Michael A. Taverna (Farnborough), Douglas Barrie (Farnborough)
Eurocopter’s hopes of using a newly acquired local affiliate as a springboard into the British military helicopter market—the largest in Europe—could suffer a setback if the government cannot get a better handle on rotorcaft acquisition programs.
The Republic of Singapore Air Force has begun its first basic wings training course in Pearce, Australia, using the PC-21 turboprop. The first 12 PC-21s have been delivered, with the remaining seven to follow next month.
Boeing is moving to secure a foothold in the unmanned aerial vehicle market with a deal to acquire Insitu Inc., a privately owned manufacturer of small, low-cost UAVs. Terms were not disclosed. Insitu was founded in 1994 as an entrepreneurial startup and built the first UAV to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Bingen, Wash., company has 360 employees and anticipates $150 million in revenues this year, up 70% from 2007. It will operate as an independent subsidiary in the military aircraft unit of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems.
After more than a year of posturing, the U.S. State Dept. has given the nod for Northrop Grumman to market its Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle to Spain. The country hopes to employ the high-flying, long-endurance UAV on maritime and overland surveillance missions. Deliveries would take about two years after a contract is signed. The deal was initially rejected by the U.S. because of the Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions. As was done for foreign sales of Tomahawk missiles, however, those limits were waived.
A relatively nearby galaxy may hold clues to conditions that exist in the most distant—and ancient—galaxies that can be observed from Earth. Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have found a ring around the Pinwheel Galaxy that lacks the organic molecules found closer to its center. Those polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) also were scarce in the early Universe, giving scientists an idea of the conditions that existed when the first stars and galaxies were formed.
Italy is conducting plasma wind-tunnel tests of wing-box structures using advanced materials, in an effort to develop technology applicable to high Mach-number flight. Trials of a first design were conducted in June, with a second concept to be tested in September. The first wing-box to be tested was from Thales Alenia Space, with financing from the Italian Space Agency, as part of the Advanced Structural Assembly Program.
Regarding math and science education as discussed in your June 30 Presidential Special Report, there are some silent roadblocks our society erects in pursuing a technical career that have yet to be addressed.
French plans to completely redefine its military strategy and integrate it more tightly with that of its NATO and European allies could help reinvigorate transatlantic defense cooperation, and serve as a model for other nations of the alliance. But the ability to follow through with the project will depend on whether Paris can generate the operating economies needed to underwrite the new strategy in a difficult budget environment, and on a bit of luck from the economic front, too.
Tucked behind a low ridge the first permanent Pacific-theater home for the Global Hawk is reshaping the flightline here. The facility, with its soaring arches, will be large enough to hold up to six of the high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
USN Adm. (ret.) Thomas B. Fargo (see photo) has been named to the board of directors of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. He is president/CEO of Hawaii Superferry as part of his duties as managing director of J.F. Lehman & Co., and was commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Cirrus Design Corp.’s Vision SJ50 prototype flies over Duluth, Minn., during its July 3 inaugural flight. Powered by a Williams International FJ33-4A-19, the single-engine personal jet performed flawlessly in the 45-min. flight from company headquarters at Duluth International Airport, according to Cirrus. If weather and operating conditions are favorable, Cirrus this week will fly the aircraft to EAA AirVenture 2008 at Oshkosh, Wis., where it will be on public display for the first time.
Low-cost carriers are once again being presented with market openings to exploit as the major U.S. airlines scramble to slash service across their networks. But the pickings won’t be so easy for the LCCs this time, since most are feeling just as much pain as their legacy brethren.
Senate appropriators are scolding the Defense Dept. for alleged waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq-related contracting, and the Democratic-led panel is calling for “collars and dollars” from the Bush administration to show that the Pentagon is doing its job. Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) wants more arrests, more indictments and more funds recovered from contractors found to be abusing war-related contracts.
Peter Davis has become head of corporate finance and Peter Negline senior vice president-research and product development for Singapore-based BOC Aviation . Davis was managing director for transport and logistics for DBS Bank Ltd., while Negline was an executive director and head of regional transportation research for JPMorgan Securities.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week suggested the U.K. role in southern Iraq would be “fundamentally changed” early in 2009, fueling speculation of major reductions in the number of British personnel deployed in Iraq. In a report published last week on operations in Iraq, the House of Commons Defense Committee suggests: “The security situation in Basra (in southern Iraq) has been transformed in the past six months and the U.K. is helping the Iraqi Security Forces become self-sufficient and effective.”
Inmarsat says it has broken off talks initiated this month with Harbinger Capital Partners that could have led to a takeover proposal from the U.S. hedge fund (AW&ST July 21, p. 18). The discussions were focused on the regulatory processes relating to a possible offer, says the London-based mobile satellite service operator, but no offer or indication of a potential offer price was made.
MTU has secured a role on the GE38 turboshaft to be used on CH-53K helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps and is also seen as a strong candidate for powering a future European heavy-lift rotorcraft program. MTU has taken an 18% stake in the venture, under which it will deliver the power turbine module, as well as part performance license maintenance, final assembly and maintenance activities for the powerplant.
Lena Olving has been named executive vice president of Saab , effective Dec. 1. She will succeed Erik Lowenadler, who will be retiring. Olving has been senior vice president-process and operational excellence at the Volvo Car Corp.
The Russian government is embarking on a further round of industry consolidation, with far-reaching consequences for the defense sector. The implications of the restructuring for Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. have also yet to be played out. Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, has issued a decree allowing the handover of the state’s stake in over 400 companies to Russian Technologies, itself a comparatively recently created state-controlled industrial corporation.
The U.S. Air Force recently found that nuclear launch codes were left unsecured while an intercontinental ballistic missile crew was “topside” at one of the remote silos at Minot AFB, N.D., on July 12. The classified data was in a locked container, but the crew had fallen asleep. USAF officials concluded the data was not compromised because “access to the [missile alert facility] was continually controlled by Air Force Security Forces and the codes had been superseded and were unusable,” according to a service statement.
In Greek mythology, there was no greater warrior than Achilles. Strong and cunning, he had been protected from birth against all forms of injury—except for one vulnerable heel. In the end, that weakness was exploited and became his downfall. Advanced communications continues to be one of the U.S.’s greatest technological strengths, and we have equipped our military with unparalleled skills and resources to provide this advantage in battle. But, like Achilles, there is a key vulnerability in most communications satellites.
Pierre Sparaco expresses concern about U.S. nationalist statements regarding the selection of the EADS candidate for the Air Force tanker, while Europeans do not respond in kind. Perhaps that is based on the history of the Europeans sometimes thwarting American foreign policy while the U.S. has been a reliable supplier of aircraft to Europe since World War II.
The number of avionics companies offering synthetic vision is growing. At EAA’s AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh, Wis., this week, Avidyne Corp. plans to show synthetic vision on its Entegra line of integrated cockpit systems for the first time (left image) while L-3 Avionics will be showing its new SmartDeck integrated system (right).
Mars Phoenix scientists continue to analyze what they believe are very interesting results from the second wet-chemistry experiment with a soil sample scooped from the Martian tundra at the beginning of July. Testing has taken longer than expected, and may lead to more tests before the Phoenix science team is ready to announce results, which could come as early as mid-August, NASA says.
You reported that escalating fuel prices have caused some airlines to ground their MD-80s (AW&ST May 26, p. 58). If those airlines are actually selling the MD-80s, profitable carriers such as AirTran, that use the Boeing 717, should buy those MD-80s and re-engine them with the latest in fuel-efficient powerplants. Surely, the airframes, which represent a particularly efficient design, have many more years of useful life.
