The recent program terminations outlined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates aren’t the end of the story. There will be more with the revised budget release in May. One is the Navy’s decision to end the Boeing-led Harpoon Block III antiship missile. Poor performance by Rockwell Collins in developing the data link, which is designed to provide targeting data in flight, prompted the termination, according to government and industry officials.
The gradiometer on board the European Space Agency’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is online and gathering data as the spacecraft gears up to begin science operations this summer. The gradiometer is specifically designed to map Earth’s gravity field with unprecedented accuracy during the spacecraft’s 30-month mission, according to ESA. The instrument consists of three pairs of identical accelerometers, each mounted to point in orthogonal directions to allow the simultaneous measurement of spatial variations in the gravity field.
Regarding Adrian Schofield’s article “Common Cause” (AW&ST Mar. 23. p. 26), in mid-2008, the price for gasoline in the U.S. exceeded $4 per gallon, a price so effective at inhibiting consumption that it caused a steep decline in gasoline tax revenue intended for highway improvements. The U.S. Transportation Dept. had to cover the shortfall with $8 billion from the general fund.
European defense officials think the global financial crisis, combined with France’s return to NATO’s unified command, which was officially concluded on Apr. 3, could act as a catalyst for more European defense cooperation. The most likely progress is expected to involve France and the U.K., which both face military hardware commitments they probably can’t meet on their own (see p. 29). Thales Chairman/CEO Denis Ranque says the two countries are already in danger of losing several key areas of expertise, notably combat aircraft electronics and underwater systems.
The FAA has authorized large-cabin Gulfstream jets equipped with the PlaneView avionics system to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) for oceanic and remote area waypoint reporting. Gulfstream says it is the first manufacturer of purpose-built business jets to receive the approval. ADS-C automatically sends position information at predetermined intervals, allowing air traffic control to track it. The system also automatically reports deviations from its cleared altitude and routing, and provides air traffic control with weather data.
In a case dating to 1995, Northrop Grumman has agreed to a $325-million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by a whistleblower over defective transistors used on satellites built for the National Reconnaissance Office, according to the U.S. Justice Dept. The transistors were made by TRW, which Northrop Grumman acquired in 2002, and used on satellites it built and some manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The government joined with the whistleblower, Robert Ferro, an Aerospace Corp.
Panasonic Avionics has signed up five major broadcasters to provide live news for its inflight TV network. The 3-5-year agreements involve Al Jazeera, BBC World News, Bloomberg, Euronews and the France 24 news channel. Inflight TV, like onboard broadband connectivity and cell phone services, is part of Panasonic’s Ku-band eXConnect inflight entertainment equipment product portfolio.
Capt. (ret.) John A. Crocker has history reversed on birds at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 8). Heinz Refuge is in Tinicum Marsh, the largest remaining inland tidal marsh in Pennsylvania, and near the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. The adjacent “airstrip” that is now PHL was first placed on Hog Island in 1936—yes, on an island around these rivers, creeks and a marsh. Think that might attract waterfowl? Only Interstate 95 separates the airport from Heinz.
A new U.S. plan for future overhead imaging capabilities calls for multiple high-end satellites being bought by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as well as additional agreements with commercial imaging services providers in the U.S., according to government officials. The NRO intends to sign a contract within months for the purchase of more than one classified electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging satellite that will extend the life of the government’s overhead collection architecture, according to senior intelligence officials.
Vindication for former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) came six months late and an election short. Once one of the most influential members of the Senate, sitting on the Commerce, Homeland Security and Appropriations committees, Stevens was convicted of seven felony corruption charges last year, just weeks before he sought reelection for an eighth term. Last week, a federal judge dismissed the ethics conviction—at the request of the Justice Dept. The judge also appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the lawyers that prosecuted Stevens, 85.
Launch of Europe’s Herschel-Planck dual telescope mission has been rescheduled for May 6. The launch, most recently slated for Apr. 16, was postponed because of the need to conduct additional satellite flightworthiness checks.
The chief designer of China’s manned space program, Zhou Jiaping, says more tests of the spacesuit used in his nation’s first spacewalk are upcoming, along with upgrades planned to meet long-term requirements for lunar exploration. Speaking at the National Space Symposium, Zhou also adds that China plans to continue using the Russian-made Orlan suit as a backup. Describing the Chinese-developed suit used in the Sept. 27, 2008, extravehicular activity, Zhou says it is pressurized to about 5.8 psi. and provides life support for 6 hr.
Irregular warfare may be the new buzz word for Pentagon planning, but Defense Secretary Gates will have none of it in his own house. He says he will not tolerate what he calls “guerilla warfare”—armed services officials independently arguing for their parochial interests on Capitol Hill. The worst offender recently was the Air Force, which publicly argued last year for more F-22 Raptors than the number endorsed by the president. Apparently, Gates surprised even himself in managing to keep a lid on his program hit list until he announced the decisions last week.
EP-X—the Navy’s replacement for the aging EP-3E Aries II signals and communications surveillance aircraft—is being designed to carry a large-aperture AESA radar that will allow it to move into the world of network-centric warfare and the increasingly esoteric field of information operations.
Obituary: USAF Lt .Col. (ret.) David P. Cooley, a Lockheed Martin F-22 test pilot, died in the Mar. 25 crash of his aircraft during a test mission just north of Edwards AFB, Calif. He was 49. Cooley had been involved in both operational and developmental flight test since 1989, participating in the F-111, F-15, RU-38, F-117 and F-22 programs, training and mentoring future test pilots.
The first Hawker Beechcraft MC-12W has been delivered to the U.S. Air Force and will receive its payload at L-3 Integrated Systems. The so-called Project Liberty effort had been scheduled for delivery in March and deployment in April. The turboprop-based intelligence collection system was designed last year to swiftly provide support for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aircraft 1-7 will be built on the King Air 350 platform, with Aircraft 8-37 based on the 350ER.
Madhu Unnikrishnan (Washington), Robert Wall (Paris)
The movement to cap emissions of greenhouse gases may have had a head start in Europe, but the debate is now shifting to Washington, where two powerful lawmakers are aiming to fast-track legislation that could have a costly price tag for the airline industry.
Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) is addressing a long-standing concern within the piston-powered aircraft community: the possible termination of leaded avgas production. The engine maker’s solution was simple: use unleaded gas. TCM made history on Mar. 25 when it flew a G36 Beechcraft Bonanza out of Mobile (Ala.) Downtown Airport, its home field, burning 94-octane unleaded avgas. It claimed this was the first test flight of a certificated aircraft using unleaded avfuel, as opposed to automobile gas. The aircraft has flown several times since, burning unleaded fuel.
Since its purchase by H3 Aerospace, Grob Aircraft is making strides to rebuild its trainer aircraft business. Its first transaction under the new corporate banner covers the sale of more than 20 G115 trainers to VT Aerospace. The contract value through the life of the program tops €10 million. VT Aerospace has a fleet of 97 Grob aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin toward year-end.
Some aerospace contractors have dubbed Apr. 6 “Black Monday,” because of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s announcement that he plans to scale back or terminate dozens of Pentagon programs in order to reshape the U.S. military. Nevertheless, the outlook for Pentagon aviation may not be as dark as it seems: Programs are being killed and some jobs will be lost, but Congress won’t approve the plan without a fight.
An article on the satellite telecom sector mistakenly attributed a comment on the impact of falling automobile sales (AW&ST Mar. 23, p. 43). The opinion is shared collectively by several analysts. An article on maritime mobile satellite service in the same issue (p. 45) misstated the title of Arduino Pattachini. He is director of multimedia services at Eutelsat. The article also incorrectly described a new tactical networking system introduced recently by ViaSat. It will enable cell phones to dial directly to a military phone.
Ejection of the oval-shaped dust cover that protected Kepler’s telescope and photometer is allowing spacecraft’s mission control at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo., to begin a couple of weeks of calibration exercises before scientists can start using the observatory to hunt for exoplanets.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Hamel, formerly of Air Force Space Command at Los Angeles AFB, has been named to receive the Goddard Astronautics Award as part of the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ’ (AIAA) Aerospace Spotlight Awards. Other recipients will be: Reed Aeronautics Award, Anatol Roshko, retired professor at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena; Foundation Award for Excellence to The Challenger Center, Alexandria, Va., which will be accepted by June Scobee Rodgers, founding director/chair; Elmer A.
Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory and Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI), a software provider for analysis of space, defense and intelligence assets, have teamed to provide a new sensor modeling capability that will enable users to model ultraviolet, visible and infrared sensors for observing space objects from the ground, air and space platforms.
Astrium Services CEO Eric Beranger says his company is looking at various solutions, including Spain’s Ingenio, to ensure continuity of medium-resolution wide-swath imaging data currently provided by its Spot 5 satellite, which has exceeded its five-year design life. Contracted last fall to sister company Astrium Satellites, Ingenio (formerly called Seosat) will supply 2.5-meter (8.2-ft.) panchromatic and 10-meter multispectral land imagery for civil and government applications, similar to the specifications for Spot 5.
