While BAE Systems only had a mock-up of its Mantis unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Aero India, final assembly of the demonstrator airframe is well underway at BAE’s Warton site in England. The Indian defense ministry is interested in acquiring a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, and BAE could emerge as one of several contenders for a program award.
EADS is a leading contender to be prime supplier for a multibillion-dollar border control system for the Saudi national guard. Originally known as Miksa and now renamed the Saudi Border Guard Development Program, the system will feature radars, cameras, control facilities and ancillary equipment. First phase of the contract would be worth up to €1.5 billion ($1.95 billion) but could increase to more than €10 billion over the life of the program.
Honeywell plans to cut hardware iterations by 50% for the navigation, guidance and subsystems it is developing for Lockheed Martin as part of NASA’s Orion crew launch system, intended to transport astronauts to the International Space Station as well as on future expeditions to the Moon and possibly Mars. Virtual development of the electronics system could cut 12 months out of the development cycle.
Anticipation of a future shortage of aviation mechanics is spurring the State of Delaware to take action. Officials at Delaware Technical and Community College (DTCC) anticipate opening an FAA-approved airframe mechanic school late in April, following certification next month. DTCC’s Aviation Maintenance Education Center will offer an airframe license and an associate degree in aviation maintenance, and plans call for adding a powerplant curriculum in 2010. It was developed in cooperation with the FAA, Labor Dept., State of Delaware and Sussex County, Del.
Douglas Barrie (Bangalore), Neelam Mathews (Bangalore)
Even as India moves toward a second-quarter launch of candidate fighter flight trials, participants are girding for what could be a long haul and a test of stamina for the $10-billion prize. Among the six bidders, some believe a downselect may yet occur—even if only de facto—if the decision process is slowed significantly and costs mount. The 126-aircraft acquisition, however, is at the heart of a broad modernization program for the Indian air force, and it is a key element of efforts to rationalize the disparate fighter fleet.
Assistant U.S. Air Force Secretary for Acquisition Sue Payton provided an interesting set of statements in citing success of the C-5M Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) under her watch, but cited the lack of skilled oversight that is costing the government (AW&ST Jan. 19, p. 22). “I’d break the engines off of that C-5 RERP and have them be [government-furnished equipment] to Lockheed Martin. I could save them millions of taxpayer dollars, . . .
Mar. 3-4Technology Training Corp.’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference. San Diego Sheraton Hotel & Marina. Also, Mar. 26-27—Maritime Security & Domain Awareness Conference. Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, Alexandria, Va. Call +1 (310) 563-1210, fax +1 (310) 563-1220 or see www.ttcus.com Mar. 4-6—University of Westminster Aviation’s Seminar: “Marketing & Market Research for Air Transport: Practical Techniques and Strategies.” London. Call +44 (207) 911-5000 ext. 3344, fax +44 (207) 911-5057 or see www.westminster.ac.uk/transport
Graham Warwick (Washington), Bettina H. Chavanne (Washington)
Hovering above Boeing’s Mesa, Ariz., facility, the Little Bird is playing a key role in developing the latest Block III version of the AH-64D Apache. The light helicopter is acting as a surrogate for the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Warrior as Boeing tests the capability to control the unmanned aircraft from the Apache cockpit.
Bird Air Services, a subsidiary of New Delhi-based Bird Group, has signed a marketing agreement with Pacific Propeller International (PPI), a repair and overhaul services provider for several regional airline and military aircraft types to facilitate MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) services for propeller engines for aircraft in India. A recent report by Ernst and Young on the Indian aviation sector says the country’s airlines spending on MRO will increase to $1.2 billion in 2017 from $440 million in 2007, an annual growth rate of 11.8%.
Rolls-Royce and Honeywell are waiting for a decision on a request for proposals from the Indian defense ministry for re-engining of its Jaguar aircraft. Honeywell is proposing the F125IN, while Rolls-Royce is offering the Adour 821, an improved variant of the engine that already powers the aircraft. Weight and payload growth for the Jaguar fleet has left the aircraft underpowered, particularly for hot-and-high takeoffs, says one senior Indian air force officer.
John Young, the Pentagon’s increasingly unpopular acquisition chief, is becoming a big liability for Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Critics say the recruitment machinery is churning to find a replacement before even more enmity is created between the Pentagon’s top military and civilian managers. With debate over the Quadrennial Defense Review beginning this month, the Obama administration needs to move quickly. That said, there haven’t been any “new names introduced in the past two weeks,” says a longtime acquisition official with insight into the process.
Controllers are checking out a pair of telecom spacecraft following a Russian-government Proton M launch for the Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC). Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan came at 7:03 p.m. EST Feb. 10. Russian contractors built both spacecraft using Thales Alenia payloads. Reshetnev ISS, which has long worked with Thales Alenia for RSCC, built the 2.6-metric-ton AM44, which carries 16 Ku-, 10 C- and one L-band transponder and will be located at 11 deg. W. Long.
Alaska Airlines has asked the U.S. Transportation Dept. to investigate the ownership status of Virgin America to determine whether it still meets—or will continue to meet—the legal requirement that U.S.-based airlines be owned and controlled by U.S. citizens. Alaska, citing recent media reports and Virgin America financial data, raised questions about the airline’s sources of new cash in 2008 and the possibility that its U.S. investors soon will cash out.
China Eastern will add capacity at Xi’an to support development of the western Chinese city’s airport as a regional hub. The move is part of an agreement with airport operator China West Airport Group.
Lease rates are falling, aircraft cancellations are mounting, and airlines are considering further capacity cuts. The prospects for Airbus and Boeing to end the year without white tails—aircraft coming off the production line with no customer —look increasingly bleak. In January, Airbus and Boeing saw cancellations outpace orders.
Automated boarding gates—similar to those used in subway stations—will be introduced at several airports this year, as part of a global airline initative to streamline passenger flow and reduce costs.
The first group of nonrated U.S. Air Force pilots who are being trained to fly MQ-1 Predator missions is expected to graduate by the end of the summer.
Eumetsat says the Advanced High Resolution Picture Transmission subsystem on its first polar-orbiting satellite, Metop-A, is operational again following a two-month trial to correct an anomaly on a power transistor that shut down the system in July 2007. The system will not be activated over the polar regions and the South Atlantic, because of the heavy ion radiation that caused the outage.
The four-star general in charge of pilot instruction for the U.S. Air Force says he needs a new jet trainer, but acknowledges it is unlikely to enter the fleet until about 2020 owing to tighter budgets expected in Fiscal 2010 and beyond. The average age of the Air Force’s twin-engine, supersonic T-38 trainer is 42 years. The T-38C configuration, which includes upgraded avionics and engine components, is primarily used to train pilots flying the F-15, F-16, F-22, A-10 and B-1 fleets.
In the media frenzy to make a hero out of US Airways Flight 1549 Capt. Chesley B. Sullenburger, 3rd, the rest of the crew that made a success out of the Jan. 15 ditching for awhile seemed to be forgotten. It is very likely there would not have been a successful outcome of the incident if First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and flight attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent had not performed with as much competence as did the captain. They all are very experienced, knew what they had to do and did it under the most trying conditions.
Efforts underway to grow the U.S. Marine Corps are presenting opportunities and challenges for the rotorcraft industry as the service upgrades and expands its hard-used rotary-wing fleet. The heavy-lift Sikorsky CH-53K and upgraded Bell UH-1Y Huey and AH-1Z Cobra helicopters are the primary focus of the Marines now that the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor has proven itself operationally in Iraq.
Buoyed by a funding upswing, German aerospace center DLR plans to build a broadband telecom satellite demonstrator and to fly a fuel-cell-powered aircraft that could help in the development of high-altitude UAVs. The agency expects to receive a 5-10% boost in research spending this year and next under a government plan intended to promote innovations that could lead to long-term economic growth, says Johann-Dietrich Woerner, chairman of the DLR executive board. Research spending this year is pegged at around €300 million ($390 million).
Thales Raytheon Systems will provide a new radar for the French air force to monitor airspace around the country’s launch facility at Kourou, French Guiana. The radar is scheduled to be installed by 2011, according to the French defense ministry. The system will boost surveillance range for the military to 500 km. (311 mi.) from about 200 km. In addition to the radar, Thales Raytheon is responsible for providing the ground-based infrastructure.
Sikorsky is aiming for U.S. certification of the S-76D medium twin-turbine helicopter a year from now, having completed the first flight on Feb. 7. The company says it has about 100 agreements in place for deliveries beginning in 2010. The aircraft was flown once for 40 min.—to collect engine data—and is expected to begin flight testing in earnest within a month, says lead program pilot Craig Barnes. “We collected data for Pratt & Whitney Canada on power matching and response at higher power,” he says.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., facing a critical design review this year for the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter, has awarded additional subcontracts. Aurora Flight Sciences, which builds the helo’s main rotor pylon, will also supply the composite and titanium engine nacelles. BAR Systems will provide the armored, crashworthy cockpit seats and armor protection for the cabin. First flight of the CH-53K is tentatively scheduled for late in 2011.
