ARPA, with the Central Intelligence Agency, jointly funded the classified Corona program to develop a film-return photo-reconnaissance satellite. Operating under the cover of ARPA’s Discoverer test program, Corona successfully returned the first spy-satellite photographs in August 1960, and launches continued until 1972.
Indonesia’s Lion Air has taken delivery of the first Boeing 737NG equipped with Honeywell’s 3D weather radar system, the RDR-4000 3D, which is already flying on Boeing and Airbus wide-body aircraft. Lion Air will be taking delivery of 120 737NGs through 2013. Lion Air also intends to adopt Honeywell’s Stable Approach Monitor system for added situational awareness for their flight crews when it is available next year. SAM will tell pilots when the aircraft is approaching the runway in an unsafe manner.
Aviation Week & Space Technology publishes a handful of special editions annually, each one intended to deliver to our print and online readers content that is particularly enlightening, distinctive visually or thought-provoking. Examples include issues highlighted by our annual photo contest, the Top-Performing Companies studies, the alternating Paris and Farnborough air shows, and topical themes such as our recent examination of the U.S. presidential election candidates and their positions on aerospace/defense subjects.
Launch of Malaysia’s Measat-3A satellite has been pushed back indefinitely while manufacturer Orbital Sciences assesses the damage done after a crane struck the spacecraft Aug. 9 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Land Launch was preparing the communications bird for a planned Aug. 21 liftoff on a Zenit-3SLB rocket when a crane operator struck it while moving a piece of ground equipment after the spacecraft was mated with the rocket’s upper stage, according to Land Launch.
As the Army and Navy prepare to take over more missile defense programs from the Missile Defense Agency, a dispute is brewing in the Pentagon over who will pay for their operations and sustainment. In the case of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, the bill is expected to be higher than the Army can manage, says Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, chief of the service’s Space and Missile Defense Command. He suggests the creation of a “defense-wide” account to pay for the maintenance.
Goodrich and Rolls-Royce want to work closely on engine control technology through a 50/50 joint venture that would support Rolls engines. The venture would combine Goodrich units in Birmingham, England, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, where systems are designed and manufactured, while Rolls would contribute knowledge on integrating engine controls with the actual powerplants. Goodrich would have aftermarket products and services support responsibility. The deal could see about 1,100 Goodrich employees and 500 Rolls staffers transferred into the new operation.
Northrop Grumman will use Wind River VxWorks 653 software in development of integrating modular avionics for the X-47B Navy-Unmanned Aerial Combat System. Northrop Grumman said VxWorks will allow it to migrate to Arinc 653 while assuring Multiple Independent Levels of Security systems. The Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration project is aimed at maturing safety-critical technologies such as avionics to reduce the risk of introducing UAVs to aircraft carriers.
As it enters its sixth decade, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency faces challenges in seeing ahead at a time when the U.S. military’s focus is firmly on the present and on fighting two wars.
I agree with Bob McAndrew that Boeing should offer a version of the 787 for the USAF tanker replacement program (AW&ST July 28, p. 10), but the company could do even better and also present a variant of the C-17 as a gapfiller for a complete package.
When you picture a typical 21st century engineer, do you imagine a vibrant young Latina who stands just a shade under 5 ft. 4 in. tall? Maybe you should. Efforts are underway in industry, government and academia to attract and retain the nation’s best engineers, particularly if they’re women and/or under-represented minorities. On some level, these initiatives are succeeding.
The Pentagon is expecting to release a final request for proposals for the Air Force’s next-generation aerial refueling tanker any day now, defense officials say. The draft RFP, released earlier this month, is seen to favor the Northrop Grumman/EADS A330-200-based option by establishing a scoring system for extra cargo and passengers, and for fuel offloading. Boeing officials say all options are on the table, including staying out of the recompetition.
There’s an astonishing lack of discussion on the option to continue flying the space shuttle past 2010 in an unmanned or minimally crewed configuration.
Jeanette Brewer has been appointed manager of flight crew cabin operations for Gulfstream Aerospace , Savannah, Ga. She was senior international flight attendant and flight attendant training officer. Todd Strong has been named director of engineering and quality for the company’s Long Beach, Calif., facility. He was its engineering manager.
L-3 Avionics is betting that by providing pilots with an easy-to-use avionics system, its new SmartDeck can claim a portion of the market for integrated glass cockpits on general aviation aircraft.
The Indonesian government is forcing domestic carrier Merpati Nusantara to cut staffing by more than half in return for 350 billion rupiah ($38 million) in state recapitalization. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s House of Representatives has approved a government plan to sell up to 49% of its holding in Garuda.
The first international X-plane program began in 1984, when Darpa, the Navy and the German government began the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability project to demonstrate the use of thrust vectoring for control beyond the stall. Rockwell and MBB built two X-31s, the first flying in October 1990. In addition to advanced flight controls and thrust vectoring, the X-31 featured a cranked-delta wing and close-coupled canard.
A $1 fix to the MQ-1 system allows Predator pilots to talk over a secure Internet telephone rather than having to rely on text messaging. Staff Sgt. Ray Stetler received a 2 a.m. call to connect headquarters to the mission pilot via Voice Over Secure Internet Protocol. With a soldering iron and 6 ft. of cable, “I terminated a network connection cable inside the headset . . . and connected it to the conference call terminations on the circuit board inside a VOSIP phone.” Predator operators can plug the modified headset into the radio system and call anyone using VOSIP.
The Pentagon should begin to explore purchasing a sixth and possibly seventh Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite from Boeing, says Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, who oversees the service’s Space and Missile Defense Command. He made his comments during the 2008 Space and Missile Defense Conference, which was held Aug. 11-13 in Huntsville, Ala.
On Sept. 2, Lufthansa Cargo will start operating twice weekly service to Toronto Pearson International Airport from Frankfurt. The MD-11s to be used on the route offer a 99-ton freight capacity on each flight. Toronto Pearson is Canada’s leading air cargo gateway, with its 1.2 million sq. ft. of cargo handling facilities, 2.5 million sq. ft. of dedicated apron space for freight operations—and five runways capable of handling heavyweight aircraft.
Peter Weger, head of flight operations of Grob Aerospace, Mattsies, Germany, has been named a fellow of the California-based Society of Experimental Test Pilots . Weger, who was at the controls of Grob spn test aircraft No. 3, has been a test pilot for 28 years, accumulating more then 10,000 flight hours in 49 different aircraft. He operated the first flight of the Eurofighter and was involved in the evaluation of a number of foreign fighter aircraft including the Mirage 2000, F-16, F/A-18 and ADV.
Under the Teal Rain program, Darpa developed the first medium-size endurance UAV. Designed by Abe Karem, the Leading Systems Amber first flew in November 1986 and in June 1988 set an endurance record of 38 hr. The Amber did not transition to the military, and Leading Systems was acquired by General Atomics, which ultimately evolved the vehicle into the Predator UAV.
Terry Gray (see photos) has been promoted to vice president/general manager of Tulsa, Okla.-based Nordam ’s Interiors and Structures Div. from director of engineering and program management. Keith Phillips, who was director of program management at the Nacelle/Thrust Reverser Systems Div., has been appointed vice president-aftermarket services at NTR. And, Jim Thompson has been promoted to NTR vice president from director of engineering.
During the next few months, the U.K. Defense Ministry may roll out its road map for UAVs to the early 2020s. The work is one of a number of “capability investigations” underway. The ministry has so far relied almost exclusively on urgent operational requirements to provide UAVs in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s now trying to determine its procurement needs over the coming decade.
India’s aviation industry is in a “very difficult phase,” and bad news is likely to outweigh the good for several quarters, according to Center for Asia Pacific Aviation analysts. Data from India’s Civil Aviation Ministry show airlines reduced weekly domestic services to about 8,778 in July—the lowest level since 2005—from 10,922 in March. This represents a 10% year-over-year decline, says CAPA, which is forecasting that domestic market demand is expected to continue slowing this year and next.
