EADS’s third-quarter results showed a 77% earning decline year-on-year, with net income a negative €87 million ($130 million) after delivering a €679-million gain in the same period in 2008. For the first nine months, net income remained positive but was down 73% to €291 million. Free cash flow was also negative, but the company’s net cash position still topped €8 billion.
The weight of the space shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB) parachutes totals around 15,000 lb. per flight. Dispensing with these parachutes would allow an additional 7,000 lb. of consumables, such as water or fuel, to be delivered to the International Space Station over the final shuttle missions. Following this proposal also would result in cost savings since the effort expended in SRB ocean recovery longer would be needed.
A U.S. Navy Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile launched during an operational test this month demonstrated the missile’s new anti-jam GPS and use against time-critical targets, acquisition officials say. The Tomahawk was launched from the USS Princeton (CG-59), a Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruiser off Southern California. The missile flew a land-attack mission into San Nicolas Island in support of a combined U.S.-U.K. special operations team there.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has given Airbus approval for extended-range twin-engine operational performance standards (Etops) “beyond 180 min.” For airlines that purchase the necessary upgrade kit, the clearance means that they can conduct single-engine operations up to 240 min., or not more than 1,700 nm. Boeing has long sought extensions to Etops, but Airbus says it is the first to secure the new flight operational permission from either EASA or the FAA.
As aircraft makers weigh production rates for next year, Embraer also faces a much bigger decision: what to do with its Harbin regional jet assembly venture in China.
Two new airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in the Middle East and the southern Mediterranean will seek to meet strong demand for lower maintenance costs and greater customer proximity, while increasing the Persian Gulf region’s clout in the MRO business.
China has opened what it called an especially important facility in its lunar exploration program. The 7,000-sq.-meter plant in Beijing will be used for the design of exploration systems and all critical subsystems and for in-orbit management of spacecraft and fault analysis.
The U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler is now operational, marking a new era in the Pentagon’s ability to conduct electronic attack missions more effectively around the globe. The fast-moving aircraft’s introduction will bring much-needed relief to a heavily overtasked and aging EA-6B fleet, which has single-handedly been conducting the Pentagon’s escort jamming mission since the U.S. Air Force’s decision to retire the EF-111 fleet prematurely in 1998.
Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft is back on track for a return to Earth after engineers were able to rig a working ion thruster by crossing the neutralizer of one failed engine with the thruster on another. The hybrid setup was tested Nov. 11 and put into operation the next day, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It will consume twice the fuel as a nominal engine, but there still is 20 kg. (44 lb.) on board. Only about 5 kg. are needed to reach Earth.
Yemenia wants an outside investigator to help probe the crash of Flight IY626 on approach to the Comoros Islands on June 30, which killed 152 of the 153 people on board. French government reactions to the accident have angered the airline, which is concerned because French air accident investigation office BEA has been involved in the inquiry, particularly in extracting information from flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
Jerry McCawley, a flight safety engineer and test pilot at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y., has received the Tony LeVier Flight Test Safety Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots . The award recognizes an individual for flight test safety contributions to a program, organization or the flight test profession. The award is named for the late Lockheed test pilot who was instrumental in proving the P-38 Lightning design and who flew the first flights of the P-80, XF-104 and U-2. McCawley flies with a U.S.
Dec. 2-3—A&D Finance Conference. New York. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition. Hong Kong. Feb. 17-18—Defense Technology & Requirements. Washington. Feb. 28-Mar. 1—MRO Middle East 2010. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mar. 17—Aviation Week Laureates Awards. Washington. You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only)
KUKA Systems North America’s new $100-million-plus contract to install an integrated assembly for the Northrop Grumman F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is “believed to be the first time a major aerospace manufacturer has contracted with a vendor to supply and install a complete assembly line,” according to KUKA officials. Designed by KUKA and Northrop Grumman engineering staffs, the line would be installed during 2010-14 and allow Northrop Grumman to achieve a production rate of one center fuselage per day.
A bipartisan group of senators from states with ICBMs or their support structures are trying to underpin support for the nuclear weapons as the Obama administration and the Pentagon finalize their plans for the nation’s strategic arsenal, including planned and hoped-for reductions. “As members of the Senate ICBM Coalition, we feel now is the time to clearly state why we believe intercontinental ballistic missiles remain crucial to U.S. national security,” say the senators.
I am disappointed with the view of the U.S. Air Force as presented in your article “Bend or Break,” concerning the request for proposals for the KC-X tanker (AW&ST Nov. 9, p. 40).
The conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq are starting to drive Middle Eastern militaries to pay closer attention to counterinsurgency needs, although big-ticket fighter, air defense, and command-and-control modernization activities still dominate the shopping lists of the region’s weapons buyers.
Mark S. Long has become CFO of XOJET , San Carlos, Calif. He was a managing director at Skyworks Capital and had been vice president-finance of Northwest Airlines.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using a supercomputer developed to evaluate the performance of nuclear weapons without actually testing them to simulate the ignition sequence when a white dwarf star explodes as a supernova.
The United Arab Emirates wants to develop an indigenous business jet as part of an effort to leverage the region’s growing appetite for executive aviation products and services. The initiative would be part of the UAE’s push to diversify its economy.
The United Arab Emirates has embraced a conservative systems-acquisition approach to avoid development surprises and is focusing its latest round of purchases on proven systems. The country’s air force was stung by development problems on the F-16E Block 60, which was delivered even though some of the electronics subsystems were not up to par. Northrop Grumman expects to deliver another software installment next year to finally cure shortfalls in the F-16’s electronic support measures system.
I finished reading your articles on innovation (Oct. 26/Nov. 2) with an unsatisfied feeling. Retired Lockheed Martin Skunk Works President Sherman Mullin’s excellent letter found the words I could not (AW&ST Nov. 9, p. 10). I wonder what he has to say about problems with retaining capable engineers. Too many of the articles written about that issue reflect the views of human resources executives and bean counters who see engineers as just numbers that they label “resources.”
The price of oil has climbed above or near the level that countries such as Venezuela and others need to increase their defense budgets, according to Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence. The global economic debacle has suppressed some potential U.S. adversaries but that effect could be short-lived. For the U.S., Blair says technological possibilities and challenges are multiplying exponentially and budgets will probably grow more slowly.
FlightSafety International will build a new airline Learning Center in Johannesburg, with training scheduled to begin in March 2010. The first simulators to be installed will center on training pilots and maintenance technicians flying the Hawker Beechcraft Model 1900 and Bombardier Dash 8-100 and Q300 airline transports. Plans call for FlightSafety to provide flight and systems simulators, and SIM Aero Training of France will manage the facility and maintain equipment.
Former FAA Administrator Jane F. Garvey (see photo) has been named to the board of directors of United Airlines parent UAL Corp. She is chairman of the Meridiam Investment Fund.
Last week’s ATC snafu puts the congressional spotlight on the issue of outsourcing by the FAA. The problem—which caused hundreds of flight delays and cancellations—was traced to the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) system. FTI has been installed and is operated by Harris Corp. House aviation subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) says the incident “needs to be thoroughly reviewed [and] brings up several questions that the FAA needs to address.” Among these are whether the agency’s oversight of Harris is adequate.
