The fires of U.S. military acquisition reform are burning brighter this year in Washington than they have in decades. Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have drafted a package of process improvements at precisely the time President Barack Obama is brimming with initiatives and itching to reduce the cost of national security. The political momentum behind these events is impressive.
Russia’s Reshetnev ISS and Thales Alenia Space have contracted to build a 1.6-metric-ton Ku-/C-band satellite for Telekomunikasi Indonesia. To be launched in 2011, Telkom-3 is the second non-Russian spacecraft to be built by the ISS/Thales Alenia team.
NASA and the U.S. Air Force have named three national hypersonic science centers to conduct jointly funded research into materials and structures, combined-cycle propulsion and boundary-layer control for vehicles flying Mach 5 and faster. Each university/industry team will receive $2 million annually for up to five years to conduct research and train hypersonic researchers. The University of Virginia will lead work on modeling supersonic/hypersonic flow physics and controlling combined-cycle mode transition.
The FAA is quietly approaching a notable milestone in its effort to modernize the U.S. air traffic control network. The agency expects within the next month to debut a new system to handle en route traffic, a project that is a crucial precursor for the FAA’s long-term NextGen plan.
Finmeccanica expects major new military projects in the U.S., the U.K. and Italy to continue driving strong growth, though the prospect of cuts in these programs, compounded by the global financial crisis, could darken the outlook.
Goodrich and Boeing plan to test carbon brakes for the 737 in this year’s second quarter, followed by FAA certification in the fourth quarter, but the schedule depends on availability of an airplane for testing, according to Boeing. Goodrich competitor Messier-Bugatti, whose carbon brakes weigh 700 lb. less than the 737’s original equipment steel brakes, reports orders for 241 shipsets, including one this month from Norwegian Air Shuttle for its 42 737-800s, scheduled for delivery beginning in August.
Surrey Satellite Technology has delivered two of three suites of satellite avionics and software for Russia’s family of Kanopus Earth-observation satellites, the first two of which are to be launched in late 2009/early 2010. The third set is to be handed over later this year. Deliverables for the project—SSTL’s first major undertaking in Russia—include power management and batteries, onboard computers, data handling for subsystems and operation and system design support. The U.K.
North Korea has notified the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization that it plans to to launch an experimental communication satellite in early April.
Efforts to transform Europe’s air traffic system are also prompting big changes at Eurocontrol, as the agency takes on new roles and cedes a stake in its governance to industry.
AAI has flown a new Mark 4.7 version of its Aerosonde small unmanned aircraft, aimed at tactical and maritime endurance missions. The UAV, flight-tested last month at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, retains the Mark 4.4’s engine and avionics, but has a larger fuselage and wing and a multi-sensor payload combining electro-optical, infrared and laser rangefinder/designator capability. Endurance exceeds 12 hr., says AAI, adding that the new launch and recovery system allows space-constrained field and shipboard operations.
Installation of an automatic air collision avoidance system that developers say will save a significant number of lives and “billions of dollars” in fighter service over the next two decades is underway on a U.S. Air Force F-16 testbed.
Swiss International Air Lines is the first buyer of the Bombardier CSeries, but the aircraft maker indicates that the initial operator has yet to be secured. Swiss will put into service the 30 aircraft its parent company, Lufthansa, last year committed to buying through a letter of interest, the German airline group’s supervisory board decided last week. Swiss will use the first 20 CSeries to replace an equal number of Avro RJ100s on short-haul service in 2014 and 2015. A further 10 aircraft will be phased in starting in 2016.
I was intrigued by the letter from Nahum Gat (AW&ST Feb. 23, p. 8) regarding his education and career in the U.S. The Defense Dept. got its money’s worth. However, it raises questions. Graduate degrees are training exercises, and whoever pays for them should expect to recoup their investment. Today, it is not easy for an aerospace engineering student to change a student to a worker visa. Most of these highly trained engineers will return home. It is difficult to see how a government sponsor can justify funding a foreign student.
Delta Air Lines is still “anxious” to take deliveries of Boeing’s 787, President Ed Bastian said last week, as he discounted the significance of removing orders for the new twinjet from the company’s fleet plans, as included in a Mar. 2 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We’d already have eight flying had Boeing been able to deliver the plane,” he told a J.P. Morgan Aviation & Transportation Conference. Delta acquired 18 787 orders in its takeover of Northwest Airlines.
The mainline commercial aircraft China is developing will make its first flight in about eight years, says manufacturer Comac, suggesting the project has been advanced by a year or two. The company has completed the preliminary design and feasibility study for the airliner, which will be called the C919, says chief designer Wu Guanghui. Comac says it is looking for foreign suppliers, including engine makers, and will choose those contractors at an early stage in the development.
In yet another attempt to hold defense contractors accountable for programs, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) wants companies bidding on government contracts to be bonded and insured. Taylor, who chairs the House Armed Services’ seapower subcommittee, is trying to drum up interest on Capitol Hill for a system of performance bonds.
AeroVironment says it has completed an end-to-end demonstration of its Switchblade lethal small UAV. The 2-lb. man-portable, tube-launched Switchblade carried a video sensor and small warhead. In flight, the electrically powered air vehicle sends streaming video back to a hand-held controller. When a target is detected and designated by the operator, the UAV becomes a weapon, autonomously guided by a video tracker on to the target. The demo was funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Australia has contracted with a consortium including local EADS unit Australian Aerospace to maintain its Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules transports. The work is valued at A$292 million ($190 million). Other members of the group are Lockheed Martin and StandardAero.
High-level government and industry discussions in the coming weeks will not just help decide the fate of the A400M transport—they could also shape the face of European airlift fleets in the medium term. A series of closely related talks is planned to sort out how to deal with years of delays associated with the A400M, including whether the program should survive. A wholesale termination is possible after Mar. 31, since the aircraft program will have failed to fly by then.
Elbit recorded a net profit of $204 million in 2008, up from $76.7 million in the prior year, on a 33% spike in revenue to $2.65 billion. The profit margin increased to 7.7% from 3.9%. Elbit ended the year with a $5-billion backlog, with 72% for export customers.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport will be using the $4.50 passenger facility charge to fund design work for the second phase of the O’Hare Modernization Program. The FAA extended the charge for 22 months to pay the $177-million bill for design of the second airfield phase of the modernization, including two runways and a runway extension, a taxiway and a new air traffic control tower. Another $5 million will be spent for planning and feasibility studies for the western terminal area.
On May 23, 2008, a crippled fishing trawler radioed from the Bering Sea, “Mayday! Mayday! This is the Alaska Ranger. We are flooding, taking on water.” The distress call was received at 2:53 a.m. by the U.S. Coast Guard, which launched two helicopter rescue teams: an HH-60 Jayhawk, located 230 naut. mi. northeast of the trawler, and an HH-65C Dolphin, positioned 100 naut. mi. from the USCG Cutter Munro. Ensuing over the next several hours was the largest—and one of the most dramatic—cold-water rescues in U.S. Coast Guard history.
Sikorsky has demonstrated the Sandblaster anti-brownout system in flight tests on the JUH-60 Rascal helicopter testbed at the U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Developed for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Sandblaster integrates automated flight controls, see-through radar, sensor fusion and synthetic vision to increase safety and reduce workload when landing in brownout conditions.
Northrop Grumman is developing a wireless databus that could eliminate many of the wiring harnesses in a spacecraft, reducing both weight and the time required for integration and test. The company has won a 21-month, $4.1-million Phase 1 contract to develop a wireless databus interface based on commercial technology for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Plug-and-Play Avionics (SPA) architecture.
