A supercruising combat aircraft is a high priority of the Chinese navy, the country’s top admiral says in a revealing official interview that gives strong clues of perceived shortcomings and future directions for the maritime force. Adm. Wu Shengli also says China must step up work on precision missiles that can overcome enemy defenses, and the nation should move faster in developing large combat surface ships—probably meaning the aircraft carrier program that looks increasingly imminent (AW&ST Jan. 5, p. 22).
Airbus will modify an A340 with laminar flow control (LFC) technologies as the European aerospace industry strives to reduce fuel burn 40% through its Clean Sky program. The modified A340-300 is slated to fly in 2012. It will first feature only passive LFC technologies; later, a hybrid approach will be evaluated. The effort is part of the Smart Fixed-Wing portion of the €1.6-billion ($2-billion) European Union Clean Sky program.
Dassault Systemes has developed simulation software for analyzing structural stress in welded joints and other connections. Verity for Abaqus is part of Dassault’s Simulia product life-cycle management suite of software tools. Product Manager Director Steve Crowley explains that mesh sensitivities in finite element models make it difficult for engineers to characterize structural stress in welded joints. To overcome this, Dassault leveraged Battelle’s Verity structural stress methodology.
In the avalanche of bad publicity following the use of corporate jets by auto executives seeking federal bailouts, some of the best uses of business aircraft have been overlooked. As a former manager and captain on the shuttle operated by Intel using seven aircraft, I saw the positive impact of corporate aircraft. Intel’s fleet is airline-configured and serves employees from technicians to senior officers on a first-come basis using a computer-based reservation system.
The U.S. is exploring the use of commercial satellites to enhance ship identification and communication for the battle against piracy. Long before the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama was attacked by Somali pirates this month, a sister vessel, the Maersk Iowa, was plying the sea lanes between the U.S. East Coast and the Indian Ocean, testing a device that combines the information obtained from shipboard radar and identification transponders to give authorities a better overview of who is on the water and what they are up to.
Ron Kato (see photo) has been named vice president-global sourcing and manufacturing for Crane Aerospace & Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was vice president/general manager of the Crane site in Burbank, Calif.
Doron D. Grosman has been named president of the Hexcel Corp. , Stamford, Conn. He succeeds William Hunt, who will be retiring. Grosman was president of Quebecor World’s Magazine Printing Solutions Business. Honors and Elections
Reducing fuel consumption, eliminating hazardous materials and chemicals, and recycling aircraft content activities have gained traction in the aviation industry, as it pursues ways to become more environmentally friendly.
The Microgage 2D system laser transmitter is a testing, measuring and alignment tool for commercial and military helicoptors, used for positioning and aligning engine mounts, long shaft sections and gear boxes. The laser transmitter, on an adjustable mount, connects to engine mounts on commercial helos. The laser reference beam points backward on the rotorcraft to set the position of shaft mounts and other assemblies. The mount has full adjustment capability for the laser transmitter, the company says. Pinpoint Laser Systems Inc., 56 Pulaski St., No. 5, Peabody, Mass.
J. Thomas McKinnon, professor of chemical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, and Tim Feaver, president of Porous Power Technologies, have been appointed to the Business Advisory Council of Bye Energy Inc. , Highlands Ranch, Colo. Christopher Naro, former chief financial officer of Adam Aircraft Industries/AAI Acquisition Inc., has become biofuels program director.
Astrium Space Transportation CEO Alain Charmeau says his company is seeking funding within France’s new 2009-13 defense plan to demonstrate a high-altitude kill vehicle that, together with elements of France’s new M51 ballistic missile, could serve as a basis for a European ballistic missile defense system. The M51 is due to go into service in 2010 and remain in production at least through 2015-20, when a new warhead, known as the TNO, is to be introduced.
Southwest Airlines is offering buyouts to employees, implementing a hiring freeze and suspending raises for officers and senior management after the perennially profitable carrier reported its third quarterly loss in a row. The first-quarter loss was $91 million and—unlike the losses of the previous two quarters—remained a $20-million deficit even with the exclusion of special items. But it’s not so much the loss as it is the short-term outlook that has Southwest taking more actions to cut costs.
U.S. Air Force planners are kicking off studies into advanced training aircraft and simulators to help determine the type of system they will need to replace the Northrop Grumman T-38C. “We’re doing an analysis of alternatives right now that will shape that answer,” says Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, who heads the 19th Air Force at Randolph AFB, Tex., where the Air Education and Training Command is headquartered. “We need a replacement for the T-38 because it is aging and it has single-point failures in that aircraft,” he adds.
Rubicon Technology plans to offer larger sensor windows for UAVs and targeting pods after growing what the Illinois-based company believes is the world’s largest sapphire crystal. The 200-kg. “super boule” will allow production of optical windows with dimensions exceeding 12 in., Rubicon says, adding that the 85-kg. crystals currently grown in volume can produce window sizes of up to 10 in. Sapphire is a durable material that is transparent to IR, making it ideal for sensor windows.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems completed the first three flights of its new, all-jet, increased-stealth Predator C, which is named the Avenger (see p. 50). The name, also carried by the World War II-era TBF and TBM torpedo bombers, is one of several clues—including a tailhook and provisions for folding wings—that indicate a possible nautical future for the design. The swept wing allows for greater speed than previous Predator models, while the leading and trailing edges of the wings and tails are lined up to control radar reflections.
A new lawsuit is threatening to add fuel to a protracted legal battle pitting minority investors in ImageSat International, operator of Israel’s Eros imaging satellites, against ImageSat’s industrial shareholders.
An electrical failure in the right main bus caused the Feb. 26, 2007, fire on board a Boeing 777-200 at London Heathrow Airport, according to the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) final report released last week. The fire erupted during engine startup, after the aircraft pushed back from the stand. The electrical failure in the bus resulted in severe arcing and short circuits. The resultant heat caused molten metal droplets from the contactor casings to fall on insulation blankets, which ignited.
China’s Big Three state airlines have all announced large losses for 2008, as their normally weak operations struggled to cope with a collapse in international demand, a variety of factors that hit Chinese domestic traffic, high fuel prices early in the year and bad bets in fuel hedging later in the year. China Southern lost 4.8 billion yuan ($701 million), Air China 9.26 billion yuan and China Eastern 13.9 billion yuan.
Nowhere is the pinch of excess capacity being felt more than in India, where cuts of 15-20% last year are not proving sufficient. The industry is expected to slash capacity another 10% this year as losses mount to around $3 billion. High fees and congestion at airports, two long-standing complaints, are adding to carriers’ woes as they fight losses by cutting hotel and travel expenses for staff and crew, reducing salaries and scaling back business-class perquisites.
Embraer is to modernize the Brazilian navy’s fleet of 12 McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk carrier-based fighter-bombers: nine single-seat AF-1s and three two-seat AF-1As. The ex-Kuwaiti aircraft will receive new radar, avionics, power and oxygen generation systems.
Andrew Carolus, Director Aerospace and Defense Investment Banking Group BMO Capital Markets (Chicago, Ill.)
Your Market Focus column describing the likelihood of defense cuts underscores something we have been telling our investment banking clients for some time (AW&ST Mar. 16, p. 12).
Oman Air is expecting significant growth this year, but the airline’s profitability remains a challenge after it suffered a 42-million Oman rial ($109-million) loss in 2008. Last year’s poor performance, coming off a profit in 2007, was largely linked to the run-up in fuel prices, although the carrier’s expansion was also responsible for the bottom line loss. Even though fuel prices have now fallen, “The decline in top-line revenues will more than offset the resultant savings,” management warns, in announcing last year’s results.
Trade officials in Washington and Brussels are engaged in informal talks on a range of issues, including the evergreen contention between the U.S. and the European Union regarding aircraft subsidies; each side alleges the other supplies aid to its respective aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus. European officials are trying to assess whether Ron Kirk, the new U.S. trade representative, is open to discussing the issue to put an end to the legal battle being mediated in the World Trade Organization, industry officials say.
A U.S. congressional notification on Apr. 11 has cleared the way for the direct commercial sale (DCS) of eight Boeing P-8I aircraft to India. The P-8I, a derivative of the U.S. Navy’s P-8A, is a long-range, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.
