Peru has reportedly signed a contract with Russia covering the maintenance and upgrade of 19 MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft. Peru purchased the used MiG-29s from Belarus in the late 1990s.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries hopes to offer an airliner of 93-150 seats next decade that would compete with the Bombardier CSeries and probably enter service just as Airbus and Boeing were fielding their next-generation narrowbodies. The aircraft, called YPX, would slot in just above the seating range of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ MRJ regional jet, thus forming the beginnings of a Japanese family of commercial jet aircraft.
Neil Mackay has been named executive vice president/chief operating officer of EMS Technologies Inc. of Atlanta. He was executive vice president-strategy.
Engineers intent on solving a troublesome thrust oscillation problem besetting the next U.S. human launch system are set to brief bosses on ways to fix it, although tight funding and a better understanding of overall technical hurdles already has forced NASA to slide the target date of the vehicle’s first flight back a year.
It will take another year or two for Elbit to nudge profitability at its Elisra unit to where it should be, says CEO Joseph Ackerman. Elisra profitability has been a drag on Elbit for some time, and Ackerman concedes that improving the unit’s financial performance has taken longer than planned. Overall, though, the Israeli aerospace and defense contractor reported strong first-half earnings, with backlog topping $5 billion at mid-year, a high for the business.
Having played a pivotal role in the development of smart weapons, Darpa is now targeting high-energy lasers for their ability to deliver ultra-precise lethal and non-lethal effects in both defensive and offensive operations. The challenge the research agency has set is to demonstrate a complete laser weapon system packaged to fit in the bomb bay of a B-1 bomber and have it ready to fly by 2012. This will be the first demonstration of a compact, robust solid-state laser weapon outside the laboratory.
Campbell says his experts are studying whether various lighter-than-air systems and airships can provide a niche capability for soldiers, which is likely with intelligence collection or communications relays. With a 312-mi. line of sight, one of these systems could cover virtually all of the Iraq landmass, he notes. “I don’t know if there is a contagion . . . of enthusiasm” for these systems, he says, adding that these airship concepts lack a champion in the Defense Dept.
The cost of recruiting a new college graduate goes far beyond making the student an offer. Companies must have the resources to maintain an on-campus presence, manage intern and cooperative experiences, be properly represented on advisory boards and foster ongoing communication with students.
Eclipse Aviation, denying rumors of moving its production facilities outside the U.S., is evaluating every aspect of the company and expects to announce a plan to profitability, by the end of August. The company last week declined to discuss details with media. Ousted CEO Vern Raburn last week announced through a media representative that he changed his mind and decided not to become vice chairman of ETIRC Aviation, one of Eclipse’s investors. Raburn added he will have no further relationship with Eclipse.
Pratt & Whitney is starting detailed analysis of data from initial flight tests of the PW1000G geared turbofan demonstrator as it prepares to design the first production version for Mitsubishi’s Regional Jet. Early results are keenly awaited by the Japanese manufacturer, as well as by Bombardier, which selected a bigger version of the same engine for its recently launched CSeries airliner. Airbus and Boeing are also paying close attention as they consider the geared turbofan (GTF) against other propulsion options for future narrow-body concepts.
In a move to replace older fuel hogs, American Airlines has ordered 26 737-800s by exercising 20 options and adding six airplanes to its 2009-10 fleet plan. The order was anticipated and brings the carrier’s total 737 orders for the year to 36 as American replaces older 737s and MD-80s. Boeing now has 117 orders for the 737 in 2008.
I found your article “Ghost Flight” (AW&ST Aug. 4, p. 50) intriguing as it illustrates how NASA has never fully solved the issue of lost foam insulation from the external tank. A return to basics might yield some benefits. Although the tank has undergone major redesigns for weight loss, perhaps Lockheed Martin should explore the reapplication of paint, as occurred for the first two STS missions. A new paint formulation might offer cohesive properties that will provide a protective shell for the foam and safety for the crew.
Qinetiq, with Aberystwyth University, has completed the first flight of an autonomous UAV for agricultural monitoring. This marked the end of phase one of the U-MAP (UAVs for Managing Agricultural Practice) program, a Welsh government initiative. Farmers need timely information on their land, and UAVs could serve as an alternative to satellites for remote-sensing images.
Ball Aerospace & Technology says it’s on track to complete final integration and testing this month of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Protoflight Model for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess) Preparatory Project spacecraft it’s building. Ball says the instrument will be delivered by Sept. 30 to support a 2010 launch.
In 1961, as U.S. involvement in Vietnam escalated, ARPA began Project Agile to develop and test technologies for counter-insurgency warfare. This included field tests of the AR-15 rifle, which became the U.S. Army’s M16 assault rifle. ARPA also developed the Camp Sentinel foliage-penetration radar and funded Lockheed to convert two Schweizer sailplanes to QT-2 quiet night surveillance aircraft.
Beginning in 1965, under a joint effort with the Army to extend the range and endurance of the Bell Rocket Belt, the agency funded development of the WR19 small turbofan by Williams Research. This engine was further developed to power the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile and BGM-109 Tomahawk.
The U.S. Marine Corps is rapidly designing an armament package for its KC-130J refuelers aimed to help fill a gap in close air support in Afghanistan, as the U.S. Air Force’s AC-130 fleet continues its high operating tempo abroad. Service officials plan to conduct the maiden flight of an armed KC-130J in mid-December. Marine Corps officials call this the Armed KC-130J Phase 1 system, and they do have plans to eventually deploy precision-guided standoff munitions from the aircraft in the future.
Magellan Aerospace and Safran subsidiary Aircelle are in a dispute over Airbus A340 engine component work, with the Canadian company trying to renegotiate elements of the award. Costs are at the heart of the wrangle. The situation is likely being exacerbated by the lackluster market performance of the A340-500 and -600 models.
Damascus Sulcus, one of the “Tiger Stripes” on Saturn’s moon Enceladus that spews water vapor and other gases into space, is seen at a range of about 4,742 km. (2,947 mi.) in the last of seven “skeet shoot” images collected by the narrow-angle camera on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Resolution in this image is about 30 megapixels.
Air Canada reported solid operating results for the second quarter, with a C$122-million ($114-million) net income, compared to C$155 million for the same period last year. The carrier achieved a C$7-million operating income despite a C$212-million increase in fuel costs over the C$88 million reported in the second quarter of 2007.
USN Rear Adm. Allen G. Myers, 4th, has been appointed director of the Warfare Integration and Assessment Div. of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington. He has been director of the office’s Air Warfare Div. He has been succeeded by Rear Adm. (lower half) David L. Philman, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral. He has been commander of Strike Force Training Pacific in San Diego.
The British Defense Ministry was to begin the finals of its “Grand Challenge” Aug. 16 to select a winner from the 11 teams competing to develop unmanned systems for use in urban warfare environments.
David Davenport (see photos) has been promoted to regional operations manager for New York-based FlightSafety International , while continuing as manager of FSI’s Learning Center in Savannah, Ga. Stephen Thompson has been promoted to assistant manager from director of training at the Dallas-Fort Worth Learning Center. And, Joseph (Andy) Johnson has been named assistant manager of the company’s Cessna Learning Center in Wichita, Kan. He was senior U.S. Navy liaison at the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a, Yemen.
