ITT Corp. last week announced a restructuring. A new division, which represents areas with about $6.5 billion in annual sales, will include three components: Geospatial Sensors will subsume areas including digital and analog sensors and the night-vision business; Electronic Systems will comprise the networked communication and electronic warfare businesses; and Information Systems will address the “sharing, collation, fusion and timely, secure application of the vast amounts of information made available by more integrated networks,” a company official says.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz is looking to automation as a solution for manpower headaches brought on by the sudden influx of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the service’s fleet. “Right now we have about 140-160 people [for support of each UAS] orbit. That is aircrew, that is maintenance, that is back-end processing. We have got to reduce that,” Schwartz said following a speech at the Aviation Week/Credit Suisse Aerospace and Defense Finance conference in New York last month.
It is exciting to see possible improvements to the Airbus A320 series aircraft. I truly hope Airbus moves on all upgrades to the aircraft. I had to laugh, though, at a comment that Chief Operating Officer-Customers John Leahy made about upgrades to the avionics: “Cool on that idea.” As a captain on A320 series, I must say the avionics (including recent slight improvements) are stuck in the 1980s. I doubt Leahy uses a 1986 Apple computer, yet that is where the A320 intelligence stands.
The tail of a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 767 looms in front of an Airbus A330 at Mexico City International Airport. Mexicana uses leased 767s and A330s for its new long-haul routes to Europe and South America, while A320s form the backbone of its extensive U.S. network. An order for A350s or 787s could be placed this year. The Mexicana group is pursuing a strategy based on three separate airlines, as it prepares for the strong growth in air travel that is forecast for the Mexican market (see p. 38). Mexicana photo.
BAE Systems has installed the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures (Atircm) on a U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook. The laser-based, directable countermeasures system protects helos against missile attacks. The first systems were installed prior to the Dec. 15, 2009, deadline for the service’s Atircm quick-reaction capability program.
Japan Airlines looks increasingly likely to go bankrupt, probably under a pre-packaged arrangement that would speed up court-directed reorganization. The state bailout agency directing the turnaround, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp., is proposing the bankruptcy as part of a plan under which it would inject government capital worth ¥300 billion ($3.21 billion) into the airline, according to a draft that the agency has presented to lenders, the Nikkei newspaper reports. The lenders would also waive ¥300 billion of debt, under the scheme set out by the agency.
Amy Butler (Washington ), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
The U.S. government is embarking on a comprehensive, 20-year program to fold virtually all of its commercial satellite bandwidth and services buys under one roof.
The European Commission is opting to acquire its Galileo satellite navigation spacecraft the way the U.S. Global Positioning System is procured—in competitive batches. The commission last week selected a team led by OHB System of Germany to build a first batch of 14 Full Operating Capability (FOC) satellites for the system, which will allow Europe to provide global high-precision timing and position location services to complement GPS.
Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, who has visited the Hubble Space Telescope three times in orbit to make upgrades and repairs, will help guide its observations as the new deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. Grunsfeld also will help prepare the institute for operations with NASA’s planned James Webb Space Telescope. The STScI manages science operations on the Hubble. Trained in physics, Grunsfeld has conducted research in X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy and high-energy cosmic rays.
British Airways and its cabin crew union are talking to resolve their disagreements over contract terms and avoid a potential strike. A court last month invalidated the union’s strike ballot just before a 12-day walkout was planned over the Christmas holiday period. The union had threatened to seek another strike mandate, but has now entered negotiations under the auspices of the Trade Union Congress.
Israel’s Iron Dome counter-rocket system has taken a small step toward fielding by successfully intercepting salvos of 122-mm. Grad-type rockets in a series of tests on Jan. 5-6.
Prompted by Western and other competitive air-to-air developments and renewed domestic funding, Russia is now offering upgraded versions of its own weaponry in the export arena.
Mexicana is reshaping its fleet as it takes delivery of new aircraft types, but the carrier is also planning ahead for the orders it will need to fulfill its long-term strategy. CEO Manuel Borja hopes to place an order next year for either Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s as long-haul fleet replacements. Meanwhile, the carrier is already looking at options to replace its new Boeing 717 fleet once the leases expire.
In the Jan. 4 issue, (p. 35), the value of the Orbital Sciences’ Corp. contract for Phase 2 of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s System F6 program was incorrect. The contract is worth $74.6 million.
Obituary: USAF Gen. (ret.) Lew Allen, Jr., died Jan. 4 of complications from rheumatoid arthritis. He was 84, and lived in Potomac Falls, Va. A West Point graduate, who was commissioned in 1946 and also held a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois, Allen was the 10th Air Force chief of staff and director of both the National Security Agency and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during his 44-year career.
When Bombardier launched development of the CSeries passenger jet 18 months ago, a company leader brushed off speculation that the aircraft would bump up into the 150-seat category long dominated by Airbus and Boeing. “We have no plans for a 150-seater,” maintained Bombardier Commercial Aircraft President Gary Scott. “That is pure speculation from people that want to drum up some controversy.”
Indonesia’s Lion Air says it plans to buy 10 new wide-body aircraft, either Boeing 777-200ERs or Airbus A330-300s, and introduce them this year. Two 747-400s will be retired upon arrival of the new aircraft, which will serve Japan, South Korea, China and Australia.
A fifth U.S. Army unit has fielded the CH-47F Chinook. The 6th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, based at Ft. Campbell, Ky., completed the required training and officially assumed operation of 12 CH-47Fs early last month. The aircraft, with a modernized airframe, is built at Boeing’s Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Township, Pa., and is outfitted with a Rockwell Collins common avionics architecture system cockpit and BAE’s digital advanced flight control system.
Saab believes modifying the Gripen NG to meet an Indian requirement for a carrier-borne fighter would add only 400 kg. (880 lb.), giving the aircraft—dubbed Sea Gripen—an empty weight of 7,500-8,000 kg.
Although little of substance emerged from last month’s climate-monitoring summit in Copenhagen, scientists hope the buzz it created will spotlight the need for more space-based sensors, in particular ocean altimeters, to help aid decision-making.
MTU and Avic Commercial Aircraft Engine Co. will jointly develop a powerplant for the Comac C919, competing with the CFM International LEAP-X turbofan that is scheduled to become the narrow-body airliner’s first engine. Avic also says it will build an assembly line for C919 engines at Shanghai.
Lockheed Martin says it will expand its Systems Integration-Owego (N.Y.) unit under the name of Mission Systems & Sensors. Abbreviated MS2, the unit is one of three operating companies within its Electronic Systems Business Area for naval operations, including a Ship & Aviation Systems Div. as a new unit.
USAF has selected a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV to boost the fourth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) into orbit. Launch of the Boeing-built satellite is expected between December 2011 and February 2012, according to ULA. Three WGS have been launched into orbit so far. The most recent was lofted Dec. 5, 2009, also on a Delta IV.
Boeing is examining business plans to reduce the C-17 production rate to a sustainable and viable number through 2012 and possibly beyond, following confirmation of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) long-anticipated order for six aircraft, rather than four as previously disclosed. Coming on top of a recently authorized procurement for 10 additional C-17s for the U.S. Air Force and a seventh aircraft for the U.K, the UAE deal takes the firm orderbook to 249, not including two options held by Qatar.
