An extended Gates tenure as Defense secretary also could turn the Army’s Aerial Common Sensor Aircraft (electronic surveillance and attack) back into a joint program with the Navy. The Navy left the ACS program and started its own EP-X effort to field an EP-3E replacement. “These modest numbers of airplanes—20s and 30s—are $20-30 billion kind of packages [with unit] purchase prices of $500-700 million,” says Young. “I think those are the kind of issues that . . . will continue to need attention [and not] rubber-stamping unique service requirements.”
The U.S. Air Force is standing up a fourth operational B‑52 squadron to work under the newly announced Global Strike Command as part of sweeping restructuring efforts to rejuvenate its nuclear capability.
Boeing restarted CH-47 helicopter and V-22 fuselage production on Nov. 26, five days after both assembly lines were shut down following discovery of debris in the fuel system in a V-22 fuselage. The Defense Contract Management Agency demanded corrective action after discovery of the plastic cap during a quality inspection. In May, cut wires and a misplaced washer were found in CH-47s on the line.
Global telecom satellite operator SES and EchoStar Corp. are moving ahead with a plan to deploy a new spacecraft over Mexico to meet hot North American demand for direct-to-home video and broadband.
After years of steady growth, regional aircraft sales will begin flattening in about a year and stay that way until 2014-15 as carriers work their way through the current global financial crisis and the industry adjusts to shifts in capacity, according to Forecast International (FI).
The National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita (Kan.) State University is making available its Virtual Reality Center on a special web site. The VRC performs interactive visualization and simulation for design and collaboration in areas including concept, engineering, certification, manufacturing and marketing, says Fernando Toledo, VRC manager.
Sea Launch has taken delivery of Italy’s Sicral 1B military communications satellite as it proceeds to a January 2009 launch on board a Zenit-3SL rocket. The spacecraft was built by Thales Alenia Space and partly financed by sister company Telespazio in return for access to the satellite’s capacity. In addition to ensuring strategic and tactical fixed/mobile communications for the Italian armed forces, the new spacecraft will offer enhanced hardening compared to the existing Sicral 1A, launched in 2001.
Robert Randall has been appointed Midwest U.S. marketing manager for the Universal Avionics Systems Corp. , Tucson, Ariz. He was executive director of sales and marketing at Shadin Avionics.
The U.K. Royal Air Force’s Sentinel R1 airborne stand-off radar (Astor) aircraft is believed to be about to make its operational debut in Afghanistan. An announcement from the Defense Ministry is expected by this week about deployment of one or two of the aircraft to support combat operations.
After years of debate about the future of tactical, airborne electronic attack for the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps, it appears the F-35 will become the next-generation, digital warfare aircraft for both services. The platform most in demand in combat today is some kind of electronic attack (EA) aircraft, say military operational experts. So the pressure for more aircraft and advanced capabilities is already an operational reality. But the basic question of who does what for whom and to whom remains unanswered.
I did read about the portable toilet and urine recycler on the Endeavour/STS-126 shuttle mission (AW&ST Nov. 10, p. 33). But nowhere was there mention of GRC’s combustion rack in the Fluid Combustion Facility also being a critical piece of Leonardo’s payload, along with its first experiment: Multi-user Droplet Combustion apparatus. It was inexcusable to mention an exercise bicycle and a refrigerator but not the first installment of a $150-million-plus cornerstone piece of scientific hardware for the U.S.
USAF Col. (ret.) Michael Gallagher’s warning against trying to outclimb a rapidly growing cumulo-nimbus (AW&ST Nov. 17, p. 10) was on the button. When it happened to me on a hot afternoon many years ago, I learned what the term “coffin corner” really means. As the cloud swallowed my T-33 somewhere above 45,000 ft. and I fought the turbulence to keep the airspeed indicator in the narrowing gap between the aircraft’s red-line speed and the stall speed, I didn’t need the St. Elmo’s fire running over the fuselage to tell me I had done something unwise.
British Airways has implemented an innovative flight crew training program tailored to meet the airline’s specific operational needs. BA’s flight training manager, Keith Dyce, led the development of the Alternative Training and Qualification Program (ATQP), which BA plans to roll out over the next 12 months to train its 3,300 pilots. The ATQP is founded on what is known as evidence-based or closed-loop training.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston plans to issue a draft request for proposals (RFP) for conceptual design work on the Altair lunar lander by mid-December, with a final RFP expected by late January and a contract award around Feb. 20.
Eclipse Aviation is hoping to secure a new owner in January after the pioneering very light jet manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 25. The petition, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Delaware, lists more than $700 million owed to bondholders, suppliers and customers.
French airline pilots may now retire at 65, earlier if they wish to, according to a new rule devised by the European Commission and ratified last month by the French government. The measure is similar to the U.S. law of late 2007 that extended by five years pilots’ mandatory retirement age.
Jan. 20-22—MRO Middle East Conference & Exhibitions, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mar. 3—Aviation Week Laureate Awards Dinner, Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Washington. Mar. 11-12—Defense Technology & Requirements Conference. National Press Club, Washington. Apr. 21-23—MRO Americas and MRO Military Conferences, Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas. Sept. 23-24—MRO Europe Conference & Exhibition, Hamburg (Germany) Messe und Congress.
The structure of Greece’s tactical fighter force will change as the nation pursues an ambitious defense modernization program (see p. 58). In the meantime, a large fleet of F-16s, such as this one streaking skyward over the Aegean Sea, will remain the backbone of the Hellenic Air Force (HAF). Projected aircraft retirements will reduce HAF’s fighter inventory and capability in the near-term. Lockheed Martin photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga.
Eglin AFB, Fla., will be busy with a couple of new contracts. Boeing snagged a $96-million award to provide small-diameter bomb aircraft weapon systems for an unspecified range of aircraft. Eglin also is giving a budget plus-up of $10 million to Raytheon to upgrade two guided weapons test sets to AIM-120D Amraam capability as well as provide spares and additional GPS equipment.
Evgeny Nikolaevich Lobachev, an adviser to the Russian transport minister of transport, and Nicolas Sabatini, associate FAA administrator of safety, have received Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) Presidential Citations. Lobachev was a permanent member of the Russian accident investigation group and helped draft the Russian air code. In 1992, he developed certification and safety oversight procedures that have become instruments for efficient regulation of civil aviation in Russia.
Jim Van Laak has become deputy associate FAA administrator for commercial space transportation. He was director of the Systems Management Office at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Capt. Lloyd D. Hill, President Allied Pilots Assn. (Fort Worth, Tex.)
Regarding the letter from American Airlines First Officer James E. Eaton concerning AA’s application for worldwide antitrust immunity with British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian (AW&ST Nov. 10, p. 8), the Allied Pilots Assn. (APA), representing the 11,500 pilots of American, has indeed been vocal in its opposition.
David D. Haines (see photo) has become vice president-rotorcraft programs, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. (ret.) Stephen D. Mundt (see photo) vice president-business development and strategic planning and Randy Hutcherson (see photo) vice president/program manager for tankers for EADS North America , Arlington, Va. Haines succeeds Hutcherson and was vice president-customer support for MD Helicopters, while Mundt was director of the Army Aviation Task Force. Also, former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Franklin C. Miller has been appointed to the board of directors.
A new regional safety oversight group for the Americas—the first of its kind—has emerged under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The Regional Aviation Safety Group-Pan America will serve as a forum to implement the Global Aviation Safety Roadmap developed by industry for ICAO. Oscar Derby, director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, was elected first chairman at a recent gathering of safety officials in Costa Rica. The group will coordinate regional safety efforts in North and South America, the Caribbean and Central America.
