The Russian defense ministry wants to kick off the acquisition of a reconnaissance and attack medium-range UAV this year. But whether any supplier other than Tupolev will step forward to bid remains to be seen. Tupolev is one of the nation’s traditional unmanned aerial vehicle designers, and it is already working on a concept—known by its Russian acronym of BAK SD—to meet the requirement.
Revenue from the maintenance, repair and overhaul market may be flat for the next year or so as the aerospace and defense industry recovers from the recession, but dynamic supply chain and productivity improvements will reshape the aviation aftermarket. Efficiencies are paramount as aviation maintenance and engineering service providers deal with lower aircraft utilization on the commercial aviation side and decreased budgets, but increased logistics and sustainment needs, on the military side.
:Aerospace enters the second decade of the 21st century with much of the industry having largely avoided the worst effects of the global economic crisis. How the industry will fare in the new decade is the central theme of Aviation Week’s Aerospace 2010, an integrated print and online product that also can be found at AviationWeek.com/Aerospace2010. Cover design by the AW&ST Art Dept.
Manpower is the problem with unmanned aircraft, particularly the “one crew, one UAV” paradigm. Multi-aircraft control has been demonstrated, and the U.S. Air Force has one ground station able to control up to four Predators, but it is seldom used operationally. With the growth in their use, pressure is on to develop tools to automate the tasking and control of UAVs. The Heterogenous Airborne Reconnaissance Team (HART) system, developed by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), is one such tool.
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has fielded a system to image nuclear weapon components to find defects in the warhead stockpile. The Confined Large Optical Scintillator Screen and Imaging System is an X-ray computed tomography system and was developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NNSA’s Pantex Plant. Use of the system should eliminate the need for some destructive tests. It is scheduled to be first used on U.S. Air Force B61 bombs .
The French defense ministry has kicked off design of a joint C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence) system intended for all the services. The system, to be ready around 2016, will combine the existing ones manned by the different services while providing improved security and interoperability.
Next-generation combat engines will need a wider operating range than today’s fighter powerplants as persistence becomes as important as speed, and onboard power generation and thermal management as critical as thrust. That means variable-cycle propulsion, and the flagship for developing the capability to combine high thrust for performance with low fuel burn for endurance is the Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) program.
What you’re holding represents about as dramatic a transformation as you are likely to see in a print magazine : a special edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology so different from its predecessor that you could easily mistake it for an entirely new publication. Of course, that was the whole idea behind Aerospace 2010, formerly known as the Aerospace Source Book, which was introduced to readers 14 years ago this month.
Jan. 25-26—International Quality Productivity Center’s Air Tankers and Aerial Refueling Conference. Le Meridien Piccadilly, London. Call +44 (20) 7368-9300 or see www.militaryairtankers.com. Also, Jan. 25-28—Network-Enabled Operations. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va. Call +1 (212) 885-2700 or see www.ncwevent.com. And, Feb. 10-11—Regional Airport Development 2010. Sydney Harbour Marriott. See www.regionalairports.com.au/Event
The European Space Agency is poised to begin talks with NASA toward forging a partnership in Earth science similar to that enjoyed by the two agencies in exploration and other domains.
Rodney Tache has been named regional sales manager for the Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based Aerodyne Group of Circor Aerospace Inc. He was a district sales manager for the Data Device Corp.
A USA Today/Gallup Poll indicates that 78% of the U.S. air travelers surveyed approve whole-body-scanning at airport checkpoints and 70% prefer scanning to patdowns by a security officer. The results of the poll, conducted Jan. 5-6 and released last week, are based on interviews with 542 airline passengers who had taken two or more trips in the past 12 months.
Privately owned regional carrier South African Airlink has leased four pre-owned Embraer ERJ 135s from Embraer’s wholly owned subsidiary ECC Leasing Co. Ltd. The aircraft, configured in a 37-seat layout, are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this month. They will support travel demands for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held June 11-25 at Durban, South Africa, and be used as replacements for some of Airlink’s turboprop aircraft.
To keep its A320 cash cow healthy well through the end of the decade as competitors emerge, Airbus is poised to pursue a re-engining of its single-aisle program. Airbus CEO Tom Enders says a decision on whether to re-engine will be made this year, but the depth of the aircraft maker’s analysis and views on the competition suggest a replacement of the current-generation CFM56 and IAE V2500 is inevitable. Airbus is in detailed talks on four engine offerings and plans to determine by the end of March how to move forward.
Lasering is now a criminal offense in the U.K. A new law, introduced by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, prohibits directing or shining any light at any aircraft in flight “so as to dazzle or distract the pilot.” The resulting distraction to air crews is a serious safety risk, especially during takeoffs and landings. (A laser beam for example, could temporarily blind a crew.) The CAA introduced the law after the number of reported incidents in which laser devices were beamed at aircraft increased 25 times in two years.
Fifteen years after the U.S. combined its military and civil polar-orbiting weather satellite programs, the Obama administration is considering splitting up the $13.9-billion effort because the two camps are so poorly coordinated.
The U.S. Air Force has dedicated a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to capture electro-optical and infrared images of Haiti after a devastating earthquake struck its capital, Port-au-Prince, on Jan. 12. The aircraft can operate for more than 24 hr. on station, collecting images that are relayed to analysts in California.
Advanced, Russian-made, man-portable anti-aircraft missiles keep finding their way into the hands of stateless insurgents and terrorists. Such infrared weapons are a major U.S. concern (see p. 38). In the latest incident, Peruvian police arrested members of the army and air force who sold arms to a suspected logistics specialist with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Critical configuration choices loom in the U.K. for its new-build Boeing Chinooks if the Defense Ministry is to meet its contract target date of no later than the end of 2010. London plans to eventually field 70 Chinooks to form the heart of the nation’s heavy-lift rotorcraft fleet, under a yet-again revamped helicopter acquisition strategy that includes the purchase of an additional 22 of the type.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is his “usual, candid” self in a meeting with 14 aerospace CEOs who serve on the executive committee of the Aerospace Industries Assn. (AIA), says his press secretary, Geoff Morrell. Industry officials found the outreach to be a potential warming in a relationship with the Pentagon that has, for too long, been dormant.
The price the European Union will pay for five Soyuz launches to orbit the first 10 Galileo Full Operating Capability (FOC) satellites—€397 million ($572 million)—has raised some eyebrows in an industry accustomed to cheap Soyuz launches (AW&ST Jan. 11, p. 30).
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita (Kan.) State University is partnering with Vistagy, a supplier of industry-specific engineering software, to conduct research into the potential of composite materials in the aerospace sector. Plans call for NIAR researchers and technicians at the institute’s composite lab to perform layup and bonding operations as well as other applications in an effort to evaluate the effects of heat, moisture, contamination and repairs on advanced materials.
At the very instant a winner-take-all bid is awarded for a long-term project, the buyer places himself in a hostage situation as to delivery and price. In the tanker competition, not only the U.S. Air Force and government, but also the security of the American people, will be held hostage to the interests and management ability of the contractor.
European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says the agency will move aggressively this year to kick off development of the European Data Relay System, a network of relay satellites that ESA aims to deploy in partnership with a private operator. In February, a final request for proposals for EDRS is to be issued to the three contractors bidding for the project. The winner is to be named in May and a contract signed in November, Dordain says.
