The Navy has decided where to base its 84 new all-jet Boeing P-8A Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft that will replace turboprop-powered Lockheed Martin P-3 patrol aircraft. Five standard and one fleet replacement squadrons will be at NAS Jacksonville, Fla. Four squadrons will fly out of NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., where the Navy also keeps its electronic attack fleet of EA-6Bs, EA-18Gs and EP-3Es. And three squadrons will operate from Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and NAS North Island, Calif. The new aircraft are to become operational in 2012-18.
Here is another perspective on promotions and engineering morale, as introduced by Kevin Partin (AW&ST Dec. 15, p. 8): Morale is more than promotions. “Earned” promotions require contributions and sound capability. Capability comes with education/time/experience. Contributions require an environment that encourages and recognizes innovation and rewards the ability to “get the job done efficiently.”
Pratt & Whitney has been tapped by the U.S. Air Force to produce an additional eight F119 engines for the F-22 Raptor. The up-to-$7-million award contains an option for 39 more powerplants.
The article “RNP With a Difference” (AW&ST Dec. 15, 2008, p. 46) reports: “During a 12-month period, more than 8,000 Required Navigation Performance approaches at Brisbane saved the 34 Qantas 737-800s a total of 4,200 min. of flying, 200,000 kg. (440,000 lb.) of fuel and 650,000 kg. of CO2 emissions.” Since 4,200 min. equals 70 hr., that suggests RNP saved Qantas 440,000/70 or 6,286 lb./hr of fuel. That seems high for a 737-800, especially since 6,286 lb./hr. is closer to a 737’s cruise fuel flow.
World passenger traffic dipped 8% and freight traffic plummeted 15% in November 2008, compared to the same month the previous year, according to Airports Council International. Based on input from 165 major airports worldwide, ACI reports domestic traffic declined 8.5%. International traffic, the driver of growth in the first half of the year, saw a 5.8% decline. The Middle East and Africa were the only world regions recording robust growth, 8% and 5%, respectively. ACI says the U.S., South Korea, Japan and the U.K.
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex is ready to begin series production of the JF-17 Thunder fighter as soon as the government gives it the go-ahead. The complex can build 50 of the aircraft a year, says its chairman, Air Marshal Khalid Chaudhry. The JF-17 has been developed in collaboration with China, where it is called the FC-1. Chaudhry says the complex can make 75% of the JF-17’s avionics and 58% of its airframe.
Total 2008 employment at Boeing edged up to 162,191 at year-end from 160,738 at the end of last January, mostly a reflection of an increased number of employees at Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), which went to 67,659 from 64,848 during the year. Employment has been edging up since 2004, following massive layoffs in the post-9/11 industry downturn. Company employment reached a peak of 164,192 on Oct. 31—68,066 at BCA. A company official attributed the decrease in the last two months to attrition.
Gaggles of mechanical grasshoppers, flies, bees and spiders—each a relatively dumb creature—can be networked into very smart networks to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. In the last decade, remote sensors arrays have been changing from somewhat obvious, hard-to-mask, mechanical objects to autonomous, self-propelled, insect-like devices that can climb walls or jump up stairs and then lie dormant until motion, noise or vibrations trigger their activation.
Korea Aerospace Industries has begun final assembly of the first unit in the KUH helicopter program it is undertaking with Eurocopter. Rollout is scheduled for August.
Boeing says it has reconfigured an on-orbit Navy satellite, adding 30% in communications capability. The satellite, the 11th in Boeing’s Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) series, was launched in 2003 and supports the Navy’s global communications network, serving ships at sea and other U.S. military fixed and mobile terminals. According to Boeing, UFO 11 has the most sophisticated digital signal processor in the constellation.
The laser equivalent of an active-array radar, generating multiple electronically steered beams for communicating, sensing, jamming and attacking, is the long-term goal of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Beginning next month, the JAL Group web site will offer passengers on Japan Airlines or JALways flights a voluntary carbon offset program that is based on a formula established by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The program, to take effect Feb. 3, provides different ratings for basic coach and premium economy, business- and first-class seating, assuming the latter have a bigger carbon footprint because they use more amenities, heavier seats and take up more cabin space. Sample emissions include 999 kg.
Directed-energy weapons are set for key tests this year, including the attempted shoot-down of a boosting ballistic missile, but they may not dispel lingering doubts over the military utility of high-power lasers.
The idea of pouring federal money into pouring concrete is being welcomed by airport operators nationwide. Henry Ogrodzinski, president of the National Assn. of State Aviation Officials (Nasao), says his members could easily accommodate building projects valued at more than $1 billion in the next two years at commercial, reliever and general aviation airports. Within 90-120 days of President Obama’s signing a recovery package, “we could have shovels in the dirt,” he asserts.
An agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries will indemnify Elbit Systems from claims brought against the two companies by minority owners and creditors of ImageSat International, operator of Israel’s Eros imaging satellites, that could have led to billions of dollars in damages.
Boeing may have lost the bid to build the U.S. Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) in 2005, but it will not let another opportunity to win slip by. After the service’s November call for “sources sought,” Boeing put two concrete proposals on the table and is hinting it has more in the works. Boeing’s AH-6 platform lost out to Bell four years ago, but Boeing increased the payload and maneuverability and trotted it out again late last year, claiming it was marketing the AH-6 solely to an international crowd.
The future of U.S. warfare—at least through the eyes of researchers—can be tracked by following the money. Two key investment areas for BAE Systems are cyber warfare (including exploitation, attack and protection) and non-kinetic (non-explosive) weapons. The latter includes both missile-based standoff munitions and energy pulses or data streams generated on board manned and unmanned aircraft.
U.S. airlines are seeing load factors hold up surprisingly well, considering how deeply economic confidence is being shaken, although the picture appears a lot bleaker in the global industry. There was a common theme among U.S. carriers reporting December traffic, with load factors generally improving. Traffic is seeing double-digit declines, but capacity cuts are more than offsetting this effect, particularly on domestic routes, where load factor increases are the largest. U.S. carriers are seeing worse results on international routes, notably the transatlantic market.
The last scheduled flight of the space shuttle Discovery will carry a pressurized Russian module to help set up the International Space Station for operations without NASA’s fleet of reusable orbiters. Planning for the flight, which probably will include Russian use of a commercial facility at Cape Canaveral to prepare the module for launch, comes as station managers start preparing to support a six-person crew on the ISS solely with Russian, European, Japanese and commercial spacecraft.
The U.S. Coast Guard has tapped both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the first week of the new year. The service and Lockheed have exercised contract options valued at $13.25 million to install mission systems on board two additional HC-130Js. These aircraft will round out the service’s planned inventory of six missionized HC-130Js.
President George W. Bush has named FAA veteran executive Lynne Osmus as acting administrator of the agency effective Jan. 16. She takes over from current acting administrator Robert Sturgell, who tendered his resignation as expected in advance in the change of administration. The announcement came just a day after Osmus was named Sturgell’s acting deputy. Osmus was the FAA liaison to the Obama transportation transition team and served as chief of staff for then-administrator Jane Garvey, now a lead member of the transition team.
The recent drop in oil prices has taken some of the luster that the more economical turboprops gained over their turbofan cousins last summer. The appeal of turboprops should not be limited to a reaction to the price of oil. I’m glad that Pierre Sparaco wrote a column about turboprops (AW&ST Dec. 15, 2008, p. 41). These machines have their place. I’m heartened by the relative success of Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which uses locally built Dash 8 Q400s exclusively.
Industrial waterjet manufacturer Flow International of Kent, Wash., which has been expanding internationally, has completed a $2-million purchase of a minority stake in Dardi International of Nanjing, China, Asia’s largest volume producer of waterjets. Flow’s waterjets are used to cut composite structures for the Boeing 787.
French armaments agency DGA has placed a €600-million ($816-million) order for 22 NH90 tactical transport helicopters, complementing an earlier 12-unit buy at the end of 2007. The acquisition, finalized at the end of December, is part of a 2009 budget package aimed at boosting France’s operational capabilities.
