to the Iraq Inquiry that British defense expenditure had risen in real terms every year since the Labour government succeeded the Conservatives was not accurate. Brown said he was writing to the inquiry to correct his statement. “I do accept that in one or two years defense expenditure did not rise in real terms,” he said.
The bondholders of Mexican telecom satellite operator Satmex have rejected an offer from EchoStar to buy the company. EchoStar on Feb. 26 offered to acquire Satmex for $374 million in cash, subject to the purchase of all oustanding senior secured notes. However, a group of noteholders refused to back the deal (AW&ST Mar. 8, p. 38). Subequent efforts to negotiate a settlement proved fruitless. Satmex is in precarious financial health and has been unable to find a new satellite.
The Canadian government is coming closer to finalizing its strategy to replace its DHC-5 Buffalo search-and-rescue aircraft. The Buffalos will reach the end of their service lives in 2015. This month, the National Research Council submitted a government-requested independent review into the fixed-wing search-and-rescue statement of requirements.
The fourth, and final, Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered dedicated flight-test Boeing 787 joined the program on Mar. 14 with a 3-hr., 6-min. flight from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., to Boeing Field in Seattle.
The World Trade Organization is about to issue the final report on the U.S. case against the EU over alleged subsidies to Airbus. The timing of the case has become a big issue. When the U.S. filed its case, the EU immediately filed a counterclaim, challenging alleged support Boeing receives from Washington. EADS’s Louis Gallois is “disappointed” that the so-called U.S. offensive case has moved so much faster, while the EU claim has dragged on. The Europeans say it is distorting public discussion. A case in point: on Mar.
Starting Sept. 1, Emirates plans to offer five-times-weekly nonstop service from its Dubai base to Dakar, Senegal—Emirates’ 19th African destination, and the third addition, following Durban, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, in less than a year. The airline plans to operate Airbus A340-300s on the new route, and configure the aircraft to seat 267: 12 in first class, 42 in business class and 213 in economy. According to Emirates, the Dubai hub re-exports African products to the Mediterranean region.
Spring Airlines is intent on growth and becoming a no-frills competitor to China’s lumbering state carriers, despite deferring the share offering that would fund the expansion. Spring says it needs to raise about 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) to buy 50 aircraft, half of a fleet that it plans to operate by 2015. But the initial public offering of shares scheduled for this year will now not happen until next year or even 2012.
The downturn in passenger and cargo traffic due to the global recession has had a dramatic impact on commercial aviation in India, whose airlines have lost more than $2 billion, shelved expansion plans and saw domestic passenger traffic fall by 10% in 2008-09. In addition, several of the 10 licenses held by cargo and regional passenger carriers have lapsed in the last two years.
Singapore Airlines renewed its maintenance, repair and overhaul services contract with SIA Engineering Co. for another three years. The contract, with an optional two-year extension, becomes effective Apr. 1. The comprehensive agreement includes line and airframe maintenance, component overhaul as well as fleet management support services. If the airline exercises all five years, the value of the contract is S$2.2 billion ($1.6 million) in labor revenue.
