MBDA has demonstrated the ability of its new vertical launch MICA to protect coastal areas against enemy attacks launched from the sea. The test firing, carried out July 8 at the missile launch test range at Biscarosse in southwestern France, registered a direct hit against a low-signature missile flying 10 meters (33 ft.) above the sea at a distance of 15 km. (9.3 mi.). The test—the 15th for VL MICA—was sponsored by the French air force, armaments agency DGA and MBDA.
Passenger traffic on international routes declined at an increasing rate in May, contradicting earlier signs that volume might have bottomed out, according to the International Air Transport Assn. An apparent stabilization seen in previous months’ numbers now looks to have been caused by a small rise in distance flown, due to the “geographical pattern of changing travel markets,” IATA says. Premium passenger traffic on international routes was down 23.6% in May, compared with 22% in April and 19.2% in the first quarter.
Indian controllers are preparing to begin the second imaging period with the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, raising the possibility it will be able to work with the Mini-RF SAR on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) now being checked out. The Chandrayaan-1 instrument will begin imaging the lunar surface for evidence of water ice next month, and the LRO Mini-SAR already has produced radar imagery of the south polar region. Working together, the similar instruments—both built in the U.S.
With an aircraft accident, the blame is usually hung on the pilot. When it comes to delays in building the aircraft, the blame goes to the program manager. A recent “Market Focus” (AW&ST June 29, p. 12) links the latest Boeing 787 delay to a “failure in anticipated computer modeling.” That’s computer lingo for poor input equals poor output. So now we hang the geek?
Thai Airways has asked Airbus to delay deliveries of A380s or allow it to buy other aircraft instead—a move foreshadowed last month when the company said it could not afford to deploy the airplane. Thai would be interested in taking the A350-1000 but not until 2018, says Executive Chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut. If it does accept the six A380s it ordered, it would like to receive the first aircraft late in 2012 instead of 2011. Deferred delivery of the A380s is the probable option based on concerns about cancellation penalties.
Evergreen International Aviation demonstrated its Boeing 747 water bomber in Europe last week as part of a campaign to sell the new firefighting aircraft worldwide. The modified 747 was presented at Chateauroux Airport, 150 mi. south of Paris, by London-based Air Charter Service.
ExxonMobil has launched a $600-million program to research and develop biofuels, including jet fuel, from photosynthetic algae. The oil giant has formed an alliance with biotech company Synthetic Genomic to develop the capability for large-scale production of biofuel.
The British armed forces once again face a decade-long wait for a new medium helicopter following the government’s decision not to bring forward the requirement, despite its being an option flagged initially by at least one government minister.
The NTSB, in seeking the cause of a July 13 Southwest Airlines inflight depressurization, is looking at an area of fuselage skin not previously suspected as being vulnerable to fatigue cracking.
U.S. Air Force and Defense Dept. personnel, as well as industry representatives, will be briefed on the Air Force’s long-term unmanned aircraft systems road map, the UAS Flight Plan, on July 28-30. Approved by Air Force leadership last month, the Flight Plan outlines a vision to 2047 for integration of unmanned aircraft across all the service’s operations, identifying unmanned alternatives for some manned missions.
Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin were all recipients of $30-million contracts for the first phase of a system design and prototype of the Space Fence system. The initiative is intended to provide the U.S. Air Force with enhanced space surveillance capability to detect and report space objects. The multiphase acquisition will eventually lead to up to three globally positioned S-band radars capable of interoperation with the Space Surveillance Network.
Beijing will get four daily services to Tokyo’s downtown airport, Haneda, starting Oct. 25. The flights, to be shared equally between Chinese and Japanese carriers, follow an 2007 agreement under which services are flown between Haneda and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport.
NASA could still kill its Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover if cost growth in the troubled program continues, science chief Ed Weiler tells the NASA Advisory Committee. Weiler will run his own “personal” milestone review in September, he tells the committee, focusing on actuators and avionics with a small group that will include the directors of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center. An agency review of the project is scheduled for November.
Investigators have begun the hunt for solid clues to the cause of a Caspian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M accident on July 15, only 16 min. after takeoff from Tehran-Imam Khomeini International Airport. Flight 7908 crashed in a field near Qazvin, Iran, and all 15 crew and 153 passengers on board were killed in Iran’s fourth accident involving that aircraft type since 2002.
Australia expects to take delivery in November of the first two of six Boeing Wedgetails it has ordered, but the 737-based airborne warning and control aircraft will not have full operational capability at first.
Larry Kellner plans to leave Continental Airlines at the end of 2009 after five years as chairman and CEO, and 14 years with the U.S. carrier. He will be succeeded by Jeff Smisek, the airline’s president and chief operating officer. Kellner, 50, is leaving to take the helm of Emerald Creek Group, a new Houston-based private investment firm.
Sikorsky Global Helicopters has delivered an S-300C to UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota. Sikorsky aircraft have been a part of the curriculum since 1983 and this new addition brings the school’s fleet to seven. Three more S-300Cs are on order for this year. There are 800 students enrolled in fixed-wing and helicopter training at UND, and Assistant Dean of Student Services Ken Polovitz says the helicopter program is garnering even more interest, with many enrollees eyeing the helo industry as a full-time career.
During the past 10 years, funding for unmanned aerial vehicles in the U.S. alone has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 29%, according to financial analysts at Macquarie Capital. The Wall Street advisers expect global UAV funding to continue to grow to about $10 billion within a decade from $4.5 billion per year now. “The low cost of these platforms has driven this demand and subsequently it tends to be the ‘cheaper’ midsize and smaller UAVs that are targeted for international procurement,” the analysts told clients recently.
An industry team developing ways to deliver GPS augmentation signals through the Iridium low-Earth-orbit communications satellite constellation has passed two significant milestones on the way to a system-level demonstration later this year. Iridium and Boeing Phantom Works’ Advanced Network and Space Systems have completed software modifications for the Iridium satellites that will allow them to broadcast GPS-augmentation signals. The team also has demonstrated GPS signal acquisition from a move vehicle under “substantial” jamming conditions. Managed by the U.S.
Beijing-based Air China has become Boeing’s first customer and its biggest by far for 737 operators for the company’s Airplane Health Management (AHM) system. The carrier has agreed to cover 117 737s that it already has in service or on order. AHM is a software-based inflight monitoring system that uses Acars (aircraft communications and reporting system) or other such systems to provide ground controllers with real-time information about system performance. That way, mechanics can make preparations for repairs before the aircraft lands.
R . Bradley Lawrence has been appointed president/chief operating officer of the Esterline Corp. , Bellevue, Wash. He succeeds Robert W. Cremin as president. Cremin continues as chairman/CEO. Lawrence was vice president of the company’s Interface Technologies Group.
