China Southern signed an agreement Jan. 20 to acquire 20 Airbus A320 series aircraft for delivery from 2011-13. China Southern says it plans to pay for the aircraft with cash and commercial loans, but as of Jan. 20 it had not yet signed any financing agreements .
The Global Positioning System has become essential to everyday life— not just for navigation and targeting, but for precise timing in communications and power networks. But GPS satellite signals are easily interfered with, intentionally or unintentionally. Increasingly the phrase “GPS-denied environments” is appearing in the requirements for weapon systems. And it is not only the military that is concerned about losing GPS, whether accidentally or deliberately through jamming. Commercial aviation and homeland security are also potentially at risk.
Everyone may want a flying car in their garage, but despite several attempts over the last 70-plus years none has been commercially successful. The dream of personal air transport remains alive nonetheless and could yet blossom into a market.
With major development problems on two key military helicopter programs seemingly behind it, Eurocopter is focused on boosting its output of them and improving their profitability .
Schwartz also says that changes to the much-awaited request for proposals (RFP) for the next-generation aerial refueler will lessen the financial risk for bidders. But he declines to explain how. This could indicate that the Pentagon is softening on the strategy it outlined in the fall to let a fixed-price development contract for the tanker. Boeing and a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team are expected to bid for the work, which could total about $35 billion. However, Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush has threatened not to offer his team’s Airbus A330-based option.
Stability is the best the aerospace and defense industry can hope for in 2010: a year in which airlines catch their breath for a predicted upturn, commercial aircraft orders should begin to recover, and defense sales could plateau before beginning a threatened decline. Business aviation had a horrible year, but for most industry sectors 2009 was not as bad as was feared. Commercial aircraft orders plummeted, but deliveries were maintained thanks to years-long backlogs. Military programs were terminated, but war costs kept defense spending at high levels.
The European Space Agency and NASA have issued joint announcements of opportunity for instruments to be carried on the orbiter planned under their two-part ExoMars mission. To be launched in 2016, the orbiter will be devoted to mapping trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere—in particular, methane, a telltale sign of life first discovered there in 2003 (AW&ST Aug. 24/31 2009, p. 18). The instrument will distinguish among individual chemical species down to concentrations of just a few parts per billion.
Dozens of prospective space tourists have undergone training in preparation for the day when commercial suborbital space travel becomes a reality. Now a training center is aiming to capitalize on a group of more serious travelers that could join them: scientists and educators.
SIA Engineering Co. (Siaec) signed with Pratt & Whitney to participate in the Purepower PW1000G engine risk-revenue sharing program (RRSP). The Singapore company will have a 3% stake in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet engine RRSP. Eagle Services Asia, a joint venture of Siaec and Pratt, will become the first engine center in the global RRSP maintenance, repair and overhaul network for the PW1500G, which is set to power Bombardier CSeries aircraft.
The White House has to start from scratch in its efforts to find a nominee for Transportation Security Administration chief, after California homeland security maven Erroll Southers decides he no longer wants the job. Southers had been attracting criticism from Republicans for not ruling out a unionized TSA workforce and about his candor regarding an ethical lapse when he was an FBI agent.
Use of composite structures in military airlifters lags that in commercial airliners, in part because of lingering concerns over affordability and durability. But with cost critical to development of the next generation of transports, advanced materials and manufacturing techniques are essential.
USAF is finalizing details of Lot 8 production of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (Jassm) with Lockheed Martin, according to a senior service official. This is progress for the stealthy cruise missile program; production was put on hold after errant tests. However, after a batch of positive test results, the service recently got the nod from Pentagon leadership to restart the manufacturing line after the stand-down.
China Eastern Airlines training subsidiary Shanghai Eastern Flight Training (SEFT) has purchased two CAE 7000 Series full-flight simulators—for an Airbus A320 and an A330—under a C$30-million ($28.5-million) contract announced last week. The simulators, which are to be Level-D certified, will be delivered in 2011, according to CAE.
Lockheed Martin, in striving to build up a cyber-security workforce, has implemented Cyber University, which encompasses university recruiting, cyber-career paths, mentoring and knowledge transfer. Also, new academic graduate scholarships have been awarded to students at the University of Maryland, Carnegie Melon and Purdue. The company has invested more than $1 million in recruitment, scholarships and training. Cyber University techniques include instructional-led training, professional study groups and lunch-time seminars.
Hypersonics could take a leap forward this year with four planned flights of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s X-51A WaveRider scramjet engine demonstrator. Built by Boeing and powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne hydrocarbon-fueled, fuel-cooled ramjet/scramjet, the Mach 6 vehicle could be the precursor to a long-range strike missile.
John S. Edwards/Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com
Production of expendable launch vehicles is set to rise during the next decade, although the landscape of the ELV market itself will remain unchanged. Europe will continue to grab the bulk of the market, and few new providers beyond Space Exploration Technologies are expected to emerge as global players.
Before the year is out, unmanned cargo helicopters could be resupplying U.S. Marine Corps units in remote locations in Afghanistan, cutting the risk to convoys. Two teams will conduct cargo demonstrations with autonomous helicopters early in the year: Boeing with its MQ-18 Hummingbird and Lockheed Martin/Kaman with an unmanned version of the K-Max external-lift helicopter.
Air Force chief Gen. Norton Schwartz says the initial operational capability (IOC) date of his service’s version of the multinational F-35 is not likely to slip as the Pentagon prepares to unveil the restructured effort. But, that assertion is questioned in light of the chief Pentagon’s tester’s 2009 annual report on the Joint Strike Fighter program’s efforts at operational test and evaluation—“op-eval,” to insiders. The test chief notes that only 10% of the 168 test sorties planned for Fiscal 2009 took place.
Raymond Jaworowski/Forecast International/www.forecastinternational
Economic conditions appear to be improving in fits and starts, and air travel demand is reviving somewhat, but the airline industry is still in rough shape after a collapse in passenger and cargo traffic brought on by the global economic crisis . Particularly worrisome to airlines has been that premium (first- and business-class) travel began declining at a faster rate than other types . The industry’s hard-won return to net profitability, which finally was achieved in 2007, proved to be short-lived.
The French defense ministry says U.S. Rover air-ground tactical data links will begin operational trials in Afghanistan in February on Rafale and Mirage 2000D fighters and Harfang medium-altitude long-endurance UAVs, and begin operation in March. France is acquiring 25 Rover units from L-3 Communications and Thales . U.S. officials reportedly have complained that the Harfangs, in particular, are of limited use without a data link.
In Fiscal 2009, congressional auditors received 1,764 protests of federal contract awards, an increase of about 20% from 2008. At first blush, that jump aligns well with the anecdotal observation in recent years that the aerospace and defense industry has become more disputatious in contracting competitions. But the latest Government Accountability Office report suggests a different take.
The Legacy 650 is a new version of the large-cabin business jet based on Brazilian manufacturer Embraer’s ERJ 135 regional jet. Compared with the Legacy 600, the 650 offers more than 500-nm. additional range as a result of adding fuel, uprating the Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines and using the beefed-up wing from the ERJ 145XL to increase maximum takeoff weight. Range with four passengers is increased to 3,900 nm. The aircraft first flew in September 2009, and certification is planned for the second half of this year.
