Italian antitrust authorities have approved the combination of Alitalia and Air One in a new airline group led by Italian investor group CAI. The only caveat is that the combined carrier has to offer at least 10% of its seats at the lowest fare previously offered by Air One or Alitalia on each route. The government had effectively limited the concessions anti-trust regulators could extract. A further anti-trust review likely will follow, though, once a strategic partner is named for the new airline, with Air France-KLM and Lufthansa in the running.
Gary Payton, deputy Air Force undersecretary for space programs, says the U.S. missile warning satellite constellation is “nice and healthy and it is doing its job.” Despite reports that the most recent addition to the Defense Support Program fleet, DSP-23, which was launched late last year, has been faltering in orbit since September, Payton says, “There are no gaps.” Payton declined to discuss the health of DSP-23 or the fleet, citing classification issues. USAF officials have been mum on the issue since the news articles trickled out earlier this month.
GE Aviation will integrate corrosion sensing into a helicopter health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) for the U.S. Army to help combat corrosion that costs the service more than $1 billion annually. A key aspect of the program will be data mining and anomaly detection that will allow corrosion information to be analyzed and applied to fleet management. The sensor set will dovetail aspects of sacrificial and environmental sensors and will be integrated into an off-the-shelf HUMS, according to GE Aviation officials.
Italian company Vitrociset, which supplies air traffic control equipment to the Italian military and civil sector, is attempting to raise €70 million ($88.9 million) in additional capital to support its international growth agenda and increase its presence domestically. The plan, which could lead to forging international partnerships, is being orchestrated by Tommaso Pomponi, its new CEO, and Mario Arpino, board chairman. The Cruciani family controls 90% of Vitrociset’s capital; Finmeccanica’s Selex Sistemi Integrati holds 10%.
Canada is to deploy eight Bell CH-146 Griffon utility helicopters to Afghanistan in early 2009 to act as armed escorts for six heavy-lift Boeing CH-47D Chinooks being acquired from the U.S. Army.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris, The Hague and Turin, Italy)
A big spending plan just approved by European space ministers is good news for manufacturers, although they continue to worry about their ability to retain key engineering skills. Thales Alenia Space (TAS) President and CEO Reynald Seznec says his company is likely to benefit heavily from the new or expanded initiatives (AW&ST Dec. 1, p. 39). These include the ExoMars lander/rover mission, the third-generation geostationary weather-satellite system MTG, and the next phase of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security network.
The French government and Dassault Aviation have made it clear that a bid by Dassault to acquire a 20.8% stake in Thales held by Alcatel-Lucent will not—at least for the foreseeable future—lead to a Thales takeover. French market watchdog AMF ruled last week that Dassault will not have to make an offer for all outstanding Thales shares, as it would normally have to do for a share purchase of this size. Such an offer would cost €8 billion ($10.2 billion).
On Dec. 4, FAA broke ground on its new Air Traffic Control System Command Center near Warrenton, Va. In 2011, about 300 controllers, managers and support staff will move from the existing facility at Washington Dulles International Airport to the 63,000-sq.-ft. center that will oversee the U.S.’s ATC system.
China will suspend approvals for airliner orders and ask carriers to delay deliveries of aircraft already under contract. Airbus orders may be under particular threat, because of the decision of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to meet Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Airliner orders that have been approved can go ahead, but further orders will not be allowed, says the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has scheduled two flights of its proposed DragonLab mini space station, citing demand for the missions from “multiple prospective customers.” Based on the Dragon resupply craft for the International Space Station that SpaceX is developing under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) seed-money program, DragonLab is conceived as a free-flyer that can carry 6,000 kg.
Michael Mecham (El Segundo, Calif.), Amy Butler (Colorado Springs)
A satellite constellation once regarded as an interim step to advanced military communications has become a mainstay in large part because of the technology it has borrowed from commercial users.
Jan. 5-8American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 47th Annual Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Orlando (Fla.) World Center Marriott. Call +1 (703) 264-7500 or +1 (800) 639-AIAA, fax +1 (703) 264-7551 or see www.aiaa.org Jan. 12-20—State University of New York at Binghamton Continuing Education Short Course: “Flight and Ground Vehicle Simulation Update.” See www.wtsn.binghamton.edu/coned/FS09main.htm
Four U.S. Air Force CV-22 tiltrotors returned to Hurlburt Field, Fla., last week following their first foreign deployment, which was for one month to Bamako, Mali. The aircraft were used to transport Malian and Senegalese special operations forces long distances in Africa during Flintlock 2009, a training exercise with participation from 15 countries. USAF officials say the Bell-Boeing aircraft were able to fly more than 500 naut. mi. to infiltrate a team and return without a fuel stop. MH-53s, which used to conduct this mission, would have required more time and support.
A French senate committee says it will review the financial and industrial conditions governing the Airbus A400M in light of new delays in the airlifter program. France has said it may be necessary to reconsider penalty payments in return for a firm commitment to a new delivery schedule while other nations, notably Britain, are balking and looking at possible alternatives.
Pakistan is emerging as the launch export customer for Brazil’s MAR-1 anti-radiation missile (ARM). Brazilian press reports quote Defense Minister Nelson Jobim as confirming that agreement was provisionally reached in April for a deal worth $108 million. The sale of 100 missiles appears to have been approved by the Brazilian government last week. Development of the MAR-1 medium-range ARM has likely been underway for at least a decade. Brazilian guided-weapons manufacturer Mectron and the Brazilian air force’s technical development center are working on the program.
Lawmakers and their staffs say they don’t yet know the details of a clause in Lockheed Martin’s F-22 contract with the Pentagon that could cost taxpayers $147 million. The clause would be applied if production of the Raptor is stopped because senior civilian defense officials refuse to spend congressional funds appropriated for long-lead production of 20 additional aircraft. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not protested the stealth fighter squeeze, but the program’s death could quickly become an issue with the Obama administration.
Another sobering report presents the incoming administration with the nightmare scenario of a possible bioweapon attack within the next five years. A congressionally appointed commission headed by former Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Jim Talent (R-Mo.), says it is “more likely than not” a weapon of mass destruction—probably a bioweapon—will be used by terrorists somewhere in the world by 2013.
Jim Parker has been appointed to the board of directors of Jetera Inc. , Danbury, Conn. He was CEO of Southwest Airlines and now serves on the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant Co. board and the Advisory Council for the MIT Sloan Business School Leadership Center.
As the National Reconnaissance Office prepares to launch one of the largest satellites in its history, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is calling into question the wisdom of solely pursuing large, sophisticated spacecraft procurements.
EADS Astrium Services and DCNS have been selected to supply satellite telecom services for the French navy’s Telcomarsat program. This program is intended to connect 54 vessels in the French Navy around the globe 24 hours a day using commercial IP-based satellite communications and off-the shelf hardware. The four-year €25-million ($31.8-million) contract follows two previous deals between Astrium Services and the French forces—Amstel-S and Passarel.
Flying the space shuttle three times a year through Fiscal 2015 to close the gap in human access to space would cost $13 billion more than NASA is already planning. One option of three more shuttle flights after 2010 would cost an extra $4.5 billion, and still leave a gap of about three years before the planned shuttle follow-on is ready. Those are just “draft predecisional” estimates distributed in October to give the incoming Obama administration some policy choices to consider.
For a large segment of the air transport sector, even bleaker times may lie ahead. But some carriers are starting to look for ways to fine-tune their operations and profit from the ongoing turbulence. “Undoubtedly, there are opportunities out there” to exploit the downturn, says Virgin Atlantic Airways Chief Executive Officer Steve Ridgway.
U.S. Army aviation incidents and accidents have been growing deadlier and costlier since the beginning of this decade, an exclusive Aviation Week analysis of service mishap data shows. Since post-9/11 operations started ramping up, the chance of those involved in Army aviation mishaps being killed was roughly 1 in 2, or even almost 1-1. Meanwhile, one reason for cost increases, military aviation experts say, is because Army aircraft are more technologically complex and expensive, making even minor mishaps costlier compared with previous years.
A hot-fire test of a 7.5-year-old reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) for NASA’s space shuttle program also produced acoustic data for the Ares I crew launch vehicle program, which is using a five-segment version of the four-segment RSRM as its first stage. ATK Launch Systems ran the 2-min. test at its facility in the Utah desert, tracking 385 instrument channels to meet 55 test objectives. Among them was the use of 31 microphones to validate previous acoustic data for Ares I or fill in blanks left by earlier tests, the company says.
