High airline user rates at Germany’s big Frankfurt airport have sent Air India scrambling for a less expensive European and North American hub, but airport and airline executives warn the long-term costs of any such move are likely to outweigh any short-term benefits, especially after it joins the Star Alliance airline network.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has approved several upgrades to Diamond Airborne Sensing’s DA42 surveillance platform, including a nose pod that will permit the use of higher-weight cameras. The new nose pod allows operators to use the Microsoft UltraCamX large-format aerial camera that weighs 188 lb., Diamond says, whereas before users were limited to a 144-lb. camera in the nose and a 177-lb. camera in the belly pod. The company also is working on fitting a laser scanner into the nose pod, the Riegl LMS Q-680 along with the medium-format IGI H/39 camera.
USAF Maj. Gens. Christopher D. Miller has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general with assignment as deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been director of plans, policy and strategy for North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, Peterson AFB, Colo. Maj. Gen. William J. Rew has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general with assignment as vice commander of Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va.
Amid a deteriorating relationship between Ankara and Jerusalem, the long-delayed sale of Israeli Heron unmanned air vehicles to Turkey is finally getting underway. The Heron acquisition saga illustrates better than many other projects how the once-important strategic relationship between the two states has unraveled. Program execution problems have merely compounded tensions.
The air transport industry faces a difficult few months as it tries to develop a compromise on carbon dioxide emissions that could be put forward at the September meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization, after last month’s Copenhagen global climate conference failed to resolve the issue.
The U.S. Air Force is beginning to reclaim government management over upkeep of its large fighter, transport and, eventually, unmanned aircraft fleets, a move that could stunt efforts from companies looking to reap high profits from the maintenance business.
Tim Ulles (see photo) has become general manager of Chromalloy ’s Newnan, Ga., gas turbine engine repair and maintenance operation. He was manager of the Windsor (Conn.) OEM Div. of Barnes Aerospace. Ulles succeeds John Riggs, who has transferred to the corporate technology group.
Kurt Armbruster (see photo) has become vice president-Sensing and Utility Systems for Crane Aerospace & Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was chief operating officer of Greenpoint Technologies.
A new space-based observatory could help NASA almost meet a congressional deadline for locating and cataloging most near-Earth objects (NEOs) down to 140 meters (460 ft.) across, according to a committee of the National Academies of Science. To meet the 2020 goal for tracking objects that would have extremely severe consequences for human civilization if they strike Earth, the panel says that a combination of space- and ground-based observation is “the best approach,” and could complete the survey as early as 2022 if funds are appropriated quickly.
After a year of global recession, and with its premier airplane development programs in intensive care, Boeing is acknowledging that it is time to address another thorny issue—strategic planning for two programs that set delivery records last year, the 737 and 777. Signaling the company’s highest priority, CEO James McNerney says “some pretty detailed thinking” is underway on production alternatives for the 737, which accounts for about 70% of Boeing’s orders.
U.S. Army officials say nine firings of the Hellfire II from the MQ-1C Extended-Range/Multi-Purpose (EM/MP) Warrior unmanned aerial system were “perfect or near-perfect.” The trials included firings at various altitudes against moving and stationary targets. Operators also experimented with various auto-track modes and fired the missile at different offset angles. The Army expects to receive approval in Fiscal 2010 to initiate low-rate initial production of the aircraft, which is made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
The European Space Agency has awarded the first three contracts for the full operating capability (FOC) phase of the Galileo satellite navigation system. OHB will build the first batch of FOC satellites along with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. under a €566-million ($798-million) contract. Arianespace will launch the first 10 on a Soyuz booster from the new Soyuz pad in Kourou, French Guiana, under a €397-million deal; the next four could be orbited on the Soyuz or the Ariane 5G heavy-lift launcher.
China’s CDB Leasing has set aside major financing for delivery of Airbus aircraft, and is considering purchasing aircraft not yet assigned to customers. The memorandum of understanding signed last week calls for CDB to provide up to $4 billion over five years to assist airlines with fielding Airbus aircraft, using sale and leaseback agreements.
It’s hard to believe the French Civil Aviation Authority accident investigation department is rejecting the idea of streaming flight data recorder information via satellites to ground terminals as an alternative to flight data recording (AW&ST Jan. 4, p. 28).
Feb. 9—National Society of Black Engineers’ Aerospace Systems Conference: “Honoring the Best and Brightest in Aerospace.” Los Angeles Sheraton Gateway. See www.nsbe-asc.org/ Feb. 8-11—Fatigue Concepts Course: “Fatigue, Fracture Mechanics and Damage Tolerance of Modern and Aging Aircraft Structures.” Warner Robins Training Building, Robins AFB, Ga. Call +1 (916) 933-5000, fax +1 (916) 933-5222 or see www.fatcon.com
Obama may intend for national security not to get caught up in his federal budget freeze, formally announced in his State of the Union address last week, but don’t count on it. Obama appears primed to seek total defense spending that could surpass his archrival, former President George W. Bush, according to presentations by independent Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). But before Obama spoke Jan. 27, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the Pentagon should—and could—sacrifice financially along with the rest of the government.
Flight testing of the 747-8 Freighter will expand Boeing’s performance and certification work into new geographic regions as it strives to keep the 787 on track.
At three years late and €6 billion ($8.5 billion) over budget, there is much to lament about the A400M military transport’s development history. There is the hubris with which Airbus entered the program, the interference from national governments in the selection of an engine to promote their individual industrial policies and the general lack of effective program management. But the biggest regret may be yet to come: the possibility that Europe will fail to extract from the A400M debacle any real lesson about what it takes to run a complex multinational program.
Michael Montelongo (see photo) has been appointed to the board of trustees of The Aerospace Corp. , El Segundo, Calif. He is senior vice president/chief administrative officer of Sodexo Inc. and was assistant Air Force secretary for financial management and comptroller.
Russian military spacecraft controllers are operating a new Raduga-1M military communications satellite, following its launch on a Proton-M rocket with the Breeze-M upper stage. The satellite, which is also known as Globus-1M, lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 7:18 p.m. EST Jan. 27, and achieved its designated orbit. It was the first of more than 30 space launches planned from Baikonur this year.
Israel’s Elbit Systems is developing a single cockpit display for fighter aircraft to ease operator workload and is quietly in talks with Boeing on the application of the new technology on F-15s and F/A-18s. Elbit has focused on devising a generic, single 9 X 11-in. touchscreen monitor on which pilots would be able to view all flight indicators, information from the aircraft’s sensors and information received from off-board inputs. The system is still in the conceptual stage
The U.S. has 15,000 troops and 24 ships involved in Haitian relief. The airport is handling about 200 flights per day. But what comes next is still a question. How many forces, doing what kinds of things for how long and at what kind of expense are the discussion at the Pentagon, says Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s spokesman, Geoff Morrell. “We’re still wrestling with it. It is a very expensive operation . . . probably hundreds of millions of dollars.
Finmeccanica has beat its 2009 financial expectations and hopes to sustain business around these record levels this year. Full-year results are due in March, but the Italian aerospace and defense giant says revenue will come in at €17.9-18.3 billion ($25.2-25.8 billion), against a forecast range of €17.1-17.7 billion. Order intake will reach at least €21 billion and cash flow also is above predictions, at €530-570 million. While 2010 will be focused on maintaining stable order intake and revenue , Finmeccanica hopes to return to growth in 2011.
Alabama is playing hardball as locals eye a potential bevy of jobs in Mobile on the Airbus A330-based tanker EADS North America and Northrop Grumman would build if the team wins an Air Force contract for 179 KC-135 replacements. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is continuing to hold up the confirmation of two key nominees for Pentagon jobs because of his concerns with a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the so-called KC-X. They are Erin Conaton, the pick for the No.
