The Russian air force is—for the first time—detailing the air-to-air weapons capability of the MiG-31BM variant of the Foxhound, and showing the actual configuration of the R-33S long-range missile. A MiG-31BM was on display at Kubinka air base for the visit of President Dmitry Medvedev at the end of March, as was an array of weaponry for the aircraft. Medvedev was shown the latest additions to the air force inventory and upgraded aircraft types; he also was given a flight in a Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback.
With increased demand for services in the Middle East, Emirates plans to increase weekly service on May 1 to three regional gateways from its main hub at Dubai. Its weekly flights will increase to Dammam, Saudi Arabia, to seven from five; to Beirut, to 17 from 14; and to Tehran, to 21 from 19. For January, the International Air Transport Assn. reported a 3.1% increase in passenger demand in the Middle East region despite the global economic downturn, notes Ahmed Khoory, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations in the Gulf, Middle East and Iran.
Bettina H. Chavanne (Washington), Michael Fabey (Washington)
The newest competition in Washington is for biggest loser. Both industry and the military will suffer substantially if the Apr. 6 budget recommendations of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates are implemented. Gates wants to ax the Pentagon’s two most high-profile rotorcraft projects—the Combat Search-and-Rescue (CSAR-X) and VH-71 presidential helicopters—essentially wiping clean the drawing board for new starts in military helicopters for the foreseeable future.
For veteran aircrews, the change from the long-serving turboprop P-3C Orion patrol aircraft to the new P-8A Poseidon turbofan is designed to be intuitive and seamless. But for those who won their wings on the P-3A of the 1960s, the change in mission profile, user-friendly equipment and advanced communications is stunning.
FB Heliservices, a joint venture between Cobham and Bristow Helicopters, has taken delivery of the first of two AgustaWestland AW139 medium helicopters it has on order for search-and-rescue training. The helicopters will be operated from Royal Air Force Valley and provide training for export customers of the AgustaWestland AW139.
Thales Alenia Space says a company facility in Aquila, in Italy’s Abruzzi region, was damaged by last week’s earthquake and has been closed until further notice. The plant, which employs 290 people, produces space electronics equipment.
Dermot Mannion last week resigned as chief executive of Aer Lingus after four tumultuous years in which the carrier left the Oneworld alliance and Mannion twice had to fend off takeover attempts by Ryanair. Last year saw heavy losses for Aer Lingus. Similar results are expected this year.
Testing of the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, halted after debris appeared in the oil system, is to resume following modifications to a bearing. The changes, though described as minor, come at a critical time for the F136 program as GE and Rolls wait to find out if the U.S. Defense Dept. will once again try to cancel the alternate engine. The companies remain optimistic since, despite the interruption, testing will stay close to milestone targets because engine runs began ahead of schedule.
The NTSB has determined that inappropriate actions by American Airlines pilots and maintenance personnel probably caused the Sept. 28, 2007, inflight fire and emergency landing of an MD-80 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. At an Apr. 7 hearing, the safety board said maintenance workers used unapproved and inappropriate manual engine-start procedures. This, in turn, led to the uncommanded opening of the left engine air turbine starter valve and subsequent engine fire that erupted during the aircraft’s climbout from Lambert.
The president of the European Business Aviation Assn. (EBAA), Brian Humphries, is also temporarily resuming his former duties as CEO, replacing Eric Mandemaker. The change is not linked to the downturn in business aviation, an industry official says, noting that it had more to do with the direction of the organization. However, the downturn has caused EBAA to postpone seeking a new CEO. Humphries is expected to hold both positions for at least a year as EBAA looks to develop internal talent.
University of Arizona-Tucson astronomer Erick Young, a specialist in designing science instruments, has been named science mission operations director for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia). A converted Boeing 747SP, Sofia is scheduled to undergo “open-door” flight tests of the cavity that houses its 2.5-meter infrared telescope in July and August, leading to its first imaging flight in December. Science missions are set to begin early next year.
“Pay me now or pay me later” is how Army Brig. Gen. John Davis, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Global Network Operations, assesses current U.S. cybersecurity. Defense Dept. networks are attacked thousands of times a day, according to senior combat commanders in the field, and defending its Global Information Grid from cyber attacks has cost the military more than $100 million in just the past six months. “It would be nice to spend that money proactively,” Davis says, “rather than cleaning up after the fact.” Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, chief of U.S.
The time has come again to express serious concerns about the world’s flight safety community: It is besieged by mounting unfairness and injustice. The latest development, the worst since unwarranted accident criminalization first appeared, comes from Italy. Four years after a Tuninter ATR 72-200 twin turboprop ditched into the sea off Sicily, a court in Palermo has sentenced seven pilots, airline executives and technicians in absentia to terms up to 10 years.
Continental Airlines and the Star Alliance carriers are one step closer to forging a partnership that would control the largest share of transatlantic traffic, thanks to an initial go-ahead from U.S. regulators. This move is part of a major shake-up of the Atlantic market that sees U.S. and European carriers maneuvering into three giant competing entities.
While U.S. policymakers fret over the latest North Korean missile launch and Iran’s role, Israel announced on Apr. 7 another successful test of its Arrow Weapons System, an anti-missile system designed to shield the country from a missile attack by Iran. The Arrow II interceptor, developed by Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries, struck a simulated Iranian Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Israel also is working on a higher-end interceptor to be able to attack longer-range Iranian ballistic missiles with higher closing velocities.
Orbital checkout is underway for the U.S. Air Force’s second Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft. Built by Boeing at its factory in El Segundo, Calif., WGS-2 lifted off at 8:31 p.m. EDT Apr. 3 on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 421 rocket. A ground station in Dongara, Australia, received the military communication satellite’s first signals 44 min. later, and Boeing confirmed that the satellite is functioning normally. After a series of in-orbit maneuvers and tests, WGS-2 will be turned over to the Air Force.
FAA and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to share best environmental practices at airports in the U.S. and China. The deal to mitigate aviation’s impact on the global environment was made Apr. 7 at the U.S.-China Aviation Symposium, which also focused on ways to improve air safety and modernize air traffic control.
Having been soundly pummeled for months by legislators, commentators, the Man on the Street and the Man in the White House, business aviation has begun to land a few punches of its own. The National Air Transportation Assn. and National Aircraft Resale Assn. have scheduled mass member visits to Capitol Hill. And Cessna Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft have begun advertising campaigns in general media that advocate business aircraft use as particularly appropriate for challenging economic times.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace and its local Chinese partner have broken ground on an engine shop at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport that will join in the increasingly intense competition to overhaul CFM56 turbofans in the country. The new business, to be known as Statco, will initially support CFM56-5Bs and CFM56-7Bs for the Airbus A320 family and the current series of Boeing 737s, states ST Aero. Capacity will be 300 engines a year and the $78-million plant will have a test cell rated at 90,000 lb. thrust, enough for all but the largest 777 engines.
Five of the 21 members of the Star Alliance flying to London Heathrow will shift to Terminal 1 this summer as the group continues its drive to operate “under one roof” at Europe’s busiest hub. When completed, the move will mean Star’s members are nearly evenly divided between Terminals 1 and 3. Full consolidation out of Terminal 3 is not expected until 2013. Making the move to Terminal 1 from Terminal 2 are Austrian, Croatia Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and TAP.
A virtuous cycle of ample capacity, high profits and low rates has space insurers smiling, but debris risks and the arrival of new suppliers with spotty track records could spell trouble.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, known for her sound management even of such troubled programs as the Airborne Laser and Transformational Satellite, will be temporarily in charge of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which buys and operates classified satellites, effective Nov. 18. NRO Director Scott Large, in office since October 2007, notified Gates of his resignation Apr. 8.
The U.S. Navy is bringing into service the next generation of aircraft, payloads and networking capabilities (see p. 50). This illustration by Boeing artist Doug Yamada shows, from the top: a proposed EP-X design to replace the EP-3E; the Scan Eagle, which is being redesigned for air-launch to extend intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance footprints; P-8A Poseidon, which has been chosen to replace the P-3C patrol aircraft; and the Navy’s EA-18G Growler, which replaces the EA-6B that is passing into exclusive Marine Corps service.
Boeing has upped the ante for international defense contractors doing business in India with the opening of Boeing Research & Technology-India in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). The center will coordinate the work of more than 1,500 technologists, including 100 dedicated to advanced research, and is only the third such facility that the Seattle manufacturer has opened outside the U.S. The others are in Europe and Australia.
