Japan has previously thwarted industry expectations over the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for its F-X program, and it looks like it could happen again. Most recently anticipated to hit the street by March of this year, there are now suggestions Tokyo’s RFP could be held up until May. Were the request to emerge in May, Tokyo would likely aim to select the aircraft to replace its remaining F-4s by the end of 2010 , for an in-service date of 2015.
Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport will deploy an airport surface surveillance system this year as part of a runway upgrade project. The system, provided by the Czech Republic’s Era Corp., will be integrated with the airport’s existing Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System to provide air traffic control tower operators with more accurate data about the position of aircraft and vehicles on runways, taxiways and ramp areas.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of debris and dust in the asteroid belt that astronomers believe may be the result of a hypervelocity smashup between two of the rocky bodies.
The Asia-Pacific region last year became the world’s largest market for air travel and its lead is expected to widen further, according to Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA). In 2009, 647 million people flew on scheduled airlines in the region , compared with 638 million in North America. The Asia-Pacific region is accounting for more than 25% of all airline travelers and that is forecast to rise to nearly one-third by 2013, when an additional 213 million will fly on the region’s carriers.
Douglas Barrie (Singapore), Robert Wall (Singapore)
As the first phase of India’s fighter competition nears conclusion, weapon trials are at center stage. Aircraft firings of air-to-air and air-to-surface ordnance are being examined prior to winnowing the field of candidates. Last week it was the turn of the Lockheed Martin F-16; the process will conclude in April with the Eurofighter Typhoon. The F-16 tests took place recently in California, with more trials due in Fort Worth. The same phase of trials for the Boeing F/A‑18E/F is due soon, to be carried out from NAS Lemoore, Calif.
Inmarsat says it has made its first call using a new global satellite phone intended to provide a handheld voice and data service that is competitive with Iridium and Globalstar. The phone— developed by Sasken Communications Technologies and produced by Elcoteq—is on track for a June rollout, Inmarsat says. Known as IsatPhone Pro, the handset will offer voicemail, text and e-mail messaging in addition to telephony, and will be targeted initially at the oil and gas industry, energy companies and other professional users.
The first rule of wing-walking is: Never let go of what you have until you have a firm grip on the next thing. President Barack Obama’s Fiscal 2011 budget proposed to Congress would have NASA take the risky step of ignoring this rule in its human spaceflight endeavors (see p. 20).
As the Pentagon unleashes a $708-billion spending request to Capitol Hill (see p. 24), the contentious topic of replacing aging KC-135 tankers still manages to grab a headline.
Almost 10 years after the crash of a supersonic Concorde near Paris that killed all 113 people on board, the French courts have initiated a four-month trial to determine if any parties involved in the accident should be found guilty of manslaughter . Those accused include two former Concorde program managers, an engineer at DGAC (the French civil aviation authority) and two employees of Continental Airlines. Air France is one of the plaintiffs.
Chinese commercial aircraft builder Comac is aiming to freeze the preliminary design of its 156-seat C919 airliner by the end of this year, working with suppliers and aiming at a first flight in 2014. The suppliers of major systems will be chosen in the first half of this year for the aircraft, which, with CFM International Leap-X engines, is a prospective challenger to Airbus and Boeing, albeit one with huge challenges in seeking market acceptance.
Roughly $325.5 million in the U.S. Air Force’s Fiscal 2011 spending plan that was included for the soon-to-be-defunct National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess), will remain intact while the administration crafts a recovery plan for its termination, according to Gary Paton, deputy Air Force undersecretary for space (see p. 14). A stop-work order has not yet been issued to prime integrator Northrop Grumman yet, and one is not expected soon.
Reaction to the Obama administration’s proposed new space-exploration policy ranges from lavish praise to deep contempt . Companies that stand to benefit from the shift to commercial crew transportation were understandably pleased, while those already funded through the terminated Constellation Program were not.
Alliant Techsystems named Mark DeYoung president and CEO, succeeding Daniel J. Murphy, who abruptly announced his retirement late last year. DeYoung was president of ATK’s Armament Systems Group and has worked for ATK and its predecessor companies for 25 years.
:Sukhoi kept Russia’s first stealth fighter tightly under wraps until its Jan. 29 first flight from Komsomolsk-on-Amur (see p. 30). Now Western analysts have compared the T-50 prototype’s configuration with the U.S. F-22 Raptor. They have concluded the aircraft is designed for low observability, but question how long it will take to develop and integrate the other key elements of a fifth-generation fighter: new engines, advanced radar, data links and sensor fusion. Sukhoi photo.
Airports Council International (ACI) reports that from a global viewpoint, China, India and Brazil are leading a gradual recovery of domestic passenger traffic, while Europe and North America show promise for moderate gains domestically. International traffic, however, is likely to be dominated by the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. In addition, freight traffic this year is projected to increase with hubs such as Anchorage, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Dubai, Hong Kong, Incheon, South Korea, and Memphis, Tenn., leading the way.
Colombian carrier Avianca and Central American airline group TACA have been granted regulatory approvals to proceed with a planned merger. The two operators would remain separate entities but are now owned by Bahamas-based Avianca-TACA—a holding company 67% owned by Avianca’s parent, Synergy Aerospace. The remaining 33% is held by Kingsland Holding, TACA’s owner. The Central American airline’s chairman and CEO, Roberto Kriete, has been named the company’s president, while Avianca’s CEO will continue in the same role at the new entity.
Northrop Grumman is now a full member of the Niteworks Partnership, a U.K. Defense Ministry/industry initiative to provide decision support, ranging from in-depth experimentation to rapid consultation and analysis. Niteworks was established in 2003 to aid in implementing the Network Enabled Capability, but has morphed into a more flexible decision support body , examining defense options that include current operational issues and acquisition planning.
The competitive landscape in the 70-240-seat aircraft market is poised to shift as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer update their product strategies in the coming 12 months. The stakes are high not just for the manufacturers, but also for the engine makers vying for aircraft positions.
Astra/Eutelsat joint venture Solaris Mobile has signed up Europcar to demonstrate hybrid mobile satellite service offerings for automobile s. The demonstration will involve a small selection of rental cars in the Paris area, where Solar recently began trials . Cars will be equipped with TV and radio receivers, either purpose-mounted or embedded in cars’ multimedia systems. The demonstrations use an S-band payload on Eutelsat’s W2A, which was launched last year, and a terrestrial network provided by TowerCast and AlcatelLucent.
With nearly $12.5 billion in the proposed U.S. Navy and Army rotorcraft budget for Fiscal 2011, it would seem the services are flush with funding. And yet there is an eerie theme common to the programs receiving dollars: None of them is new.
South Africa could buy up to a dozen tactical airlifters to replace capabilities presently met by the obsolete C-47 and a handful of C-130s. The EADS CASA C-295 and Alenia Aeronautica C-27J are the two main candidate platforms to meet what is sometimes called Project Saucepan. The South African Air Force’s (SAAF) C-130s are expected to be withdrawn from service in 2013, and one option Pretoria has been exploring is a Foreign Military Sales purchase of nine C-27Js from the U.S.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington)
The Obama administration’s proposed 2011 spending plan includes some changes to major missile defense and space programs that emphasize a focus on space situational awareness and ballistic missile tracking capabilities. The proposal also underpins the aging nuclear weapons infrastructure, while adhering to the aim of eventually scrapping nuclear forces altogether and securing so-called nuclear loose material worldwide.
The U.S. and Israel have started development of an upper-stage component to Israel’s Arrow-3 missile defense architecture. Arieh Herzog, director of Israel’s missile defense program, says the main element will be a highly maneuverable exoatmospheric interceptor that zeros in on an incoming missile. The decision to add the component, which will be jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, stems from a study conducted in 2006‑07 that identified a need for it in Israel’s ballistic missile defense system.
Missile Defense Agency Executive Director David Altwegg used the MDA’s Fiscal 2011 budget request briefing to scold its contractors for poor performance. “We continue to be disappointed in the quality that we are receiving from our prime contractors and their subs—very, very disappointed [with] quality-design issues, but [also] in quality of products delivered, which then results in rework,” Altwegg said. One example was a C-17-launched target made by Coleman Aerospace for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense intercept test in December.
The Russian government will go ahead with a plan to significantly expand Aeroflot by merging six smaller airlines with the flag carrier. The decision—which quashes an alternate proposal to combine the smaller operators into a second major airline under state control—will double the flag carrier’s traffic and give it hubs in northwest and central Russia and the Russian Far East.
