Chinese commercial-aircraft builder Comac will deliver the first ARJ21 regional jet in May 2010, slipping the schedule from 2009 as the aircraft enters its delayed flight tests. The aircraft, China’s first advanced jetliner, made its first flight on Nov. 28, eight months later than scheduled at its rollout a year ago and two years later than planned when the project was launched.
While prospects are improving for U.S. airlines, the near future appears much more dire for the global industry, the International Air Transport Assn. says. International traffic shrank in October compared with the same period last year, the second consecutive month of decline and likely the start of a prolonged trough.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in San Diego plan to merge with Huntsville, Ala.-based Digital Fusion, in an all-stock transaction. Kratos officials say the combination will allow the company to increase market share as a prime contractor to the Defense Dept. and augment capabilities in surveillance, reconnaissance and UAV products as well as modeling and simulation. Digital Fusion is an information and technology, research and development business.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems will build the next generation of geostationary weather satellites under a contract potentially worth $1.09 billion. NASA, which manages weather-satellite procurement for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), awarded the Denver-based company the contract for two R-series Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-R), with two one-spacecraft options. Boeing was the losing bidder in the competition.
Colleen C. Barrett, who is president emeritus of Southwest Airlines, has received the William F. Shea Award for Distinguished Contributions to Aviation and presented the 2008 Charles W. Durham Distinguished Guest Lecture at the Aviation Institute of the University of Nebraska at Omaha . The guest lecture honors Durham for his financial support as co-founder of the Aviation Institute, whose founding director is Shea.
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The Boeing-led Airborne Laser (ABL) team has begun firing the megawatt-class weapon through the beam control/fire control system and nose-mounted turret on the modified Boeing 747-400F—and into a range simulator at Edwards AFB, Calif. Two brief tests in late November, each less than 1 sec., confirmed the beam can be controlled and boresighted. Longer-duration ground firings will continue into January to clear the ABL to begin flight tests.
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.
