A question mark hangs over the long-term sustainability of the U.K.’s military reliance on foreign—chiefly U.S.—space-based systems for national security. London has long enjoyed broad access to Washington’s highly sensitive intelligence-gathering satellite capabilities, but this dependence is already raising concern with regard to the present environment, according to a report by British lobby group UK Space.
Satcom startup ProtoStar is ready to begin operating its first new satellite over Asia following an agreement last week with Intersputnik. The organization will provide a position at 98.5 deg. E. Long. over Indonesia that will allow the spacecraft, launched on July 7 by Arianespace, to supply Ku- and C-band services to Asia. ProtoStar—a Bermuda-based company with Asia-Pacific clients started by former Hughes executives—had been planning to use a Singapore slot, but the Singapore government decided in early July to withdraw its authorization.
On Oct. 25, Continental Airlines plans to end services to London Gatwick from both its Newark Liberty and Houston Intercontinental hubs and add, pending government and slot approvals, a third daily non-stop flight between Newark Liberty and London Heathrow. The airline plans to continue operating two daily flights from Houston to Heathrow. “Changing realities of the marketplace” forced the airline to cancel Gatwick service, says Jim Compton, executive vice president of marketing.
The Pentagon’s decision to punt the choice of provider for the U.S. Air Force’s new aerial refueling tanker to the next set of Washington leadership does little to solve the issues bedeviling the program, and pushes off the era of new tankers—exactly what airmen had feared.
Launch of Europe’s Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), scheduled for last week on a Russian Rokot booster, has been delayed until Oct. 5. The European Space Agency says the slip was caused by an anomaly in the guidance and navigation subsystem (GNS) of the rocket’s Breeze KM upper stage that will require one of the units in the GNS to be replaced.
Alaska Airlines expects its entire fleet to be equipped with the Honeywell-developed Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) by the end of the month. The system, aimed at improving pilot situational awareness and enhancing runway safety, provides a flight crew with audible alerts that confirm runway identification. RAAS also warns a flight crew if the aircraft is accelerating for takeoff from a taxiway. The airline, which says it will be the only major U.S.
The union representing Northwest Airlines cabin crews wants Congress to investigate the impartiality of the National Mediation Board (NMB). The Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) has asked Senate Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) to conduct hearings into the NMB’s alleged “anti-worker policies” prior to any approval of a Delta/Northwest merger. The AFA-CWA says it has reason to doubt the NMB is unbiased toward airline management.
Top level micromanagement of the battlefield—of the kind that scuppered the German military in World War II and hamstrung U.S. armed forces in Vietnam—could reach new heights through a project at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. A team is building a virtual reality environment to squeeze the potential from unmanned aerial vehicles. It is being designed as a 3D audiovisual and stereoscopic facility with six walls, 24 projectors, ultrasonic motion tracking, eight-channel audio and a graphic computer.
Thousands of U.S. corporate aircraft operators received unwelcome notices from Nav Canada recently that Canadian federal taxes applicable to air navigation services provided up to five years earlier had not been billed and were now due.
Goodrich’s Sensors and Integrated Systems unit in Vergennes, Vt., has received an initial contract that runs through November for research and testing of alternative fuels for U.S. Air Force F-15 and F-22 fighters. Follow-on work is expected for the F-35, UH-60 and V-22. Goodrich is to evaluate the fuels for use in the fuel measurement and management systems it makes for Air Force aircraft.
The FAA has awarded the Raytheon Technical Services Co. a 10-year, $434-million contract aimed at helping air traffic controllers develop the skills needed to work in the NextGen environment. Some 10,000-15,000 U.S. controllers are expected to undergo training in the next decade.
Danish F-16 fighter pilots will soon benefit from a significant reduction in workload provided by indigenously developed, low-cost, three-dimensional audio and active noise reduction (3D/ANR) technology. Developed by Danish defense electronics company Terma and now entering production, the 3D/ANR system provides 360-deg. audio threat warnings to the pilot and may eventually end up in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and other fixed- and rotary-wing platforms.
The FAA is talking to other ATC organizations about conducting more joint trials of ATM operational improvements—including tailored arrivals—and news of these initiatives will be revealed in coming months, according to acting Administrator Robert Sturgell. These will be similar to major cooperative trials being undertaken on transatlantic and transpacific routes.
Even though business aircraft operating into Minneapolis-St. Paul International and St. Paul Downtown airports during the Republican convention had to comply with the same restrictive security standards imposed on those operating into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the National Business Aviation Assn. applauded the arrangement. The organization noted that during the GOP’s 2004 convention, business aircraft were not allowed anywhere near Manhattan, and thus saw the Minnesota welcome, despite its limitations, as a “step forward.”
Russian controllers agreed to delay docking a Progress cargo carrier launched to the International Space Station on Sept. 10 until Mission Control Center-Houston returns to full capability following Hurricane Ike. The docking, originally set for Sept. 12, will now take place on Sept. 17. NASA managers closed the facility on Sept. 11 as Ike approached in the Gulf of Mexico, handing off station control to backup groups near Austin, Tex., and Huntsville, Ala. If JSC hasn’t reopened by Sept. 17, the backup teams may handle NASA’s side of the docking.
The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Advisory Committee will meet Sept. 16 to receive classified briefings by Missile Defense Agency senior staff, program managers, senior Defense Dept. leaders, and representatives from industry and the armed services on developing and deploying space-based sensors and interceptors. The systems could provide defenses for the U.S. homeland, deployed forces and allies from ballistic missile attack, as well as countering adversarial space systems and antisatellite systems.
India could become the latest customer for the Boeing Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile. The U.S. Congress has been notified of the potential sale of 20 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles to New Delhi. The Harpoon would replace the capability provided by the British Aerospace Sea Eagle, which was carried by the Jaguar IM maritime strike aircraft and Sea King helicopters in Indian service.
I agree with the editorial “Reality Check on Oil Prices” (AW&ST Aug. 11, p. 70) that we have had 30 years to reduce dependence on foreign oil and that U.S. carriers have to address profits when oil stays above $120. The missing element in that statement is that it is not just a problem for carriers, but for all of us. All too often we are seeing a “smoke and mirrors” approach to energy consumption that simply moves the energy requirement and consumption to another segment of the fuel chain.
Kurt F. Neubauer is one of 13 USAF colonels who have been promoted to brigadier general. He is commander of the 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington, Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C. Others are: Martin Neubauer, director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Headquarters Pacific Air Force, Hickam AFB, Hawaii; Robert C. Nolan, 2nd, assistant deputy director for global operations for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon; Craig S. Olson and John F.
A $77-million foreign military sales (FMS) package now before Congress could see Israel buy 1,000 GBU-39 Small-Diameter Bombs. The deal is part of a flurry of FMS announcements, which includes a $164-million deal to upgrade Israel’s Patriot air and missile defense batteries for improved PAC-3 operations.
Singapore’s civil aviation authority is citing inflation, heightened security measures and the cost of various improvements for raising both the terminal service charges and security service charges to passengers at Changi Airport. Only Changi’s budget terminal will be exempt.
The Royal Australian Air Force has stopped operating with air combat maneuvering pods on its F/A‑18s and launched an inquiry into why one system fell off the wing of a fighter during a training exercise. An RAAF F/A-18 was conducting air combat maneuvering when the pod dropped from its wing on Aug. 29. The plane returned safely to base.
“Fighting Headwinds” and “Safety on Course” (AW&ST July 28, pp. 73, 78) neatly bookend the foolishness of implementing user fees for general aviation aircraft.
German researchers are optimizing a hybrid automated riveting and adhesive bonding process they claim could further reduce the weight of carbon-fiber composite airframes. The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) in Bremen says hybrid adhesive and mechanical joining would reduce the number of rivet holes in carbon-fiber structures, maximizing the load-bearing capacity of the material while still providing a safety factor.
