NASA’s Kepler mission to find planets outside our Solar System is well into its 60-day checkout period following a trouble-free countdown and nominal launch into clear skies Mar. 6. A United Launch Alliance Delta II lifted the 2,320-lb. spacecraft, built by Ball Aerospace, into an Earth-trailing orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. “With the successful launch, we are now positioned to turn on the photometer and start collecting calibration data from our 95-megapixel camera,” says John Troeltzsch, Ball Aerospace program manager.
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca and Australian Aerospace have won a contract to provide through-life support for MRTM322-01/9 turboshaft engines that equip Australia’s 46 new MRH90 helicopters. The five-year contract carries a further five-year option.
“The days of giving defense contractors a blank check are over.” That recent pronouncement from President Barack Obama and other signals that domestic issues—such as jobs, energy and transportation—are higher on his agenda is certainly worrying investors. Since the start of the year, General Dynamics Corp. shares have fallen 37%, Raytheon Co. 35%, Lockheed Martin Corp. 31% and Northrop Grumman Corp. 23%, outpacing a 20% decline in the S&P 500 index. The question is whether investors should look at those declines as buying opportunities—or keep running for cover.
The European Defense Agency will set up a procurement unit to coordinate purchase of commercial satellite communications services by European Union members for the EU’s growing crisis management operations. The three-year pilot project—with an anticipated business volume of €30 million ($37.5 million)—is intended to lead to a permanent unit. The move follows the recent decision to make Europe’s new Multinational Space-based Imaging System (Musis) an EDA project (AW&ST Mar. 9, p. 19).
Already facing a budget crunch, the European Space Agency’s first rover mission to Mars is now struggling to stay within its specified weight limits, making the downsizing of its science payload seemingly inevitable.
Lockheed Martin software engineer Binh Dang tests the en route automation modernization (ERAM) at the William J. Hughes Technical Center near Atlantic City, N.J. ERAM is considered a crucial upgrade for the U.S. air traffic control network, and a foundation for the NextGen modernization plan (see p. 44). The system is being installed at all 20 of FAA’s en route centers, and its operational debut is scheduled for late March or early April at the Salt Lake City and Seattle centers. Lockheed Martin photo.
In another significant aircraft bird strike, an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed Electra was hit while climbing out from Boston for Philadelphia in 1960. The plane crashed into Boston Harbor, killing a number of people. Afterward, I remember a picture of two men with shotguns standing guard to scare off birds when planes were taking off.
Eutelsat has contracted with Thales Alenia Space to build W3C, a new spacecraft intended to complement W3A at the 7 deg. E. Long. position, which serves the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and Europe. Eutelsat had planned to use W3B at this spot, but after the failure of W2M in January decided to switch W3B, currently under construction, to the operator’s 16 E. neighborhood. To be launched in the third quarter of 2011, W3C will provide much-needed redundancy at 7 deg. E.
U.S. officials are firing back verbal volleys to Chinese counterparts over an incident in the South China Sea this month after the Pentagon says Chinese ships and possibly aircraft “harassed” an unarmed U.S. surveillance ship. The USNS Impeccable, a Military Sealift Command vessel, was mapping the sea bottom 70 mi. south of Hainan Island on Mar. 8 when the ship was surrounded by five Chinese vessels. U.S. civilian crews used fire hoses to challenge them.
Two years after its purchase by Sikorsky, PZL Mielec has rolled out the first of 200 Black Hawk cabins. The initial cabin, the first produced outside the U.S., will be used by PZL on the S-70i International Black Hawk program, a multi-mission 10-ton-class variant of the H-60 developed with mission-specific requirements for international customers. PZL is to assemble the S-70i using parts and components from a global supply chain. S-70i deliveries are expected in late 2011. However, the second Black Hawk cabin from Mielec will be shipped to the U.S.
Not everyone on Capitol Hill is talking about acquisition reform. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), for example, says he’s lost confidence in the intelligence community for failing to recognize Pakistan as the biggest threat to the nation.
One industry executive proposes an option to reform the procurement system’s inability to quickly field technologies. John Cronin, president of Alliant Techsystems’ Mission Systems, suggests building off of the “cost-as-an-independent-variable” concept, which allows trades in all areas of a program in order to preserve cost. This model, applied to the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, could include easing requirements. Cronin proposed to the Precision Strike Assn. assembly a “time-as-an-independent-variable” construct.
Measat Satellite Systems of Malaysia says its new Measat-3a satellite has been rescheduled for a June launch. Initially planned for launch last August atop a Land Launch booster, Measat-3a was damaged in a crane accident at the launch pad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, requiring it to be returned to Orbital Sciences Corp. for repairs.
Ryanair will drop airport check-in with a shift to 100% web check-ins starting Oct. 1. Passenger will also have to pay £5 ($6.95) or €5 ($6.40) for the service. The first step in the process begins Mar. 19, when web-based check-in will be rolled out. Bookings made beginning May 1 will require web check-ins although during the transition period check-ins can still be completed at the airport for £20 or €20.
An American Airlines 767-300ER introduced blended winglets into revenue service Mar. 8 on a transatlantic flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to London Heathrow. Winglets save fuel by reducing drag, thereby offering range and payload advantages. Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) has sold about 2,500 sets for Boeing 737s and 757s, but American is the first to install them on a wide-body transport. Plans call for modifying all 58 of the airline’s 767s, aiming to save up to 29 million gal. of fuel annually.
An ambitious initiative to redraw Europe’s airspace boundaries is gathering momentum, as new legislation increases the pressure to turn plans into reality. Proposals have been drafted to create nine functional airspace blocks (FABs), covering most of Europe. A new Single Sky legislative package is aimed at boosting the FAB initiative, and has imposed a 2012 deadline for governments and air navigation service providers to have the FABs established.
Michael Bruno (Washington), Bettina Chavanne (Washington)
A collaborative effort by Lockheed Martin and U.S. Army program leaders won the 2009 Laureate for military technologies and operations for a revolution in bringing the benefits of military unmanned aerial vehicles to helicopter cockpits.
As legacy carriers continue to falter worldwide and low-fare carriers strengthen their niches, Aviation Week recognizes one of the most successful and innovative airline founders—AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes. The Malaysia-based airline has faced many obstacles, from cultural differences among its Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian staff to protectionist governments and a dearth of aircraft financing, not to mention its launch in 2001.
Over the last 19 years, the Defense Dept. has made some progress in implementing reform of its troubled acquisition programs, says House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), including “an almost uncountable number” of fixes recommended by the Government Accountability Office. But problems persist. “It is unacceptable that the department’s business systems remain . . . incapable of generating the decision-quality information that senior leaders need,” says Skelton.
Despite a massive downturn in the global air transport business, Airbus and Boeing believe they can survive the year without their order books being eviscerated. But in 2010, they may not be so lucky. What’s more, there are indications the market is deteriorating more quickly than thought only two months ago. In January, Airbus estimated it could secure 300-400 orders this year. That’s still the goal, but reaching it “is becoming more challenging,” says Louis Gallois, chief executive of EADS, Airbus’s parent.
Delay in the completion of safety modifications is forcing the U.K. to withdraw Nimrod MR2 and R1 support from ongoing combat operations for several months. Aircraft awaiting modification will not be flown after the end of March. The modification work resulted from the loss of a Nimrod MR2 and its crew during an operation in Afghanistan in 2006. The modifications—involving hot-air ducting and seal replacement—were due to be completed at the end of this month.
European carriers are coming to terms with the prospect that their market will not recover before 2011 and the slump in premium traffic could continue even longer. The outlook is driving airlines both to adapt their premium product offerings and look for other ways to trim capacity. Premium traffic can be expected to grow again eventually, but it may never reach its strength of recent years, British Airways CEO Willie Walsh tells investors. The airline’s premium business has experienced six straight months of declines.
So, the U.S. Air Force is looking for a new bomber in the 2018 timeframe. This new aircraft is envisioned as a stealthy, subsonic, manned penetrator with a large payload and global reach. Almost certainly it will be a flying-wing design. Don’t we already have such an aircraft?
France is preparing to reintegrate into the full NATO high command, provided the move passes muster in the country’s parliament this week. Full reintegration, which would culminate in a 15-year rapprochement with the Atlantic alliance begun by earlier governments, was announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy a year ago. Government leaders initially resisted putting the plan to a vote.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace has won its first Boeing Integrated Defense Systems maintenance, repair and overhaul contract. It will be an MRO center for General Electric GE T58-engine transmissions for CH-47 helicopters.
