The American Assn. of Airport Executives (AAAE) is worried that a congressional requirement to comply with proposed new National Fire Protection Assn. and airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) standards will have a severe financial impact on airports. The AAAE says its concerns are validated by a June 26 Transportation Research Board (TRB) study. The board’s research indicates that the new standards would require airports to build nearly 600 additional ARFF facilities, buy 1,000 vehicles and hire more than 11,000 firefighters.
Researchers are looking forward to two more close flybys of Saturn’s strange moon Enceladus by NASA’s Cassini Saturn orbiter in November to resolve questions about the source of spectacular water jets emerging from cracks at the moon’s south pole. Separate new studies using large ground-based telescopes and an instrument on Cassini have drawn seemingly conflicting conclusions about Enceladus.
China’s new aircraft systems company will focus on building up its technology at home before seriously entering the global market and taking on the likes of Honeywell and Thales.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is encouraged by the House of Representatives’ passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act. “This bill gives us the momentum we need in the Senate and signals that when we promised change for the better in America, we meant it,” she says. The House version, sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), would create a cap-and-trade system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
The French Senate’s foreign affairs, defense and armed forces committee has adopted France’s €186-billion five-year defense spending bill without change. The bill includes €108 billion for new hardware. Entry into force awaits expected final approval by the full Senate on July 15.
While recent reports signal the imminent death of the U.S. Army’s largest ever modernization program—the $160-billion Future Combat Systems—the reality is not quite so black and white. Since the project was launched in 2003, the sweeping plans for FCS’s complement of manned and unmanned vehicles, ground and air sensors, robots, offensive and defense weapons—and a sophisticated network linking it all together—have been beset by delays and cost overruns. In addition, constant criticism has dogged its grand vision.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the type certificate for the Eclipse 500 very light jet and wants the bankrupt manufacturer to notify anyone this could concern. According to Eclipse 500 registration records, only one of more than 250 aircraft built is registered outside the U.S. As a result, the EASA decision will have no impact on the remaining aircraft unless owners attempt to resell them to European operators.
Airbus this year will introduce a brake-to-vacate feature on its A380, aimed at making runway use safer and more efficient by reducing the number of overrun incidents. The system is due to be certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency this month. Air France will be the first customer to use it when the airline takes delivery of its initial A380 this year. Plans call for the entire A380 fleet to be so equipped, though no time frame was given.
The Israeli air force has begun evaluating an armed UH-60 Black Hawk demonstrator produced by Sikorsky with Elbit Systems. Testing of the demonstrator was completed last month and included live firings of an optical-guided missile, laser-homing rocket and turreted 20-mm. gun.
SES Astra has contracted to provide 24 transponders at Astra’s 28.2 deg. E. Long. orbital position, the largest single order it has ever received from a pay-TV operator. Under the long-term agreement, BSkyB will renew capacity on the transponders carried on Astra 2a and 2b, launched in 1998 and 2000, respectively, to serve the fast-growing U.K. and Northern Ireland broadcasting market. The deal does not include seven transponders previously contracted by the British operator.
Regarding your article “Small Arms” about the surge anticipated in sales of piloted turboprop military support aircraft, the Piper PA-48 Enforcer would be perfect for such a mission (AW&ST June 22, p. 38). This aircraft’s 10 underwing hardpoints, turboprop engine pulling the aircraft to a maximum speed of 405 mph. and an option for six .50-caliber machine guns would make it the perfect weapons platform for nations that cannot afford more complex systems or unmanned aircraft.
Having missed two target “dates,” BAE Systems is now keeping the date to itself as to when it expects to fly the Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle demonstrator. Mantis was originally due to be flown in the first quarter of 2009, using the Woomera test range in Australia. This date was then moved to the end of the second quarter. As of last week, the air vehicle remained on the ground and the manufacturer was being circumspect as to a revised flight schedule.
The prospect that Boeing will step up its manufacturing presence in the American South at the expense of its traditional home in Seattle has been strengthened by reports that it plans to buy Vought Aircraft Industries’ 787 fuselage assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. That site, which has a 787 fuselage integration facility next door in which Boeing already is a 50:50 partner with Alenia, has become a logistics hub for the new jet’s worldwide distribution system.
Budget carriers have grown so strong in India that they are competing against nearly half the routes flown by traditional full-service airlines. With the industry teetering on a financial precipice, even traditionalists like Air India are giving the low-fare model a closer look.
The photo of the Air France Flight 447 vertical fin floating in the ocean is ominous. It reminds me of the American Airlines Flight 587 flight crash in Belle Harbor, N.Y., on Nov. 12, 2001. The American plane was an A300-605R while the Air France aircraft was an A330-200. Both have the characteristic composite fin that is attached to the fuselage by brackets without a spar that is anchored in the fuselage structure.
The prototype of the Solar Impulse long-duration solar-powered aircraft was unveiled last week in Duebendorf, Switzerland, near Zurich. The HB-SIA, weighing barely more than an average family car (1,600 kg./3,527 lb.) but with the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400, is intended to demonstrate the ability of an aircraft to remain aloft for a complete day-night-day cycle propelled solely by solar energy (AW&ST June 15, p. 30). The aircraft is powered by four electric motors drawing 10 hp., each driven by more than 12,000 wing-mounted solar cells.
Acquisition opportunities remain in the crosshairs of Israel’s two large defense and aerospace companies, despite uncertainty in defense budgets and the global economic slowdown.
The British Royal Air Force has taken delivery of its first batch of BAE Systems Hawk TMk2 advanced jet trainer aircraft, with the type now being used to develop the training syllabus. Eleven out of the total of 28 aircraft on order have been delivered to RAF Valley, where pilot training on the latest variant is due to begin in 2011.
Milan Malpensa Airport is to add a third runway, expanded cargo facilities and a dedicated logistics center, following an agreement between airport operator SEA and the Italian ministry of defense, which will provide 350 hectares (865 acres) for the move. SEA plans to spend up to €1.4 billion by 2012 for the Malpensa improvements, along with improved rail and road links. Separately, Lufthansa says it has requested 10 additional daily slots at Malpensa, which the airline wants to make into its fourth European hub.
An incorrect caption accompanied the photo on p. 33 of the June 29 issue. The photo shows an SM-3 Block IA missile being launched by the Japanese destroyer JDS Chokai, which acquired a track of the ballistic missile target in November 2008 but failed in the endgame to intercept.
Meanwhile, the Navy is turning to Darpa for an atypical request: provide the surface fleet with an anti-ship missile that can be fielded as soon as possible. It is an unusual step because Darpa’s role typically is to advance technologies not readily available for operational use in the short term. But Navy officials in the Pacific Command region are worried about the development of a Chinese anti-ship missile that combines range and speed. The Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) program’s first of two Phase 1 awards went to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
European Union emissions allowance (EUA) prices fell in the first half of June, as four-month highs achieved in May began to attract profit-taking. December 2009 EUAs closed above €15 ($21.20) per metric ton of CO2 equivalent several times in May, helped higher by rising crude oil prices.
Extending the F-22 Raptor and mandating a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter seem to be about the only points of contention Defense Secretary Robert Gates has with Congress, now that the House and the Senate Armed Services Committees have laid down their Fiscal 2010 defense authorization frameworks.
Behold an all-too-common story: A commercial cash flow lender awash in billions of federal dollars tightens the credit available for the cash-strapped owner of a small aerospace manufacturing company, insisting on personal guarantees and collateral. Forced to deal with less working capital and unexpected collection delays from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers, the owner falls behind on his credit card payments. His personal credit rating, on which the business loan relies, gets a black mark.
