General Electric is set to play a key role in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Vulcan program, which aims to design and ground test an engine capable of accelerating a full-scale hypersonic vehicle to speeds in excess of Mach 4.
The U.S. Defense Dept. has tapped Boeing for continued production of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits and Small-Diameter Bombs (SDB). The $106.9-million JDAM award includes more than 4,000 tail kits—to be delivered in 2010-11—for the Air Force and Navy. The $110-million SDB contract includes more than 2,500 weapons and carriages for the Air Force, with deliveries set for 2010.
The U.S. Air Force remains interested in a high-speed, long-range strike aircraft despite the decision to stay subsonic for its Next-Generation Bomber and cancellation of the Blackswift hypersonic demonstrator.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will cut its capital outlays by 38% in 2009, to €290 million ($394 million), because of continued weakening in demand and an ecology tax that is draining traffic to nearby facilities in Belgium and Germany. The airport says traffic will drop 6-10% this year, after a 0.8% decrease in 2008. Among the victims will be a plan to renovate an airport departure hall.
Is the business aircraft industry heading into a deep stall? A number of indicators suggest the sharp deterioration in the second half of 2008 is only intensifying. That means a sector that once was a big plus for the stocks of Bombardier Inc., General Dynamics Corp. (Gulfstream), Textron Inc. (Cessna) and suppliers such as Honeywell International Inc. and Rockwell Collins Inc. may become a liability.
Lockheed Martin officials say they have successfully conducted the first live warhead ground launch test of the DAGR guidance kit for the 2.75-in. rocket at Eglin AFB, Fla. The test also demonstrated the missile’s penetration and time-delayed fuzing feature. It penetrated a vehicle and detonated inside. The rocket and four-pack container fits onto Hellfire launchers on the Cobra, Apache, Seahawk, Kiowa and Tiger helicopters.
Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems of Garland, Tex., has completed the segment design review in the competition for USAF’s next-generation GPS Control Segment contract. Raytheon also has demonstrated the modernized capability engineering proscribed in the contract, at its Aurora, Colo., facility. USAF is expected to award the contract in July. Raytheon is competing against Northrop Grumman.
The FAA, on the heels of Brazilian and European aviation authorities, has certified Embraer’s largest executive jet, the Lineage 1000. The U.S. agency gave the aircraft its stamp of approval on Jan. 7; Brazil’s ANAC National Civil Aviation Agency and the European Aviation Safety Agency both awarded type certification in December.
Mike Griffin says he doesn’t know if he’ll be asked to stay on as NASA administrator in the Obama administration, but he’s dead certain it would be a mistake to drop development of the Ares I crew launch vehicle in favor of a human-rated evolved expendable launch vehicle. In a detailed defense of Bush administration human-spaceflight policy to the Space Transportation Assn., Griffin notes it might be possible to close the gap in U.S.
While past presidential inaugurations drew private jets by the many hundreds to Washington-area airports, that might not be the case for the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Dulles International officials say the airport is prepared to park in excess of 400 visiting aircraft during the week—possibly using its new Runway 1L/19R as a temporary parking area—and other airports are prepared for hundreds more. But one fixed base operator reported that with two weeks remaining to the swearing-in ceremony, reservations were “very light,” well below 100.
The Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia will be the first participant in the TSA’s Aviation Security Sustainable International Standards Teams (Assist) program, aimed at building a robust aviation security system. TSA experts and local officials will work together to develop and enhance security initiatives, under terms of a joint statement of intent signed last week by the agency and St. Lucia’s tourism and civil aviation ministry.
The auction of Eclipse Aviation’s assets is set to take place Jan. 14 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. EclipseJet Aviation International became the “stalking horse” or lead bidder for the Eclipse 500 maker on Nov. 25, 2008, when it proposed to take over the failed concern for $28 million in cash, plus more than $160 million in new notes. EclipseJet is a subsidiary of ETIRC, a Brussels-based investment concern that was the majority owner of Eclipse Aviation when it declared bankruptcy.
The latest increment of USAF’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) transition involves redesignating the 480th and 70th Intelligence Wings at Ft. Meade, Md.—home to the National Reconnaissance Organization—as ISR wings. The change broadens their scope beyond signals intelligence to include all elements of ISR for ground, air, space and cyberspace missions.
I have to wonder what alternate reality Michael Goldberg is living in (AW&ST Nov. 17, 2008, p. 62). We now have a liberal Democratic president-elect with a liberal Democratic Congress that will be looking for a cash cow to fund more social programs. The only question is: Will the defense budget be cut by the 25% suggested by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), or will it be worse than that? All that aerospace and defense (A&D) executives have to do is wait for the next budget cycle and any perceived staffing issues will take care of themselves.
For more than 50 years, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa) innovations have enhanced the Defense Dept., the intelligence community and commercial industry. Important contributions include developing the Saturn V rocket, the first Corona photo-reconnaissance satellite, stealth technologies, many unmanned aerial vehicles and ARPAnet, the precursor to the Internet.
Michael Mecham (San Francisco), Neelam Mathews (New Delhi), David A. Fulghum (Washington)
India, struck by terrorist attacks from the sea in November, will purchase Boeing P-8 Poseidon long-range maritime reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft, opening the door to a major advance in its maritime patrol capabilities. The order is the first for the P-8 outside the U.S.
Potential contractors on NASA’s heavy-lift Ares V Moon rocket will have until Feb. 9 to submit bids on the first procurement package of the huge launch vehicle, under a request for proposal issued Jan. 5. The RFP came as the 111th Congress prepared to hold its first session, and with President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural still a week away.
China forecasts its airlines will carry 11% more passengers this year than in 2008, implying faster growth than has been seen over the past 12 months but still less than rates of around 15% earlier in the decade. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is also making new efforts to support carriers by dropping some airport fees and allowing new high-frequency services. And it is again urging them to defer delivery of aircraft they had planned to receive this year.
For 52 years, Aviation Week editors have honored achievement in aviation and aerospace in its many forms. Those selected as Laureates represent the best of those fields in determination, innovation, business acumen, operational skill and heroism. Over the years, the honorees have ranged from larger-than-life figures to unsung heroes. The awards for achievements in 2008 are no exception.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Airbus is examining more closely whether it may need to cut A320 production rates in response to the continuing global economic downturn. Its narrow-body production rate is now baselined at 36 aircraft a month, as the company deferred an increase to 40 late last year. Industry sources say Airbus is now considering several lower rates, the most drastic of which could take production below 30 A320s per month.
The space industry base that China is building at Tianjin will handle all the main technical processes in making spacecraft and rockets, says the project’s backer, China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. Activities at the base will form a complete chain stretching from research and development, to trial production, testing and manufacturing. The facility on China’s north coast is part of a plan to set up a commercially focused space launch company that would be partly owned by private shareholders, with stock trading on the Shanghai exchange.
Boeing says USAF exercised a $234-million option at year-end for full production of the sixth Wideband Global Satcom spacecraft. USAF also allocated $75 million to continue risk reduction and system definition for the Transformational Satellite program (see p. 58).
French aerospace equipment manufacturer Daher has confirmed the takeover of EADS’s Socata business turboprop aircraft and aerostructures unit, following approval of competition authorities. The move creates a company with 7,500 employees and annual sales of nearly €1 billion.
Oshkosh Defense has been awarded a delivery order to an existing contract with Marine Corps System Command for more than 425 next-generation Logistics Vehicle Replacements (LVSR) and more than 170 add-on armor kits. The contract order, valued at $176 million, will transition the LVSR Cargo variants from low-rate initial production (LRIP) into full-rate production and also calls for more than 270 weapon-mount kits.
