After stabilizing testing of interceptors designed to counter ballistic threats in the midcourse phase of flight, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is now looking to bolster defenses against threats as they boost into space. Another MDA goal is to improve its ability to foil reentry vehicles in the terminal phase of flight. These are two elements of the layered system being designed to thwart missile threats from North Korea and Iran. Some of the options for boost-phase and terminal defenses could involve modifying existing systems.
The U.S. Navy’s move to meet the threat posed by the latest Russian supersonic cruise missiles will provide Alliant Techsystems (ATK) with a foothold in the targets market and a potential stepping-stone into the anti-ship missile business. ATK has won a $97-million Navy contract to develop the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target (MSST), which will simulate the Russian-made Novator 34M-54E Klub—NATO code name SS‑N-27 Sizzler—an anti-ship cruise missile already sold to China and against which U.S. warships have no assured defense.
The Indian fighter competition is certainly doing its part to bring aerospace opportunities to the country. In the latest contract, Saab has signed with Tata Consultancy to establish an Aeronautical Design and Development Center, which is to work in both the military and civilian domain. Work would focus on aerostructures, aerosystems, avionics and aftermarket support, Saab says.
For several days during the summer of 2007, environmental groups gathered outside London Heathrow Airport to rally against plans for runway expansion. Two months later, a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport took to the skies, its engines running on a coal-based synthetic fuel.
This Lockheed Martin concept displays how the air-launched PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor would be housed in a pod under the wing of a Boeing F-15C. The Missile Defense Agency is looking at this option as well as a Raytheon solution for an air-launched defense against ballistic missiles in boost phase (see p. 46). These systems could complement the F-15C’s air-to-air interdiction weapons suite, adding the capability for missile defense to the combat air patrol mission.
The British Defense Ministry last week sold its remaining 18.9% share of defense technology company Qinetiq. The government does, however, retain a “special share” in Qinetiq intended to ensure U.K. security interests are not compromised.
In the year since it was launched, Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion has won the cockpit competitions for six models of business jets, one regional jet and the Bombardier CSeries. When the product line was unveiled at the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) Convention in September 2007, it already had won the Bombardier Global Express XRS and Global 5000. Since then it has added the Bombardier Learjet 85, Cessna Citation Columbus, Embraer Legacy 450 and 500, Mitsubishi Regional Jet as well as the CSeries.
The International Air Transport Assn., Eurocontrol and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization have agreed, at an ICAO meeting in Montreal on air traffic management modernization, to a “flight efficiency plan” to expedite improvement in European ATM. The aim is to capture 470,000 metric tons of fuel savings per year and save €390 million while cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 million metric tons. Measures to be taken include better use of airspace, more direct routings, reduced taxi times and more fuel efficient approach procedures.
An analysis issued by JPMorgan on Sept. 4 said the used business jet market “is rapidly falling apart” with inventories of used aircraft for sale up 52% from 6.2% in January. It reported that 19 of 23 tracked models had higher inventories, including Gulfstream, and that average asking prices had declined 2.3% year over year.
Airline inflight entertainment suppliers expect to sell a record $1.5 billion in hardware this year and $2 billion by 2012 because of a continuing wave of Boeing and Airbus aircraft deliveries. Every twin-aisle aircraft to be delivered by Boeing and Airbus over the next five years will probably be equipped with inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, says Wale Adepoju, CEO and chief analyst for IMDC Ltd. of London, the consultancy that produced the forecast.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) hints it could fine airlines if employees misinform passengers about whether their names are on a terrorist watchlist. In written testimony prepared for a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley says the agency is “concerned that airline employees are misinforming passengers about whether they are on a terrorist watchlist” when their names are similar to those on the lists.
Nav Canada and the U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services are once again cooperating on new ATC technology, this time in flight data processing. NATS is using a system developed by Nav Canada to track flight data at the Swanwick en route center, which controls 200,000 sq. mi. of airspace above England and Wales and handles two million flights per year. The code callsign distribution system replacement (CCDS-R) matches the transponder code transmitted by aircraft with filed flight plans, making it easier for controllers to positively identify aircraft.
Eurocopter has completed a series of flight trials to clear the Rafael Spike air-to-ground missile for use by Spain’s Tiger HAD attack helicopters. The test series conducted at the El Arenosillo range belonging to the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology involved five shots without the main propulsion subsystem and two full-up rounds that hit their targets at ranges of 6-8 km. The first of those was fired in lock-on-before-launch mode, with the second validated lock-on-after-launch operations.
Arabsat has issued a request for proposals for two new spacecraft to meet rapidly growing demand for broadcasting and telecom services in the Middle East and Africa. One of the satellites, Badr 3, will add expansion and redundancy capacity at Arabsat’s 26 deg. E. Long. Middle East TV neighborhood. Arabsat 5C will serve telecom users at 20 deg. E. The spacecraft are to be launched in 2011.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. tapped Union, N.J.-based Breeze-Eastern Corp. to provide the internal cargo winch system for the next-generation CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. Requirements call for delivery of five units for the system design and development phase.
Daniel Calleja, director of air transport for the European Commission, told ICAO summit delegates that ATM inefficiency is driving significant costs. In Europe he says the average distance flown per route is 49 km. (31 mi.) longer than a potential direct route. This costs airlines €1 billion per year ($1.4 billion) and represents between 7 and 12% of extra emissions per flight or 5 billion additional metric tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Theft of intellectual property occurs more often in aerospace and defense (A&D) companies than in other industries, although cases of bribery are fewer, according to the findings of an economic crime survey that is being released this week by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Sixteen percent of global A&D companies and 19% of the North American enterprises reported at least one case of intellectual property infringement in the past two years.
Solarzyme, a South San Francisco startup, has introduced a microbial-derived jet fuel that has been favorably tested in small batches in automobiles. According to the company, the algal-derived fuel has been analyzed by the Southwest Research Institute and has met all 11 specifications for the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D1655 standards for aero turbine fuel. These standards include measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, distillation and viscosity.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Douglas Barrie (London)
A car bomb explodes in a crowded marketplace. Replaying sensor video from an unmanned aircraft staring down on the city from the stratosphere, security forces track the vehicle back to where it was packed with explosives and follow the bomb makers back to their safe houses. The U.S. military wants to track moving targets over large areas for long periods, and industry is responding by bringing satellite-like technologies and capabilities to unmanned aircraft that can be operated responsively and flexibly.
The first Swiss-assembled Eurocopter EC635 has been handed over to the country’s air force. The EC635 is to be used for light transport and training purposes. Ruag Aerospace is assembling 16 of the 20 rotorcraft the Swiss military is buying. The first four were built by Eurocopter at its Donauworth facility in Germany—three of the four have already been delivered. The entire fleet is scheduled for handover by 2010.
The Boeing/NASA X-48B remotely piloted blended-wing research aircraft was successfully stalled at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., for the first time on Sept. 4, going 2 deg. beyond the maximum coefficient of lift and recovering without difficulty, says Phantom Works project manager Mike Kisska. Stall testing is a key milestone for the unconventional, tailless vehicle, which made its initial stall with fixed leading-edge slats, a forward center of gravity and 23-deg. angle of attack. The stall was repeated with a NASA pilot flying the unmanned vehicle on Sept.
French-based GECI International has launched development of a light twin-turboprop utility and transport aircraft to replace the rapidly aging fleet of Do-228 aircraft in operation around the world. The aircraft, the Skylander SK-100, is to fly in late 2009/early 2010 and enter service the following year.
In what may become a defining strike, nearly 27,000 machinists have stopped work at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the midst of a boom cycle, largely because they want more say in the company’s outsourcing strategy.
French armaments agency DGA has issued a €1.5-million ($2-million) contract to EADS Astrium and Thales to operate France’s Essaim signal intelligence demonstrator for another 18 months. The extension aims to provide continued availability of sigint data, which is used for operational as well as experimental purposes, until a more advanced Elint demonstration cluster is launched in mid-2010. Operation of the four Essaim spacecraft, which were orbited 44 months ago for a nominal 36-month mission, has already been extended once.
