The Pentagon is again questioning whether to continue developing a new ground surveillance sensor for the Air Force Global Hawk. A new cost estimate and schedule for the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) are being drawn up. Officials plan to finish testing the 1.5 X 4-ft. active, electronically scanned array radar on the high-flying Proteus testbed by February. The last restructuring called for them to wrap up in the fall. But the sensor is not expected to delay test trials for its expected ride, the Global Hawk Block 40.
Thales Alenia Space will supply RF communications gear for Israel’s Amos-4 satcom spacecraft under a new subcontract with the satellite’s builder, Israel Aerospace Industries. Ordered last August for launch in 2012, the 3.4-metric-ton, 4-kw. satellite will have a mixed Ka-/Ku-band payload enabling the operator, Spacecom, to extend telecom and broadcasting coverage to Africa and Central and South Asia from a new orbital slot between 64 and 76 deg. E. Long. Spacecom rejected an unsolicited bid from SES when SES declined to include Amos-4 in its offer (AW&ST Feb. 11, p.
Freight volumes for the first five months of 2008 were up 2.8%, but the 1.3% cargo demand in May was a “significant drop” compared to the average 4.3% growth recorded for the full year 2007, according to International Air Transport Assn. IATA attributes the slowed growth mainly to a 0.5% reduction in Asian carrier traffic—the result of the weakness in the Japanese economy and China’s earthquake. Asia also saw a drop in transpacific markets due to increased competition from U.S. carriers taking advantage of the weak U.S. dollar.
Dassault has completed the first fully autonomous flight of the AVE-D demonstrator. The flight took place June 30 near Toul, France. The first flight of an AVE (Aéronefs de Validation Expérimentale) program demonstrator took place in 2000. The vehicles are being used to validate unmanned vehicle concepts. The AVE-D flight is supposed to support work on the Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle demonstrator (see p. 111). The flight trials are being performed for the French armaments agency, DGA.
I read former NASA Associate Administrator Alan Stern’s Viewpoint “Making NASA Relevant Again” (AW&ST June 23, p. 78) with both a sense of deja vu and foreboding. Stern espouses “a strong and consistent emphasis on cost control that imposes stiff consequences when projects grow past their proposed levels.” He does not specify the consequences, but if they are to be stiff, they could include destroyed careers, premature termination of promising projects or otherwise compentent companies thrown out of the NASA orbit.
The 55 orders that Airbus booked in June all but assure the aircraft maker to take in more orders for the year than deliveries. The net order intake through the first six months stood at 487 net units, with 525 gross orders. Deliveries during that period reached 245 aircraft, slightly ahead of Boeing’s 241.
The Italian government and its adviser, the Intesa San Paolo Bank, are discussing a plan for the merger of a “new,” profit-oriented Alitalia and Air One. With an infusion of new investments, a streamlined Alitalia would emerge with a reduced fleet, route network and workforce. The “new” Alitalia would be combined with Air One, which is converting to a new all-Airbus fleet. The “old” Alitalia’s debts, losses and liabilities would be transferred to a company that would remain in state hands.
With a goal of exploring technologies for a future-generation of air-breathing tactical long-range strike weapons as well as hypersonic reconnaissance and responsive strike vehicles, Hifire covers a wide range of basic and applied research to understand hypersonic phenomena.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris and Vernon, France), Frank Morring (Washington), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
European space leaders are hoping the advantages that a major Ariane 5 upgrade and a crewed transportation system could bring to space exploration will draw government funding to these expensive undertakings.
Rick Brainard has been named vice president-sales for West Star Aviation Inc. , East Alton, Ill. He had been general manager of the Grand Junction, Colo., facility. Brainard has been succeeded by Dave Krogman, who has been director of hangar operations. Cheryl Galloway has become a program sales manager, Dan McKillips sales manager for the Southeast U.S. and Ryan Malutinok interior/paint manager.
The reflector intended for TerreStar’s first hybrid high-speed mobile service satellite—TS-1—has sustained damage that may delay the spacecraft’s launch from the end of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009. The reflector, supplied by Harris Corp., is now expected to be shipped by Mar. 15, 2009, TerreStar says. Launch had already been pushed back a year because of a number of technical issues with the satellite, currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral, including problems with the S-band feed array (AW&ST Feb. 25, p. 52).
L-3 Electron Technologies Inc.’s model 8928H 150W K-band Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) amplifier is designed for electronic countermeasure and instrumentation applications. The new broadband TWT has a small footprint and weighs less than 4 lb. The product enhances the family of high-efficiency, high-power millimeter-wave helix TWTs for Satcom uplink, radar, electronic countermeasures and instrumentation applications, according to the company. L-3 ETI’s model 8928H TWT operates at 18-26.5 GHz. and incorporates focus electrode modulation to allow both CW and pulsed operation.
Meggitt Group’s Endevco and Boeing are joint developers of the Endevco pressure belt, which computes the coefficient of pressure to determine an aircraft’s structural loads during various flight conditions. The belts are used on a variety of Boeing aircraft and now the technology is being offered to other aviation and aerospace companies. Measurements provide critical data used in calculating payload capabilities, engine efficiency, fuel economy and other operational parameters, according to the company. The belt is the only non-invasive method of obtaining the data.
Michael Bruno (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington)
The Pentagon’s decision last week to reopen its refueling tanker competition is a reprieve for Boeing, although the company could be severely challenged to best a Northrop Grumman-led team if the Air Force says it wants a larger tanker than it stated last year.
Dan Cronin has been named director of sales to the U.S. Defense Dept. market for the Boulder, Colo.-based SimAuthor Inc. subsidiary of Westar Aerospace and Defense Group Inc. He succeeds Ron Williams, who has retired. Cronin was vice president of Performance Solutions.
David A. Herbst (see photo) has been appointed executive vice president-corporate strategies for Los Angeles-based Mercury Air Group Inc. He was senior vice president/general manager of the public relations agency MWW Group.
Martin Cawley (see photo) has been named vice president-finance/controller for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Integrated Systems Sector, El Segundo, Calif. He has been a corporate director and assistant controller.
3olls-Royce’s “Rig 145” open rotor test rig is being installed in a low-speed wind tunnel run by DNW, a facility established by the German aerospace center DLR and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory. The rig—which comprises two counterrotating rows of blades—will stay in the Netherlands for noise tests until around the end of July. It will then be shipped back for fan performance tests in the low-speed wind tunnel at the Aircraft Research Assn. in Bedford, England. This phase should be completed early next year.
Eurocontrol, the FAA and industry standards-setting groups, along with unmanned airframe builders and their avionics suppliers, are grappling with the question of what will be needed for unmanned aircraft to avoid collisions with other aircraft in civil airspace. So far, no one has come up with a comprehensive solution.
W. James McNerney, Jr. TITLE: Chairman, President and CEO, Boeing Co. AGE: 58 EDUCATION: B.A. from Yale University and M.B.A. from Harvard University EXPERIENCE: Began his career in 1975 in brand management at Procter & Gamble. Joined General Electric in 1982 and held a variety of senior management posts, including president and CEO of GE Aircraft Engines. Became chairman and CEO of 3M in 2001. Tapped for Boeing’s top job in June 2005.
Selex Sistemi Integrati will update Romania’s ATC network software under an €11-million contract signed with Romatsa, the country’s Air Traffic Services Administration. Delivery of the new software is slated to start in January 2009 and run through 2011. Fourteen airport systems will be involved, as will the air control centers in Bucharest, Arad and Constanta.
The FAA has granted Part 145 certification to Boeing Australia Ltd. for 737 air frame and engine repairs, both on- and off-wing, at Amberley and Eagle Farm in Queensland. The event marks the first time Boeing has received certification of a repair center outside the U.S. They are expected to serve 737s playing military, commercial and executive jet roles, including 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control modifications for Australia’s Wedgetail fleet.
Newt Gingrich lays out a radical proposal for dismantling NASA. Although we agree about the value of government incentives for commercial space development, his proposal to eliminate NASA would be disastrous. Gingrich reveals an alarming lack of knowledge about NASA and its recent accomplishments. He calls his credibility into question by getting the year wrong of President John F. Kennedy’s Moon mission speech. (Kennedy delivered the speech before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961.)
