Your editorial asking for the U.S. to “Modernize Export Controls” (AW&ST Sept. 7, p. 66) would better have been titled “Liberalize Export Controls.” A few years ago, Congress liberalized bank credit requirements to ease the availability of home loans for low-income residents. Then came the greedy and power-hungry. They used this relaxation to create derivatives that led to a credit collapse and world recession.
Mick Anna (see photo) has been appointed lead executive for Northrop Grumman Corp. business in Colorado Springs. He was corporate director of customer relations in Colorado Springs.
A twin-engine, eight-seat, single-main-rotor multipurpose helicopter. The current military model is the AW109 LUH, which is powered by either two Turbomeca Arrius 2K2 turboshafts, rated at 670 shp. each, or two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207C engines, rated at 735 shp. each. Armament capability for the AW109 LUH is as follows: 7.62-mm. and 12.7-mm. machine guns, rocket launchers, antitank missiles (TOW, HOT or Hellfire), and/or air-to-air missiles (Stinger or Mistral).
If it looks like a duck, walks like duck and talks like a duck, it is a duck; and so it is with the new Comac C919. It is a clone of the Airbus A320. The only jetliners made in China are the MD-80, which was built under license from the then-McDonnell Douglas; Avic ARJ21, which has nearly identical dimensions to the Boeing 717; and A320, which is being manufactured under license from EADS and will yield the new C919.
The Harrier II is currently out of production. A total of 428 Harrier II vertical- and short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft were produced by Boeing/McDonnell Douglas and BAE. The Harrier II is a single- or two-seat, single-engine ground attack aircraft. AV-8B Harrier IIs are powered by either a 21,450-lb.-thrust Rolls-Royce Pegasus 11-21 vectored thrust turbofan or a 23,800-lb.-thrust Pegasus 11-61. The British Royal Air Force GR7 model uses a Pegasus Mk 105 vectored thrust turbofan (21,500 lb. thrust), though some have been refitted with the Pegasus Mk 107.
The B-1B is a four-engine strategic bomber produced by Rockwell International and operated by the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft evolved from a series of studies begun in 1962. An initial prototype first flew in 1974. The B-1B is powered by four GE F101-GE-100 turbofan engines rated more than 30,000 lb. thrust each. By the time production ended in 1988, 100 B-1s had been built. (Four B-1A prototypes also were built.) The B-1B is the subject of a series of updates, including the Conventional Mission Upgrade Program (CMUP).
Russia is shortly to begin delivery of a second batch of nine Kamov Ka-28 Helix-A anti-submarine helicopters to China. The first three of the total of nine ordered by Beijing in 2007 are now completing factory tests, according to Russian Helicopters. China first purchased the type in 1998: five anti-submarine Ka-28s, and three for search and rescue. The Ka-28s have been deployed on board both the Chinese navy’s Russian-built Sovremenny-class destroyers and Luhai-class ships.
The KC-30 is a military tanker version of the Airbus A330 airliner and a joint venture between EADS/Airbus and Northrop Grumman. The twin-engine KC-30 is powered by either Rolls-Royce Trent 700 or General Electric CF6-80E1 turbofan engines. The KC-30 was selected in February 2008 by the U.S. Air Force as the replacement for the KC-135, beating a rival bid by Boeing. In mid-2008, however, the Government Accountability Office sustained a protest by Boeing, and USAF reopened the bidding process.
The Hawk is a single-engine, two-seat trainer and light attack aircraft. A single-seat light fighter variant (the Hawk 200) also exists. All variants are powered by an unaugmented turbofan engine of Rolls-Royce Turbomeca’s Adour series: the Hawk T1/1A uses the Mk 151 (5,200 lb. thrust); Hawk 50, the Mk 851 (5,340 lb. thrust); Hawk 60, the Mk 861 (5,700 lb. thrust); Hawk 100/200, the Mk 871 (6,270 lb. thrust); and Hawk 128 LIFT, the Mk 951 (6,800 lb. thrust).
The Jaguar is a single-seat light strike/reconnaissance aircraft produced by Societe Europeene de Production de l’Avion ECAT (Sepecat), a consortium of BAE and Dassault. Twin-seat trainer versions also have been built. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) now builds the aircraft under license. The initial prototype flight occurred in 1968. The Jaguar is powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan engines; the exact Adour version varies by aircraft model. Approximately 632 Jaguars were built through 2008, including some by HAL.
Gregory Yeldon (see photo) has been promoted to president from vice president/chief financial officer of the CMC Electronics subsidiary of the Esterline Corp., Bellevue, Wash.
The French army aviation corps has opened two simulation centers. One, at the Tiger attack helicopter school in Provence, is equipped with two full-mission simulators and two cockpit procedures trainers supplied by Thales and Rheinmetall Defense Electronics. The other, at the army aviation school, houses three IFR trainers, a six-seat tactical trainer and a flight/weapon system trainer, all supplied by Thales.
Avic Aircraft has swooped on Austrian aerospace manufacturer FACC in the first case of a Chinese manufacturer buying a first-tier Western supplier to Airbus and Boeing.
Emivest Aerospace Corp. delivered SJ30, s/n 008, to Deja Vu Consulting, an entertainment business, on Sept. 23. The handover was the first since Emivest, a subsidiary of Emirates Investment & Development of Dubai, took control of the former Sino-Swearingen program last year. Although the light jet was unveiled in 1988, and first flew three years later, Deja Vu’s is only the third aircraft to be delivered. Movie actor Morgan Freeman is to receive the next SJ30 this month. Certificated for single-pilot operation, the SJ30 has a range of 2,500 naut. mi.
SkyIMD, a San Francisco technology company, has won FAA supplemental type certification for installation of its low-cost SkyFusionPak surveillance system on Cessna 152/172/182 aircraft. The system includes a 7.2-lb. gimbaled pod with Sony 980 electro-optic and long-wave infrared cameras, and a ground station from which surveillance missions are planned through an intuitive graphical interface. The system loads the flight computer with information to fly the mission, and downloads the data after completion.
John Lambert, president of the Arlington, Va.-based AUVSI and senior director for tactical systems of Aurora Flight Sciences, is among the new members of the association’s board of directors. Other new members are: Larry L. Felder, AUVSI executive vice president and director of unmanned systems development for the Science Applications International Corp.; John Lademan, AUVSI first vice president and director for strategic planning and advanced systems for the Northrop Grumman Corp.; Joe D.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Price T. Bingham (Melbourne, Fla. )
The effectiveness of network-centric warfare depends on having a reliable, timely picture of the battlespace. Joint Stars provides this through its ability to present an unprecedented wide-area, real-time picture of surface movement. Yet, despite Joint Stars’ combat-proven capabilities and the recognized need for fully and quickly funding upgrades to these capabilities, Air Force support for the program remains lukewarm at best (AW&ST Sept. 7, pp. 32-33).
The Pentagon’s Defense Energy Support Center has awarded contracts for almost 600,000 gal. of hydrotreated renewable jet (HRJ) biofuel for testing and certification in U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft. Sustainable Oils, Solazyme and Honeywell company UOP will supply 400,000 gal. of HRJ to the Air Force and 190,000 to the Navy.
The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has tapped Circor Aerospace to supply its nose wheel steering actuator for all models of Lockheed Martin’s F-16s, domestic and foreign. The unit is a drop-in replacement, requiring no change to current installation of operational procedures. The contract exceeds $3.7 million.
The NTSB last week issued 10 recommendations asking the FAA to mandate more protections against aircraft bird strikes. They include revising bird-strike certification requirements set in Part 25 airworthiness standards for transport category aircraft so that protection from in-flight impact is consistent across all airframe structures. Another would require aircraft manufacturers to develop guidance information that would help pilots take measures to minimize the severity of damage from strikes.
European space industry executives say they expect system, satellite and launch awards for the Galileo satellite navigation system to be issued by year’s end, in accordance with plans put forth by the European Space Agency, which is running the procurement process on behalf of the European Commission (AW&ST June 29, p. 38). These contracts are on the critical path, and ESA planners say they must be finalized this year if the system is to meet the 2013 in-service objective set after the program’s reorganization in 2007.
European Union emissions allowance (EUA) prices nose-dived in September, driven by profit-taking on gains seen during July and August, and hit further by uncertainty after a key ruling on carbon allocation for two EU member states by a European court. December 2009 EUAs edged to a four-month high of €15.45 ($22.55) per metric ton of CO2 equivalent on Sept. 8, having made robust gains throughout July and August.
The U.S. Air Force is already on the defensive about its plans for the KC-X competition, with a former top procurement official questioning the source-selection methodology and Northrop Grumman/EADS asserting it has been put at a disadvantage by the disclosure of its pricing data to rival Boeing.
A fractionated-satellite concept—which replaces large satellites with clusters of spacecraft flying in formation—has the potential to drive cultural change and reinvigorate a “mature” U.S. space industry, say proponents.
The long-running spat between Britain’s Serious Fraud Office and BAE Systems is continuing, with the SFO announcing Oct. 1 that it intends to pursue prosecution of the company over alleged corruption offenses. There have been widespread suggestions in the U.K. press that the SFO had proposed that BAE plea-bargain and accept a fine, with Sept. 30 the deadline for company acceptance. BAE’s share price dropped by more than 4% on the day of the SFO statement.
