While Bombardier has cut back production of current Learjets because of the steep decline in business aircraft sales, it has continued to invest in development of the all-new, mid-size Learjet 85 to achieve the planned 2013 entry into service. The aircraft will be the first all-composite business jet certificated by the FAA under Part 25 rules. Carbon-fiber airframes will be manufactured at Bombardier’s plant in Queretaro, Mexico, for final assembly and completion at the Learjet facility in Wichita, Kan.
Honeywell completed delivery of an initial order for 90 RQ-16 T-Hawk “hover and stare” micro air vehicle (MAV) systems to the U.S. Navy last December, for use in detecting roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each system has two T-Hawks, a small ducted-fan vertical-takeoff-and-landing UAV designed to be transported in a backpack. The gasoline-fueled air vehicle weighs 17 lb. and can operate for more than 40 min., at speeds up to 40 kt. and altitudes up to 7,000 ft. The RQ-16B Block II MAV introduces a gimbaled electro-optical/infrared sensor. Deliveries to the U.S.
An Air Line Pilots Assn. is urging that the U.S. and Canada adopt a “trust-based” security screening system and focus on using sophisticated resources to identify those with hostile intent and “keeping them off our airplanes.” Most passengers pose no threat, notes ALPA.
Can NASA rely on commercial operators to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station once the space shuttle is retired? The question could be answered this year. Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, SpaceX is to conduct three demonstration flights of its Falcon 9 booster and Dragon cargo craft in 2010, the final one berthing with the International Space Station (ISS). These are planned to be followed by 12 resupply missions from 2011-15.
William Alibrandi/Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com
Signing of the Fiscal 2010 U.S. defense budget into law last October effectively reshaped the combat aircraft engine market by putting an end to Pentagon efforts to cancel the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 and ensuring Pratt & Whitney’s F135 will have to compete to power the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
When Northrop Grumman’s X‑47B takes to the air early this year, unmanned-aircraft development will enter a new phase. Two of the naval unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrators are being built to prove that a stealthy, tailless aircraft can operate autonomously on and around a carrier. Sea trials are planned for 2012, with an unmanned surveillance/strike aircraft a candidate for the U.S. Navy’s 2025-timeframe F/A-XX. With an eye on that requirement, Boeing plans to fly the X-45C demonstrator, renamed Phantom Ray, in December.
CHINA COMAC produces the ARJ21 regional jet and is developing a mainline jetliner described as having 130-170 seats. It also builds parts for Boeing 737s and EADS ATR 72s. It encompasses the Avic company formerly responsible for the AJR21 (ACAC) and the project’s final assembly plant (Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory).
With more than 97% of its suppliers on board and major development tests underway, Bombardier is looking to complete the design of the CS100, the first iteration of its CSeries narrowbody to enter service.
Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn says the broad review of export controls ordered by President Barack Obama should result in higher walls around fewer technologies. The effort, which involves multiple agencies, was kicked off last summer and recently seems to have moved into a higher gear. A draft of proposed changes is expected soon . Industry has long complained that the current restrictions are too cumbersome and stunt its ability to sell defense technologies abroad that the U.S. does not possess alone.
Elbit Systems of America has been tapped by the U.S. Marines Corps to supply tactical video data link (TVDL) for the Corps’ AH-1W attack helicopters. The $15.6-million contract covers development, production and installation of retrofit kits. With the upgrade, USMC helicopter pilots will receive live unmanned aircraft system video and targeting data along with the ability to retransmit this video and/or onboard sensor video to other aircraft or ground forces. The 8.5-lb. systems are planned to be operational in the USMC helicopters by year-end.
Israel’s high-tech answer to rocket attacks on its towns will be fielded this year as the U.S. continues to evaluate possible solutions to rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats. The Iron Dome system, with its vertically launched, radar-guided interceptors, will become operational by mid-year to protect Israel against short-range rockets. Live-fire tests of the David’s Sling system, designed to destroy large-caliber rockets and short-range ballistic missiles with two-stage hit-to-kill interceptors, will begin this year.
Japan Airlines remains a prize catch for global airline alliances, despite its filing for bankruptcy protection under Japan’s corporate rehabilitation law. Japanese media outlets are reporting that JAL will cooperate with Delta Air Lines and move to the SkyTeam alliance from Oneworld as part of its reorganization plan. Some reports say JAL and Delta are expected to apply to the U.S. Transportation Dept. by Feb. 15 to operate a transpacific joint venture, as the two carriers reached a basic agreement on the matter on Jan. 15.
Orbital Sciences aims to change the paradigm for the military space business, which has for decades embraced use of large launchers and satellites that end up costing billions of dollars more than planned and, more often than not, are delivered late. The company’s work on two unconventional space contracts is part of its strategy to secure a “beachhead” for a new space business model with defense and intelligence community customers, says Gregg Burgess, vice president of national security systems .
The super mid-size G250 made its first flight in December at Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv, where the business jet will be manufactured alongside the mid-size G150 for completion by Gulfstream in the U.S. The aircraft is a development of the slow-selling G200, which it will replace in production, outfitted with a longer cabin, all-new and larger transonic wing, more powerful Honeywell HTF7250G engines, new T-tail and integrated flightdeck based on Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics. The G250 offers a 3,400-nm.
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.
