At a discussion on the potential fighter gap faced by the Navy and Marine Corps in the next decade, Vice Adm. (ret.) Robert Dunn, president of the Assn. of Naval Aviation, was asked about the future of unmanned aircraft on aircraft carriers. Dunn said he and fellow carrier pilots in the mid-1950s looked at their Grumman F-9F Cougars and speculated they would be the last manned aircraft the Navy would fly.
Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon will provide the U.S. Navy with six-month concept studies for an Air and Missile Defense Radar described as a “scalable, solid-state radar suite” for combat surface ships. The system would blend S-band radar (mid-frequency for long range), X-band (high-frequency for precise targeting) and a radar suite controller.
France’s MBDA has concluded a framework agreement with Poland’s Bumar group to jointly supply hardware for the nation’s future air defense capability. The system will use elements of MBDA’s short-range Vertical Launch MICA and medium-range Aster 30 missiles along with radar, command-and-control and other subsystems developed by Warsaw-based Przemyslowy Instytut Telekomunikacji (PIT) and Radwar.
Dassault plans to complete the basic definition work for its next Falcon business jet by year-end, but will not formally take the product to market for another 18 months.
Lockheed Martin has passed the first of three Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites it is building for the U.S. Air Force out of thermal vacuum testing at its Sunnyvale, Calif., facility. Thermal vac is a hot/cold stress testing simulating a 14-year life cycle in space to validate the satellite’s systems. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, the payload uilder, now move on to final integration and system tests in preparation for a 2010 delivery.
Manufacturing workers at Bell Helicopter’s Fort Worth area plants voted on July 22 to end a six-week strike and sign a new four-year contract, after the company made concessions. Bell says it remains on schedule to meet 2009 delivery commitments, and believes it is still on track for 2010. The Fort Worth plants make dynamic systems and other components for military and civil rotorcraft assembled in Amarillo, Tex., and Mirabel, Quebec.
An Israeli Arrow-2 interceptor missile failed to launch during a test of the system July 22 along the U.S. West Coast. This range exceeds the size of facilities in Israel and was required for the demonstration. During the test, a long-range ballistic missile target was dropped from a C-17. Several sensors, including the Israeli Green Pine radar and U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad), PAC-3 and Aegis ship-based radars, acquired the target and tracked it.
It seems opportunities in the private sector have been knocking at the NTSB’s door since President Barack Obama took office—leaving two vacancies on its five-member board. On July 22, acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker submitted his letter of resignation. He became chairman in 2006 and was nominated for a second term in 2007. Kathryn (Kitty) Higgins, who joined the NTSB in 2006, says she is stepping down as of Aug. 3. Both plan to pursue “opportunities in the private sector.” Steven R. Chealander, a member since January 2007, left on Feb.
The FAA’s Chicago Aircraft Certification Office has issued Supplemental Type Certificate Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) to StandardAero in Springfield, Ill. The approval allows company engineers to approve design data, tests and analysis; determine if STCs designed for a broad range of aerospace products comply with FAA regulations, and sign the STC in behalf of the agency. StandardAero specializes in maintenance, repair and overhaul of airframes and engines for general and business aviation.
Tom Vice (see photo), who is vice president/general manager of the Battle Management and Engagement Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Aerospace Systems Sector, Bethpage, N.Y., has been elected chairman of the nearby Applied Science Center of Innovation and Excellence in Homeland Security .
Aug. 4-7—Aerospace Museum of California’s Aerospace Summer Camp. McClellan. Call +1 (916) 643-3192, fax +1 (916) 643-0389 or see www.aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org Aug. 5-7—SAE International’s Aerospace Program Management Short Course. WATC Comotara, Wichita, Kan. Call +1 (724) 776-4970 or see www.sae.org Aug. 9-13—American Astronautical Society/American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) Astrodynamics Specialist Conference. Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. Call +1 (703) 866-0020 or see www.space-flight.org
Exhibitor bookings for the National Business Aviation Assn.’s 62nd Annual Meeting and Convention were down 20% as of mid-July, compared to those for last year’s show. The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20-22 in Orlando, Fla. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen notes that the 2008 convention set a record with more than 1,100 exhibitors. Notably, Cessna Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft are planning only to exhibit at the static display, not in the convention hall, company sources say.
Liew Mun Leong has been named chairman of the board of directors of Changi Airport in Singapore. He is president/CEO of CapitaLand Ltd. Other members of the new board are: Mike Barclay, CEO of the Sentosa Development Corp.; Derrick Wan, director of government and investment for the Singapore Ministry of Finance; and Lee Seow Hiang, the airport company’s CEO.
Albert Myers, who was vice president-test operations at Northrop in 1988‑89 and chief architect of the flight control systems and manager of flight testing of the B-2, has received the 2009 Simon Ramo Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .
The schedule for a series of flight tests considered critical to move forward with a troubled U.S. Air Force stealthy cruise missile project appears to be slipping, and program officials are still identifying the timeline for retrofits needed to repair the weapon’s deficiencies.
Lockheed Martin has passed the first of three Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites it is building for the U.S. Air Force out of thermal vacuum testing at its Sunnyvale, Calif., facility. The hot/cold stress testing is designed to simulate a 14-year life cycle in space, to validate the satellite’s systems. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin and payload builder Northrop Grumman now move on to final integration and system tests in preparation for a 2010 delivery.
A first-of-its-kind experiment in multinational airlift begins on July 27 with the formal commissioning of the NATO-managed Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) and the unit’s first Boeing C-17 at Papa Air Base in western Hungary.
Eric Snelgrove has become vice president-legal affairs for Bye Aerospace Inc. of Denver. USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Mason Whitney has joined the company’s Strategic Advisory Council. He is director of the Colorado Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. Honors and Elections
Despite emerging signs of demand stability, U.S. airlines are eyeing the fall travel season with great trepidation. A renewed slump in this period will put intense pressure on airline liquidity—and that threat, along with earlier losses, is dispelling the last hopes of a profitable 2009 for almost all carriers.
John Nozell has become London-based managing director for investment banking for Seabury Aviation and Aerospace . He was chief investment officer of AWAS Aviation Services Ltd. of Dublin.
Boeing has won a $44-million low-rate production contract for Block 40-45 upgrades to the E-3 AWACS from the U.S. Air Force’s Electronic Systems Center. This marks the official beginning of the production phase. Among other attributes, the upgrade will create an open avionics environment for the ease of future improvements. Moreover, the initial group of upgrades includes conduits for network-centric operations and additional digital components improve reliability and lower cost.
Dreams of a bigger U.S. fleet of F-22 Raptors, let alone exports of the Lockheed Martin fifth-generation fighter, are evaporating after stunning developments on Capitol Hill last week seem to have turned the tide of the debate.
Robert Cargile (see photo) has been appointed deputy director for contracts management at the University of Tennessee’s National Defense Business Institute in Knoxville. He was research services coordinator at the university’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
With the first A330-200F now having undergone final assembly, Airbus is planning a November first flight. Etihad Crystal Cargo will become the first operator, replacing Flyington Freighters, which was the lead customer at the program’s outset. The severe downturn in the cargo market has caused elements of the program to shift. Airbus has slowed activity on the freighter; it also has seen some cancellations, with 65 firm orders remaining.
