Goodrich and ATK are beginning to manufacture a one-of-a-kind reconnaissance satellite that will be launched by the end of next year to support urgent needs from military leaders overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Called Operationally Responsive Space-1 (ORS-1), the spacecraft is needed to provide a new layer of electro-optical and infrared reconnaissance to airborne collectors, such as unmanned aerial systems and high-altitude aircraft, as well as to the sophisticated national intelligence satellites overhead.
NASA redeployed its General Atomics Predator B in the national airspace system with an improved visible, infrared and thermal imaging capability on Nov. 19 to assess the damage caused by two of Southern California’s worst wildfires in recent years.
Changes to the source-selection plan for the U.S. Air Force’s $35-billion KC-X program are not likely to be substantial, and this could lead the procurement effort down a familiar path of contractors threatening not to bid or more calls for a split buy.
British Airways’ planned merger with Iberia to form Europe’s third-largest airline block is being largely well received, but there is concern the carriers’ short-term problems outweigh the long-term benefits. The promise of €400 million ($596 million) in annual savings is paltry when compared with the high losses both airlines have been suffering of late. The savings are also far less than Air France and KLM promised to generate by combining their operations, and they still leave BA-Iberia behind its main European network rivals in size.
The extent of the aerodynamic modifications required to turn Russia’s Kh-55 nuclear-armed cruise missile into a conventional weapon may now be becoming apparent. Russia is believed to have fielded a variant of the Kh-55SM fitted with a conventional, rather than a nuclear, warhead. Terminal guidance is provided by some form of electro-optical seeker, possibly using terrain scene-matching.
The sanctions committee of French stock market regulator AMF is expected to issue its ruling on alleged EADS insider trading charges before year-end. Formal hearings were held last week on accusations that EADS executives sold shares knowing of A380 problems that later caused the company’s stock price to become depressed. The AMF’s case investigator exonerated EADS shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, as well as 10 executives, including Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
The U.S. Air Force is preparing for a Dec. 2 launch of the third Wideband Global Satcom satellite, the first to be lifted with a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. WGS manufacturer Boeing is slated to conduct testing on the wideband communications spacecraft while it is in a test position in orbit over California for about three weeks. This will be followed by about one month to shift the satellite into its operational orbit supporting forces in Europe and Africa and then three weeks for payload calibration.
Australian officials Nov. 25 welcomed the initial delivery of two Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft from Boeing, although they acknowledged the problem-plagued Wedgetail program had far to go. “Development, test and evaluation are still ongoing with many hurdles still to be overcome, particularly with respect to radar, electronic support measures and integrated system performance and stability,” said the AEW&C program manager, Air Vice Marshal Chris Deeble.
The Senate appears satisfied with Obama’s so-called Phased Adaptive Approach program featuring the use of sea- and land-based SM-3 interceptors to defend Europe from ballistic missile attack. The Senate recently approved its version of the Fiscal 2010 appropriations bill for military construction and veterans’ affairs. It includes an amendment cosponsored by Sens.
China, France and Russia are increasingly aggressive in courting customers for their military products, but it is the U.S. that is raking in the big dollars—and increasingly so.
NASA has assumed ownership of Node 3, one of the last elements intended for the International Space Station, in preparation for launch to the orbital facility early next year. Node 3, to be known as Tranquility, is to be orbited together with its windowed cupola on the STS-130 shuttle mission in February. Like the already orbiting Node 2, the two new elements were built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency. Thales Alenia also will provide checkout and launch-preparation support to NASA through its Altec affiliate. The cupola will provide a 360-deg.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Douglas Barrie (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Like development of the platforms themselves, the evolution of radars for unmanned aircraft is advancing at an accelerated pace, driven in the near term by the pressing operational need to detect roadside bombs and track insurgents in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection expects to unveil a maritime-oriented Predator B unmanned aircraft in December, Tom Cassidy, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ aircraft systems group, told Aviation Week’s A&D Programs conference in Phoenix earlier this month. CBP’s Air and Marine group operates five Predator Bs. One additional unmanned aircraft has been at General Atomics for modification and upgrading for deployment as a maritime variant.
The fallout from the Haddon-Cave report into the loss of a Royal Air Force Nimrod continues. Technology company Qinetiq has picked former high court judge Robert Nelson to lead a formal investigation into the report’s conclusions and recommendations and has suspended its two employees named in the report with full pay during the inquiry. The suspensions are believed to be a procedural process.
The World Trade Organization’s dispute resolution process on large commercial aircraft subsidies to Boeing and Airbus appears to be further developing in Washington’s favor. The WTO already issued an interim ruling on the U.S. case, in which European governments are accused of violating trade rules to provide support to Airbus. European officials are frustrated that a ruling in the so-called U.S. offensive case could come before a verdict on their counterclaim—that Washington provides illegal support to Boeing. The WTO upheld important parts of the U.S.
Airbus has awarded a $10-million A350 manufacturing contract to engine nacelle leading edge, or lipskin, specialist McStarlite. The Harbor City, Calif.-based company is due to ship the first set of lipskins to Airbus’s Nantes facility in France by year-end, marking the delivery of one of the earliest development units for the new twinjet. Airbus says spending across U.S. airspace has doubled in the last five years and reached $10 billion in 2008.
A dozen astronauts and cosmonauts from the space shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station are well along in the latest mission to prepare the station for operations without shuttle support.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency hopes next year to begin full-scale development of the Advanced Solid Rocket, its proposed launcher for medium-size scientific payloads. A first flight of the three-stage ASR, to be built by IHI Aerospace, should follow in 2012 or 2013, sustaining the solid-propellant expertise that Japan has built up since launching pencil-size rockets in the mid-1950s.
Chinese fighter builder Avic Defense, consciously imitating Dassault, aims to build a large business jet as part of its strategy of exploiting military technology for its civilian operations. Avic Defense will also build up an aircraft maintenance business catering to airline customers, says President Wang Yawei, while offering new insights into the reorganization of the Chinese aircraft sector.
Eutelsat has struck a strategic agreement with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) that will allow customers of both operators to add bandwidth in Asia, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, where certain capacity, particularly Ku-band, is scarce. ABS started business with a single satellite, ABS-1. It recently acquired Koreasat-2, now known as ABS-1a, and Mubalay Satellite Corp’s Agila-2, renamed ABS-5. But the company remains capacity-constrained while awaiting the launch of ABS-2, which will not be lofted until the first half of 2012.
Kevin J. Gould, who has been chief executive of Piper Aircraft , Vero Beach, Fla., also will be president as of Dec. 1. He will succeed John D. Becker, who has resigned. Jeff Barger has been promoted to vice president-manufacturing operations from senior director of Piper manufacturing, Dennis D. Olcott to vice president-engineering from senior director of Piper engineering and Derek Zimmerman to vice president-supply chain and aftermarket development from senior director of supply chain. Mary Messuti has been appointed senior director for Asia.
David H. Langstaff has been appointed a non-executive director of London-based Qinetiq . He is a director of SRA International Inc. and was president/CEO of the Veridian Corp. Mary Craft has been named senior vice president-national systems in the Mission Solutions Group of Qinetiq North America, Fairfax, Va. She was vice president-intelligence engineering for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.
Air France-KLM slowed financial drain in the second quarter, but not enough to avoid a first-half operating loss of €543 million. The airline group says revenue was down 20%. What’s more, the two carriers’ financial performance continues to be hurt by a bad bet made on fuel hedges, which impacted first-half results by €430 million.
Peg Billson (see photo) has become president of BBA Aviation Legacy Support , Chatsworth, Calif., also overseeing Ontic and the International Governor Service. She was chief operating officer of the Eclipse Aviation Corp.
A congested legislative schedule makes it increasingly unlikely that Congress will pass an FAA reauthorization bill by year-end, meaning yet another short-term extension is on the horizon. The FAA is currently operating under a three-month extension that expires Dec. 31, leaving little time for a full reauthorization bill to be completed. Blame the Senate. The House has already passed its version of reauthorization. The bill has been approved by the Senate Commerce Committee. The holdup has been the Finance Committee, which has authority over tax and fee increases.
