French space agency CNES says it has moved to reinforce ties with the French air force’s air defense and operation command (CDAOA) in order to facilitate space situational awareness (SSA) operations. CNES is responsible for ensuring the safety of France’s 17 satellites, while the CDAOA handles day-to-day SSA operations using the country’s Graves ground radar. In addition to streamlining operations, the move is likely to make it easier for France to integrate its SSA information with other data providers.
Premium traffic on international routes saw a 1.7% year-on-year increase in December, the first month since May 2008 that has seen a positive growth rate. Economy traffic, which has been positive since September, improved 5% year-on-year in December, according to the International Air Transport Assn. Despite its stronger finish for the year, total premium traffic was down 15.8% for full-year 2009. IATA calculates that premium traffic lost six years’ of growth during the latest down cycle, while economy traffic lost slightly more than two years.
Developing active, electronically scanned radar—with electronic attack capabilities—is at the heart of a Royal Air Force drive to accelerate the air-to-surface role for the Typhoon aircraft, as the service mulls pulling the Tornado GR4 earlier than planned. The Defense Ministry is aiming to fly an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar demonstrator on a Eurofighter Typhoon toward the end of 2013, the culmination of a four-year program which it recently contracted with radar manufacturer Selex Galileo.
The Pentagon’s new industrial policy director, Brett Lambert, intends to recast the relationship between the Defense Dept. and industry to gain a better understanding of contractors and suppliers at all levels. Meanwhile, defense officials are complaining about the quality of work from contractors just as the Pentagon is trying to revive a dormant dialogue with top CEOs over how to sustain the U.S. industrial base.
Europe’s Mars Express has begun a series of new flybys of Phobos that could help scientists untangle the puzzle of the moon’s mysterious origin. Mars Express frequently passes Phobos; but due to an orbital adjustment last year, it will approach much nearer this time than before. At its closest encounter, on Mar. 3, the probe will come to within 50 km. (31 mi.) of the Martian moon, sufficient to obtain an unprecedented map of its gravity field. During the flyby campaign, which started on Feb. 16 and ends on Mar.
The FAA is proposing a $2.9-million fine for American Eagle on allegations it operated more than 1,000 flights between February and May 2008 using aircraft with improperly repaired main landing-gear doors. The FAA alleges the American Airlines subsidiary violated an airworthiness directive that required operators of certain Bombardier jets to inspect the doors for cracks and other damage—including loose or missing fasteners—and to replace affected doors .
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector will begin to recover after hitting rock bottom in 2009, but the climb back will be a long one, according to a review set for release this week.
Boeing has begun working through initial flutter testing on the 787, judged by the program leadership to be one of the early high-risk phases of the test program. The flights, which began with the first aircraft ZA001 on Feb 14, are intended to evaluate the aircraft’s stability and dampening modes at design limit speeds and high altitude. Completion of flutter is an essential step toward gaining Type Inspection Authority (TIA), and the start of the formal FAA flight test certification program.
The U.K. needs to re-examine the extent of its reliance on “third-party capabilities” for military space according to the Royal Air Force chief, while also revisiting national investment ambitions in this arena. Air Chief Marshal Stephen Dalton, the chief of air staff, used a speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies last week to attempt to put air and space power center stage in the forthcoming Strategic Defense Review (see p. 58).
Textron Defense Systems has achieved average power exceeding 100 kw. in laboratory tests of its Joint High Power Solid-State Laser demonstrator. This completes Phase 3 of the $100-million U.S. Army-led program. Northrop Grumman exceeded the 100-kw. target last March , optically combining beams from seven 15-kw. parallel laser gain modules. Textron created a single beam in a chain of six 15-kw. slab-laser modules to exceed 100 kw., the power level needed to achieve lethality sufficient for use in a range of weapon systems.
The U.S. military’s demand for full-motion video in combat zones is being met by stepping up UAV patrols and fielding multi-camera surveillance systems on manned and unmanned aircraft. But a gigapixel sensor is being tested that can downlink as many video streams as 65 Predators and allow a single platform to track targets across an area the size of city.
The Swiss parliament has approved purchase of two additional PC-21 turboprop trainers to bring the fleet to eight . The aircraft were needed to meet pilot training needs and offload work from the F/A-18 fleet to the PC-21s, which have a lower flying-hour cost.
French defense officials say Russia has submitted a new request for four Mistral helicopter carriers, instead of one previously under discussion. The prospect of the assault ship sale has prompted protests in the Baltic countries, Georgia and U.S. Congress. French Defense Minister Herve Morin recently told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that as Russia is now considered a NATO partner, not a hostile power, there is no reason not to collaborate in arms procurement.
Victoria, Canada-based Viking Air Announced that delivery of its first Series 400 Twin Otter is imminent and that the company’s backlog is about $200 million. Viking, which recently opened a new 84,000-sq.‑ft. facility to support expansion, bought the type certificate for the out-of-production DHC-6 in 2007.
The Pakistani air force has formally inducted the JF-17 fighter into its inventory after the first locally built model was unveiled in November. During the inauguration ceremony at the Minhas air base in Kamra (where the Pakistani production line is located), Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman announced the JF-17 would participate in the upcoming Hi-Mark 2010 exercise. Pakistan is in talks with France’s ATE to “Westernize” the fighter.
High-power electric lasers are moving out of the laboratory, with a 100-kw.-class device to be test-fired against mortars and other targets at the U.S. Army’s High-Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. HELSTF has tested high-power chemical lasers, including the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), which shot down Katyusha rockets. Now the facility is to be upgraded with a Northrop Grumman electric laser that produced 105 kw. in Phase 3 of the Pentagon’s Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser program.
Let the competition games begin. Under the new U.S.-Japan open skies accord, which becomes effective later this year, U.S. carriers will gain access to Tokyo Haneda Airport for the first time in more than 30 years. Delta, Continental, United, Hawaiian and American airlines last week filed applications with the U.S. Transportation Dept. for the four daily flights that will become available. Pending approvals, Delta is seeking a Oct. 31 start for nonstop services from Seattle using the Airbus A330-300, and from Detroit, Los Angeles and Honolulu using the Boeing 747-400.
While helicopter manufacturers and operators turn to improved sensors and flying techniques to combat the dangers of poor visibility caused by “brownout” landings in desert conditions, novel testing methods are helping to pinpoint the fundamental causes of the problem.
Electronic warfare and maritime surveillance are among the new roles being eyed for Raytheon’s Astor aircraft, as designers look to exploit the inherent capability of the platform. Besides examining the aircraft’s potential for signals/ communications intelligence (sigint/comint) activities, the company is looking at fitting it with a surveillance radar designed specifically for long-range maritime operations.
British Airways plans to start using a blend of jet fuel and waste biomass-derived fuel starting in 2014, under a new agreement with the Solena Group. Solena will produce 16 million gal. of waste-derived biofuel using a facility expected to be set up in East London. Around 500,000 metric tons of waste will be converted first into biosyngas through a high-temperature gasifier, and then, through the Fischer-Tropsch process, further converted into the 16 million gal. of biojetfuel.
U.S. analysts say a Russian arms deal with Libya includes 12 Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and six Yakovlev Yak-130 trainer/light combat aircraft that amount to about $1 billion of the $1.8-billion package. “Libya has been looking for some time now,” says one Washington official. “It will be a very lucrative market for whoever gets the deal to help them modernize after their drought in the last decades after being blacklisted” by arms-exporting nations. “Earlier, there were similar reports of France inking a deal for Rafale as well, but nothing more came of it,” he says.
Concerns are mounting in New Zealand about delays to the C-130H life-extension and upgrade program, particularly with one of the main contractors announcing workforce reductions. The New Zealand Defense Ministry awarded the contract to modernize the 40-year-old aircraft to extend airframe life and install updated avionics. L-3 in turn signed up Air New Zealand affiliate Safe Air to help with the work. Safe Air has now announced it is trimming about 100 jobs, raising concerns with the government that the program may suffer further.
Increased support from France and Germany—Europe’s two leading space powers—promises to provide a sharp boost in European space funding, provided budgets in other countries do not waver.
Harry A. Scott, Executive Vice President (Emeritus), Space Access (Hawthorne, Calif. )
In your Person of the Year article, “The Space Entrepreneur” (AW&ST Jan. 4, p. 46), comments by John Marshall of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) need to be corrected. He says “safety standards . . . haven’t been described” for human-rating requirements of space transportation vehicles . In the late 1990s, Space Access participated in several NASA contracts. In one contract, Space Access Program Manager Harry W. Scott and staff compiled a comprehensive set of “Aerospaceworthiness Standards” by working with the FAA, NASA and U.S. Air Force.
The International Air Transport Assn.’s 2009 safety performance data released Feb. 18 show the 2009 global accident rate—0.71 per 1 million flights or one accident in 1.4 million flights—is the second lowest in aviation history, following the 2006 rate of 0.65 . The report notes that 2009’s safety performance is a “significant improvement” over 2008’s rate of 0.81 rate, or one accident per 1.2 million flights. And IATA’s member airlines surpassed the industry average with a rate of 0.62 , or one accident per 1.6 million flights.
